Marathon-pace blocks
Goal marathon pace in several long blocks separated by short easy floats.
Also called: MP repeats, broken marathon pace.
Blocks let you bank more time at goal pace than a single continuous effort, which matters most in the middle of a build when the continuous version would be too big a session to recover from. The floats are short on purpose — long enough to reset your form, short enough that you never fully recover, which keeps the second and third blocks honest.
The session
Shown at a 4:00 marathon reference — 1 h 10 total, about 11.2 km, including 48 min of quality work.
Warm-up
- 12 min easy (6:43–7:24/km)
Main set
- 3 × (13 min @ 5:41/km (M) + 3 min float @ 7:24/km (easy))
Cool-down
- 10 min easy (6:43–7:24/km)
Why this session works
Blocks at marathon pace with short floats rehearse the exact metabolic demand of race day — substrate use, posture, rhythm — in digestible pieces.
Source: Canova & Arcelli 1999; Bassett & Howley 2000. Training phase: build.
Run it at your own paces
Open the workout generator and enter a recent race time — every rep length, recovery and target pace is recalculated for your fitness, and the session exports to .fit for a Garmin watch.
Frequently asked questions
What is a marathon-pace blocks?
Goal marathon pace in several long blocks separated by short easy floats. Blocks let you bank more time at goal pace than a single continuous effort, which matters most in the middle of a build when the continuous version would be too big a session to recover from.
How long is this session?
At a 4:00 marathon reference it comes to 1 h 10 and about 11.2 km, of which 48 min is prescribed quality work. The generator scales both to your own paces, so a faster runner covers more ground in the same time.
Who is this workout for?
It is written for the build phase of a marathon build. The distances shown suit a 4:00 marathoner; enter your own recent race time in the generator and every rep length and target pace is recalculated for you.
More marathon-pace work sessions
- Marathon-pace run — A continuous block at goal marathon pace.
- Marathon-pace waves — Marathon pace with regular surges slightly faster, then settling back without slowing down.
- Marathon-pace cutdown — Marathon-pace work that tightens to half-marathon effort over the closing blocks.