The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 2 Training

Below is the breakdown of the training sessions for Week 2. I work through my weeks on a Monday – Sunday basis. This makes sense for me because race day is usually on Sunday so using that as an end date is ideal. Week 1 is the first week of the Base Phase of my program. I use a three phase program BPR (Base, Pace, Race). The objective for week 1 of the 2:49 Marathon Project will be to build back into a solid running routine. I’ve been freestyling my training for too long now. It is time to be disciplined and focussed on Valencia.

I have broken down my upcoming the 2:49 Marathon Project Week 2 into three parts, running sessions, strength and conditioning sessions and weekly targets and goals. 

The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 2 Running Sessions

The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 2 Running sessions will consist of six days of running and one no running day. I usually like to get a few easy recovery miles in on a Monday, but this week, things are working out a little differently. The volume is increased in week 2, but it is still at a very manageable level. From an intensity level perspective, it is once again, low to moderate. There are two days with hard effort, the rest is easy, steady or long and slow. There is a total of 76km’s (47 miles). This may seem like a big jump from week 1, and it is, however, relatively speaking 76km’s is still a fairly low volume week.

Monday: No Running Day
A no running day is not quite the same as a Rest Day. It gives space to do some cross training, where a rest day is a rest day, no avoidable physical activity.

Tuesday: 1k Reps Interval Session – 12.6k (8)
This is a session that I love having on the plan. Not that I love executing it, but it is a great session for putting down some really good, hard effort. It looks like this:

1.5k (1 mile) easy warm up
5-10 minutes dynamic drills 
8 x 1k repeats
200m walk into slow jog recovery between reps
1.5k (1 mile) easy cool down

My target time for each rep will be 4:00/rep. This should be achievable, however, having not raced at that pace for a long time, it could be rather difficult. Also, I will not be working on a track. I will do this session on the flattest road I can find.

Wednesday: 10k (6 miles) Easy Run
This easy session will get some volume into the week and provide some recovery from the previous day’s session.

Thursday: 16k (10 miles) Easy Run With 4k (2 Miles) Steady
This is a mid-week, medium length run. The last 4k will I will increase the pace to a steady pace. 

Friday: 5k (3 miles) Easy Run
My Friday run is a group run with friends and is probably the most enjoyable run of the week. Short and sweet followed by coffee. Who could ask for more.

Saturday: 8k (5 miles) Tempo Run
I will execute this session as follows:
1.5k easy + 5k hard effort +1.5k easy (1 mile easy + 3 miles hard effort + 1 mile easy)
In the Base Phase, hard effort is marathon pace. There will be sessions with specific target paces I will look to hit  For this phase, hard effort at MP is enough. 

Sunday: 26k (16 miles) – Long Slow Distance Run (LSDR)
The LSDR for me is a very important and under-appreciated session. It can be hard to run slow, but from a physiological perspective it is important. This run offers a great adaptive benefit from an energy and oxygen delivery perspective. My LSDR pace is marathon pace + 1:30 – 1:45/km (marathon pace + 2:15 – 2:45/mile).

Strength & Conditioning

I went through the benefits of this bodyweight routine as part of my 2:49 Marathon Project in the previous post. In week 2 it remains the same as week 1. At some point, when I’m feeling stronger, I will increase the reps of each exercise, but for now, it doesn’t change.

35 reps push ups
35 crunches
90 second plank
35 squats
35 dead bugs (each side)
35 bicycle crunches (each side)
35 lunges

Repeat these until you hit 20 minutes. I then finish the routine off with:

35 reps close hands push ups

Yoga

I perform a 20 minute yoga for runners routine from YouTube 3 days per week. This week I will aim for Monday, Wednesday and Friday. As I go through the weeks, there will likely be some longer or more frequent sessions. Like the S & C, it’s only 20 minutes and I am more likely to complete the session because I know it is short. I am making it easy to make the good decision.

Racing Weight

Why is weight important and to be lean and strong? Simply put, for every 1 pound (.5kg) of body weight lost we gain approximately 2-3 seconds per mile. It makes sense doesn’t it? Think about carrying a bag of groceries up a flight of stairs. It’s much harder than just walking up them. Whatever we can do to take a weight burden off our body will help us in the long term. However, like I mentioned in my previous blog post, skinny and weak isn’t what we are shooting for. We want lean and strong. 

