Marathon Pace 400m Repeats

Workout - Marathon Pace 400m Repeats

• 15min @ 7'30''/mi
• 16 lots of:
  • 400m @ 5'25''/mi
  • 45s rest
• 12min @ 7'30''/mi

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Here’s what you need from Training Week Wrap VLOG March 4th-10th 2019, a training breakdown from Vo2maxProductions. The full video has more detail. The workouts are worth stealing.

Key points:

• Sage ran 117 mi (about 190 km) over seven days, the kind of weekly mileage that works for marathons and ultramarathons.
• Three harder sessions made up the week’s quality work, sandwiched between easy runs at roughly 7:30/mi (aerobic runs of 10-12 mi daily). These harder sessions are interval work in disguise. They sharpen your legs and teach them to hold faster paces. Our guide on Mastering Interval Training: Science-Backed Workouts and How a Smart App Can Personalize Them digs deeper.
• The plan emphasizes high cadence (about 180 spm), leg strength, and holding a marathon-goal pace of 5:18/mi (3:17/km) even on snowy roads.
• Boulder altitude means these paces run slower than what you’d hit at sea level.

Workout example:

1. Target workout: 400 m repeats
   • 16 x 400 m repeats on a bike path (400 m measured via GPS).
   • Aim for fast marathon-pace effort, around 5:20-5:30/mi (or 3:20-3:30/km). Sage trains this for marathon endurance, but shorter races use the same logic. See Mastering 5K Speed: Proven Interval Strategies to Cut Minutes off Your Time to see how it translates.
   • Rest about 45 seconds between repeats. Keep turnover quick.
2. Mileage day: 1-mile repeats
   • 2 x 1-mile (1,600 m) repeats at 5:01/mi with about 3 min recovery.
   • Finish with a 6-mile steady run at 5:27/mi (a shade slower than marathon pace).
   • Add one final 1-mile repeat at 4:59/mi.
3. Ten-by-1k workout
   • 10 x 1 km repeats (pace not specified, but faster than marathon pace). Speed endurance builds fast with this session. Runners chasing shorter distances lean on it heavily. See Mastering the 10K: Proven Training Plans, Pace Strategies, and How a Smart App Can Elevate Your Performance for more.
   • Keep rest to 2-3 min per interval to sharpen speed efficiency.

Practical tips:

• Drill high-cadence (180 spm) work to build leg speed and turnover.
• Snow and cold build glutes and hamstrings. Lean into it as strength work.
• Pace adjustments for altitude: use these numbers as a starting point, then add 20-30 seconds per mile for sea-level running.
• Don’t race your easy days (aim for around 7:30/mi). They build the aerobic engine.

Closing note: Try these workouts and adjust the paces with the Pacing app to fit where you are right now.