ONE OF OUR FIRST OBJECTIVES with runners new to the Hansons’ training clinics is to assist them in choosing a marathon goal. Vague goals can lead to a less-than-satisfying overall marathon experience. The problem with many marathon-training plans that merely help a runner finish a race is that they don’t adequately ease runners into marathon mileage, which can make training and racing unpleasant and even painful. Even with our Just Finish Program, we want to push you beyond what is comfortable. Our goal isn’t to just get you through a program with low-volume running during the week and then throw you into a grueling weekly long run that is 50 percent or more of your weekly total. Rather, the Just Finish plan is a platform to provide you with a first-time experience to Hansons-style training from which you can build into more complex training.
Borrowing from the business world, we suggest setting SMART goals: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. A specific goal is one that is defined and clear-cut, so rather than stating you want to finish a marathon, you should identify a very specific goal. By setting a measurable goal, such as 3:25, for instance, you give yourself a definite objective. You also want to be sure that goal is attainable. While a 3:25 marathon may be within reach for someone who previously ran a 3:40, it may not be for someone who holds a 5:25 personal record (PR). Similarly, a realistic goal is one that considers your physical abilities and scheduling constraints. If you are only going to have time to train four days a week, it is unlikely you’ll be able to achieve a 2:25 marathon. Lastly, a timely goal is one that is contained within a specific time frame. This one is easy because you automatically have the period between the start of the training plan and the moment the starting gun fires at your chosen race. By following these criteria, you are more likely to achieve your predetermined objectives going into a race.
In a perfect world, we’d encourage runners to set smaller goals before considering the marathon distance. When runners slowly move up the race ladder from a 5K to a 10K to a half-marathon, and then, finally, the marathon, they build their aerobic capacities and tolerance to increased training volumes. What’s more, the shorter races provide a solid baseline for marathon training, giving feedback for what a reasonable marathon goal time might be for that individual. Bear in mind that our Beginner and Advanced Programs are tailored to help you reach specific goals, not just to run 26.2 miles. If you are looking to simply cross the finish line by any means necessary, these programs may be more focused and structured than you desire. For Just Finish runners, it is not necessary to start the program with a time goal in order to complete that schedule. Many runners approach the program with the basic goal of finishing a marathon, time aside. However, it is not uncommon for those runners to set personal goals, such as to break five hours, or to run the entire race without stopping. Personal goals such as these can be highly motivating. Therefore, although setting a time goal is not mandatory, I certainly don’t discourage coming up with your own very specific goals along the way.
For Beginner and Advanced Program followers, nailing down a specific time goal allows you to identify how you should train to achieve that mark. Rather than training you to merely make it across that line, we want to give you the tools to execute the marathon distance successfully, leaving your love for running and hunger for competition intact. Those goals give you a starting point for training by guiding your workouts and providing a tangible target to shoot for throughout marathon preparation.
Time goals can be determined in various ways. Most commonly, runners seek a qualifying time for a certain race, such as a Boston qualifier, or a time that will gain access to a desirable start line corral at another major marathon. This is the easiest type of goal to pinpoint because the standard is already set. For runners who have previously completed the marathon distance, a new PR is another popular time to tackle. In particular, we hear from many runners who want to break the big barriers, such as the 5:00-, 4:00-, and 3:00-hour marks. While we encourage you to set the bar high, make sure your goal is manageable and keeps you engaged in your training. There are several guidelines to consider as you zero in on a SMART marathon goal.
Goal-Setting Guidance
Current training and past training. Your goals should be contingent on your current foundation of training. For instance, someone who has been injured for the past six months will set different goals than a runner who has been consistently running 50 miles per week. In the same way, the goals of a beginner will vary dramatically from the goals of a seasoned marathoner.
Current personal best. If you have previously run a marathon on relatively low mileage, even a slight uptick in miles will often lead to great jumps in your personal best. However, if you are a 2:30 marathoner who has already been running 80–100 miles a week, improvements will be less significant. Consider this: A 5 percent improvement for a 4:00-hour marathoner is about 12 minutes, which would get that runner under the 3:50 mark. However, the same percentage of improvement for a 2:30 marathoner is about 7:30 minutes, which would bring them from being competitive on a regional level to a borderline national-class runner. Obviously, that 5 percent improvement means something different depending on one’s pace.
Training and availability. The time you devote to training has a huge effect on the quality and volume of the training, and thus, the final result. When choosing a goal, look at how much time you’ll have to train. Time determines not only how hard and long you can train on a day-to-day basis, but also how consistent you can be over a long period. For example, a runner can compete fairly well in local 5Ks by logging 30–40 miles per week, perhaps running 3–4 days with a long run of 1 hour. While this works for shorter distances, this person would likely struggle to get in adequate training for a half-marathon or marathon on that same timetable. Could this runner complete a marathon running 40 miles a week? Most certainly. Would it allow for his or her best effort at that distance? Simply put, no.
Training window. The length of time you have until the goal race will offer some guidance in goal-setting. If you are a newer runner or new to the marathon distance, plan for a longer buildup period before you attempt 26.2 miles. However, if you are a veteran who trains consistently, then the marathon-specific training can be much shorter because you have a well-established mileage base. Some runners prefer a slower buildup, while others chose a short, intense segment of training.
External factors. When setting your marathon goal, consider that outside factors, such as terrain, temperature, and race size all have the potential to affect your performance. If you are accustomed to training in cool, dry conditions, but your chosen goal race is likely to be hot and humid, adjust your final time goal. You may also predict a slightly faster time on a flat course and a somewhat slower time on a course with an abundance of hills. Additionally, if you are running a large marathon and are stuck behind a big crowd in one of the last corrals, you may want to tack on a few extra minutes. While your chip won’t begin timing until you cross the start line, your time may be affected by a slower mass of runners in front of you.