For the 2:49 Marathon Project, I am aiming to be down at 138 lb’s (63 kg). This will be the lightest I’ve been in a very long time. However, as long as I keep up good strength work as well as a healthy nutrition regime, I will be lean and strong. It will be 5 lb’s (2.2 kg) lighter that I was in Manchester. All things being equal, this should translate into 10-15 seconds per mile of benefit.

Nutrition & Hydration

For the 2:49 Marathon Project nutrition will play a huge part in its success. There are three macronutrients that each play a role in running performance. Protein, Carbohydrates and Fats. Each of these are necessary in order to allow an athlete to reach the finish line in a marathon at our desired time. 

Protein provide the building blocks for muscle repair and recovery. Adaptation is process that allows us to improve as athlete’s. As we challenge our muscles during our harder running sessions and with strength and conditioning our muscles develop micro-tears. Protein helps rebuild these tears a little stronger than the muscles were previously. Boom, the magic happens. It doesn’t happen overnight, rather it takes 7-10 days for adaptations to occur. Over the course of weeks and months our body will get stronger and faster with the help of lean protein.

Carbohydrates are your muscle’s fuel source. Sure, there are fat adapted athletes who run marathons and ultra marathons. However, in order to run the time we are looking to do here, carbohydrates are a necessity. I will almost certainly get push-back on this point, but I will say with all honesty, this has been my experience. Fuelling with carbs has always worked for me.

Healthy fats are necessary for the body in the update of fat-soluble vitamins, for example Vitamins A, D, E and K. These will be essential in keeping us healthy from the start of the 16 week 2:49 Marathon Project until we reach the finish line in Valencia. These vitamins are involved in a number of vital systems including cardiovascular, nervous system and the immune system.

I go into more detail on nutrition and hydration in my Marathon Training Strategies book.

My Four Step Process for Hitting Nutrition and Weight Loss Goals

I utilize a four step process for ensuring I hit my daily and weekly nutrition and weight loss goals. They are relatively simple steps, but require discipline. Since I first began my weight-loss adventure, many years ago, through which I found the sport of running, I weighed in at 215 lb’s (97.5 kg’s). When I ran Manchester in April 2024 i was 142 lb’s (64.4 kg’s). This has been an extremely beneficial and eye opening time for me when it comes to nutrition and creating healthy habits.

Step 1: Track Everything

I use MyFitnessPal, but there are other apps. When I say track everything, I mean everything. A small, inexpensive kitchen scale is the most important investment when it comes to this first point. I don’t just scan the barcodes on products or search for the best available match. Weighing everything to ensure it is correct is every bit as important as entering the correct food. 

Step 2: Plan in Advance

Not only do I enter everything into MyFitnessPal, but I do it at least one day ahead of time. This way, I eat to a plan instead of free styling and making bad choices. This also means that I know that I have what I need in the house for my upcoming meals. If I don’t, it is a reminder that I have to go shopping.

Step 3: Cut-Out Unnecessary Calories

When it comes to cutting calories, a great place to start is with the little things that don’t add much. For example, when it comes to scrambled eggs, I eat an abundance of them. However, I don’t put milk in my eggs and instead of three eggs scrambled together, I will use one or two eggs and 100ml of egg whites. This gives me the healthy fats from the two egg yolks with the bonus of an additional 10g of lean protein. Reducing the quantity of sauces and oils and using more herbs and spices for flavour is another great idea for cutting calories.

Step 4: Work Favourite Foods Into Your Day

None of us would be able to maintain perfect eating without keeping some of our favourite foods in our diet. For example, I love pizza and have homemade pizza every Friday night. With that in mind, and because I plan my daily meals and macros, I make my evening pizza fit my daily goals by reducing what I consume earlier in the day.

The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 2 Training Summary 

I now have much more clarity as far as how the 2:49 Marathon Project Updates will work. Because I work on a Sunday through Saturday schedule, it only makes sense to push out next week’s training plan on a Friday, but update the previous week on a Monday. This will mean two updates per week. It’s a little more work for me, but a far better and clearer picture for you. 

Where Can You Follow the 2:49 Marathon Project?

I accidentally pushed out the week 1 video on the wrong YouTube channel. The correct channel is this one here: JMRunCoach

Daily updates will be shared on my Instagram account and Tiktok account. Weekly updates will be in longer form on YouTube, my Facebook page,  and here on the A Heart for Running blog. Also, for anyone who wishes to get email updates, please subscribe to the mailing list at the bottom of this page and the weekly updates will be delivered directly to your inbox. Ensure to check your junk box and allow the emails from here through.

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