How to Train for a Marathon
Leading into this post, I promised myself that I wouldn’t try to dissuade people from running marathon(s) or any long distance races. I already do that plenty in other posts, so today’s is geared toward the folks that simply are going to run a marathon or marathons, regardless of what I say. I know these people exist because I used to be one. Running a marathon can be a huge bucket-list accomplishment. With that in mind, when people write in to ask me about training for a marathon, I think about what I would do in that situation knowing what I know now. How would I train to do the least damage and get the most benefit? Truth is, if I put my mind to it, and you had elite level potential, I could most likely train some of you to win the thing outright, but that’s not what this post is about. This post is about finishing the race without embarrassing and/or hurting yourself. It’s about accomplishing something big, something special. It’s about training for a decent, respectable showing in a marathon. One (or two, or three if you must) and done.
To be an effective marathoner – or even to just finish one – you have to be an effective fat burner. It is the beta-oxidation of fat, both dietary and stored body fat, that provides much of the aerobic energy you will need to maintain reasonable pace for 26.2 miles. I mean, 26.2 miles is a whole lot of miles. When you’re driving somewhere and the sign says “26 miles” to your destination, you think “That’s kinda close, but kinda far.” Now picture that on foot. Yeah. Good luck doing that as a fully dependent sugar-burner. Fat’s the ticket, and if you have spent the requisite few weeks reprogramming your body to derive most of your energy from fat while at rest and at low level of activity (through your PB diet), you will be primed to access fat while training.
With that in mind, you’re not really training for a marathon, per se – you’re training your body to become more efficient with its energy so that you can run a marathon. You’re actually reapportioning how your body uses various types of fuel at different activity levels. Thus, training for a marathon comes down to three primary goals:
1. Achieve mitochondrial biogenesis and optimality.
Increasing the number of mitochondria (biogenesis) will spread the aerobic workload – the beta oxidation of fats and some glucose/glycogen- across more cellular power plants. Improving the number and efficiency of your mitochondria will allow you to do more output (running) with less reliance on glucose and/or glycogen as a primary fuel and more reliance on fat (input). In effect, this will increase your “miles per gallon.” Only instead of filling the tank with gasoline, you’re using stored body fat.
2. Increase the amount of fat burnt relative to carbs at a given work output.
Glycogen depletion is the defining point of “hitting the wall,” so you want to avoid the wall as long as you can. Remember, it’s 26.2 miles. The more fat you’re able to burn and turn into useable energy, the less glycogen you’ll go through. Muscle glycogen storage is very limited, and whether you’re a sugar-burner or a fat-burner, you’re still going to store the same amount of glycogen – it’s the rate at which you deplete it that counts. If you can access fat more efficiently and use fat for work that would normally require glycogen, you’re winning. If you can train to use fat for higher workloads, you can increase or maintain the intensity without dipping too deeply into your muscle glycogen.
3. Increase your aerobic threshold.
The aerobic threshold is the maximum level of output at which you are still relying primarily on the aerobic, or oxidative, energy pathways. As long as you stay under that aerobic threshold, you can train yourself primarily using fat to generate ATP energy (and your high fat diet plays a key role here, too). Once you cross that threshold you start burning more sugar. As you get further into anaerobic territory, however, you’re burning mostly sugar – liver and muscle glycogen. Sugar burns faster (and hotter), and it doesn’t last nearly as long as fat. So if you can increase your aerobic threshold, you should be able to increase the intensity of your runs without dipping too deeply into your glycogen stores. Ideally, then, a prospective marathoner will train to increase his or her aerobic threshold (we’ll save the ANaerobic threshold discussions for another day). That way, you can save the glycogen for the finish line, when it really matters.
One way to start out is to simply keep your heart rate at or below 65% of your max on longer runs (and this might eventually become 70-75% of max as your training benefits accumulate). To determine a person’s aerobic threshold, I find the most intuitive way is to have them run “long” (6-12 miles after a few weeks of sufficient low level training) runs on back-to-back days on fewer than 150 grams carbs per day. If you can complete both runs, both days, without adding back extra carbs, you’ll know you haven’t been dipping too deeply into your glycogen stores. If so, that’s your aerobic threshold pace. Remember it.
As for a specific training prescription, here’s what I’d do every week, beginning at least 12 weeks before the event and generalized for the widest possible audience:
1. Two to three slow aerobic threshold runs.
These should be easy runs performed just below or at your aerobic threshold at the type of pace you can easily maintain. If you are just starting out from little run training, these sessions can be long hikes with easy jogs thrown in. These are great opportunities to just log mileage and improve fat oxidation efficiency without too much stress, where you can actually think about stuff other than the run (hey, maybe even work through some personal issues). For improving mitochondrial efficiency and stimulating mitochondrial biogenesis, these aerobic threshold runs (and your Primal Blueprint eating strategy) will be your bread and butter – the kind of low-level training I referenced in the post on improving mitochondrial efficiency through exercise.
