Off-Season Fitness: A Simple Guide to the Slower Months of the Year

Winter is here, and with it comes some well-deserved rest. Many runners have lowered their weekly mileage while some stopped running completely, focusing instead on other ways to keep fit and giving their bodies some much-needed recovery time. Until race calendars fill up, off-season fitness will be the number one topic for many in the world ... More
Training tips for Marathon Week

Training Tips for Marathon Week: How to Navigate the Final Week

By Ben Connelly Training Tips for Marathon Week Read this before the big race!     It’s finally here. The final week before your marathon. How are you feeling? Nervous? Excited? Worried? A mixture of all three? Some of you will show up this week with a pop in your stride. The runs feel easy. Your training went well ... More

Eating Before and During a Run (Race)

By Ben Connelly It is never too late to start practicing your prerace routine. One of the most important parts of that routine is eating.  Likewise, it is never too late to start practicing eating during long runs. What and how you eat during your race can make or break it. Today, I plan to break down both of these topics and give ... More

Carbohydrates for Marathoners

by Ben Connelly Even many non-runners have heard about the importance of eating carbohydrates during marathon training. But with many conflicting theories of nutrition, even seasoned veterans can feel confused. I hope to clear up some misconceptions today.  Glycogen and Tapering: Marathon runners are commonly advised to increase ... More

 The Long Run Part 2: M pace workouts

by Ben Connelly In a previous post, I mentioned that I planned to devote a post to a specific type of long run: the M pace long run. M pace runs figure heavily in marathon training plans based on Jack Daniels’s Running Formula(1). M pace simply means marathon race pace.  While runs at marathon race pace can benefit any runner, even ... More

Tempo Workouts: A Marathon Training Staple

By Ben Connelly Tempo training (meaning workouts run at lactate threshold) is one of the most valuable variables you can include in your marathon preparations. Many beginners underestimate the importance of tempo workouts, which will improve their lactate threshold. Lactate threshold is the pace at which lactate begins to build up in ... More

The Lone Runner Series: How to Balance Training with Summer Vacation

How to Balance Training with Summer Vacation Ben Connelly   With summer here and a majority of Americans vaccinated, vacation travel is already beginning to boom across the country. Many people are ready to take the summer vacation they postponed last year. If your family plans to travel this summer, you may have questions about ... More

The Lone Runner Series: Downhill Training for Marathon Runners

Downhill Training for Marathon Runners by Ben Connelly   If you plan to run a marathon with any serious downhill sections, you need to practice running downhill during your training. Runners training for San Francisco, or Boston, should run fast downhill workouts. The goal of downhill training is twofold. Condition your legs ... More

The Lone Runner Series: Hill Training for Marathon Runners

Hill Training for Marathon Runners By Ben Connelly Hill workouts should have a role in training for any race, even track events. But they should play an even larger role in preparing for a hilly marathon, especially the San Francisco Marathon. Hill training does not mean hilly easy runs or long runs with hills. By all means, run hilly ... More

The Lone Runner Series: Interval Training for Marathon Runners

Interval Training for Marathon Runners by Ben Connelly In a previous post, I introduced the topic of speedwork for marathon runners. I explained that, contrary to common belief, marathoners should not run all their runs at an easy pace. Beginners focused solely on completing the marathon can get away with skipping speedwork (although ... More