Marathon Q+A: Steve Smythe

Hi everyone

Lucozade Sport Super Six mentor Steve Smythe will be online between 1pm and 2pm today to answer any queries you might have about your spring marathon training.

Steve worked at Runner's World for 10 years and took over the marathon schedules when Bruce Tulloh retired from writing them. Steve has run more than 60 marathons (26 Londons) and as well as holding a PB of 2:29, he has also won a British marathon title in his age group. As far as his coaching record goes, he's helped one runner to British international level over the marathon distance and another to a British age-group record. He also coaches around 30 runners in his running club, whose abilities range from 2:30 to outside five hours..

We're starting this thread now so you have a chance to post your questions beforehand - that way, Steve will be able to hit the ground running rather than having to deal with too many questions all at once.

Time to get posting!

Catherine RW

Hi Steve, I am running my first marathon in London, training has been going well, and last  weekend I saw a significant improvement on my half mara time.

My question is, how can I maintain my fitness after the marathon, without overtraining, or is running 40 miles + a week about average?

Thanks

Hi Steve

 On Sunday i did a local 20 mile road race - it advertised plenty of drinks stations - however unknown to me I these were water only and I had taken any other fuel - at around 14 miles I ran out of gas  and plodded home 10 minutes behind schedule  - many other people I saw used energy pouches

I had done 20 mile training runs and fueled on Lucozade sport during these with little problem albeit training runs have been around 1.00min per mile slower than last sunday

What advice can you give on fuelling - how often and when during the marathon ?

Steve - not so much a question as a quick note to anyone posting just to say how much your advice has helped me in my training - I was lucky enough to get one of the Lucozade/RW super six places for this years FLM. The advice he has given me to date has really turned my approach to training around and I'd like to say a big thank you to Steve.

Steve,

Firstly, apologies for the long question but I think it's improtant to have a bit of background. I am currently in the height of training for my first marathon (Hamburg on 26th April 09) and things are going a lot better than expected. Despite spending half of December on crutches I spent the majority of last year getting general fitness back. Initially my aim was to aim sub 3:15 as I thought this would be achievable given my 10k PB from last year. However, as I have increased the mileage and quality of the training I have seen dramatic improvements which has left me thinking that I could have a reasonable stab at sub 3. A few facts, beginning of February i ran a ten mile race in 64:52, beginning of March a 5 mile blast in 30:34 and this past Sunday completed a half marathon in 1:23:52. I am currently averaging 40 miles a week since the beginning of Jan and will peak this week with around 60miles. With my top three LSR totalling 63 miles so far (and still 3 more 20+ to go).

So finally my question: What do you think I should do? Should I aim to scrape sub three or do you think I should just take my first marathon as an experience and ensure I make sub 3:15?

Thanks in advance

Dear Steve

I missed out on training in December and the first two weeks of January for various reasons (before that I had been doing 30-35 mpw through the summer and autumn). However, my last 9 weeks of training have surpassed my expectations and in the last 4 weeks I’ve managed 70-75 miles per week, which have included:

• A long run (7.40 pace)
• Two medium long runs (12-13 miles @ 7.20-7.30 pace)
• A 1 hour steady run (7.30 pace)
• A tempo session (30-40 mins @ 6.20/mile pace)
• An interval session (e.g. 6 x 1 K @ 6 min/mile pace).                                               
•  

I’ve done 6 long runs of 20-22 miles in the last 8 weeks.

This will be my 6th FLM and last year I ran my PB of 3.03. I’m now getting very close to last year’s fitness level, but I’m not sure what to do for the next three weeks – keep on with the high mileage regime or cut down and start to up the intensity of the speed sessions (e.g. make the tempo and interval sessions more taxing)? Also, I’ve not done any marathon pace efforts and wonder if I should be introducing them.

Many thanks for your advice

ITFAC

Norwich Runner...

Luckily you've got plenty of time to prepare yourself for the schedule.

I think it's just a case of getting into a regular routine of weekend long run (building up gradually), some faster midweek runs and a few faster efforts in the middle of your run.

The fitter you can get prior to starting the schedule, in theory the faster you will be when you start the marathon.

It's probably best not doing too much speedwork initially but building up the stamina, but do everything gradually to let your body accustom itself to the higher workloads.

Ang12

the marathon will give you lots of fitness to keep your endurance levels high during the summer. Just make sure you recover and don't do too much for the few weeks afterwards and then gradually try and get into a routine and a month after the marathon you should be upping the pace of your runs and aiming for shorter races. if you've been doing 50 miles a week in marathon build up, 35-40 should be sufficient to keep endurance but be able to train faster to increase speed and speed endurance.

