Training program Advanced
Here begins your journey towards Helsingborg Marathon
Do you also have a dream of running Helsingborg Marathon and achieving a new personal best? You are not alone. Perhaps you have a magical dream time that you want to achieve? Our goal is to help you reach your dream goals with a finishing time around three to three and a half hours through this training program. If you embark on this program, you should already be an experienced runner who currently runs about four to five times a week. It is important to listen to your body, and if you feel extra tired or fatigued, don’t hesitate to skip a workout and take an extra rest day. Please note that the program is general, and we cannot guarantee any personal records (although we certainly hope you achieve them).
Here you can download the training program as PDF to your computer or mobile.
Before we start…
Your Starting Point
If you are already training about five times a week and feel that running is something you want to focus on and prioritize, then this program is for you. You should already be able to run distances of up to 20 kilometers. It helps if you have previous experience running a marathon and a few half marathons.
Your Training
Over the next 16 weeks, you will train five times a week to take your training to the next level and achieve your dream goal in the marathon. 42,195 meters is a long distance, and the key to success with such an ambitious goal is consistency and high training volume. To achieve this, it is important that your easy runs are truly easy to avoid unnecessary strain on your body, allowing you to feel fresh for quality workouts and long runs. The focus will be on improving your threshold and working at paces that are close to your intended race pace for Helsingborg Marathon.
Your Goal
Your goal for this year’s Helsingborg Marathon is to achieve a dream time of three to three and a half hours. Keep in mind that when you are highly dedicated and perhaps a bit infatuated with your running, it’s easy to push too hard on certain workouts. Run with wisdom, as consistency is key in your journey towards your new personal record.
Basic training
Now we begin our journey towards the Helsingborg Marathon. The first four weeks will focus on building a strong foundation with a lot of variation in the training sessions to give you a good start in your training towards your ultimate goal.
Keep in mind that during this foundation-building phase, your distance and long runs should be at a comfortable pace. When we incorporate hill workouts, threshold runs, and intervals, you should pick up the pace and run at a higher intensity.
Week 1
Session 1: Distance 60 minutes.
Session 2: Hill 10 x 60 seconds with jog recovery downhill.
Session 3: Distance 60 minutes.
Session 4: Long run 18 km.
Week 2
Session 1: Distance 60 min
Session 2: Threshold 10 x 3 min (+ 10 seconds per km on your goal pace) with 60 sec walking recovery.
Session 3: Distance 70 min, including 10 strides.
Session 4: Long run 20 km.
Week 3
Session 1: Distance 60 min
Session 2: Threshold 10 x 1000 m (+ 10 seconds per km on your goal pace) with 90 seconds walking recovery.
Session 3: Distance 60 min, including 5 strides.
Session 4: Distance 60 min
Session 5: Long run 22 km.
Week 4
Session 1: Distance 60 min
Session 2: Hill 4 x 120 seconds + 4 x 90 seconds + 4 x 60 seconds with jog recovery downhill.
Session 3: Distance 60 min
Session 4: Threshold 12 x 500 m (+ 10 seconds per km on your goal pace) with 60 seconds walking recovery.
Session 5: Long run 25 km.
Hills & threshold
In this training block, we will focus on hill workouts and threshold runs. This is the phase where we establish a good level of consistency and aim to improve your running strength and endurance. It is during this period that we lay the foundation for you to reach your dream goal.
Week 5
Session 1: Distance 60 minutes.
Session 2: Threshold 7 x 4 minutes (+ 10 seconds per km on your goal pace) with 60 seconds standing recovery.
Session 3: Threshold 4 + 6 + 8 + 6 + 4 minutes (+ 10 seconds per km on your goal pace) with 60/90/120/90 seconds jogging recovery.
Session 4: Distance 60 minutes, including 10 strides.
Session 5: Long run 25 km (last 5 km at marathon pace + 10 seconds/km).
Week 6
Session 1: Distance 60 minutes with as many hills as you can find.
Session 2: Hill 10 x 3 minutes with jog recovery downhill.
Session 3: Distance 60 minutes, including 10 strides.
Session 4: Long run 26 km.
Week 7
Session 1: Distance 75 minutes.
Session 2: Threshold 3 x 10 minutes (marathon pace + 10 seconds/km) with 2 minutes jog recovery.
Session 3: Threshold 15 + 10 + 5 minutes (marathon pace/5 seconds/km faster/10 seconds/km faster) with 2 minutes jog recovery.
Session 4: Distance 60 minutes, including 10 strides.
Session 5: Long run 28 km.
Week 8
Session 1: Distance 60 minutes.
