5 Advanced Workouts That Build Marathon Speed and How to Know You’re Ready for Them

Getting faster doesn’t come from one single type of workout. Race-day speed is built by balancing different efforts the right way. Long runs lay the endurance foundation with slow, steady time on feet. Short intervals sharpen top-end speed. Threshold efforts stretch your ability to hold faster paces without tipping into burnout.

But within each of those workout types, there are levels.

You wouldn’t ask a first-time marathon runner to do a 20-mile long run with tempo miles in the middle. For a newer runner, that could put too much strain on the body too soon into their running journey. But for the experienced runner chasing a new PR, the same session might be exactly the workout needed to build the power and endurance required to run their best race.

That’s not the only way for experienced marathoners to build more fitness for race day. We asked two run coaches to develop a solid list of five advanced workouts designed to improve marathon speed, along with the signs you’re ready to add them to your training plan.

Before adding higher-level workouts to your plan, you need a consistent mileage base, established fueling and hydration habits, and the ability to recover well between quality efforts, explains Pennsylvania-based RRCA-certified run coach Alysha Flynn, founder of What Runs You and coach for Every Woman’s Marathon.

You also need self-awareness. “Advanced runners are usually the ones who aren’t forcing workouts,” Flynn continues. “They know how to stay patient, controlled, and composed when things become really uncomfortable.”

An advanced runner can tell when their mechanics are breaking down and when pushing harder would create problems; they have the awareness to think, “‘Okay, I need to pull off the gas pedal here a little bit,’” says Flynn.

Flynn also mentions it often takes several years and several marathons to master a base, as well as fueling, recovery, and restraint. In her experience, usually after your fifth marathon, you’ve been through the training process enough times to develop that kind of trust in your process and your body, which allows you to push harder.

RRCA-certified run coach Steve Waldon of the Marathon Training Academy looks for signs that a runner has reached the limits of their usual approach to determine if they’re ready for next-level workouts. For example, maybe your 5K and 10K paces suggest you should be able to run a faster marathon than you’ve been able to achieve. Maybe you’re seeing a plateau in your training paces. Or maybe you’re crushing every workout but you’re unable to keep adding mileage because of time constraints, like work and family obligations or injury limitations, so strategically adding intensity becomes the path to better performance.

As fun as conquering a tough challenge is, both coaches agree recovery is an absolutely crucial element to nail down before attempting advanced workouts. That means you should have recovery habits established, including smart pacing, nutrition, and sleep. If you’re finishing your current workouts depleted, injured, or mentally drained, then it’s probably not time to take training to the next level. “If you’re not able to absorb a lot of the training [you’re already doing] then some of these workouts just aren’t on the table for you just yet,” Waldon says.

Advanced workouts should challenge your fitness, not expose a shaky foundation. Before adding one to your training plan, ask yourself: Am I confident in my ability to complete this workout with control? And can I recover well enough afterward to keep my training schedule intact?

If the answer is yes, you’re probably ready to level up your training.

1. Marathon Pace Repeats

Why it works: While all levels of marathon runners should incorporate race-pace efforts into their training, “the float recovery is what elevates the workout [into advanced territory],” Flynn says. Instead of jogging easily or walking between race-pace reps, you only slightly reduce the pace by about 30 seconds per mile from your marathon goal pace. It’s not a full recovery, but a small fluctuation that’s designed to intentionally move you into and out of your race pace.

In a marathon, you often have to adjust for hills, crowds, aid stations, or any number of unexpected obstacles before settling back into your pace. Flynn says the goal of this workout is to sustain your marathon effort under cumulative fatigue when the workout starts to get uncomfortable.

When done well, this session should feel like smooth waves of effort, not sharp high-intensity peaks and low-intensity valleys.

How to know you’re ready for it: You’ve mastered your marathon pace and can control your effort effectively. Flynn says that warning signs you might have overreached and attempted this workout before you were truly ready are falling off pace by the second interval or mentally spiraling when the workout challenges you.

How to do it:

• 2 miles easy running warmup
• 3 x 2 miles at goal marathon pace (5-6 RPE)
• 3-minute float recovery (30 seconds slower than marathon pace) between reps (4-5 RPE)
• 1-2 miles easy running cooldown

2. Long Marathon-Pace Fartlek

Why it works: This workout takes long run mileage and makes it way more challenging. For newer runners, long runs are simply about easy time on feet. This advanced session includes 14 quality miles, within a total of 20-plus miles.

This workout is advanced because it combines long run mileage with threshold intensity. Waldon says this workout is a peak week long run, done right before you hit your taper.

The biggest sign of success in a workout like this, according to Waldon, is finishing the second six-mile block at marathon pace under control. At this point, you’re 18 miles into your run and if you’re feeling good, you should feel confident you can finish out the workout—and your upcoming race—successfully.

On the other hand, if the workout goes poorly, don’t panic. Waldon says the biggest consequence of any advanced workout is often psychological. If the workout isn’t going your way, especially as you get into the second six-mile marathon pace interval, shutting it down to avoid injury is the best course of action, Waldon adds. However, if you catch yourself straining really early, you may be able to simply continue with a regular long run instead of the full workout. That way you’re only sacrificing the intensity of the workout, not the volume.

Regardless, an incomplete workout can certainly ding your confidence, but before you begin to dwell too much on the thought of a blemish on your training log, Waldon says it’s important to look back at the months of quality training you did before you even attempted this workout as proof that you’re still ready to run a fast marathon.