To really promote fat oxidation, limit your carbs or even go into these runs in a slightly fasted state. When you begin dipping into glycogen, or hitting the wall (which might come soon-ish since you’re fasted or slightly carb depleted), back off. You want to stay away from the anaerobic pathway. The length of these runs will depend on your baseline endurance, and you’ll soon be able to stay under the aerobic threshold for longer (which is the whole point!). I would add a mile each week to the longest of these runs.
2. One interval session, followed by an active recovery day.
Run intervals one day a week – alternating repeat 400 m one week, 800 m the next. Walk or jog for two minutes in between. For the 400s, start with as many as you can comfortably do the first week and add one each week until you are at 12 intervals for the workout; for the 800s, work your way up to 10. On a scale of 1-20 with 20 being the most intense, keep the intensity at about a 14-16. It’s not an all-out sprint, because, well, good luck sprinting 800 meters multiple times, but this is at faster than your intended marathon race pace for sure. The next day, go for a walk or hike or go bike somewhere. Don’t go climb Half Dome or anything. Keep it pretty light.
For the intervals, you’ll definitely want to carb-load the day before. Slam the sweet potatoes and yams, about 400 carb grams worth, since you’ll purposely be blasting through your glycogen that next day.
3. One race-pace run.
Here, you’re trying to emulate the race pace without going the actual distance. It’s necessarily higher intensity than your regular runs, just at or slightly above your aerobic threshold. It’s going to be tougher, too, with some glycogen depletion. Don’t expect to pull out your iPhone and check Facebook in the middle of it.
Start with at least two or three miles, or a bit more than whatever length your threshold runs are, and add a mile each week (minimum).
If you plan on doing this barefoot or in minimalist running shoes, be absolutely certain your lower body is acclimated to it. A marathon is a long way for someone whose feet, calves, knees, and hips (with all the connective tissues that go along with said joints and body parts) have only been spending cursory time exercising without protective footwear. Review my post on making the barefoot transition and confirm that your ship is in shape.
Well, that’s what I’ve got. Remember, this is just general advice for the wider public. If you were my client, I’d tailor the training to you, but you’re not. For what it’s worth, this is how I’d train myself I were crazy enough to get back into running marathons, because it’s effective, it’s low-cost, and it’s actually a fairly healthy way to go about training for one. I mean who doesn’t want rockstar mitochondria?
Any runners out there? Any marathoners? How do you train?
Next time, I’ll discuss how to fuel a marathon while staying Primal. And yes, it’s very possible.
Whew, and I didn’t even mention the phrase “Chronic Cardio” once. I’m pretty proud of myself. Thanks for reading.
Grab a Copy of The Primal Blueprint 21-Day Total Body Transformation and Start Getting Primal Today!
Posted By: Mark Sisson
Hey I recently completed my first marathon! I trained by doing intervals once or twice a week. Anywhere from 100s up to mile repeats. Then on Sundays I would do a long run anywhere from 4 to 10 miles. I never went longer then this. I also had big ten marching band practice 4 days a week so at this volume I was already weary of recovering enough. I completed the marathon in 3:29 without spending countless hours of training and without a huge running background
Oh and I forgot to mention, I run pose and own vibrams but I ran the marathon in more of a traditional running shoe as I felt that my lower legs weren’t ready yet. Prior to and post of the marathon I was a very active crossfitter
After doing the Chicago Marathon many moons ago, I’m content with sprints and heaving lifting!
I’m with you on that Jeff.
I used to run, until I took up Judo, now there’s no need to run…….
This is the exact type of training i had when i ran track and cross counrty in highschool and college(10yrs ago). i only ran cross to stay in shape for track. this kind of training allowed me to run sub 50sec 400′s and sub 2:00 800 early in the track season. i do believe this post is my new inspiration to start training again!
This is so timely!! I normally do crossfit 3x/week, a hike with my dogs 1x/week, and then take the rest of the week off or just do long walks with my dogs. My mom recently asked if I wanted to do a half marathon with her in May. My initial reaction was “no way!”, who needs the ‘chronic cardio’? Then the more I thought about it the more I wanted to do it to prove that I could train for the run and complete it without going overboard on the cardio. Also, to complete it while staying totally Primal and not do any carbo-loading. My family and friends already think I’m weird for the way I eat and workout, so I’d really like to show them that I can do things my way and have a great outcome at a half marathon, which they consider to be an accomplishment to be able to finish. AND I fully intend to do the run in my Vibrams, which they also love to make fun of. I had been searching the internet on the very topic earlier today so this is perfect, Mark! Thanks so much!!!
I’ve done 2 marathons – one before being primal and one after (trained CW and primal respectively) so I can offer some perspective. BTW I’m not a “natural” distance guy either – ran the 200m and 400m in high school – endurance was never my thing.
