May 17, 2000

I'm planning to run a marathon and want to include mile repeats in my training. I'm trying for a 3:55 marathon. How fast should I be running these intervals? (name withheld)

REPLY: I'm not a big fan of mile repeats -- or any repeats. Runners get into trouble faster from too much speedwork than any other reason.

A small amount of speed goes a long way. First choice in faster "training" is short-distance races, 5-K's, 8-K's, 10-K's. You can run these on weekends when you aren't going long. This is the most exciting way to speed up.

Aside from races, my favorite form of faster training is ONE fast mile, run once a week. After warming up, run this mile at your 5-K to 10-K pace. Your 9:00 pace goal for the marathon tells me you probably average about 8:00 in the shorter races.

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