4 weeks to Full Marathon. What should be my plan

Training
1

I’m exactly 4 weeks to my FM. Planned run only at 7 pace. What should be my training plan. 2 weeks run. 2 weeks tapering?

Next 2 weekends how long should I be running?

2

As I can see you are planning a full marathon at well below race pace and have fitness hovering around 65.

In this case you should set the ramp rate to -30%. This will gradually increase the fitness to around 75.

One week before the event just taper it down to +10. This will give you some taper lead up to the event.

3

i have done 2 FMs. generally i have heard that we would ramp up to 3-4 hrs and cover atleast 32 kms before the event. my schedule does not seem to cover 4 hours at all. my event is on march 6th and i would like to know if the current schedule is in order or will be changed as we progress.

4

@bkanand

That’s correct. Auto scaling doesn’t take care of event specific workouts. While attempting a full marathon we should ensure these things ignoring the workout generated in the app

  • Do a 36 km z2 run 2 weeks before the event
  • Do a 34 km z2 run 3 weeks before the event
  • Do a 32 km z2 run 4 weeks before the event

We should ideally have around 80 fitness 2 weeks before the event.

The ramp rate should be

  • 2-12 weeks before the event : -50 to -30
  • 1-2 weeks before the event : 0
  • 0-1 week before the event : +20

Also don’t do the strength workouts in the week before the event.

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5

thank you. so will the schedule be changed by you from this sunday onwards or i have to just do this irrespective of what the schedule shows? currently on TP, it shows 124 mts for this sunday but i have to do 32km as per your message. will this be changed by you on saturday?

6

Yes you have to ignore the schedule for the long run and follow distance based run.

7

i have reduced the ramp from -40 to -20 last week. the FM is scheduled for march 6. next week shows as recovery week as per the calendar also. need to know the following

  1. should i change the ramp from -20 to -30 now or next week?
  2. next week recovery week - any change in the schedule?
  3. you had mentioned to do 32k, 34, and 36k in 4, 3 and 2 weeks prior to the event. i was able to do only 21k and 30k in the last two weeks. i will target to do 36k this sunday. hope that it ok.
  4. any change in the daily schedules being posted or just follow that?
  5. any other changes to be done in my settings?
  6. i had informed earlier that i would like to target sub 5 FM. Dont know how the weather will be as chennai heat is slowly picking up. Anything i need to work towards this goal or just leave the goal this year and try it next year?
8

The ramp rate should be

  • 2-12 weeks before the event : -50 to -30
  • 1-2 weeks before the event : 0
  • 0-1 week before the event : +20

Just follow every workout except the long workout.Do the long workout as per this

  • Do a 36 km z2 run 2 weeks before the event
  • Do a 34 km z2 run 3 weeks before the event
  • Do a 32 km z2 run 4 weeks before the event

Follow except Long run

Nothing apart from the ones mentioned.

Heat plays havoc with marathon timing. We should focus on things that we control. Best performance given the conditions is our reward. Don’t think about next time. Lets focus fully on this.

9

my current fitness is 52 and form is -9. earlier you had mentioned that i need to get to fitness of 70 atleast for the FM. my last LSD is tomorrow. is there anything i need to look into as i am still not near 70 or just ignore it?

10

@bkanand It should have been 70 but getting there need more time than what we had. This is good enough. It would rise after the LSD and then we just taper.

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