Spent 6 months of 2003 training for a marathon for January of 2004. Full on CW person…grains, carbs for fuel, calculating calories, Asics boats for running shoes, you get the idea. Ran 5 to 6 days per week – energy gels and gatorade during long runs on the weekends (longest run in training was 22 miles)…like any typical marathon plan you might find in Runners World or most books.
Race day…last 5 miles was miserable, felt horrible for about 2 weeks after with soreness and joint pain. Finished in 4:45.
Started going primal before I knew it was called that in early 2005. I wanted to have a go at the inaugural Goofy’s Challenge at the Disney Marathon in January 2006 – called so b/c the half marathon was on Saturday and the full marathon was Sunday. Goofy’s Challenge was completing both that weekend.
By the time I started getting serious about the race, I had several months of learning barefoot technique behind me. Trained in and did the races exclusively in the Puma H Street which Pose people may be familiar with.
My weekly training consisted of 20 – 25 400m repeats as intense as possible (over 2 days, usually MW), occasionally I would run 10 long hill sprints up a seldom used (this is key
toll road exit ramp near my house one of those days instead of 400m repeats.
On Saturdays I would alternate one week with a 2.5 hr walk/hike with very little (I mean around 20 mins tops) jogging and the other week with the same thing but 5 hrs to simulate having to do distance and then double the distance the following day for the race.
For the race weekend I cruised the half faster than I wanted in 1:58, felt great and the next day did the 26.2 in 4:07 and felt even better – not to mention got 3 really cool medals. Fuel during running was exclusively coconut oil and deer jerky (best friend is avid deer hunter). No real soreness, no pain. In fact the next day after (Mon) was my first day at a new job and during orientation I was walking around all day up and down steps like it was just another day.
Haven’t done a distance event of any kind since then – haven’t had the desire – guess I scratched that itch or something, but I guess my point is that Primal can be a viable (and superior) training strategy for distance events.
What a wonderful training plan. It would never occur to me to walk my long runs. I have done long runs with walk/run but always very little walking. I have never see this recommended but its hard to argue that it worked for you!
I have run a few half marathons. Will do one marathon at some point as a bucket list item.
I just completed a Tough Mudder race. 12 miles.
I’m actually a big believer in not really training at all. Work out the primal way, take lots of walks …play a lot and you will be in fine shape to run a half marathon…or perhaps even a full marathon. If you want competitve times, then yes by all means you must train, but other wise I don’t think it’s necessary. Running all the time break your body down. Putting a “stress’ on your body once in a blue moon is actually good for you I think. This is all speculation and self experimentation but it worrks for me and others I have talked too. I will say it again, I didn’t train at all for the Tough Mudder Race and at age 44 I had not problem running and doing all the obstacles.
Marc
Another primal ultra runner here. Mark’s comments are pretty much spot on with my training. A great resource for this type of training is Phil Maffetone (google him). He has a more specific way of measuring aerobic threshold (called the 180 method) and through the use of a HR monitor makes training and improvement more measurable. He agrees with all of the footwear and nutrition items that Mark discusses as well. A great resource for all of the Primal Endurance athletes out there… and would be a good speaker at a Primal Gathering in the future.
Great post! I have run marathons in the past, although I am quite content running 3-5 miles, 3 days a week with my dog at the present. For all you runners out there, I urge you to to check out Bill Pierce, Scott Murr and Ray Moss’ book on running Run Less, Run Faster http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=run+faster+less&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=6071115145&ref=pd_sl_14p51wxa08_b
The book completely transformed how I look at running.
Marathons are so hard! I would never have the patience to train or run such a thing. I’m a sprint kinda of guy. That’s exciting!
Didnt eat primal yet when I ran my first marathon but the biggest problem I and most other people seemed to have was getting the legs to move after ~30km. I would recommend a few 3h runs before the race just to get your body used to moving for longer than 2h periods.
I ran 2 full marathons and 1 half marathon in a 30 day period this fall. A 3:42 full, a week later a 1:36 half and three weeks later a 3:43 full (trying to BQ to no avail, I think I was tired).
I trained this summer running two days a week. One long run (tempoing every 2 miles) and one medium run. I ate as primally as possible and avoided as much sugar as possible.
My recovery was ridiculously amazing, as protein is key in recovery.
Of course I ate sweet potatoes, bananas, and definitely cookies (if I can’t eat cookies after running 20 miles, when can I?), but not too much.
The key for me was nutrition, not over training (seriously, two days a week running most of the time and taking those runs at a close to race pace) and tempo runs (sometimes when I could get in a 3rd run). I have a 1.5 yr old and 2.5 yr old which is why my training was limited. That’s why I had to take every advantage I could, and nutrition was one definite way. I don’t think there is any other way to train for a marathon than by eating primally and keeping the running to a minimum.
