Not top and not a guy! But do have experience so here goes - there are about as many varieties of speedwork as there are marathon schedules. Our club has for years worked on 1000 metre repeats, jog back, go again, working up to 10 repeats. But there's also a thing called Yasso 8s which works really well whether you're a 2.30 runner or a 5 hr one. Invented by Bart Yasso, they consist of repeat 800m, jogging recovery. The idea is that whatever you train at in mins and secs translates to hrs and mins for the marathon distance. Sounds impossible but it holds up all down the line whatever your speed. If you want to run 3hrs 45mins, train to do your 800s at 3mins 45 secs. Start off with 4 and increase by one each week, do the last set about 10 days before race day. Good luck.