How to know you’re ready for it: “What you don’t want to do in training is add both mileage and intensity at the same time,” Waldon explains. So you should have a solid volume base built underneath you before you add intensity. If this is your first time hitting 20 miles or you’ve only done it a few times in training blocks past, skip the threshold pace and keep it easy.

How to do it:

• 6 miles easy pace, 3-4 RPE
• 2 x 6 miles marathon pace (5-6 RPE), with 1 mile threshold pace (7-8 RPE) between
• 1 mile easy running cooldown

3. Fast-Finish Long Run

Why it works: This workout trains one of the hardest aspects of marathon racing: running well in the later miles.

Flynn says the goal is “maintaining composure and efficiency of your mechanics late in the workout because that’s what you want on race day.” After 10 to 12 easy miles, you shift into a steadier effort, then progress toward marathon pace over the final three miles.

The challenge is patience. If you push too early, “the workout can become a giant tempo run,” Flynn says. That means early burnout and an incomplete workout.

A successful fast-finish long run is not just about hitting a faster split at the end. It’s about finishing faster while still running efficiently. Flynn says to pay attention to your form: Did your cadence drop? Did your stride get long and heavy? Did your ground contact time increase?

If you do feel some of these mechanical changes taking place—or see the readings trend the wrong way on your watch (metrics like cadence and ground contact time may be displayed midrun)—slow down and complete the long run as planned. You’ll still get your miles in and you can focus on what went wrong in future workouts.

This session also gives you a chance to practice fueling, hydration, and decision-making under fatigue, simulating the final miles of a marathon.

How to know you’re ready for it: You should already be comfortable running 16 to 18 miles, have a stable fueling strategy, and a strong grasp on controlled pacing.

How to do it:

• 10-12 miles easy running, 3-4 RPE
• 3 miles steady-state effort (4-5 RPE) or just slightly faster than the top end of your easy pace range
• 3 miles progressing to goal marathon pace, 5-6 RPE

4. Double Threshold

Why it works: A double threshold workout allows advanced runners to add more quality volume without cramming it all into one massive session. Either workout could stand alone, but doing both in one day raises the demand.

“Being able to incorporate two of these in a single day in itself makes this strategy advanced,” Waldon says.

The key is discipline. If you race through the morning session, the evening workout can fall apart. Waldon says that a successful double threshold day means finishing the p.m. session controlled, like you could still do a couple more reps. Also, if you end up completely wiped after the morning session, skipping the second workout is the best option to avoid further damage.

Waldon recommends keeping the longer reps in the morning session at the lower end of your threshold pace range. Because threshold effort usually falls at about a 7 to 8 RPE, the morning 2K reps should hover around that 7 while the evening 1K reps might tick up slightly to an 8. It’s not a huge difference—often about four to six seconds, Waldon says—so the important thing to remember is staying at a comfortably hard intensity level.

How to know you’re ready for it: Once again, this workout is all about adding quality to your training, so Waldon says you shouldn’t attempt it without being used to double easy run days beforehand. If you haven’t done that yet, take a few weeks to add easy run doubles to your schedule and see how that feels. If you’re feeling good and recovering well enough after doubling up on easy runs, then you might want to try a double threshold day.

How to do it:

Morning:

• 2 miles easy running warmup
• 5 x 2K at threshold pace, closer to 7 RPE, with 90 seconds recovery between
• 1-2 miles easy running cooldown

Evening:

• 2 miles easy running warmup
• 8 x 1K at threshold pace, closer to 8 RPE, with 90 seconds recovery between
• 1-2 miles easy running cooldown

5. Hill Repeats

Why it works: Hill repeats build aerobic power and strength while forcing you to run by effort instead of pace, Flynn says. Because these reps are five minutes long, Flynn recommends a moderate incline, or even a treadmill set around 3 percent if you don’t have access to a long hill.

“You might actually get a little slower through each of these reps, but your effort should stay very even,” Flynn says. “And that’s okay.”

You’ll know you did this workout well if you climb efficiently—maintain your form and effort level—and stay mentally composed through the final reps. If you go out too fast, max out early, or your mechanics fail, the effort was too aggressive.

Flynn likes to prescribe this workout earlier on in a training plan before you do a lot of pace-specific work. For advanced runners, this session can serve as strength training in disguise, while boosting your lactate threshold in the process.

How to know you’re ready for it: Start with shorter reps, like 30-second hill repeats, and build up to full five-minute efforts.

How to do it:

• 2 miles easy running warmup
• 6 x 5 minutes uphill at threshold effort, 7-8 RPE, with a jog back down the hill for recovery
• 1-2 miles easy running cooldown

Matt Rudisill

Associate Service Editor

Matt Rudisill is an Associate Service Editor who has been with Runner's World since 2025. A Nittany Lion through-and-through, Matt graduated from Penn State in 2022 with a degree in journalism and worked in communications for the university's athletic department for three years as the main contact and photographer for its nationally-ranked cross country and track & field teams. Matt was also heavily involved in communications efforts for Penn State football, men's basketball, and women's gymnastics. In his role with Runner's World, Matt has interviewed Olympians, world champions, and countless experts in the field to create service content that helps runners of all ages and experience levels train smarter and race faster. When he’s not out jogging, Matt can be found tweeting bad takes about the Phillies or watching movies.