Sub-4 Marathon? How to Break the 4 Hour Marathon Barrier - StrengthRunning

Aug 13, 2025

Intro

This is a quick summary of Sub-4 Marathon? How to Break the 4 Hour Marathon Barrier from StrengthRunning. It’s a great watch — we’re breaking it down so you can try the workout today. Be sure to check out the full video for all the details.

Key Points

Target pace: 9:09 min/mile (≈5:38 min/km). Hitting this pace for the full 26.2 mi gives a sub‑4 hour marathon.
Mileage: Aim for a peak of 40‑45 mi (≈64‑72 km) per week to build the leg and cardiovascular base.
Long‑run strategy: Build up to **20 mi (≈32 km) long runs twice in a training cycle. Start the cycle with a 12‑13 mi long run, then progress to 20 mi and repeat.
Weekly workouts: Include fartlek, interval repetitions, tempo runs, and hill repeats—focus on lactate‑threshold/tempo effort, not all‑out speed.
Strides: 100‑m accelerations at 95‑98 % max speed, 2 seconds hold, 2‑3 times per week after easy runs to improve leg turnover and running economy.
Performance benchmarks: To be ready, aim for roughly 1:53 h half‑marathon, 50 min 10 k, and 24 min 5 k.

Workout Example

Weekly Sample (40‑45 mi total)

Monday: Easy 5 mi + 4 × 100‑m strides (2 sec at 95‑98% max, full recovery)
Tuesday: 8 mi with tempo – 2 mi easy, 4 mi at 9:30 /mi (slightly faster than marathon pace), 2 mi cool‑down.
Wednesday: Easy 6 mi + optional fartlek – 5 × 3 min at 5K‑ish pace with 2 min easy jog between.
Thursday: 7 mi easy + hill repeats – 8 × 30 sec uphill at 5‑10 sec effort, jog back down.
Friday: Rest or cross‑train.
Saturday: Long run – start at 12‑13 mi, build to 20 mi; keep first half at easy pace, finish last 3 mi at marathon goal pace (9:09 /mi).
Sunday: 6 mi easy + 4 × 100‑m strides.

Adjust distances and paces to match your current fitness, but keep the structure: high weekly mileage, two 20‑mile long runs, weekly speed/threshold work, and regular strides.

Closing Note

Give this plan a try, tweak the paces to fit your own numbers in the Pacing app, and watch your marathon time drop. You’ve got what it takes to break that 4‑hour barrier—let’s get out there and make it happen!