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Time To Rethink Your Marathon Training Program?

By Greg McMillan, M.S. As featured in the November 2006 issue of Running Times Magazine

Kelly Liljeblad Keane: 2005 Houston Marathon Champion: 2:32:27

Kelly is certainly not the norm, but her training can provide some insight. One thing you will notice is that since she is a full-time runner, she’s able to fit four hard workouts into her training week. Most athletes can’t do this and I don’t recommend trying it unless you have great biomechanics, only eat, sleep and run, and can have frequent massage, chiropractic or other rehab. Since Kelly is a former track All-American, we use fartlek workouts since she becomes too time-focused with track workouts and we don’t want this yet—I would rather have her run by effort. She pushes hard enough in this training already and on the track she can sometimes strain as she chases times. Her mileage during this training phase is usually 80-95 miles per week, whereas during her marathon-specific training she runs 100-120 miles per week.

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