PLAY WITH 'BLOCKS' TO TRAIN FOR LONG RACES

MARATHON TRAINING STRATEGY: BUILDING ON 3-WEEK LONG BLOCKS
Most long endurance race training programs involve increasing weekly mileage by adding one or more miles onto the long easy run at each week’s end.  Kevin Beck posted a method on 
 
PodiumRunner.com that involves repeating what he calls “blocks” of 3 weeks duration which include lower, then moderate, and then longer mileage runs interspersed with tempo, fast-finish, and speed runs. 
 
I was immediately interested in the concept because I had done something like this, although not so elaborately, to prepare for the one marathon I ran.
 
Instead of adding a mile or two to the long run each week I began alternating the long runs of greater than 13 miles with those of 10 miles. For example on one week I would run 14 miles,  and the next 10, followed by 16 miles and then 10 miles, followed by 18 miles then 10 miles. To save my knees.  
 
Beck says, “Not only is it simple-though not easy- to follow, but based on your current fitness level, you can decide how many ‘blocks’ you need before your goal marathon and plan for that race in a surgical way.”
 
I’m thinking of trying Beck’s “Blocks” method but adjusting the numbers to fit my abilities and concern for maintaining musculoskeletal health and avoiding injuries. In addition to adding blocks, I will need to adjust the mileage.
 
Above is a preliminary attempt to translate Beck’s plan for personal use.  It’s going to require more tweaking but hopefully will be ready when I am to start training again this winter/spring.
 
Check it out. The math has not been double-checked and there may be errors in this first go-round. Beck’s exact phasing is in italics.

Beck’s Definitions (in italics and quotes):
“Tempo (T): Running done at anaerobic threshold; this is between about 5 and 7 percent faster than marathon pace for most runners “

• MY marathon pace is 14 min/mile; which means subtracting 0.7 to 0.98 minutes from that pace (for easy calculating, running/walking miles at 13 minutes:15 seconds to 13 minutes/mile).

“Medium-long run (MLR): A run of 10 to 14 miles, depending on ability and experience. In this scheme, tempo running is embedded into these.”

• MY (MLR) would be 7-8 miles

“Long run (LR): any run of 15 miles or longer”

• MY (LR) would be any run/walks of 13 miles or longer 

“Fast Finish (FF): from 1.5 to 3 miles or 10 to 20 minutes based on your current fitness) of running at the end of a MLR or LR, Progressing from about 10K pace down to about 5K pace in a MLR and from about T pace to about 10K pace in a LR.”

• MY(FF) would be the last 23 to 45 minutes of any run/walks of 8-13+ miles 

“Short Speed (SS): Reps of 200 to 400 meters (about 30 seconds to 2 minutes) at about 3K (two mile) race pace.”

• MY (SS) would be reps of 2 minutes to 3.5 minutes at 11:30 race pace. 

“Medium Speed (MS): Reps of 600 to 100 meters (about two to five minutes at 3k to 5K race pace.”

• MY (MS) would be about 5 to 9 minutes at 11;30 to 12:00/mile.

“Long Speed (LS): Reps of 1200 to 2000 meters (about five to seven minutes) at 5k race pace.”

• MY (LS) would be ten to 18 minutes at 12:00/mile

“MarathonPace (MP): Your realistic goal race pace, held continuously for about 8 to 18 miles.”

• My (MP)would be 13:45- 14:00/mile.

It’s best to read the full article several times for full understanding. It may be worth your time formulating a custom plan if you too struggle with progressively increasing mileage each week when training for a longer distance race. The idea and practice of dropping down from a peak to lower mileage is extremely appealing to me as I hope to avoid tendinitis and knee issues that tend to arise as mileage increases. Since not focused solely on finish time, I am likely to swap the speed work with strength training sessions.

Now is the time to plan for 2021. There’s little motivation to do this mental work once fall and winter festivities begin. People are already looking for holiday music on the radio and streaming services! 
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RUN & MOVE HAPPY!

PS: I changed the calendar to start with Sunday and end with Saturday per personal convenience.

https://www.podiumrunner.com/training/marathon-training/the-21-day-rotating-marathon-training-block/www.podiumrunner.com/training/marathon-training/the-21-day-rotating-marathon-training-block/