News Flash | Walmsley Started His Olympic Trials Marathon-Specific Training
by Chase Parnell — January 5, 2020 — 📸iRunFar
Okay, full disclosure, this article started out as a Why The Hell Isn’t Jim Doing Marathon Training post, but then, the day before I was going to post it, Jim dropped a 200s session on the track that clearly indicated his Olympic trials marathon training had begun. My article was obsolete before it was even posted. Part of me thought, damn, what a waste, but the other part of me got really psyched that we now get to marvel at what I’m sure will prove to be the most interesting story in ultra running over the next two months. This is the question: WHAT IS HE CAPABLE OF?!
Did Jim Know What He Was Doing All Along?
Let me step back for a second. Until those 200s on the track, I was flabbergasted by Jim’s training — see his Strava account. Just after his win on November 16, 2019 at the World Mountain Running Championships, Jim posted on Instagram, “Easy week this week and we’ll start to transition into a full on marathon focused block for Feb 29th.” Jim is of course referencing the date of the marathon Olympic Trials in Atlanta, which he qualified for back in January of 2019 with a 64 minute half marathon in Houston.
Okay, sick, so Jim’s going to put together an epic block for the trials and go roll with the big dogs. His volume was EPIC but high-mileage alone is not going to get you in shape for the marathon! I understand base-phase training but typically your base is laid 3-4 months out from your big event, not 2 months out. As of this writing, Jim ran an average of 159 miles per week for the last four weeks with his last two full weeks being 176 miles each. That is some seriously stout mileage the likes of which I haven’t seen Jim or any other top-level elite run in many years.
I poured over his runs on Strava, thinking maybe he was integrating some speed into his efforts but not publicizing it in the titles and descriptions, but no, nothing — no tempos, no track work, no marathon pace efforts. Instead, it was all moderate looking efforts with a lot of variety in terrain. Everything from around-the-neighborhood jaunts to big Flagstaff loops to Grand Canyon explorer runs.
In short, until December 31 when Jim dropped those 200s, there was no indication that he was aiming for peak performance at the marathon.
To contrast, probably the hottest man in marathoning right now is Hoka athlete and Flagstaff resident, Scott Fauble. His training was looking very very different from Walmsley’s. Examples of workouts were mile-on mile-off at marathon pace, progression runs, 400 meter repeats followed by a tempo, etc. Fauble is a top-contender with a real shot at making the Olympic team so if Jim was seriously trying to compete with the likes of Fauble, I would think Jim would make an effort to train similarly. I know, I know, Jim hasn’t shown that he’s on the level with a Fauble or other Olympic team hopefuls, but he’s the ultra community’s dog in the fight and dammit, there are too many cinderella stories in sports to wholesale dismiss Walmsley from making a run at the team. I’m a firm believer in the impossible.
The Transcendence of Jim Walmsley
Jim has always been audacious. I remember him getting his ass handed to him at the 2014 Speedgoat 50k when he toed the line in his first super-competitive field. He finished 28th place. He went out with Canaday, Wolfe, Gates, and Nichols, but ultimately blew up magnificently. I doubt anyone in that race could have guessed that he’d go on to be America’s greatest ultra runner for many years in a row, perhaps of all time.
But Jim is no longer that brash inexperienced Air Force kid from 2014. He has paid his dues, stood up against the best in the world time and time again, and has been rewarded by countless wins and an iron-clad confidence. I have to think that Jim will believe in himself on marathon day. And if he believes, there’s no telling what he might do.
What’s It Going To Take To Make It To Tokyo?
The following are the top American performances in 2019. Note: this list doesn’t include Galen Rupp because he didn’t finish a marathon in 2019. Rupp should be on the start line come February.
| Name | Time | Race | Result |
| Leonard Korir | 2:07:56 | Amsterdam | 11th |
| Scott Fauble | 2:09:09 | Boston | 7th |
| Jared Ward | 2:09:25 | Boston | 8th |
| Jacob Riley | 2:10:36 | Chicago | 9th |
| Jerrell Mock | 2:10:37 | Chicago | 10th |
| Jared Ward | 2:10:45 | New York City | 6th |
| Parker Stinson | 2:10:53 | Chicago | 11th |
| Andrew Bumbalough | 2:10:56 | Chicago | 12th |
| Matt McDonald | 2:11:10 | Chicago | 14th |
| Matt Llano | 2:11:14 | Berlin | 14th |
| Scott Smith | 2:11:34 | Chicago | 15th |
So yeah, the field is stacked and it’d be easy for Jim to get overwhelmed by these times. But! If there ever was a course that suited an ultra runner — the Atlanta course and all its hills is it.
