Q: “What is the best way to train for IM to have a better and faster marathon pace?“

A: Coach Eric: The reason running is so hard and hard to train for in triathlon is that is the last event. This will have many athletes rolling there eyes thinking ” yeah no kidding! and this guy is a coach?!”  but what many people seem to miss is that training for a fast run may mean becoming more efficent at swimming or cycling or both.  Almost all athletes I have worked with on improving there bike leg end up running faster on race day as well. Triathlon is one sport, not 3 combined, athletes and coaches should look at their goal races accordingly.

To answer the question fully and accurately I would have to look at your past race results (splits, rankings, etc) and training data to see where your limiters are.

That being said, here are some thoughts:

1. I feel when in doubt on training for an IM focus on your basic skills. Endurance and Technique in each discipline. Come race day these are the two most important tools for success.
2. Make sure your training zones are accurute /you are training in the right zone.
   • Do a running threshold test. 30′ all out effort. record all you data.
   • How fast did you run? if your speed isn’t that much faster than your IM pace you need to work on your running speed. If you ran a fast pace, much much faster than your IM run pace you should focus on Endurance.

If you are asking your self, “Is this too much?” it probably is. Remember the undertrained overmotavated athlete will beat the perfectly trained undermotivated athlete every time!