3 Months to Race Day: What Marathoners Should Be Doing Right Now
If you're targeting the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon this November, or really any fall marathon, you're sitting right at the twelve week mark today. I want to be straight with you: this is the block that decides your race. Not race week, not the taper. Right now.
I've coached 65 runners to a Boston Qualifying time, and almost every one of them will tell you the same thing. The marathon isn't won on race day. It's won in the eight to ten weeks of work that happen before anyone's talking about tapering.
Here's what I want you focused on over these next twelve weeks.
Your long run needs a job, not just mileage
A lot of runners treat the long run as a box to check. Run far, feel tired, repeat next week. At this point in your training, your long runs should have purpose built into them, whether that's marathon pace segments in the back half, fueling practice, or simply teaching your body to run efficiently on tired legs. Distance alone stopped being enough for you a while ago.
Get specific about goal pace, not just goal time
Everyone knows their goal finish time. Fewer runners actually know what that pace feels like in their legs, in their breathing, in their mind at mile 18 when it starts to hurt. Over these twelve weeks we work goal pace into workouts regularly, not just on race day, so it becomes familiar instead of foreign.
Respect the recovery as much as the work
This is where I see the most self-inflicted damage. Runners chasing a Boston Qualifier or a big PR tend to think more is always better. It isn't. Your fitness is built during the recovery between hard efforts, not just during the hard effort itself. If you're constantly tired, constantly sore, or your easy runs don't feel easy anymore, that's not dedication, that's a warning sign.
Start thinking about fueling now, not race week
Whatever you plan to eat and drink on race day should already be part of your long runs by now. Race week is too late to find out your stomach doesn't agree with a new gel. Dial this in during training so it's second nature by November.
Build in a dress rehearsal
Somewhere in the next few weeks, plan a long run that mimics race morning as closely as possible. Same wake up time, same breakfast, same shoes, same gear. You want zero surprises on race day, and the only way to get there is to rehearse it.
Twelve weeks is enough time to build real fitness if you use it well, and it's short enough that there's no room to waste a week here or there. If you want a training plan built specifically around your race, your schedule, and where you're starting from right now, let's set up a free consultation and talk through it.
You can see exactly how my adult marathon and half marathon coaching is structured, including the tiers built for runners chasing a Boston Qualifier specifically. Not sure what pace you should be training at right now? Use my free race and training pace calculator to get a starting point. If you're ready to get started, fill out my athlete questionnaire and I'll be in touch. You can also read what other marathoners I've coached have said about their training experience.
Twelve weeks from now you'll either be standing at the start line confident and ready, or wishing you'd started this block with more intention. Let's make sure it's the first one.
Coach Justin