Hi Steve,

My question is about knee pain – when I started running several years ago I was training for a 12km race. During the training I noticed increasing pain in my knees, most noticeable when bending down and trying to stand up again. This prompted a trip to the podiatrist, a change of shoes (Brooks Glycerine), and a pair of orthotics (I’m flatfooted, so I over-pronate). Over the next couple of years I continued to have problems with shin splints which I just ‘manage’ with ice, ibuprofen, massage, stretching, blah, blah. After another trip to a podiatrist I had my orthotics adjusted (increased arch support) and he recommended different shoes (Brooks Adrenaline). But now that I am training for London marathon the knee pain is back. I’m still doing all the ‘managing’ stuff and am keeping the shin splints to a minor level but am worried that with a month of tough long runs my knees may not make it to the marathon.

Any advice appreciated!

Michelle.

ps. I have been pretty much following the RW sub-4:30 marathon schedule and to date all training has gone to schedule.

Anthony

Important to practice fuelling in training and warm up races. London will be fine for fuelling with Lucozade. Personally I like a gel at the start, one around 10k-10 miles and then one around 13-15 which I feel is the most useful one and then one around 20. Topped up with Lucozade, that seems to have kept me strong over the last few miles in my recent marathons. I used to run out of energy before changing to this. of course no fuel strategy can make up for poor pacing or insufficient training!

Hi Steve,

'm training for London and running a 20 mile race this weekend as preparation, and to gauge my pace for the marathon. I don't want to run the 20 miler too hard as I may not recover in time for London, and also adversely affect  the remainder of my LM training. I think that my target MP for London will be 6:40 mins per mile, so do you think I would be ok to run the first half of the 20 miler at 7:10 pace, and the second half at 6:40's?

Thanks,

EP

Big Jase

You are in great shape and getting fitter all the time and yes you are capable of sub 3 but it is probably too early to try.

I think best to run 3:10 and feeling you can go quicker than try and run 2:59, sufffer and run 3:10 or much, much slower. if you run 3:10 and feel there is more there then you can always go for sub-3 next time.

Enjoy your first one as much as you can. and remember that plenty of runners who think they can break three, sometimes struggle to break 3:30.

Hi Steve

I have a marathon on 5 April (no 13). I like the look of a 10 mile race the weekend before. If I run it at MP, or just a bit faster will it do me more harm than good, or more good than harm?

The Wednesday evening before the sunday marathon is my club night. My group is getting quicker each week - last night it was 6 miles at MP - 30 seconds. Again should I do this session so close to a marathon?

I always seem to do something daft before a race, and want to do thing properly this year.

Thanks for any advice.

Pammie

There is still time to get reasonably fit but I would suggest changing your aim for a sub-4.

The key is not to get any more injuries and get as many long runs in as you can.

You still may be able to get back on course but lower the expectations.

Hi Steve,

 I'm training for the London marathon and my best run so far was 13 miles on Tuesday at just under 2 hours. I was hoping for a sub-4 marathon but got setback by injury. What would you recommend for the next few weeks in terms of getting used to the distance. Is sub-4 still in sight?

Hi there,

I'm training for London and it is my first marathon.  Previously I've been a 4 miles, 3 times a week kind of runner.  I am following a sub 4.30 16 week training plan which is going really well however I have checked out the plans on this site and am worried that I am not doing enough miles each week.  The plan has me doing a couple of 45-60 minutes runs and a n interval session each week and then the long run....have done a 13, 15, 13 and then will be 17 miles this weekend.  Does this sound ok or should I be doing more??

Cheers

ITFAC - great training. Sub 3 should be well within your compass.

I suggest a half marathon race would be a good idea to monitor your fitness and a few runs at marathon pace - ie 10 miles at 6:45s.

However, generally just keep what you are doing as it looks like you hav most things covered.

Hi Steve

I'm running the London on 26th, and am hoping for sub 4 (as it seems every on is!). My recent half and 10k times suggest its possible. But what pace should I start at?

I'd rather achieve sub 4:30 than burn out and get nearer 5 or more, which I hear happens a lot to runners aiming for 4.

So is it better to start at the pace you want to keep up - 9min/mile -  or start a little slower, see how its going and try and catch up in the second half if I feel up to it?

This is my first marathon.

Thanks