Another excellent video Ben. Chuffed to hear you've started a podcast as well. It was good o hear you explain threshold runs. I'm struggling to get my head around the difference between a threshold run and a tempo and the purpose of each. Would be great if you could cover this in one of your videos.
Hi Ben. Just finished watching this video and immediately subscribed. I'll be using the weekend to watch all your other videos. I'm running the London Marathon in April. It's my first marathon ever. The most I've run before was 20km last year around March. I mostly do Park runs on Saturday mornings. Being doing these for several years now. Recently (Aug '21) moved to the UK from South Africa. I'm really struggling with the temperatures in the morning when I do most of my running. Can you suggest some light warm long sleeve tops one can wear that would provide insulation in this really difficult weather to run in? I'm going to follow your running plan religiously from here on out. Finding your channel has been a godsend!!
Appreciate that! Hope you enjoyed your weekend binge 😂 my personal favourites for long sleeves are from soar running and saysky. Both are a little bit on the expensive side but you really do get what you pay for. Super quality :) good luck with the London training!
Hi Ben. Love the channel (a lot!). Will you change and test your fueling strategy to prevent the same happening as in Valencia? Keep it up and will follow you in RU-vid and your new podcast! 🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️
Excited to follow you along in this block! What is your opinion on using cross training as the “easy double”? Also on easy runs do you run to a pace, heart rate or feel?
Hi Ben, good luck in Oasaka! A question on morning runs and long run specially: is it a hungry run or you have a breakfast? Do you use gels in long trainings?
For morning runs I usually have a small breakfast and coffee before heading out the door. I typically won’t take any gels with me if this is just an easy run but yes, for longer runs I take gels with me. I’ve just uploaded episodes 2 of the road to Osaka which is all about what I eat for my runs :)
Regarding the threshold training. It feels like a 3 x 10 minute threshold should be much harder than a 20 x 400m. I'm thinking mostly since the total rest is pretty long. Do you still count them equally in terms of potential benefit? Or is it more a way of mixing it up to make it more fun?
I typically would run the 400m reps slightly faster but yes would agree the 3x 10mins is a little harder usually. Mainly to mix it up but also work on flushing lactate as it builds during the shorter reps
Hey Ben - I'm keen to know on your long efforts when do you start to bring fueling into the mix? 15 miles, 18 miles+ only ask as those gels are expensive!
Good luck with the block - looking forward to seeing how you do! Q - I’d be interested to know, do you add warmup & cooldown distances pre/post sessions to your weekly mileage when writing a plan?
Thank you! I do include that in my milage yes. I typically do a 2 mile/3km warm up and cool down before any session so always good to factor that into my plan :)
Hi Ben, Great video. Let me know if you need any advice re Japan. I’ve been going there for over 25 years and have raced over 10 marathons there so have plenty of experience of getting over jet lag:-)
Good luck Ben, but If I've got this right, It has only been a month since Valencia ( which didn't go to plan ), you have since been unwell & now you plan to run yet another marathon In eight weeks time ! I have a slight feeling this Isn't going to end well 😐
Thats so exciting, I'm going to be in the Philippines, then Japan from Feb 1st to Feb 18th. Wish I could run the Osaka marathon, but the timing is slightly off sadly.
Love the reminder that you need to stick to your current threshold pace as not to burnout early in the block. Question: Do you plan on incorporating above threshold workouts on a regular basis? Maybe strides at the end of easy session? Thanks!
Another great video Ben, i have a question, during a race/run/session if you hit abit of a wall mentally what is the best way to get past it without it affecting you too much?, i had this issue during my marathon at 22 miles and it just killed the race for me
Love the thoughts on the threshold runs - thanks! A question on the long runs in this block: are you targeting a specific energy system or is it a building miles and kit/nutrition practice? It seemed to be right in the middle of your easy/threshold paces. Thanks mate. Love your work!
Full Froth for this... Question: What do you plan to do differently in this block than the last and what would/will you change in the actual race itself. Cheers Ben
Hi Ben - been loving your channel for a year now, hope you smash it in Osaka 🏃♂️- what’s the best way of running faster kms (currently around 4:50/5:10 atm but would love to take that right down this year). Many thanks mate hope that cold clears up! X
Good luck Ben!! Question for next episodes: why did you go back to two double threshold days instead of one double threshold day + one marathon pace workout like you did in the Valencia prep?
Have fun! I was in Japan on holiday in November and got my current Park run PB in Tokyo Hikarigaoka. Osaka seems fairly flat although they may put the route through the castle grounds which look quite nice. Like most Japanese historical buildings they're actually from late 19th/early 20th century as the old ones were destroyed by fire. It's a weird country with drink vending machines everywhere but no real street food and lots of queuing. Also don't expect anyone to speak English (not saying they should) but pointing and Google translate sorts most things. There's also sometimes English menus. Ps: Osaka airport airside is pretty bad for food. Most stuff was closed at about 7pm. The only options were a coffee cafe place that was ridiculously busy and surprisingly the duty free that had a fridge with decently priced but no hot food
There are a few ways. 1, race a half marathon and you threshold should be ever so slightly quicker day by 2/3 sec per km, 2, my watch estimated mine based on heart rate data 3, it’s a rough pace that you can maintain for an hour, a sort of 7/8 out of 10 on the perceived execution and 4, you can do a lactate test in a lab :)
How do you test your current threshold pace, are you just going off metrics on your watch or did you do a specific threshold test session to get a baseline?
You mentioned double threshold days. Will you be doing any shorter speed work to build leg turnover or inserting some pure speed into your long runs over the weekend runs?
