Progressive Long Run: Zone 2 Build to Marathon Pace (90 Minutes)

Session Overview

This 90-minute progressive long run teaches your body to run efficiently on tired legs and finish strong — a critical skill for any triathlon with a meaningful run leg. You’ll spend the majority of the session building aerobic base in Zone 2, then use the final 20 minutes to practise marathon race pace. It’s a smart training stimulus for 70.3 and Olympic athletes building toward their target race.

What You’ll Need

• Running shoes suited to your terrain
• GPS watch to monitor pace and heart rate zones
• Energy gel if running more than 75 minutes in a fasted state
• A mostly flat 90-minute loop or out-and-back route

Warm-Up (10 minutes)

The first 10 minutes of this session serves as the warm-up — run at a very easy, conversational pace (Zone 1–2, RPE 3-4). This should feel slower than your comfortable training pace. Resist the urge to start at long-run effort immediately. Give your body 10 minutes to ease in before settling into Zone 2.

Main Set

After your 10-minute ease-in, settle into a steady Zone 2 effort for 60 minutes — breathing is controlled, you can speak in short sentences, and heart rate sits in the 65–75% of max range (RPE 5). With 20 minutes remaining, begin a gradual build toward your marathon race pace. Don’t surge — this is a smooth acceleration over several minutes. Hold marathon pace for the final 5 minutes of the run.

• Minutes 0–10: Easy warm-up (Zone 1-2, RPE 3-4)
• Minutes 10–70: Zone 2 steady aerobic running (RPE 5, conversational)
• Minutes 70–85: Gradual build toward marathon pace (RPE 6 → 7 → 8)
• Minutes 85–90: Hold marathon race pace — controlled and strong (RPE 7-8)

Cool-Down (10 minutes)

Drop back to easy walking or a jog for 5 minutes after the final race-pace effort, then perform 5–10 minutes of static stretching: quads, hamstrings, calves, and hip flexors. Consume recovery nutrition — carbohydrate and protein — within 30 minutes of finishing.

Coaching Notes

• Zone 2 should feel genuinely comfortable — if you’re breathing hard, slow down
• Heart rate will naturally creep upward over 60 minutes even at the same pace — this cardiac drift is normal
• Pick flat terrain for this session so your pace accurately reflects your effort level
• Easier version: 60 minutes with 10 minutes of Zone 2 build at the end instead of 20 minutes
• Schedule every 10–14 days as your main long run — consistency here builds the aerobic base that carries you through the race run