A few weeks ago I posted on the 9 Mile Marathon Training plan, which has now been released as a book by Marlies Kort and is availble not to purchase at the following link:
https://the9milemarathon.clickfunnels.com/landingprebook
Well, I have been through the entire training plan and raced my goal race last week and thought I would provide a run down of my history, how I implemented the training plan and the results of using. If you are eager to get the outcomes, head to the bottom of the post for a conclusion.
My Running History and Training
I would consider myself as a training athlete with my most recent VO2Max tested at 64.3. I have been running for the past 17 years and in the past 4 years have started to compete in triathlon, including half iron and full iron distance races. I completed my first marathon in 2013 with a finishing time of 3 hours and 17 minutes. Although I have completed two Ironman triathlons since then, it is still the only full, stand alone, marathon I have completed. My Weekly training consists of between 8 and 12 hours of training a week, spread across swimming, cycling and running.
Eating and Nutrition
About three years ago, I removed processed carbs and sugars from my diet, which fits in perfectly with the training plan and is encouraged.
Testing Before Using the Training Plan
The training plan basically has you running at a determined heart rate for the 12 weeks, and the distance you are running steadily increases as the weeks progress. Testing is performed before you commence the training plan and is combined with your fastest 10km time. After working through the testing, my heart rate for the training plan was 161 beats per minute.
Predicted Marathon Finish Time
The training plan offers a predicted finish time for your marathon based on the testing you perform and your prior race results. For me my predicted marathon finish time was 3 hours and 10 minutes. This is exactly what I needed for a Boston Qualifying time, so was hoping this would be correct as it would take seven minutes of my personal best time.
How I implemented the training
The training plan only goes for 12 weeks, with only three training runs per week and each run needs to be at your specific training heart rate. After testing, my training heart rate was 161 beats per minute which seemed high, but I was still ready to take it on.
The training plan calls for cross training when you are not running, and being a triathlete, this fit in perfectly with my training schedule. You also need to schedule three 10km time trials, which was a little bit of a struggle for me as I started the plan during triathlon season. So instead I used races for two of the time trials.
My typical training week while using the 9 Mile Marathon Training Plan looked this:
Weekly Training Plan
Monday - Rest Day
Tuesday - Morning Swim, Evening Ride
Wednesday - Morning Run
Thursday - Morning Swim, Evening Ride with a light run off the bike(approx 3km)
Friday - Morning Run, Evening Swim
Saturday - Morning Ride then Speed Session Run
Sunday - Morning Long Ride or Long Run(Not prescribed by Training Plan)
NOTE: All runs prescribed by the training plan are in Bold, with the Thursday light run and Sunday Long Run not prescribed by the 9 Mile Training plan.
What I Liked About The Plan
- The training plan only lasts for 12 weeks
- It gives you a lot of time to adapt to training load and recover
- The training plan encourages cross training, which is perfect for triathletes and other multi sport athletes
- It ensured that my training plan, during triathlon season remained under 12 hours a week
- The training plan is easy to implement
- It predicted my goal marathon time, almost exactly
- The plan encouraged removing sugars and processed carbs from your diet to allow you burn more fat as fuel for your runs
What I Didn’t Like About The Training Plan
- I found it difficult to hit the goal training heart rate I tested for
- The training plan does not prepare you for the muscle soreness you will feel on race day
- I am not sure the training plan will give you the confidence to complete the marathon distance
- I did not want to be racing by heart rate
My Race Results
The training plan is recommended for runners aiming for a finishing time between 5 hours and 3 hours. My time was definitely closer to the 3 hour mark, with the training plan predicting my time to be close to 3 hours and 10 minutes. If you check my results, you will see that I can very close to this time. The run left me sore and my legs were screaming from early on in the race, so I am not sure if this could have been helped by a different preparation.
You can see my results here:
https://www.strava.com/activities/1537300721
Conclusion
Working with, and implementing the training plan was easy. The testing you need to perform to get your training heart rate is easy to follow, which then lets you implement the training plan into your schedule with ease. The training builds over the 12 weeks and gives you sufficient time to adapt and recover before increasing the distance you need to run. I found the need to do some long runs to give me the confidence that I would be able to finish my goal race, but I think in future, I won’t need them. The training plan did an amazing job at predicting my finishing time, but I somehow feel it left me feeling sore after the race, which I think a lot of other plans would have had me more prepared for this.
One person going through a training plan does not guarantee it both works and will be successful for everyone. I think there is still a lot more research needed in endurance sports to make sure we are optimising our training as much as possible, but I do think the 9 Mile Marathon Training Plan does take a small step in the right direction.
