Will a hill-ey 32km race benefit my training for a flat marathon?

kirstengeffen

Hi there!
I know I've been posting a lot... sorry!

I feel like I'm on better track with my training... I'm 4 weeks out from my marathon and doing between 70km and 80km per week (for the next 2 weeks until I begin to taper)
My question is; the marathon I'm running is relatively flat....
There's a beast 32km next weekend with tonnes of hills... will This benefit me in the flat marathon??? I'm thinking so... from a fitness perspective... but am I wasting time training hills if I'm going to be running a flat marathon??

litsy3

No, it won't. It might be okay to do as a training run, but if it is a race you will run it too hard and you will probably not recover from it in time to get any meaningful training done for your marathon.

Hills aren't a 'waste of time' in training, but for a flat road marathon you do also need to get plenty of long runs in on flat tarmac surfaces.

kirstengeffen

Thanks @litsy3 I'm also worried I push roo hard and get an injury as I haven't really focussed on hills..... wish There was a flat 32km before my marathon... but this is the only one..

litsy3

It'll probably be better for you to just go for a long, slow run by yourself - lots of people do use long races for marathon training, but it takes discipline to hold yourself back and not race them. I know plenty of people who've run a really good 20 mile race but then missed their marathon targets...

kirstengeffen

@litsy3 how's your training going??? Feeling on track for our marathon 24 april?

litsy3

It's okay thanks! - I'm not as fast as I was last year but I seem to have retained some of my endurance despite having to take 5 weeks off in Nov/Dec and run low mileage in Jan. I've now got 5 weeks of marathon mileage training behind me so I'm happy that I can do the race, though I am not going for a PR. I am racing a half this weekend so I will just run to feel and not look at my watch, then use the time from that to help me work out what my marathon pace should be.

trswallow

I agree with @litsy3. Using a race for your longest runs can be a recipe for disaster, especially if you throw in hills when you have not included hills as part of your training. If it is really hilly or steep hills, then the uphills are going to do a number on your glutes and calves and the downhills can hit your thighs hard. If you haven't trained your body to deal with the pounding that hills provide then it is likely to compromise your training for the next week.

My previous 20 mile training run I ran a 10 mile race and then went out and ran a second loop of the course. However I made a point of running with someone that I knew was slower than me and I stayed with him until the last 400-800 meters. Then I just had to take off and pass the guy in front of us. It took a lot of discipline, because when we reached the point where there was 1.25 miles left I could see a long string of people that I knew I could pass. I ended up running the race at 30 seconds slower than marathon pace and my second loop at around 65 seconds slower than MP.

This weekend is my second 20 mile run and once again I will be doing a 10 mile race as part of it. This time a hilly trail race, but I run trails a lot so that is not a problem. My plan is to get some miles in before the race, so that I am not so keyed up to run people down. If I can manage to get 10 miles in before the race, then I will hold back for the first half of the race and open up a little for the second half and make it a long 3/1 run.

Hills can be really beneficial, but you want to include them early in your training or in between training cycles.

STrooper

litsy3 wrote: »

No, it won't. It might be okay to do as a training run, but if it is a race you will run it too hard and you will probably not recover from it in time to get any meaningful training done for your marathon.

Hills aren't a 'waste of time' in training, but for a flat road marathon you do also need to get plenty of long runs in on flat tarmac surfaces.

From my experience, if you run a hilly race course too hard close to a marathon race, you will not recover in time. Particularly if your normal training doesn't include hills. Hills are speed training in disguise. But they also have some very distinct challenges on your muscles as outlined above.