‘Fast-finish long run’ and 4 other savage marathon workouts to get you in PB shape for race day

Getting faster doesn’t come from one single type of workout. Race day speed is built by balancing different efforts the right way. Long runs lay the endurance foundation with slow, steady time on feet. Short intervals sharpen top-end speed. Threshold efforts stretch your ability to hold faster paces without tipping into burnout.

But within each of those workout types, there are levels.

You wouldn’t ask a first-time marathon runner to do a 20-mile long run with tempo miles in the middle. For a newer runner, that could put too much strain on the body too soon into their running journey. But for the experienced runner chasing a new PB, the same session might be exactly the workout to build the power and endurance required to run their best race.

Here, two running coaches share their top five advanced workouts to improve marathon speed, along with the signs that you’re ready to add them to your training plan.

What makes a runner ready for advanced workouts?

Before adding higher-level workouts to your plan, you need a consistent mileage base, established fuelling and hydration habits and the ability to recover well between quality efforts, explains RRCA-certified running coach Alysha Flynn, founder of What Runs You and coach for Every Woman’s Marathon.

You also need self-awareness. ‘Advanced runners are usually the ones who aren’t forcing workouts,’ continues Flynn. ‘They know how to stay patient, controlled and composed when things become really uncomfortable.’

An advanced runner can tell when their mechanics are breaking down and when pushing harder would create problems, she adds.

Flynn also says that it often takes several years and several marathons to master a base, as well as fuelling, recovery and restraint. In her experience, usually after your fifth marathon, you’ve been through the training process enough times to develop that kind of trust in your process and your body, which allows you to push harder.

RRCA-certified running coach Steve Waldon, of the Marathon Training Academy, looks for signs that a runner has reached the limits of their usual approach to determine if they’re ready for next-level workouts. For example, maybe your 5K and 10K paces suggest that you should be able to run a faster marathon than you’ve been able to achieve. Maybe you’re seeing a plateau in your training paces. Or, maybe you’re smashing every workout but unable to keep adding mileage because of time constraints, like work and family obligations or injury limitations, so strategically adding intensity becomes the path to better performance.

As fun as it is to conquer a tough challenge, both coaches agree that you should have nailed down your recovery habits – including smart pacing, good nutrition and sufficient sleep – before attempting advanced workouts. If you’re finishing your current workouts feeling depleted, injured or mentally drained, it’s probably not time to take training to the next level. ‘If you’re not able to absorb a lot of the training [that you’re already doing], some of these workouts just aren’t on the table for you just yet,’ says Waldon.

Advanced workouts should challenge your fitness, not expose a shaky foundation. Before adding one to your training plan, ask yourself a few questions. Am you confident in your ability to complete this workout with control? Can you recover well enough afterwards to keep your training schedule intact?

If you can answer yes both times, you’re probably ready to level up your training.

5 advanced workouts to build marathon speed

1. Marathon pace repeats

Why it works

While marathon runners of all experience levels should incorporate race pace efforts into their training, Flynn says that ‘the float recovery is what elevates the workout [into advanced territory]’. Instead of jogging easily or walking between race pace reps, you only slightly reduce the pace by about 30 seconds per mile from your marathon goal pace. It’s not a full recovery, but a small fluctuation that’s designed to intentionally move you into and out of your race pace.

In a marathon, you often have to adjust for hills, crowds, aid stations or any number of unexpected obstacles before settling back into your pace. Flynn says that the goal of this workout is to sustain your marathon effort under cumulative fatigue when the workout starts to get uncomfortable.

When done well, this session should feel like smooth waves of effort, not sharp high-intensity peaks and low-intensity valleys.

How to know that you’re ready for it

You’ve mastered your marathon pace and can control your effort effectively. According to Flynn, warning signs that you might have overreached and attempted this workout before you were truly ready include falling off pace by the second interval or mentally spiralling when the workout challenges you.

How to do it

• 2-mile easy running warm-up
• 3 x 2 miles at goal marathon pace (5-6 RPE)
• 3-minute float recovery (30 seconds slower than marathon pace) between reps (4-5 RPE)
• 1- or 2-mile easy running cooldown

2. Long marathon pace fartlek

Why it works

This workout takes long run mileage and makes it a lot more challenging. For newer runners, long runs are simply about easy time on feet. This advanced session includes 14 quality miles, within a total of 20-plus miles.

This workout is advanced because it combines long run mileage with threshold intensity. Waldon says that this workout is a peak week long run, done right before you hit your taper.

The biggest sign of success in a workout like this, according to Waldon, is finishing the second six-mile block at marathon pace under control. At this point, you’re 18 miles into your run and, if you’re feeling good, you should feel confident that you can finish the workout – and your upcoming race – successfully.

On the other hand, if the workout goes poorly, don’t panic. Waldon says that the biggest consequence of any advanced workout is often psychological. If the workout isn’t going your way, especially as you get into the second six-mile marathon pace interval, shutting it down to avoid injury is the best course of action, he notes. However, if you catch yourself straining really early, you may be able to simply continue with a regular long run instead of the full workout. That way, you’re only sacrificing the intensity of the workout, not the volume.

