Marathon-Specific Training: How to Peak at Race Day — with John Starrett

John Starrett is an experienced endurance coach with over 40 years in the sport. He has coached more than 900 runners to a sub-3 hour marathon and has guided male and female athletes to the US Olympic Marathon Trials. He is also known as The Stable Master.

This is John's second appearance on The Aerobic Edge. In our first episode we covered aerobic base building and bridge training. In this episode we go deeper into the final piece of the puzzle: the marathon-specific block.

John walks through his complete 11-12 week marathon block in detail — from the first long run all the way to race week. We cover why most runners train the wrong paces in a marathon block, why racing a half marathon four weeks out is a bad idea, how to use the lactate shunt session in your taper, and what the key sign is that your athlete is ready to race.

John also makes a personal announcement: at 59 years old — after years off from running — he is going to attempt to run a marathon himself, starting from scratch. And Joost is his coach.

What we cover:

• The structure of an 11-12 week marathon-specific block
• Weekend long runs: how to build from easy pace to full marathon pace
• Why you should never race a half marathon four weeks out
• Midweek sessions: the support role in a marathon block
• The lactate shunt session and why it works
• 5K sessions in a marathon block — why they do more harm than good
• Taper structure: the overload principle and the 10-day rule
• How to handle heat, wind and bad weather during key sessions
• John's personal marathon attempt — and Joost as his coach

Links & resources:

• Free coaching call with Joost: https://www.cal.eu/pacebuddies/freecall
• Pace Buddies: pacebuddies.com