• For 5 weeks between, do the 6-week schedule, but skip the week “2 weeks to goal,” and with 14 days to go, increase the medium-long run to 16 miles (26 km).
On May 26, 1984, I ran 2:11:43 to win the Olympic marathon trials, and then on August 12, I placed 11th in 2:13:53 in the Olympics. Here’s how I approached the 11 weeks in between.
I was on a bit of a high after winning the trials, to say the least. I took the next day off and went for a relaxed swim and a pathetic 3-mile (5 km) shuffle 2 days after the race. The next day, I had my weekly massage, and my muscles weren’t too bad. Building toward the Olympics, massage each week helped keep me injury free despite the short recovery. I ran 45 miles (72 km) the week after the trials. Using the philosophy that I needed to get the training in as quickly as possible to be able to taper again and be in top form for the Olympics, I initially ran as I felt and got in 112 miles (180 km) the second week and 151 miles (243 km) the third week. During the second week after the trials, I started doing a few strideouts every couple of days to try to get my legs turning over. This seemed to help quite a bit.
In retrospect, I should have run 80 to 90 miles (129 to 145 km) the second week and 110 to 120 miles (177 to 193 km) the third week. Doing the amount I did showed a lack of confidence because I wouldn’t have lost fitness by doing fewer miles. In fact, if I had run a bit less mileage right after the trials, I probably would have performed better at the Olympics. But I didn’t understand that at the time.
The problem I faced was that in 11 weeks I couldn’t very well do a 4-week recovery and a 3-week taper because that would have left only 4 weeks to train to compete against the best runners in the world. I got around that by cutting back the recovery and getting back into fairly high-quality long intervals by the fourth or fifth week posttrials. The beauty of the short recovery after the trials was that I was fit enough to do my long intervals at a good clip right away, so I didn’t need as long to build into them. For example, in the fifth week posttrials, I did a 3-mile (5 km) time trial on the track in 14:02.
I did continue, however, to train according to how I felt, with flexibility both ways. For example, one day I headed out for a 15-miler (24 km), felt good, and wound up going 26 miles (42 km). On other days, I would postpone a track workout for a day or two until my legs felt as if they could give a good effort without getting injured.
I tapered more for the Olympics than for the trials. This was somewhat necessitated by tightness that I developed in my back during the last 3 weeks before the race. It was also out of a realization that I had trained a bit too hard in the weeks after the trials and that my energy level needed time to come up a notch. This is a very subjective matter, but I could tell during my training runs that a bit of zip was missing and that it was better to cut back and regain my strength. I did this by making my easy days – in terms of speed and distance – easier. I also trimmed the volume of my long runs and my speed workouts. This taper became the model that I followed for the rest of my racing career.
– Pete Pfitzinger
12-Week Schedule
A period of 12 weeks between marathons isn’t too bad. There’s a real risk, however, of either taking it too easy and gradually losing marathon-specific fitness or overdoing it and finding yourself at the starting line of marathon number 2 feeling tired and wondering why you’re there. You need to find the perfect balance for your individual situation. The best strategy is to really take it easy for the first 3 or 4 weeks after your previous marathon to ensure that your body is fully recovered. That leaves 8 or 9 weeks until the next marathon, including 5 or 6 weeks of solid training and a 3-week taper.
The key training time is the 6-week period lasting from 7 weeks to go through 2 weeks until the second marathon. The most important workouts during those weeks are the tune-up races with 29 and 15 days to go; the marathon-specific run with 42 days to go; the long runs with 49, 35, 28, and 21 days to go; the
O2max sessions with 39, 33, and 25 days to go; and the medium-long runs with 52, 44, 38, 32, and 24 days until marathon number 2.
10-Week Schedule
Allowing 10 weeks between marathons is almost reasonable, and the schedule reflects this by providing 3 weeks of solid recovery, 4 weeks of solid training, and a 3-week taper.
The key training weeks are those that end with 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2 weeks until your second marathon. The most important workouts during those weeks are the tune-up races with 29 and 15 days to go; the long runs with 35, 28, 21, and 14 days to go; the lactate threshold session with 44 days to go; the
O2max sessions with 39 and 25 days to go; and the medium-long runs with 38, 32, and 24 days until marathon number 2. The only word of caution concerning a 10-week time frame between marathons is to allow yourself to recover fully from your previous marathon before training too intensely for the next one.
8-Week Schedule
The 8-week schedule allows you to recover thoroughly from your previous marathon, train well for about 3 weeks, and then taper for marathon number 2. A period of 8 weeks between marathons is far less risky than 4 or 6 weeks. Even if your first marathon was in hot weather, or if you came out of it with a minor injury, with a bit of luck you should still be okay for marathon number 2.
The key training weeks are those that end with 4, 3, and 2 weeks until the second marathon. The most important workouts during those weeks are the tune-up race with 15 days to go; the long runs with 28, 21, and 14 days to go; the lactate threshold session with 30 days to go; and the medium-long runs with 24 and 18 days until the marathon. Try to avoid doing more than the schedules call for because 8 weeks between marathons is still brief enough that you don’t have much room for error.
6-Week Schedule
The 6-week schedule was difficult to put together because 6 weeks is just enough time to start to lose fitness if you don’t train enough, but it is also just barely enough time to recover from marathon number 1 before you need to taper for marathon number 2. The most important training weeks are those that end 3 weeks and 2 weeks before marathon number 2. Those weeks provide a small window during which you can train fairly hard without wearing yourself out for the second marathon.
The key workouts during those weeks are the tune-up race with 15 days to go, the long run with 14 days to go, the
O2max sessions with 23 and 19 days to go, and the medium-long runs with 21 and 18 days until the marathon. This brief training stimulus will keep you in peak marathon fitness so that after tapering, you should be close to your best.
4-Week Schedule
The 4-week schedule is about as compact as you can get. This program consists of 2 weeks of recovery merging into 2 weeks of taper. The objective is to get you to the starting line injury free, fully recovered from your previous marathon, and still in top shape. The mileage for this program starts at 25 miles (40 km) and builds to 48 miles (77 km) during the third week. Unfortunately, that’s also the penultimate week before the marathon, so mileage and intensity building abruptly halt and merge into a taper.
The most important workouts in this schedule are the medium-long runs with 14 and 10 days until marathon number 2 and the