Hi Ben! I’m using Pace 2 as well for the track. What is the best way for you to track it in the most accurate manner? I use sometimes just the lap button to mark the split (for instance the 400m) and based on the track lines but sometimes the watch marks 1 or 2 meters up or down so the pace is not great. Any suggestions? Does it mark it better if you set on the watch the structure workout in advance? Thank you so much and good luck with the prep! 😃
Hey Ben, good stuff. I have a question on threshold pace. How do you calculate your current threshold pace, since it is a moving target based on fitness? Can it be estimated with HR if you have a pretty good grasp on your HR zones? I have trouble wrapping my head around "a pace that you could hold for 1 hour".
You can use a VDOT calculator to get your threshold pace based on a recent race result. Another way to think about it is comfortably uncomfortable. It’s a hard effort that you should be happy it’s over when you’re done, but shouldn’t leave you feeling like you need to stop.
Love the vids, inspired me to book Brighton marathon this year! Q: will you be doing any of the 'big marathon sessions' in this training block that you used for Valencia? i.e. 4x5km or the 5 sets of 2km @MP / 1km float / 1km @threshold / 1km float etc.
Eight weeks is not enough time to prepare for a competitive Marathon, especially Osaka. A long, sustainable, invigorating endurance cycle is required with plenty of relaxed longer runs, varied intensities, hills, occasional fartlek, VO2 or steady state runs. Tempos should only be run judiciously, as they are not as specific or as effective as a VO2 session (i.e 5x3 mins @5k pace off 90 secs to 3.00 mins) or a Park Run at 90%. Phasing in the appropriate recoveries, trials or development races, a short training block is 12 weeks. Ideally, the longer preparation cycles of 16-24 weeks are required to realise endurance potential. I see you have run 67.15 for the Half, 86th in the flat Copenhagen race, or 104th in Britain : which should translate to 14.41 5k, 30.34 10k and 2.19.53 for an optimally trained endurance runner over a full 24 week preparation cycle. Long relaxed runs of 2.00 hours to 2.45 should be a regular part of the Marathon conditioning cycle, which is is 97% aerobic. Depletion and repletion benefits typically occur after 1.45, through to 2.45 to gain a maximal , sustainable training effect.
Typically a little faster than the longer reps but certainly try to keep them within that threshold effort, especially if it say 20 or even 25x 400m :)
Thanks for the reply much appreciated! My suggested threshold is 4:02 per km, so would you recommend 5s faster for short 5s slower longer 🤔 struggle to find much info on this, thanks again
Mainly to practice fuelling for marathon race day. I in theory should gain more in the form of fitness and preparation to race the marathon than if I were to do it at an easy pace
Hey Ben, running my first marathon in April so trying a plan out but the first week of January I had rough flu and got no running or training done at all. How have you gone about catching up with your plans as it is my first time hitting some of the long run distances so I don't want to get injured pushing it too early.
Hey Ben, I’m trying to build my volume but I don’t seem to recover well from runs in regards to soreness. Do you find that when you increase your volume the way you have that you’re sore after sessions in particular your long Sunday run? Any tips for recovery?
I wouldn't worry too much about only having 8 weeks to prepare. All the work you did for Valencia will stand you in good stead. Remember, due to the issues you had in that race, Valencia wasn't an all out physical effort. To put it another way, all the cash you deposited in the bank for Valencia hasn't been withdrawn yet. It's still there, waiting to be spent!
I like your thinking mark! Unfortunately a little bit of the cash was lost due to illness over the Christmas period but certainly building back up nicely :)
Exciting to see! Looks like a solid plan, the double threshold is an interesting idea - How would you recommend building up to something like this after completing a fairly slow (1:50) half marathon plan? Also are you still planning to review the Altra carbon plated shoe? Very keen to get your views on that :) Keep it up man!
It’s something I’d experiment with if I were you to see if it’s beneficial for your current training :) I won’t be reviewing them I don’t think, didn’t think too much to them. Not for me :)
@@BenIsRunning Yeah for sure but the hefty price tag (for me personally) is putting me off, though I might consider them for the further future once I get back into road marathon training. Thanks for the feedback and honesty! Just curious what you do with shoes you're sent but don't end up using/reviewing? Sell on a 2nd hand website? I'll try out the double threshold once I've completed my current plan - Exciting to have something to try on the horizon! Cheers =]
But your 10 weeks Valencia training was just a month ago, I don’t think you drop off your fitness so fast…… 8 weeks should be enough. Just go with 3:25 min/k.
There's a video out there on this that's really interesting. They said basically don't worry about training to go faster/ longer in between, as it will set you up for injury. Recover lightly for a week or two, then maintain fitness, because at that point you're ready for the next taper.
Considering Ben has just come off the back of a poor marathon ( by his standards ), has been unwell & has merely 8 weeks of training , from what you're advocating you won't see a sub 2.20, you will see a total burnout !
@@lionheart4552 and why try a marathon then if u not can be in fit for the race? 8 weeks of marathon preparation is enough for sub 2.20 if you do the right training from the standard that he holds .. I have run 2.17-2.19 marathons with 8 weeks of training .. it's all about getting to longruns and some other specific sessions!
@@Team.L Ben has merely 8 weeks left . He is still carrying an illness . Where will he fit these harder 40k long runs in you advocate, plus tapering ? It's nice that you ran a sub 2.17 but I don't think this helps Ben much. I wish him all the best but realistically he won't be running a sub 2.20 In Osaka.
@@lionheart4552 ok , are u his coach? I mean why attempt a marathon if you still feel bad from the last race? why drive tough double threshold sessions then? what he needs is longruns with marathon speed .. this is exactly what many sub 2.20 runners said to another youtuber runner seth who tried 2.20
@@Team.L You believe that Ben will run a sub 2.20 In 8 weeks time In Osaka. I disagree & am almost certain that this will not happen. Perhaps we should just agree to disagree.