Session 2: Intervals 3000 m + 2000 m + 3 x 1000 m + 2 x 500 m + 5 x 200 m (first set at half marathon pace, increase by 5 seconds/km for each set) with 90-60 seconds standing recovery.
Session 3: Intervals 8 x 800+200 m with 60 seconds standing recovery. 800 m at goal pace directly followed by 200 m at faster pace.
Session 4: Distance 60 min, including 10 strides.
Session 5: Long run 28 km.
Different training sessions in the journey towards Helsingborg Marathon
Distance Runs
The distance run is a training session where you simply run and enjoy, clearing your mind. Here, you shouldn’t push yourself too hard, and your heart rate should be low while maintaining a good feeling. The purpose of this session is to acclimate your body’s muscles, joints, and ligaments to running.
Hill Repeats
Hill training is one of our favorite workouts in running as it builds both strength and speed while improving your recovery. The hills you run can be long, short, steep, or gentle. You choose a hill based on the purpose of the session – building endurance, speed, or perhaps strength and running technique.
Intervals
Intervals are workouts where we focus on becoming faster and improving our oxygen uptake. Intervals are usually shorter than threshold runs and have longer recovery periods, often with easy jogging or standing recovery.
Threshold Runs
Threshold runs are done at a controlled high pace, and it’s easier to determine this pace if you have undergone a lactate test at a clinic, for example. Otherwise, you can start with the pace you can maintain for approximately 60 minutes. These workouts are designed to improve your endurance.
Long Runs
The marathon runner’s sacred routine on weekends. The long run lasts from 90 minutes to over 3 hours, aiming to acclimate your body to prolonged exertion. The longer the race you are preparing for, the more important this workout becomes in getting your body accustomed to being active for an extended period.
Threshold & speed
During this period, there is a strong focus on threshold training to help you become a resilient runner and achieve your goal on September 7th. We incorporate interval workouts to maintain your speed and ensure that race pace feels more comfortable.
Week 9
Session 1: Distance 75 min
Session 2: Distance 60 min + 10 strides
Session 3: Fartlek 5 km – 60 sec fast / 60 sec easy
Session 4: Distance 45 min
Session 5: Long run 30 km
Week 10
Session 1: Distance 60 min
Session 2: Threshold 4 x 10 min (race pace + 10 sec/km) with 2 min jog recovery
Session 3: Distance 60 min including 10 strides
Session 4: Distance 60 min
Session 5: Long run 32 km (4 x 5 km at marathon pace + 10 sec/km) with 1 km jog recovery
Week 11
Session 1: Distance 60-75 min
Session 2: Threshold 10 x 3 min (+ 10 sec per km on your tempo pace) with 60 sec standing recovery
Session 3: Threshold 25 x 400 m (+ 10 sec per km on your tempo pace) with 60 sec standing recovery
Session 4: Distance 45 min
Session 5: Long run 34 km (15 km at marathon pace + 10 sec/km)
Week 12
Session 1: Distance 60-75 min
Session 2: Fartlek 10 km – 180 sec fast alternating with 60 sec easy
Session 3: Intervals 12 x 1000 m (tempo pace) with 90 sec standing recovery
Session 4: Distance 40 min + 10 strides
Session 5: Long run 36 km.
Threshold & peaking
With only four weeks left until the big goal, the focus lies on threshold workouts, followed by the tapering phase. The majority of the hard work is already done, so it’s important to train wisely and avoid any injuries during these last weeks.
This is where it counts – on September 7th, you will set a new personal record at the Helsingborg Marathon!
Week 13
Session 1: Distance 75 min
Session 2: Threshold 10 x 2 km (race pace) with 1 km jogging recovery (approximately 45 sec/km slower)
Session 3: Distance 60 min + 10 strides
Session 4: Hill repeats 10 x 2 min + 10 x 1 min with jogging recovery
Session 5: Long run 35 km (30 km at race pace + 10 sec/km)
Week 14
Session 1: Distance 60 min
Session 2: Threshold 3 x 7 km (race pace) with 1 km jogging recovery (approximately 45 sec/km slower)
Session 3: Distance 60 min
Session 4: 15 x 1000 m (race pace + 10 sec/km) with 60 sec standing recovery
Session 5: Long run 30 km
Week 15
Session 1: Distance 70 min.
Session 2: Intervals 4 x 4x400m with 50/40/30 seconds rest. (at race pace)
Session 3: Distance 60 min including 5 strides
Session 4: Fartlek 5 km 90 sec fast / 30 sec easy
Session 5: Long run 18 km
Week 16
Session 1: Distance 50 min
Session 2: Threshold 5 x 1000 m (race pace) with 90 sec standing recovery
Session 3: Distance 30 min + 5 strides
Session 4: Helsingborg Marathon