Every second Wednesday, professional running coaches Eoin Flynn and Renée Berg will be sharing their expertise with Run Ulster readers. They’ll be covering the ins and outs of running performance with sharp, practical advice.
This week, they lay the groundwork for anyone gearing up for the Dublin Marathon , with some essential guidance that’s well worth your attention.
Mark your calendars: a fresh piece from Eoin and Renée lands every second Wednesday.
By Eoin Flynn, Running Coach Ireland
The Dublin Marathon may still seem a long way off, but it is important to plan strategically for a successful result in October. We are now entering the crucial phase that often separates a consistent and confident build-up through August, September and October, from one that feels rushed or reactive that can often leave to under-performance or even a knock-out injury before race day.
With 16-17 weeks to go, this is the time to lay the strong aerobic, mental, and mechanical foundations that support your specific marathon training later in the summer and early Autumn. The focus now is on preparing to train at a higher level later over the final 10-week period, not chasing peak marathon workouts just yet.
In this article, we break it down for three key groups of runners who are starting July with different journeys behind them, but the same destination ahead: the finish line on Mount Street Upper on October 26th.
Group 1: The Spring Marathoners (April/May Finishers)
You’ve already completed 26.1 miles earlier this year. Your primary job right now is not to rush back into big mileage but to use your post-marathon fitness wisely.
Key Focus Areas:
- Regeneration before Rebuilding: Ensure you’ve had adequate recovery (4–6 weeks minimum), not just physically but hormonally and psychologically. Use July to gently reintroduce structure without reigniting fatigue.
- Aerobic Refresh: You can train consistently but avoid intensity. Zone 1 and 2 running, some strides, short hill sprints, light cross-training and terrain variety are your friends.
- Identify Lessons: What did the spring race marathon tell you? Was the pacing strategy correct? Did your nutrition plan work? Were your long runs too short? On the contrary to long runs being too short, every year I come across athletes where their long runs were too long and they therefore arrived to the start line exhausted, bordering on injury or maybe didn´t even make the start line. Use your Spring marathon insight to plan a smarter build up for Dublin and an even better execution of race day plan.
Target for this period: Arrive in August mentally fresh and excited and physically ready to take on another specific marathon block of training.
Group 2: The short distance race specialists (5K to Half-Marathon) looking to crack the big one!
You’ve enjoyed the last few months or even years racing 5k and 10ks around the country. Now you need to gently shift gears toward volume and marathon-specific demands as you build towards crossing that finish line in October and bringing home that finishers medal.
Key Focus Areas:
- Extend Your Long Run: If you’ve been doing 90min long runs consistently, start nudging towards 1h45m, being in a position to tackle 2hrs comfortably over the first fortnight in August. The goal is duration over pace, i.e. time on feet. Learn to be comfortable being out for 90+ minutes. Let go of tracking weekly mileage and put the focus on consistency of long runs and consistency of time on feet and number of runs done over the course of the week. If we need to back off the pace in order reach that 2-hour goal, that´s what we do.
- Blending Intensity: We can probably continue to do 1 session per week of threshold or tempo work to keep your speed endurance sharp but surround it with easier and longer aerobic volume and includes hills in your long runs. Depending on how the year has gone, there is still time to enjoy a 5k or 10k race in July and early August before we bunker in for the final 10-week Marathon specific work.
- Fuel Practice Starts Now: Begin experimenting with hydration and fuelling strategies on your long runs. Even though October´s race day is months away, this habit builds digestive resilience. As we approach 2 hours, fuelling correctly will help performance in our long runs and speed up recovery.
Target for this period: Arrive in August with confidence in your aerobic engine and long-run readiness, excited to take on the new challenge of a specific block of Marathon training
Group 3: The First-Time Marathoners
Welcome to the journey and to the build-up for The Dublin Marathon! For you, July is the beginning of serious marathon preparation. Your success will hinge on sustainable habits and consistency from now until October. You may have enjoyed some shorter distances like the many great Park Runs around the country, but we are now moving on to the Marathon and the wonderful endurance challenge that it is.
Key Focus Areas:
- Consistency is King: The best training plan is one you can stick to. Aim for 4–5 days of running or aerobic movement weekly, with recovery days that actually allow recovery.
- Build the Long Run Slowly: Start at a manageable distance and add roughly 10 min each week. Don’t chase 30 km runs now or don´t worry about potential big 3 hour plus marathon runs in September. Time on feet and post-run recovery are what matter most. I´m actually a big believer in no matter what the time target might be, from a 2h20m marathon finisher to a 4h30m marathon finisher, very rarely will we need to go beyond 2h30m in our long training runs. To do so, substantially increased the risk of injury and burnout and I have coached many successful marathon PB finishers who max out at 2h30min runs and have superb race days.
- Get to Know Your Gear: Shoes, socks, shorts, tops, nutrition; test them early and often so you have everything in place for the final 10 weeks. Furthermore, let´s me get in the early reminder that nothing new should appear on race day.
- Learn to Train by Feel: Heart rate, pace and power stats are helpful, but right now, perceived effort and your ability to feel fatigue or freshness are extremely valuable.
Target for this period: Develop the training habits and base mileage that make the big training weeks in August/September feel doable, not daunting.
Across All Groups: Embrace the Base and Enjoy some Summer Racing
The upcoming month of July isn’t about perfection. It’s about progression and readiness for what lies ahead. The athlete who can train consistently and stay healthy through July is set up to thrive in the specific block that begins around 10 weeks out which is the weekend of the 16th/17th of August. If in a position to race, enjoy a 5k or a 10k race. If the family or friends are close by, make sure to bring them along so they not only have an enjoyable race day with you but they also get a chance to buy in to the marathon project with you. You will need their support come the hard training days and race day itself.
Over the next few weeks, remind yourself of two of our core Running Coach Ireland principles:
- Train in Training, don´t race in Training. Always leave a session knowing you can do one more rep or one more mile.
- Be patient and be consistent: Avoid sudden jumps in mileage or sudden jumps in intensity, progress from General training to Specific training.
Stay tuned for our next marathon specific article in a few weeks’ time, where we’ll break down what to focus on when the countdown hits 10 weeks to go.
Until then, enjoy this wonderful time of year for training and racing, one run at a time.
Eoin Flynn has been racing and training since 2004 and has been coaching since 2015. He has over 95 individual race wins with National Medals at Novice, Intermediate and Senior level across road, track and cross country including a bronze medal at the National Marathon Championships and 6 World Championships with the Irish Mountain Running team.