Race Director's Corner

1. "Train for the Terrain"
Workouts that can help you even out the marathon rollercoaster ride.

Marathons are tough. I often hear people talk about fast marathons versus slow marathons. Usually the fast marathons are flat and the slow ones are hilly. I’m here to tell you that all marathons are challenging. The Chicago Marathon is flat but you utilize the same muscle groups over and over. The Boston Marathon is tough because you pound downhill for the first half, switch to uphill running, then revert back to running on a flat, downhill grade to the finish. Our own SunTrust National Marathon & Half Marathon is a combination of the two.

So how do you overcome this challenge? Specificity. This should become your training mantra.  Specificity is a training philosophy with a simple message:  train for the terrain.

2. “Minutes”
When time is of the essence, it only takes “minutes” to reach your goal

One of my favorite workouts during my professional career was simply known as “minutes”. It is a variation on the popular training method known as “fartlek” which is Swedish for speedplay. Minutes combines the structure of interval training with the free form flavor of fartlek. Use your imagination to come up with a workout that suits your target a race and one that fits your schedule.

Here’s an example of a “minutes” workout made famous by Australian marathon great Steve Moneghetti.

As always add a mile or two before your workouts to ease your body into the intensity and after the workout to aid the recovery process.

3. “Effort Hills”

Thursday would be my effort hill days. These are the workouts that are free form in nature, dare I say fun. Remember this is all supposed to be fun.  Effort hills refer to a workout over a hilly 10 mile course in which, after a few easy miles out the door, I would attack any downhill or uphill at an effort based on the hill’s grade and length. If it was short, sharp hill, I charged at near max effort. If it looked like an easier grade, I would back off to a 5k effort. It sounds daunting but remember some of these hills are short. In fact I don’t remember any of the hills lasting over a minute. This workout is supposed to fit into your week without requiring days of recovery time. This workout is designed to work both your eccentric contractions (downhill) and your concentric contractions (uphill). The litmus test for this workout: sore quads! This is the rare exception in running where the saying “no pain, no gain” actually carries some weight.

4. "Long Run/Marathon Pace (MP)/Downhill adaptation"

This workout incorporated a 4.5 mile paved loop in which the first two miles contained a steep (6% grade) uphill with a flat section on top followed by a 2 mile downhill. This loop was repeated 5 times for a total of 22 miles but with four 2 mile downhill surges. This workout accomplished many things. It got my long run out of the way; it worked my aerobic system at a slow but uphill level during the first 2 mile incline. It also worked on marathon specific race pace on a downhill slope thus toughening my legs for the upcoming Boston Marathon.  

5. "Long Tempo/MP goal pace/ Course specific adaptation"

This workout is the Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) workout. This is the place in DC to mimic the challenges of the Boston or National Marathon. After a 2 mile warm-up you begin the workout at the 4 mile mark (see: http://www.cctrail.org/map4.htm). You then proceed downhill for 3 miles until you bottom out parallel to Canal Rd. You then run flat for a few miles in front of Georgetown, do a u- turn at the 10 mile mark and then head back. The challenge now is that you’ve already run 3 miles down, 3 miles flat at near your marathon goal pace and you have to turn around and go back up. Don’t be surprised how slow your mile splits are going back up the last few miles. In fact you’ll forget how downhill the first few miles were until you have to go back up. My paces varied from 4:55 downhill to 5:18 for that same mile going up. Speed isn’t the only goal here; it’s teaching your body what it’s like to run tired, run marathon speed, run downhill, flat, and then uphill last. It’s all about specificity. Your body isn’t smart, your brain is smart. Your body just adapts to whatever stress you send its way. 

About Keith:

Keith Dowling ran his career best 2:13:28 to be first American, and 15th overall, at the 2002 Boston Marathon. The University of Pittsburgh graduate was sixth in 2:14:30 at the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials, and was a member of four U.S. National Teams. Dowling has now retired from competitive running and is working in various other capacities within the sport including serving as the SunTrust National Marathon’s Race Director.