s1/e05 Weekly Q&A (March 12, 2021)

Lactate Training

Lactate threshold training is crucial for enhancing marathon pace and endurance. Elisabeth Scott explains that increasing your lactate threshold allows you to run faster at marathon pace by improving your body's efficiency in handling lactate. This training involves running at a pace you can sustain for about an hour, which helps move your lactate threshold to a higher effort zone 1.

You still want to keep your easy running as the majority of your running. But let's say you go through a training cycle which includes a nice, dedicated portion of lactate threshold work. You know for a fact your lactate threshold has moved. It has moved up.

--- Elisabeth Scott

By focusing on lactate threshold workouts, runners can drag their marathon pace upwards, making it a key component of marathon training 2.

   

Race Prep

Race-specific preparation is essential for tailoring training to mimic actual race conditions. Elisabeth Scott emphasizes the importance of understanding the course's elevation profile and adapting workouts accordingly. For instance, if a marathon course is hilly, incorporating hill training is crucial to prepare for those challenges 3.

One of the things she talked about when she won a bronze medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004 is that when she was doing her marathon build up for that race, she lived in Northern California, and her coach and their team, and the Olympic training team, they basically figured out the exact elevation profile of the course and found a way in her training area to mimic it, like to a T.

--- Elisabeth Scott

This approach ensures that runners are physically and mentally prepared for the specific demands of their race, enhancing performance on race day 4.