This plan was written by Christine Thorn, a HAX Coach who earned her first BQ at the 2024 NYC Marathon. Christine has pulled some of her favorite workouts and personal experience running a BQ into this training plan. This plan is written for runners aiming to run 3:30 or faster to qualify for the Boston Marathon. The plan is for an experienced runner currently running 5-6 days/week, and at least 40 miles/week. Optimal days off (in order of preference) are: Sunday/Day 7 and Thursday/Day 4.
Mile Pace Ranges for a 3:29:59 Finish:
Easy: 11:00-9:45
Moderate: 9:15-8:45
Tempo: 8:10-7:55
RACE PACE: 8:00
Threshold: 7:45-7:30
10K: 7:25-7:15
5K/Strides: 7:10-7:00
Hammer & Axe Training was born out of a vision shared by a handful of elite distance runners. We found in our training that we ran our best when we committed to training our speed and strength equally. A focus on strength made us durable, strong, and prepared for the adversity that racing brings. A focus on speed made us confident, efficient, and ready to move when the right moment arrived. We wanted to bring this feeling of speed and strength to as many runners as possible.