So you had a good tri season. Maybe even a great one. And you are looking at the calendar and are saying, “Wait until June to race again? No way!” Instead of resting on your laurels you have signed up for a fall marathon.

Make sure you transition right. If you have more than 12 weeks to race day, make sure you take a solid week off from training. If you have been cutting back on your training already, then keep it loose and light for one more week. Cutting short your rest now will only mean that you will hurt – mentally and physically – later on.

Keep up the cross-training work. Just because you are a “runner” now doesn’t mean you can cut out the other disciplines (swim, bike, lifting and stretching). You should run no more than 5 times a week with only two key runs – your long run and later on, your tempo (or fartlek) run. All other runs should be easy. I personally go four days a week; keep up a long weekend ride (for easy recovery) and 2 swims (for recovery and light aerobic work). Weight training – light, 3-4 sets of key movements, 15-20 reps; just once a week. Too much running can result in injury…don’t forget you are a triathlete and have a long way to go to next season.

Retest your run zones. If you have time, do the 30’ run test protocol – 30 minutes at sustained pace (not blow-up pace), hit your HRM at the 10’ mark and note the Average HR (AHR) – you can use this to set your training zones as a runner. Do not use old training values!

Recover well. Be sure to keep up stretching, and solid post-exercise nutrition. Remember that running takes much more out of your body than swimming or cycling. Consider getting a massage every four weeks if you can. If you aren’t feeling good more than 36 hours after a key long run or tempo workout, consider backing off for a few days.

Build your long run. Do this evenly and with intent. Rest every fourth week by cutting the long run WAY back. Don’t build more than 3 miles/week on this long run – I prefer 2. Take it WAY easy the next day. First 1/2 of your long runs (i.e. first 6 weeks out of 12 to race) should be long and steady, not hard, on a rolling course (not hilly). Last half, you can start building the tempo up over the last 1/4 to 1/3 of the run to your goal race pace.

Use tempo runs – forget the speed work. Unless you are a great runner who got into triathlon, you should seriously consider dropping all speed work in your marathon prep. Speed work is really for elite marathoners…you would be better off doing tempo runs just faster than goal marathon pace (by 10-25 seconds per mile) with short recoveries. Build this run up to 90’ in length, alternating intervals with solid pieces (i.e. one week would be 2x15 minutes at race pace minus 15 seconds with 5’ easy run in between – with a good warm up/down; next week would be a solid 35 minute effort at that pace; then 2x20 minutes, etc.).

Have fun! Remember this isn’t your goal race of the year! You are out to increase your endurance base and improve your running ability. Don’t lose sight of your long-term goals when you get the running bug. Some solid months now will mean a solid base – and quality 2005!

Good luck!

Coach P

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