Regardless, an incomplete workout can certainly ding your confidence – but before you begin to dwell too much on the thought of a blemish on your training log, Waldon says that it’s important to look back at the months of quality training that you did before you even attempted this workout. There lies the proof that you’re still ready to run a fast marathon.

How to know that you’re ready for it

‘What you don’t want to do in training is add both mileage and intensity at the same time,’ explains Waldon. As such, you should have already built a solid volume base before you add intensity. If this is your first time hitting 20 miles, or you’ve only done it a few times in training blocks in the past, skip the threshold pace and keep it easy.

How to do it

• 6 miles at easy pace (3-4 RPE)
• 2 x 6 miles at goal marathon pace (5-6 RPE), with 1 mile at threshold pace (7-8 RPE) between reps
• 1-mile easy running cooldown

3. Fast-finish long run

Why it works

This workout trains one of the hardest aspects of marathon racing: running well in the later miles.

Flynn says that the goal is ‘maintaining composure and efficiency of your mechanics late in the workout, because that’s what you want on race day’. After 10 to 12 easy miles, you shift into a steadier effort, then progress towards marathon pace over the final three miles.

The challenge is patience. If you push too early, Flynn says that ‘the workout can become a giant tempo run’ – and that means early burnout and an incomplete workout.

A successful fast-finish long run is not just about hitting a faster split at the end – it’s about finishing faster while still running efficiently. Flynn says to pay attention to your form, too. Did your cadence drop? Did your stride get long and heavy? Did your ground contact time increase?

If you do feel some of these mechanical changes taking place, or see the readings trend the wrong way on your watch mid-run, slow down and complete the long run as planned. You’ll still get your miles in and you can focus on what went wrong in future workouts.

This session also gives you a chance to practice fuelling, hydration and decision-making under fatigue, simulating the final miles of a marathon.

How to know that you’re ready for it

You should already be comfortable running 16 to 18 miles, have a stable fuelling strategy and be adept at controlling your pacing.

How to do it

• 10-12 miles at easy pace (3-4 RPE)
• 3 miles at a steady-state effort (4-5 RPE) or just slightly faster than the top end of your easy pace range
• 3 miles progressing to goal marathon pace (5-6 RPE)

4. Double threshold

Why it works

A double threshold workout allows advanced runners to add more quality volume without cramming it all into one massive session. Either workout could stand alone, but doing both in one day raises the demand.

‘Being able to incorporate two of these in a single day in itself makes this strategy advanced,’ says Waldon.

The key is discipline. If you race through the morning session, the evening workout can fall apart. Waldon says that a successful double threshold day means finishing the afternoon session controlled, as though you could still do a couple more reps. Also, if you end up completely wiped after the morning session, skipping the second workout is the best option to avoid further damage.

Waldon recommends keeping the longer reps in the morning session at the lower end of your threshold pace range. Because threshold effort usually falls at about 7 to 8 RPE, the morning 2km reps should hover around that 7 while the evening 1km reps might tick up slightly to an 8. It’s not a huge difference – often about four to six seconds, says Waldon – so the important thing to remember is staying at a comfortably hard intensity level.

How to know that you’re ready for it

Once again, this workout is all about adding quality to your training, so Waldon says that you shouldn’t attempt it without being used to double easy run days beforehand. If you haven’t done that yet, take a few weeks to add easy run doubles to your schedule and see how that feels. If you’re feeling good and recovering well enough after doubling up on easy runs, then you might want to try a double threshold day.

How to do it

Morning:

• 2-mile easy running warm-up
• 5 x 2km at threshold pace, closer to 7 RPE, with 90 seconds’ recovery between reps
• 1- or 2-mile easy running cooldown

Evening:

• 2-mile easy running warm-up
• 8 x 1km at threshold pace, closer to 8 RPE, with 90 seconds’ recovery between reps
• 1- or 2-mile easy running cooldown

5. Hill repeats

Why it works

Hill repeats build aerobic power and strength while forcing you to run by effort instead of pace, says Flynn. Because these reps are five minutes long, Flynn recommends a running up a moderate incline, or even on a treadmill set around 3% if you don’t have access to a long hill.

‘You might actually get a little slower through each of these reps, but your effort should stay very even,’ says Flynn. ‘And that’s okay.’

You’ll know that you did this workout well if you climb efficiently – that is, you maintain your form and effort level – and stay mentally composed through the final reps. If you go out too fast, max out early or your mechanics fail, the effort was too aggressive.

Flynn likes to prescribe this workout earlier on in a training plan, before you do a lot of pace-specific work. For advanced runners, this session can serve as strength training in disguise, while boosting your lactate threshold in the process.

How to know that you’re ready for it

Start with shorter reps, like 30-second hill repeats, before building up to full five-minute efforts.

How to do it

• 2-mile easy running warm-up
• 6 x 5 minutes uphill at threshold effort (7-8 RPE), with a jog back down the hill for recovery
• 1- or 2-mile easy running cooldown