Workout of the Week: Marathon Fatigue Resistance Session

The “fourth dimension” of marathon performance, along with VO2 Max, Running Economy, and Lactate Threshold, is Fatigue Resistance, says Jack Mullaney, the head coach of HOKA Northern Arizona Elite. “The final miles of a marathon are the most telling of an athlete’s fatigue resistance, and often are the difference between a PR and a performance that leaves more to be desired,” he explained to me. “Since you can’t run a marathon every week in training, I look for ways to create fatigue in a workout where the athlete is forced to hit their target marathon pace on tired legs.” The following workout is a fatigue resistance session that Alex Masai of HOKA NAZ Elite did last fall in his buildup to the Chicago Marathon, where he ran 2:08:51 to finish 9th overall in his debut at the distance. It consists of a tempo run at marathon pace, followed by some 1-mile repeats at 10K pace, followed by another tempo run at marathon pace. Mullaney told me that Masai ran the first 3 miles in 14:45 (4:55/mi), then split 4:26, 4:24, and 4:25 for his mile reps, and finished in 14:21 for his final 3 miles (4:47/mi). Now, while Masai’s splits are likely out of reach for the rest of us, the spirit of the workout is something you can effectively emulate in your next marathon training block. Here are the details:

WHAT: 3 miles at marathon pace w/2 minutes recovery; 3 x 1 mile at 10K pace w/2:00-2:30 recovery between reps; 3 miles at marathon pace.

WARMUP/COOLDOWN: Warm up before the workout with 15-20 minutes of easy running followed by a set of drills and 6 x 10-15 second strides (i.e., accelerate for a few seconds, spend the middle seconds at near-top speed, and then gradually decelerate to a jog over the final few seconds. Catch your breath for 40-60 seconds between strides). Cool down after the workout with 5-15 minutes of easy running.

WHY: “This workout targets fatigue resistance, as the athlete has to come back to marathon pace for 3 miles following 3 harder mile reps at 10K pace,” explains Mullaney. “It also allows the athlete to accumulate 6 miles of volume at target marathon pace for the day. All three parts (3 miles, 3 x 1 mile, and 3 miles) of this workout are important, but like the last few miles of the marathon, the 3 miles at marathon pace at the end is most telling.”

WHERE: This workout is best done on the roads, much like the marathon itself, so look for opportunities to mimic sections of the course in workouts (e.g. if you’re running a flatter, faster marathon, try and do the workout on flatter roads where you can lock into a rhythm, but if you’re running a hillier race, seek out more undulating terrain so you adjust your effort accordingly).

WHEN: Mullaney had Masai do this as a mid-week workout 3-1/2 weeks out from Chicago. “An abbreviated version of this session, like 2 miles at marathon pace, 2 x 1 mile at 10K pace, 2 miles at marathon pace, could be done earlier in a marathon segment to prepare for this one,” says Mullaney. “That version could also be a good alternative for those new to training for longer distances.”

VARIATIONS: Here’s kind of an inside-out version of Mullaney’s Marathon Fatigue Resistance Session called The Tempo Sandwich, a great workout for getting in good 10K and/or half-marathon shape.