Sara Hall – Training Insights
Article by Tait Hearps
Sara Hall is one of the top distance runners in the USA. In March 2020 she graciously sat down with Sweat Elite founder Matt Fox to discuss her journey in the sport, and this was followed by time spent filming some of her workouts preceding the USA 10,000m Olympic trials in 2021.
Sara began running by training on the trails in a state park near her childhood home in Northern California, prior to joining the school team in middle school. She won California state XC, mile and 2-mile championships in high school and went on to run for Stanford in College. Through college she wasn’t sure whether she would go on to run professionally or focus on humanitarian work and poverty alleviation. This remains a great passion of hers, embodied in The Hall Steps Foundation founded by herself and her husband and coach Ryan Hall (the fastest ever US marathoner).
Sara finished college and went on to run 4.08 for 1500m and 15.20 for 5000m, these times were right around the qualification standards for the Beijing Olympics, however she did not qualify for the team. She went on to experience several years of relative stagnation due to physical and mental challenges, struggling with overtraining and failing to qualify for teams which she had her sights on. Despite making teams for three world indoors champs and three world XC champs, she found more success on the roads and says she immediately loved the longer distances.
Sara ran her first marathon in 2015 which she ran in 2:48, struggling with the heat, hills and cramping. Two weeks later she placed 19th at world XC, reflecting her true fitness at the time. Six months later this was lowered to 2:31. From here she lowered her PR by 30s-1min a couple of times per year. Throughout 2017-18 she was injured, after pushing the envelope in her build-ups leading to a slew of overuse injuries – an SI joint injury and a peroneal injury among others.
After a strong build up she came back strongly with a 2:22:16 at Berlin marathon, a 4-minute PR and (at the time) the fifth fastest time by a US marathoner. She played things more safely during this build, heeding advice from her husband Ryan to hold back on days when she was struggling with niggles, with the priority to arrive on the start line in Berlin healthy. Based in Flagstaff, AZ, Sara said it took a year or so to fully adjust and feel like she was sleeping well and recovering between workouts, but this coincided nicely with her training approaching Berlin. Notably, this build included a 28-mile long run where she went through the marathon in 2:31!
Remarkably, Sara took out the US 10-mile championships (53:11) the week after this performance in Berlin and then lined up at New York Marathon five weeks post-Berlin (however succumbed to gastro issues). Now aged 38, Sara says she is now absorbing the marathon training better than at any stage in her life, with cumulative build ups allowing her to add layer upon layer to her fitness and experience. With a half-marathon in between, she then raced the USATF Trials in February 2020.
When asked about this intense period of racing Sara said she has always done races quite close together and prefers to follow what makes her excited. She doesn’t necessarily see racing this often as being risky – when using an appropriate taper and factoring in workouts around these races, they can be an important building block for future performances.
Leading up to the trials Sara and Ryan tried to adjust her training to suit the arena – the hills of Atlanta. All hard workouts were done over hilly courses around Flagstaff, knowing that the course would favour athletes with significant strength. One key workout they incorporated into this training block several times was a long uphill tempo on a road climbing to a ski field outside Flagstaff – a steady grade climbing from 7,000 to 9,000 feet in around 6 miles. Her performance here improved steadily through the build to the trials. Long tempo runs and hard long runs also make up a large portion of Sara’s weekly training.
Despite this preparation, things didn’t go to plan at the trials and Sara did not complete the course. Similar to her first marathon in LA her quads were beaten up by the hills and things fell apart before the race really heated up. This came as an unwelcome surprise given the preparation which included lots of hard downhill running. With track trials approaching Sara decided to step off the course before finishing, conserving her strength and her legs.
Sara emphasises the importance of being in tune with the body and pushing to find the limitations of performance. This includes holding back when things aren’t feeling right, or pushing past what seems objectively reasonable in order to have those breakthrough performances.
Those track trials obviously went on to be postponed due to the pandemic. However, Sara still turned her attention to the track to focus on improving speed, where she saw some promising progression. This translated nicely when she went on to race London Marathon in October 2020, placing second behind Brigid Kosgei in 2:22:01 (another PR). Leading up to this she completed a 16-mile threshold at 5:32/mile.
She followed this up with another PR two months later when she ran The Marathon Project in Arizona, missing the US record by just under a minute but placing herself second on the all-time rankings!
Building into the USATF trials which eventually took place in July 2021 Sara and Ryan invited Sweat Elite to come to film workouts at altitude in Colorado. At Gunnison track (7,771ft altitude) Sara completed a speed workout with 2 x 2km followed by 4 x 400m. For the 2km reps the first is done as 300 hard (~50s), 100 jog, and the second is 200 hard (32-33), 200 float (~50s)… 4 x 400 starting in 68 and cutting down, 2 mins rest between each. Ryan provides great commentary giving insight into the workout structure and planning. He says he tries to incorporate workouts that are specific to distances both below and above her race distances – this one is a 3,000-5,000m specific workout.
Another workout filmed in Gunnison (7,700ft) leading to the trials was an 8-mile threshold. Ryan again narrates the workout. They aren’t focusing on pace or heart rate. Given the altitude and the fact that the workout is deep into a hard training cycle, effort is the priority. Following Ryan on the bike, Sara listens to her electronic music as she cranks out mile after mile, finishing the 8 miles in 42:42 (5:20 per mile/12.8km at 3:20 per km). This was followed up by 2 x 200 to open up the legs – “dessert” according to Ryan.
During this block they were staying up in Crested Butte at 9500ft and coming to lower altitude to train. Ryan says that she fuels up on carbohydrates before workouts like this as training depleted for a hard workout is only going to interfere with getting the best out of the workout. This was something he learnt and implemented during his own career. Reflecting on his own career, Ryan says he regrets drifting too far away from his 5km/10km speed once he shifted to the marathon and that this ultimately interfered with him performing as well as he could have… Hence the shift in focus to shorter races for Sara prior to building for a fall marathon.
Sara didn’t make it through the trials, placing 6th in the 10,000m, however this block is surely going to consolidate nicely for some great performances in the future. She came into Chicago in October 2021 aiming for the American record, but hot and humid conditions meant that this was out of reach. She came third in 2:27:19.
Key takeaways from Sara’s training are the importance of running to feel and being in tune with how the body is responding to training. Long threshold runs and hard long runs are a good way to prepare the body for the demands of the marathon distance. Being efficient at paces faster than marathon race pace is very important so things feel smooth come race day. Finally, racing hard, often, is not necessarily a risky thing and can provide great building blocks, providing a foundation for future races, the important thing being to adequately taper and allow recovery between races.
Plenty of exciting things to come for Sara! We thank Sara and Ryan for their time and insight into how they work together to prepare for her races.
