Hey everyone,

Just got admitted to the NYC marathon (guess I better start training :-). The program I am following is 3-4 days a week of running which leaves me 3 days to strength train/cross train on the TRX. Any suggestions on a good TRX routine to do on the strength training days to get me marathon ready? Thanks.

Kim, congrats!!  I've never done a marathon, so my hat is off to you.  I've done a decent amount of distance running though, and I found that any of the single leg exercises (particularly the suspended lunge and supine runner) helped.  For me, though, the biggest help came from the suspended core exercises.  As I neared the end of my runs, I noticed that my form would start deteriorating as I got tired, which in addition to slowing me down, hampered my breathing.  The core exercises (especially the suspended side plank, any of the pikes, and the rotational exercises) helped strengthen my abs and lower back to the point where I could maintain proper form all the way through.  I'm sure that there are some dedicated distance runners here that have a proven routine to offer, but I don't think you can go too wrong with anything built around a solid core, stability leg exercises and a few upper body exercises to keep things balanced. 

Good Luck, let us know how it goes!!

Mike: You beat me to the punch on this one. While i was off considering what to suggest you went and suggested what i'd thought of.

Kim: I think should concentrate on endurance rather than strength for the leg exercises. If you do a a large number of reps & sets, with little rest you should really fatigue your legs, hopefully preventing and tiredness or leg cramps on the day.

Thanks guys. Great idea to focus on more endurance style training. I am trying to get under 4 hours and am somewhat slow, so to work on my explosiveness maybe I will do 20 reps of exercises with the first half regular reps and the second half adding a jump or more speed. Depending on how many leg exercises I shoot for, I might only do one set of each.

It seems the key for me is just to vary my strength workouts to keep my legs guessing. I'll let you know how it goes.

How about doing your leg exercises in 3 sets of 7 each side, alternating between the legs with no rest, first set concentrate on strength, 2nd go for speed, and 3rd for explosiveness with a little hop?

Keeping the rest between sets and exercises as short as possible will really challenge your endurance, and give good anareobic training, both of which will pay off later in the race, allowing you better performance as your muscles begin to fatigue.

For speed you could always try short sprints at maximum speed during some of your shorter runs. This might help pick up your speed.

I must interject.  Strength is still important in your training program.  Research shows us that exercise economy can be influenced by a well designed neuromuscular strength program. Replacing a portion of endurance training with explosive strength training can preserve or enhance the ability to maintain higher power outputs, at least for short periods (Bastiaans et al 2001).  Strength can lead to reduced amount of muscle activation at a given load; this is great as there will be less metabolic cost for the same force output.  Training strength can also enhance anaerobic capacity and lactate threshold.

These strength gains should be in the form of neuromuscular recruitment and not hypertrophy.  Increased muscle mass is not desireable for endurance sport (Mikkola et al. 2007).  This means your exercise selection should be high resistance with low reps.  That is not always possible with the TRX; there may still be a need for squats, and deadlifts (though you may be able to adequately load yourself initially for single leg deep squats w/ TRX assistance).  The TRX is great for training movement paterns of running along with power; enter the track start, and supine runner exercises.  The neuromuscluar system of an athlete has to be able to produce power repeatedly in circumstances in which energy production is high, acidity in muscle is increased and contractitlity may be limited (Paavolainen et al. 1999).  I'd throw in some kettlebell swings for good measure.

Core strength and joint stability are important for creating and maintaining efficient movement strategies.  My suggestion would be to lay off the muscular endurance resistance training while in-season and rather focus a little more on strength and power.

 Sorry, a little lengthy.  Regards,

Steve-O: When does the in-season begin? The NYC marathon is in 13 weeks. I thought that would be enough time for some Pre-season endurance training, and what you suggested closer to the marathon. Maybe like 5/6 more weeks of endurance, and 7/8 strength.

Well I didn't want to lengthen the post too much and talk about periodization as well.  Most marathon training programs are based on 20 to 26 weeks of training starting with a general preparatory phase (GPP), specific preparatory phase (SPP), and competitive phase (or in-season).  I was generalizing and calling all training for the marathon in-season.  I'll break it down a little better:

1. GPP (off-season phase 1) - focus: Core and joint stability, mobility, strength through sport specific range, variety

2. SPP 1 (off-season phase 2) - focus: Integrated core strength, velocity through range, less variety

3. SPP 2 (pre-season) - focus: Complexes, latic threshold training, plyometrics, sprints

4. Competitive (in-season) - focus: Joint integrity, posture, individual must do's

It is importatnt to start any training program with a complete functional movement screen prior to training to reduce risk of injury and improve performance.  This will exploit weak links such as mobility issues and asymmetries which will need to be resolved asap prior to adding a training load.  Recommended reading: Athletic Body in Balance by Gray Cook.  It's published by Human Kinetics, and widely available.  Other recommendations are DVDs: Secrets of the Core: the Backside, Secrets of the Hip and Knee, and Advanced Functional Movement Screening.  These DVDs are a little more intense and more recommended for a strength coach or physical therapist.  If you want more info you can check out functionalmovement.com, you can also get all of these resources at performbetter.com.

Another suggestion to aid with running mechanics is the e3grip (available at biogrip.com).  I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't used them myself but by holding these grips improve your running economy by increasing your stride length.  They help reduce external rotation of the knee and pronation of the foot.  The most interesting part is actually how they work; by holding the grip the angle of the 1st metacarpal and radius are altered.  This simple adjustment affects you all the way down the chain starting by putting the shoulders in a stable position, setting the thoracic spine, down to the lumbar spine, etc.  There isn't much research but several testimonials.  A collegue and I spent a couple of hours with the e3grip creator Stephen Tamaribuchi when I was down for the NSCA conference in Vegas a few weeks ago and he blew us away.  Definitely recommended, you can even run your marathon while holding them.  In essence they are for re-training your neuromuscular system to have optimal mechanics.  I actually use them in my regular strength training routine for setting my core before a set of squats, deadlifts, etc.

I feel I've gone a little off-topic... I'm not sure where you are in your training at 13 weeks but you should incorporate components of a periodized program to improve performance.  If you haven't found you weak links yet you are likely setting up yourself for injury; especially due to the repetitive nature of the sport.  I am recommending you do a movement screen asap, if you are not confident in performing the screens on yourself, find a strength coach that can help you.  Training movement is a relatively new concept; meaning a lot of strength coaches may not yet be implementing movement screening... find one that does.

 Whoa! I spend way too much time on these posts.

So I did it! 3:59:44....pretty close, but I reached my goal. Next time I'm qualifying for Boston.

 Suspended Lunge with Power, Crossing Balance Lunge and Sprinters Starts...now I am taking a break, but just from running. TRX and Yoga only for the next couple of months :-) 

Kim,

Great job!  Nice time, too!