Race-Equivalency Chart
A race-equivalency chart (Table 6.1) is a particularly handy tool for a runner looking to pinpoint a realistic time goal based on current ability. These charts offer you the chance to take a recent race time from another distance and see what an equal performance would be for an alternate distance. Instead of simply multiplying your mile pace at a shorter distance by 26.2, it offers an “equal performance” prediction. For instance, according to the chart, if you ran a 23:00-minute 5K, you should be able to run a 3:44:13 marathon. Since pace naturally slows with distance, the chart suggests what you’d probably be capable of in an equal performance at a longer distance.
If you don’t have a race time logged, another option is to complete a “field test” by going to your local track and doing a time trial. To do this, complete a short warm-up as you would before any SOS workout. Then run 1 mile as fast as you can at a steady, hard pace. Following your cooldown, bring your time back to the race equivalency chart and check what might be a reasonable time goal for the marathon. The longer the race or time trial, the more accurate the marathon prediction on the chart will be. Unsurprisingly, a half-marathon will be a better determinant than a 1-mile time trial. The best way to figure out an appropriate goal is to plug in several times from varying distances and see the range that they put you in. I have known a few runners who couldn’t use shorter race distances as predictors because they could hold very close to their best 5K pace all the way up to the half-marathon distance. Every runner is different, so if you have several times available from different distances, you will be able to more accurately predict a finishing time in the marathon.
Regardless of the goal time, be sure to select it before you begin the strength segment of the training program, which is when the majority of the marathon-specific training is completed. That time goal provides a tangible number on which to base those SOS workouts.
How much can I expect to improve from one marathon to another?
That depends a lot on where you start from. Regardless of age, a good rule of thumb is that the less experience you have with a distance, the bigger improvements you can make. For instance, I can coach a new runner who ran 5:00 hours in his first marathon attempt to 4:00 hours in his next attempt (provided the time allows for another complete training cycle). That’s a 20 percent improvement! On the other end of the spectrum, to take a seasoned 2:15 marathoner to 2:14 takes more planning and attention to detail than our 5:00-hour runner, and yields only about a 1 percent improvement. By simply getting a 5:00-hour marathoner to run a little more, I can see big improvements. Whereas with the 2:15 runner, we must pay far more attention to details, such as nutrition, stretching, and strength training, in order to eke out even the smallest of improvements.
Understanding where you are with training and past performances are the keys to figuring out how much you can improve from one training segment to the next.
Adjusting Goals
While race-equivalency charts are helpful, some runners, especially those new to the marathon distance, find they need to adjust their goal time once they get into training. If you overestimated what you’d be capable of on marathon day, you’ll know for certain once you get into longer tempo runs and strength runs. If you’re struggling on an 8-mile tempo run at goal pace, it is safe to assume that the pace will be too tough to hold for another 18 miles on race day. In this case, it is best to adjust your goal time to a slightly slower finishing performance in order to ensure that you have confidence going into the race.
At the other end of the spectrum, some runners want to set the bar higher once they begin SOS workouts. Perhaps you originally thought a 3:30 marathon was reasonable and now you think 3:15 would be more appropriate. This situation can be tricky. While we like to encourage runners to pursue their greatest potential, we also don’t want to set them up for failure. If you become overzealous in your training, you risk overtraining and injury, which means you might not even get to the starting line, much less the finish. Ask yourself if, when you first began training, you would have been happy with your original time goal. If the answer is “yes,” then why jeopardize training by entering into uncharted territory? Especially with race day nearing, ramping up training can spell disaster for a runner. Always remember: You’ll run a better marathon slightly undertrained than you will overtrained. In fact, many times the greatest battle is just getting to the starting line healthy and fresh.
ASK THE COACH
I’m 56. Can I still PR?
Essentially, how much you can improve depends more on your experience with the event than on your age. You will typically see the biggest percent improvement from your first to second marathon, while your fifth to sixth marathon, for example, typically yields a much smaller percent improvement. Age is less of a factor in this than you might expect. However, if you are an experienced marathoner in the masters category, you’ll eventually have to face Father Time. This is not to say you’ll see a dramatic drop-off in performance, but rather, your training regimen may need to change in order to maintain your level of performance. While it is highly individual, undoubtedly, at some point, performance levels off and then gradually declines for all veteran runners.
In addition to your overall time goal, you may have other small goals you want to reach along the way. For instance, many of the runners who attempt the program have never run 30, 40, or 50 miles per week; maybe your first incremental goals are simply to hit those marks. Reaching a weekly mileage goal can be a huge motivating factor, especially when you are fatigued and questioning why you’re doing this in the first place. Not only can this rejuvenate your spirit for running and keep you moving forward, it demonstrates that tangible progress is being made. You can also set goals related to supplemental training (discussed in detail in Chapter 7). Many runners find motivation in setting targets for their crosstraining, stretching, and resistance training routines, as well as prioritization. These goals may be as general as “I’m going to stretch after every workout.” The higher you have set your ultimate time goal, the more important these variables become.
In the same way you should use the SMART goals strategy for your race-day goal, you should also utilize it to set these smaller goals along the way. Be sure these goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. Goals of any sort narrow your focus and give meaning to your training. Without them, runners are left to their own devices, training haphazardly and setting themselves up for failure. Give your goals some serious consideration and begin by setting the small goals that will help you achieve that ultimate time goal.
