Pre-Race Sharpening Session

Workout - Pre-Race Sharpening Session

• 15min @ 8'00''/mi
• 4 lots of:
  • 5min @ 6'00''/mi
  • 2min rest
• 2 lots of:
  • 1min @ 4'00''/mi
  • 1min rest
• 7min @ 9'00''/mi

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Intro

The FOD Runner shared 11 DAYS Until London Marathon 2024 (FAST SESSION) — a workout worth exploring. We’ve distilled the essentials so you can run this session as soon as this week. For the complete breakdown, the original video is definitely worth watching.

Key Points

• Training focus: With the race a week out, this session emphasizes pace work that readies the legs and mirrors what race day might look like—cool air at 16‑17 °C, gusty winds included. New to interval training? Mastering Interval Training: Science-Backed Workouts and How a Smart App Can Personalize Them walks through the underlying science.
• Gear test: Testing the new “Super Shoes” in action to confirm they’ll feel right when it counts.
• Heart rate insight: Average 164 bpm—down a bit from earlier efforts—suggests the body is responding well.
• Practical tip: Dress in the rain jacket and gloves you’ll wear on race day so your body adapts to how they feel in motion.

Workout Example

Warm‑up – 15 minutes of easy running (roughly 2 miles) to elevate your heart rate.

Main set – Run 4 × 5 min at around 90 sec per 400 m (roughly 6:00 min/mi), jogging lightly between each. Then 2 × 1 min at 60 sec per 400 m (about 4:00 min/mi). This format develops the pacing and fatigue management marathons demand, though the same idea scales to shorter races. If you’re training for a 5K, for instance, Mastering 5K Speed: Proven Interval Strategies to Cut Minutes off Your Time shows how to compress and quicken intervals for that distance.

Structure (often written as 5‑1‑1‑5):

5 min @ ~6:00 min/mi
5 min @ ~6:00 min/mi
5 min @ ~6:00 min/mi
5 min @ ~6:00 min/mi
1 min @ ~4:00 min/mi
1 min @ ~4:00 min/mi

Total speedwork ≈ 22 min. Cool‑down – 5–10 minutes at an easy pace, then stretch.

How to customize: Translate the paces into your personal training zones—say, 5 min at 85–90% of your max heart rate—and tweak the interval duration if you think in miles instead (5 min ≈ 0.5 mi at ~6:00 min/mi). Race-day pacing strategy matters just as much in training as it does on the start line; our Mastering the 10K: Proven Training Plans, Pace Strategies, and How a Smart App Can Elevate Your Performance digs into this in detail.

Closing Note

Run through this session soon, and use the Pacing app to dial in your paces for where you are fitness-wise right now. A true way to fine-tune your fitness before race day—all the best, and catch you at the finish! 🚀

References

• 11 DAYS Until London Marathon 2024 (FAST SESSION) - YouTube (YouTube Video)