I am currently training for a marathon in 2 months, and I did one 2 months ago. The most challenging aspect of training seems to be finding time to train and generally train consistently. My training week usually follows the pattern of long run Sunday, rest Monday, easy run Tuesday, interval/fast running Wednesday, easy run Thursday, easy run Friday, rest Saturday. My question is if you were going to not do one of those running days due to sickness, tiredness, busy day, etc or maybe you just have to move the running schedule around, are there any of those runs that should take priority and might need to be done more than others? Should a long run be done every week no matter what for example? Or are the easy runs more important to get back into the routine of running? My instinct says the fast/interval running, etc is not to be prioritised.
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2What is your goal? Cardiovascular health, getting through without feeling like you're dying on the way, improving your time? What is it? As it stands, "most important" is meaningless as long as you can't say for what. Also, "easy run" is equally meaningless. If you mean Zone 2 running, say so. And without any info on your weekly mileage, no serious suggestion can be given.– Philip KlöckingCommented Sep 1 at 19:19
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"I am currently training for a marathon in 2 months" so there's a goal, bud. The negativity isn't helpful, dude. If you wanted more info just ask. Also, "easy runs" is a commonly used term for the shorter, less intense runs in a weekly plan, regardless of level or mileage.– MuccyCorkCommented Sep 2 at 21:05
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4From the perspective of training sciences, it is important to know your mileage per run and per week (important variable!) and how much you train your cardiovascular system (zone 2 runs) or your lactate tolerance/metabolism (high intensity interval etc) respectively as well as your specific goals in that marathon. You ran one already, it's not like "just making it over the line" will do. Thus, these informations are needed for any actual answer to the question asked. If you don't care about your time the answer will be different from you wanting to improve your time.– Philip KlöckingCommented Sep 2 at 21:35
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2What is your weekly mileage? How long are each of your runs? What is your goal (As Philip says), do you want to just finish? Finish faster? What was your marathon time from 2 months ago? Just saying "Tuesday easy run" could be one mile, could be fifteen. Could be a 12:00/mile pace could be 7:00. It's hard to say what to add/drop with scant information.– JohnP ♦Commented Sep 2 at 23:10
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1@MuccyCork it is a little hard to know your goal: simply, your goal is likely (say for me) "burn calories", and for others often "race time"; and for others "complete"; and for others "carido health". (And rarely, "bone trouble" /etc) Which is it for you? Sorry, couldn't get it from the question– FattieCommented Sep 4 at 16:16
2 Answers
Looking at your training plan, if you don't have time for all of those workouts, I would say your Thursday run would be the one to skip for 2 main reasons:
- You already have 2 other easy runs in your weekly routine
- You are running at a higher intensity on Wednesday and are also running on Friday.
Each of the types of training provides benefit, so I would keep some of each. For marathons, the long run is essential, since you are training for a long run. Having one day to focus on tempo and speed also has significant benefits since it will raise your lactate threshold, which means you can maintain a faster pace for a longer period of time with less lactic acid build up.
Avoiding injury may be the most important aspect of training. With 2 months to go, even a minor injury will be more detrimental than missing a few runs. So if you have to miss a day because you are sick do NOT try to make up the miles when you feel better. If you're too sick to run, you should cut miles for the days you are sick. You may consider moving key runs to another day, but be careful about doing 2 long runs close together.
For example:
If you're not feeling well Sunday, you could do your long run Monday and rest Tuesday, skipping your easy run.
If you're sick Sunday-Wednesday, don't do a long run Thursday and another long run on Sunday. Your body needs more time to recover. Better to just make the next Sunday run count in that case. So maybe do your interval workout Thursday, an easy run or recovery jog Friday, and rest Saturday.
In summary:
- You should keep the 3 types of training you have in your plan
- Consistency is important, staying healthy is more important
- A sick day usually means cutting miles
You need to see what your body best responds to.
Endurance is very important so you should prioritize the long runs. Apart from running I think general high rep count endurance building exercises with weights will also help.
Fast runs/interval runs are the ones you should skip, you can replace those with cardio. They do not have much long-term impact.
If you are sick or actually feel too tired, it's better to not exercise at all, by taking some rest and recovery you won't be losing progress.
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2Interval and threshold runs are the most important part of improving ones speed and endurance. Mileage is important, but if you want to get faster, you NEED interval and threshold (And there is a huge different between them). The vast majority of recreational runners do their easy runs at too fast a pace, and their hard runs at too easy of a pace.– JohnP ♦Commented Sep 2 at 23:12
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1An anecdote is not data, but last winter I tried 80:20 training and did a lot of slow endurance running and not much interval or threshold training (because I was only running 3/4 times a week) and my fitness level went down substantially and my easy running pace went down as well. I suspect we are all different and to some extent we need to try things to find out what works for us, but I agree with JohnP, especially the last sentence. n.b. I am still a beginner - I've only been running for two years. Commented Sep 4 at 10:12