Wow! What a great day for this post. My GF just asked me to run in a Marathon with her for Gasparilla (Tampa, Florida) it i in March and it gives me time to follow the lead. I have only once run in a 5K 25 years ago. This is just something on my list. Thanks for the Post.
tough mudder > marathons
Mark, I’m with the others; we need a post on training for and dominating 5Ks!!
I’m going to run a marathon soon, after having trained in five fingers fueled by sweet potatoes and not running more than 2 days a week – one all-out sprint and plyometrics day, and one mega-long run. I’ve always considered my long runs “play”. I run them slowly and enjoy the scenery. I’ve seen too much in the paleo/primal community hating on marathoners, but as you have detailed here, LONG DISTANCE RUNNING SHOULD BURN FAT. It doesn’t have to tap into glucose-burning and stress responses. Running 26.2 miles shouldn’t feel like Crossfitting for 3 hours straight.
This post made me so happy
How To Train For A Marathon: Don’t.
Just ran my first marathon in November (wasn’t primal) but have recently been considering moving more toward primal eating. Can’t wait to read your fueling post.
I just finished my sixth half marathon on Sunday after going primal for 40 days. I beat my last seattle half marathon PR by 10 minutes! I did however eat carbs for the three days prior to the race. I still wonder if my success was from the primal diet or the three days of carbs. I didn’t even train as hard this year! I pretty much only run twice a week due to injury and I supplement with other types of cardio, such as spin class.
I’m with Kelly – if you don’t take carbs during a run of this length, you’re going to get the glucose you undoubtedly need from your muscle protein instead. Why waste away the muscle that you’ve been Lifting Heavy Things so hard for. The carbs won’t hurt you in that context, with your insulin sensititivy at the max. They go straight to the engine!
Mark,
Thanks for the tips! It’s good to look at it more as conditioning your body than training to run. I don’t run marathons, but I’m about to start preparing for a 15k, so I’ll definitely incorporate some of these suggestions.
Alykhan
I ran a marathon a couple years ago for my bucket list and hated it. I love the half marathon distance though. The full is just not for me. I got sick during training and a couple weeks after the race and couldn’t kick it for a few weeks. Not worth it! Now if I run (which I still like even though I burned myself out on it w/ the marathon training) I keep the distance to less than four miles. Sometimes I miss the mental high of running longer but I haven’t gotten sick nearly as much since I cut back so I still keep it short. When I ran 40 miles a week I had much more trouble with weight gain and carb cravings. 20-25 miles per week seems like the optimal amount for me though now I walk a lot more. My joints in my feet are finally healing from all the damage I did to them years ago!
I use Phil Maffetones 180 minus your age for your max heart rate for training runs
I’m interested in how one can eat primal and run a marathon. I thought one needed alot of carbs to burn
I approve of this topic!
Great topic and so true!
I too believe in Maffetone holistic method and find it very paleo/primal compatible. Actually it was his book that showed me importance of whole food diet and I switched to paleo thanks to it.
This combination of low/moderate carb diet and low stress/no pain training helped me to improve my marathon time by 36 minutes in one year (from 4:01 to 3:25) and, importantly, improved my health.
Now, I like running and love my weekend long runs, but I do it for the fun of it and at very easy pace – no chronic cardio and no need for carb loading.
I don’t see what’s wrong with long distance running- we evolved to be hairless, bipedal and sweaty for a hunting tactic that resembles modern-day ultra-running.
I am a primal triathlon coach and I find that it is VERY hard to convince people to let go of the sports nutrition. People are AFRAID to go without it and convinced they won’t survive if they aren’t constantly eating. We recently had a client switch to primal while training for a marathon and he lost 15 pounds and PRed.
You can do a lot as a fat burner, and when you learn to do that it makes carbs feel like rocket fuel! Carbs are a great tool for when you need to go fast, but most people use them for every single workout when it’s not necessary.
Most athletes I know maintain or gain weight when training for long events because the exercise makes you hungrier and because the carbs go through the roof. Plus they are too tired to cook! Training for a marathon is hard, not because of the mileage. It’s hard because of all those other reasons…makes you hungrier, makes you too tired to cook, makes it harder to maintain control of your diet.
Lots and lots of endurance athletes train so that they can eat bad food. It’s very hard to convince athletes that exercising doesn’t “allow” them to eat junk. I wish more people would realize that running a marathon doesn’t make you a healthy person if you are doing it overweight and on a terrible diet.
Okay, I know this is not the same thing at all, but I tried Zumba yesterday, and I think I’m addicted. Is there any way I can justify it and not admit that it’s chronic cardio? Do you think it could count as my all-out effort every 7 days?
Had to google it, but that looks more like “play” than cardio.
I’ve always wanted to run a marathon but never thought I would be able to complete it. I’m bookmarking this for the summer.