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Both beginner and seasoned runners will tell you: Training for a marathon is no small feat. It’s a long-term commitment that demands discipline, grit, and unwavering determination. To do it right, you need months of detailed planning, careful workout tracking, and constant adjustments to stay on track for race day—challenges that can quickly become overwhelming without the right experience or support.
That’s where TrainingPeaks comes in. The platform eliminates the guesswork from marathon training with personalized training plans, access to expert coaching, and proven workout strategies that keep you on the path to success. To showcase how TrainingPeaks makes marathon training more efficient, we turned to TrainingPeaks coach Nell Rojas, an elite Nike-sponsored marathoner with an impressive résumé, including top U.S. finishes at the 2021 and 2022 Boston Marathons, a top-ten finish at the 2022 New York City Marathon and the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials, as well as first place at Grandma’s Marathon in 2019. If anyone knows the best training tools for the 26.2-mile challenge, it’s Rojas.
Outside: What are the components of an effective marathon training plan?
Nell Rojas: A well-rounded marathon training plan incorporates a variety of workouts, including easy aerobic runs, intervals, tempo/threshold runs, long runs, rest days, recovery days, and strength training. The volume and intensity of these components should be tailored to the athlete’s unique strengths and weaknesses (like endurance vs. speed), available training and recovery time, personal response to different workouts, and overall goals. TrainingPeaks takes all of these factors into account when suggesting a marathon training plan by looking at personal records (PRs) at different distances, heart rate, volume, and intensity, ensuring a balanced approach that maximizes performance and minimizes risk of injury.
Why should runners incorporate strength training into their routines?
Strength training is a key component of any runner’s regimen, offering numerous benefits that go beyond just building muscle. It improves performance, prevents injury, and boosts overall durability. By enhancing muscle endurance, power, and stability, strength training helps optimize running mechanics, ensuring more efficient movement and better energy transfer with every stride. It also addresses muscle imbalances, corrects postural issues, and addresses weaknesses that could lead to overuse injuries. When combined with plyometrics, strength work can further increase speed and help maintain proper form even as fatigue sets in during long runs. Strengthening key muscle groups not only supports peak performance but also accelerates recovery and facilitates consistent training. To help my athletes prioritize this essential aspect of their training, I use TrainingPeaks’s new strength training app feature, which makes it easier for them to understand, follow, and execute their workouts effectively.
How does TrainingPeaks help facilitate the coach-athlete relationship?
Training for a marathon with a coach can be a game changer. That’s why TrainingPeaks helps runners connect with experienced professionals. Although I recommend having a coach to reach your goals, even if you don’t, TrainingPeaks is very beneficial to have. TrainingPeaks will gather data so you can clearly see your weekly volume, intensity, and how your fitness is trending.
A coach offers a unique blend of experience in the science and art of marathon training while considering an athlete’s goals, history, strengths, and weaknesses to create an individualized training program. With a coach, athletes benefit from personalized guidance that keeps them on track, ensuring an optimal balance between effort and recovery. Coaches also play a crucial role in helping athletes develop fueling and hydration strategies, fine-tune workout and race-day plans, and build mental toughness for the challenges ahead.
With TrainingPeaks, the coach-athlete connection is made easy and helps the athlete feel cared for. An athlete’s data will be automatically uploaded to the platform after finishing their workout, and the coach will be able to see it immediately and can then make comments, ask questions, and modify the next workout or workouts later in the week if needed.
TrainingPeaks makes it easy for a coach to monitor progress, communicate effectively about daily workouts and the overall training cycle, and gain a comprehensive view of the athlete’s performance. This level of insight is invaluable for fostering a strong, trusting athlete-coach relationship and ensuring the athlete remains confident and well prepared throughout their marathon journey.
How does TrainingPeaks make marathon training easier to manage?
TrainingPeaks seamlessly integrates structured workouts into a runner’s wearable device, allowing them to execute training sessions with ease. The platform also lets athletes see their progress, providing a clear view of their training volume, intensity, and completed workouts—boosting motivation and ensuring they stay on course. Additionally, TrainingPeaks offers Annual Training Plans, which give both athletes and coaches a comprehensive look at the coming year. This long-term view helps athletes stay focused and excited about their current marathon cycle while understanding how it fits into their broader goals for sustained success.
How does TrainingPeaks help runners track their training progress?
TrainingPeaks tracks and analyzes a wide range of metrics, providing valuable insights into performance and progress. Two key features—Peak Performance and StackUp—are especially helpful for this.
👟Peak Performance tracks personal bests at various distances, as well as metrics like workout intensity and mileage during long runs over specific time periods. It allows runners to measure their progress, see how their performance improves with training, and gauge the effectiveness of their training plan.
👟StackUp monitors volume and intensity over time , ensuring athletes can maintain consistency without risking burnout or undertraining. It provides guidance on how to adjust your training to balance intensity and recovery, helping you stay on track and avoid overtraining.
With these programs, you can make more informed decisions about your training intensity, recovery, and pacing to optimize performance.
TrainingPeaks creates endurance training apps and solutions that help athletes and coaches reach their goals. Featuring the world’s largest endurance-training marketplace, athletes can find personalized training plans, accredited coaches, and easy-to-use apps and integrations to track their progress and reach their goals. TrainingPeaks is trusted by runners, cyclists, and triathletes around the world, including Tour de France teams, IRONMAN® World Champions, and Olympians. Learn more at TrainingPeaks.com.