When you’re training to run a faster marathon, it pays to get to know your goal pace. Marathon pace workouts give you an opportunity to practice that speed and simulate how you’ll feel on race day.
But are they right for everyone looking to PR? To help you decide whether you should add marathon pace workouts to your plan, we spoke with run coaches to explain the pros and cons of these workouts, plus the best ways to add them to your plan.
Race Pace vs. Tempo: What’s the Difference and Is One Better for Performance?
Race pace workouts are different from tempo runs in that they’re more specific to your target goal. 5K and 10K race paces are generally faster than tempo pace, while half marathon race pace can be the same or slower, depending on your fitness level. Marathon pace typically falls about 20 to 40 seconds per mile slower than tempo, says Kai Ng, NYC-based running coach.
Tempo runs have a broader definition, too. Some people run tempos at threshold pace, while others might complete these workouts at a pace prescribed in a time-goal oriented plan. For example, the Runner’s World break four hours marathon training plan includes long runs with tempo miles at 8:33 pace (whereas marathon pace for breaking four hours is 9:09).
Race pace workouts are more effective for boosting confidence and predicting your race time, while tempo runs are more crucial for building the adaptations you need to get faster, says Ng.
While race pace workouts are helpful, you don’t need them all the time—or at all for some marathoners, says Sage Canaday, ultrarunner and run coach at Higher Running. “It’s good to run slightly faster and slightly slower than that pace in other workouts as well,” like adding half marathon, 5K, and 10K pace efforts to marathon training to improve speed and fitness.
In other words, you don’t need marathon pace workouts to PR, as long as you have tempo and interval workouts in your build, as most Runner’s World training plans offer. But there are some solid benefits to consider if you’re looking to feel extra prepared for race day.
4 Reasons to Consider Adding Marathon Pace Workouts to Your Training
Smarter Pacing on Race Day
Marathon pace workouts are some of the most important workouts you’ll do in your training block, according to Ng. “Pacing is a skill and it increases in importance the farther you run/race,” says Ng. Those looking to crush 26.2, for example, could particularly benefit from race pace workouts.
“You’re teaching your body to ‘shift gears and lock in’ when your legs are tired,” adds Canaday. “You specifically can dial into the muscle memory and breathing patterns that a race effort will demand from you—and you can learn to control that effort more precisely [on race day].”
Confidence Boost
If you complete marathon pace miles toward the end of your plan and successfully meet your paces, you should feel confident you can hold onto that pace on race day, Ng says.
As Canaday mentions, you also gain confidence that you can maintain speed on fatigued legs, especially when you practice race pace in the middle of a long run. “You’re teaching your body and your mind how to handle that effort on tired legs and how to dial in,” says Jess Hofheimer, RRCA-certified run coach and founder of Pace of Me.
Smarter Goal Setting
If you struggle to meet marathon pace in a workout, especially toward the end of your training block, you can use that information to adjust your goal for race day, Ng says. For example, if you’re trying to break 3:45 but you find that you can’t hold onto race pace (8:34), then Ng suggests dialing your goal back to about 3:55 instead, depending on what pace does feel doable.
Dress Rehearsal
Hofheimer says that race pace workouts are a great time to practice good running form, as well as fueling for marathons. Running at race pace not only makes you faster but helps you avoid GI issues on race day as you fine-tune your nutrition strategy during those more intense miles.
How to Add Race Pace to Your Marathon Plan
A rule of thumb for race pace workouts in marathon training is to use them sparingly throughout so you can fully recover. “The longer the intervals, the harder it is to recover, and the higher the risk of injury,” says Ng.
It’s important to build up in longer race pace segments throughout your training block, too. For example, start with two to five miles of marathon pace, then gradually work up to 10 or more as you progress in your plan, Hofheimer says.
It’s especially important to do a marathon pace workout by the time you hit peak week in your training plan, because you’ll be about a month out from race day and you can use it to most accurately assess your fitness level before race day. Ng agrees with Hofheimer in that your marathon pace workout should reach about 10 miles come peak week.
Marathoners might opt to replace a 12-mile long run with six miles at tempo scheduled around peak week for a 14-mile run with 10 miles at marathon pace. Tempo is a faster effort than marathon pace, so you should be able to sustain marathon goal pace for a longer duration than tempo—hence the swap, says Ng. “If you’re racing a marathon, and you’re going for time, and you cannot hold the marathon goal pace for 10 miles, we have to change the goal,” he says.
If you have a long run with marathon pace on the schedule, dial back your speed workouts, Ng says. For example, if you have marathon pace in your weekend long run and a track workout on Wednesdays, like 10 reps of 400-meter repeats, cut your track workout down to about five reps in the week before and the week after your race pace run. This helps you fit your marathon pace miles in while reducing risk of injury and preventing overtraining or burnout.
Kristine Kearns, a writer and avid runner, joined Runner’s World and Bicycling in July 2024. She previously coached high school girls cross country and currently competes in seasonal races, with more than six years of distance training and an affinity for weightlifting. You can find her wearing purple, baking cupcakes, and visiting her local farmers market.