Renato Canova – Elite Marathon Coach – Training Philosophy Summarised (Part 2)
Continued from Part 1: Transition Period and the General Period (Canova).
In September 2017, world famous distance running coach Renato Canova shared his training philosophies in a stand up presentation in Valencia. Canova’s training methodology has influenced a large proportion of the elite marathon performances in the last 3 decades. Canova spoke in depth about the structure of marathon training and gives examples of specific duration and workouts. Below you will find a summary of Canova’s presentation with specific take aways for those interested in implementing ideas into their own training.
There are four periods of training that Canova talks about:
1. Transition Period (4 weeks post Marathon)
2. General Period (4 weeks duration)
3. Fundamental Period (6 weeks duration)
4. Specific Period (10 weeks duration)
This article focuses on the second 2 periods – the Fundamental period and the Specific Period.
Fundamental Period: 6 weeks
Long Run @ 80% of Marathon Pace
- Frequency: once every 2 weeks.
- Type: continuous run at even pace.
- Duration: 2:00-3:00.
- Goal: to improve the adaptation of the body structure and to get used to time on feet. Training doesn’t have to have a direct influence on the performance, but it is fundamental to training for the marathon.
- Training general resistance.
- This is setting the base to handle the overall volume of long efforts to come. Pace should be relaxed and not strenuous.
Long Run @ 85-87% of Marathon Pace
- Frequency: once every 2 weeks.
- Type: continuous run at even pace.
- Duration: 1:30-2:00.
- Goal: to improve the utilisation of fatty acids and biomechanic efficiency with increased fatigue. This is the link between the General and the Specific periods.
- Training aerobic resistance.
- This is a bit shorter and bit more uptempo run compared to the longer long run.
Long Run @ 87-93% of Marathon Pace
- Frequency: once every 2 weeks.
- Type: continuous run at even pace.
- Duration: 1:10-1:40.
- Training basic aerobic endurance.
- This is the link between General and Specific and leading into specific marathon speed endurance.
* An alternative used if the above cannot be achieved yet is: Long continuous run alternating medium distance reps (3-6km) at 93% of MP with short distances (1-2km) at 80% of MP for a total volume of 25-30km. If an athlete isn’t ready to handle the long continuous run then repeats at that pace with short rest help close that gap. Focus is on specificity and getting that volume in.
Long Run @ 93-100% of Marathon Pace
- Frequency: once every 2 weeks.
- Type: continuous run at even pace.
- Duration: 20km-30km.
- Training special aerobic endurance.
- Marathon pace long runs – Special Aerobic relates very closely to the specific paces to come later.
* An alternative used if the above cannot be achieved yet is: Long continuous run alternating medium distances (2-6km) at 98% of MP with short distances (1km) at 80% of MP for a total volume of 25-30km.
Long Run @ 100-110% of Marathon Pace (Threshold pace or just slower)
- Frequency: once every 3 weeks.
- Type: continuous run at even pace.
- Duration: 10km @ 110% Marathon Pace or 15km @ 105% Marathon Pace or Half Marathon Race or 16km in progression (ie 4km @ MP, 4km @ 102%, 4km @ 104%, 4km @ 106%).
- Training aerobic power.
- These are short to medium distance sessions that are at or above goal pace. It helps to fit in shorter races as tune up efforts and to check fitness in this period before the specific period comes.
Long repeats on track (1km to 4km) at 105-110% of MP
- Frequency: once every 2 weeks.
- Type: repetitions with walking recovery.
- Example 1: 2x3k at 103% of MP + 3x2k @ 105% of MP + 4 x 1k @ 108% of MP. Recovery 3 minutes.
- Example 2: 10 x 1600 at 105% with 2:30 recovery.
- Example 3: 1k/2k/3k/4k/3k/2k/1k/ at 100% to 108% of MP.
- Training aerobic power.
Fartlek Run (speed variations)
- Frequency: once every 2 weeks.
- Type: continuous run with changes of pace.
- Example 1: 20 x 1’ fast with 1’ at 80% MP + 20 x 30” fast with 30” easy.
- Example 2: 15 x 3’ fast with 1’ at 80% MP.
- Example 3: 2 x 6/5/4/3/2/1 min fast with 1’ easy with 5’ easy in between sets.
- Training aerobic power.
- These are focusing on improving speed. No specific paces given, just by effort.
Long Uphill Run
- Frequency: once every 3 weeks.
- Type: continuous uphill run at even pace or progressive pace at 90% effort.
- Example 1: 6km at 6-8% gradient.
- Example 2: 10km at 4-6% gradient.
- Example 3: 12km at 3-5% gradient.
- Example 4: 8km at 3-10% at progressive effort.
- Training strength endurance.
Long hill repeats
- Frequency: once every 3 weeks.
- Type: repetitions uphill with slow walking recovery.
- Example 1: 10 x 500m at 95% of effort with 4-5 minutes recovery. 8-10% grade.
- Example 2: 5 x 1500m at 90% of effort with 6-8 minutes recovery. 5-6% grade.
- Example 3: 3 x 2k at 95% of effort with 10 minutes recovery. 305% grade.
- Training strength endurance.
Uphill circuits
- Frequency: once every 3 weeks.
- Type: Circuit with different exercises including short uphill runs.
- Example: 200m at 95% of effort. 50m skip. 300m at 90% effort. 50m bounding. 400m at 85% effort. 50m butt kicks. 450m uphill hard. Jog back down. 4-6 repeats of circuit. 6-8’ in between. 4-7% grade.
- Training strength endurance.
Specific Period: 10 weeks leading into the Marathon
Long Run @ 90% of Marathon Pace
- Frequency: once every 2 weeks.
- Type: continuous run at even pace.
- Duration: 1:45 to 2:20.
- Training basic aerobic endurance.
- Goal is to maintain the efficiency and anaerobic threshold.
- This long continuous run is used every other week as a main session to keep up aerobic efficiency.
Long Run @ 96-100% of Marathon Pace
- Frequency: once every 2 weeks.
- Type: continuous run at even pace.
- Duration: Duration is 25km to 40km.
- Training Specific Marathon Speed Endurance.
Long Fartlek Run Alternating Speed
- Frequency: once every 2 weeks.
- Type: long run with speed alternations between 2km and 6km with repetitions at 98-103% of Marathon Pace and recoveries of 1km at 80-85% of Marathon Pace.
- Example 1: 4 x 5km at MP alternated with 1km at 80% MP.
- Example 2: 7/6/5/4/3/2 km repeats with 98% to 103% MP with 1km at 80% MP.
- Example 3: 4 x 6km as (4km at MP, 1km @ 95% MP, 1km @ 110% MP) with 1km at 70% MP.
- Goal is to improve the ability to remove lactate from muscle fibers.
