2:30 Marathon Schedule

by Reto, Answer by Marius

Is it possible to use the 100 day marathon plans as a 2:30 marathon schedule or even faster ?

"Hi Marius I run the 10k in 31 Minutes. Is it possible to use the 2:45 Training Shedule for a 2:30 or 2:25 Marathon without more training but only faster speed? Or do I need more Training sessions? Gruss Reto"

Answer: Reto, you can certainly do this. It would work all the way down to faster times. But you do need to add some more runs in there in order to make it work 100 %.

What I suggest is to take the 2:45 schedule and add on average2 runs weekly. These should only be easy runs of 45 minutes. The ideal is to use a periodization where you alternate this into "A" and "B" weeks. So that in the 2:45 schedule, in the Week 1 you add in these 3 easy runs of 45 minutes, but in Week 2 you only add in 1 easy run (and Week 3, 3 easy runs etc.) This adds up to 2 extra runs weekly on average.

What this does is to add natural variation to the total workload which is more and more important the faster marathon you train for. If this is hard, in practical terms with the A + B weeks, just adding two easy runs weekly every week + run the sessions slightly faster (or by heart rate - ideal) then you'll be set for your 2:30 quest and probably faster, based on your 10k time.

Kind regards,
Marius

Back from 2:30 Marathon Schedule to Marathon Training Schedule

I'm often asked what shoes I personally recommend to help stay injury free while running (on the 100 day plan) so I'll add a little bit about it at the end of these Q and A's.

Good shoes are crucial if you want to stay injury free during your marathon journey. In general, the best is to find a shoe that fits your feet according to your foot type.

However, these three shoes will do an excellent job with their mild correction - and will work for most runners :

The most sold running shoes ever - and by every model seems to get better and better. About the same weight as the Kayano but the fit is a little bit different.

The 2150 is a great alternative for the faster work you'll be doing in the 100 day plan. It is one of the few shoes that "feels" like a lightweight one but at the same time has more than enough stabilty to prevent injuries with the marathon type length of some of the interval sessions.

A tips for international (non-US) runners : check out roadrunnerssports.com : Example : Asics Kayano (RoadRunnerssports) they ship worldwide and it can really save you some money on your shoes.