If this were a major marathon like Chicago or Berlin, I wouldn’t like Jim’s chances as much. If there were rabbits or a pack going out in 62 minutes, then yeah, that’d be tough. But the trials is all about competing. There will be strategy and tactics and heart. This isn’t a time trial. Some of the A-level pros are going to flop under the weight of the trials. This is the pinnacle of their marathon careers. But Jim has the luxury of being an underdog, knowing that the ultra scene is his bread and butter, and he’ll be running with nothing to lose.
For me, it seems Jim waited until the absolute last minute to start his marathon training so it’ll be interesting to see if he has enough time to get super damn comfy running 5 minute miles. In Houston, he managed 4:53 per mile for the half marathon.
At the 2016 marathon trials, on a hot day in Los Angeles and on a course with lots of turns, Galen, Meb, and Jared Ward went 1, 2, 3 with mile averages of 5:01, 5:03, and 5:05 respectively en route to final times of 2:11, 2:12, and 2:13. My gut is telling me that on Atlanta’s hilly course, similar times will make the team.
With eight weeks until the trials, to acquire the leg speed needed, Jim will need to be hyper-specific in his training. After his 200s on Tuesday, December 31, his next workout with intensity was actually in the afternoon of the same day! I’m not sure there is a coach out there that would prescribe two track workouts on the same day, but hey, who am I to question the method to his madness. The afternoon track workout was 12 by 400 with 60 seconds rest in 73, 74, 73, 72, 72, 72, 73, 71, 72, 71, 70, 66. I’m sure some of these early speed sessions are going to feel atrocious, but the fact that he dipped down to 66 on the final rep was a good sign.
Then, on Friday, January 3rd he absolutely ripped a 6 X 1600 session on the track. The splits were 4:49, 4:48, 4:46, 4:45, 4:44, 4:39 with 2 minutes recovery in between. That’s a nice cutdown right there. By the way, Jim has been doing these track workouts down in Sedona, Arizona, which is about 45 minutes from Flagstaff and roughly 2,500 feet lower. It must feel nice to run with oxygen on blast.
From here on out, I’m sure we’ll all be monitoring Jim’s Strava feed closely, hoping and praying he stays healthy and adapts quickly to marathon training. He’s got a nice start going but he’s definitely still a wildcard. You can’t put him in a box so I wouldn’t be surprised if he throws in another Grand Canyon day or something, just to keep us on our toes.
But one thing is certain, if he nails a solid block of training and makes it to that start line in Atlanta, it’s going to make for some damn good television and they better cover it well.
Let’s go Jim — we’re all rooting for you.
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Jim already had a very deep base before beginning any specific marathon pace training. I think 8 weeks of specific and refined work is just right for him. Anything much longer would be a bit more risky regarding injury. Hopefully he can make things interesting at the Trials
I’m starting to agree with you. It would seem that if he’s going to train at this level of intensity and volume, going all out for a shorter block than, say, the NAZ Elite team would do, might be wise! It’ll really be a 6 week block with 2 weeks-ish taper…probably. I recently re-listened to his podcast with Citius Mag. Jim had some interesting things to say about how he might really attack the downhills in Atlanta. He’ll shake things up for sure. I might need to get my hands on an airline ticket.
And many may not remember that he’s run 13:50 for 5k back in his Air Force days. He has a wide skill set which will hopefully keep him in the mix in Atlanta. A plane ticket to watch it all unfold might be worth it 🙂
Quick comment on the double workout:
Renato Canova, probably the most famous distance coach in the world, uses these types of super-compensation efforts in the marathon build ups of his top athletes. For more details, check out Sweat Elites article on this—https://www.sweatelite.co/renato-canova-2-key-marathon-training-sessions/. There is a ton of information out there if you google “Canova” and “super compensation.” Another great read on SC workouts is Nate Jenkins’s blog, which provides detailed explanations of Canova’s training methods and his own experiences using them—http://nateruns.blogspot.com/2015/01/workout-wednesday-marathon-specific.html.
Obviously the juice isn’t worth the squeeze for most athletes but these types of double-workouts aren’t uncommon among the elites.
Thanks Rich, those were interesting articles. I’m familiar with Renato but hadn’t read much about super-compensation. After reading the articles, I still think Jim’s training is unique. One differentiator is that Jim did two of these track doubles in his first marathon-specific week of training. In Nate’s post he said, “These workouts should only be done once or twice during a training cycle and should be done during the specific phase as they are the top of the block cycle and one of the last steps in building your race.” So Jim did two in one week and very early in his block. That’s different. And you say double-workouts aren’t uncommon among the elites…I’m not so sure about that. Maybe Renato’s athletes, but I stalk a lot of American elites on Strava and I wouldn’t say I see it done much or that its a common thing. Jim’s doubles were also double-track interval sessions, not really a tempo in the AM with hard intervals in the afternoon. So that’s a little unique too. Then just the sheer volume of his mileage and time on feet, I don’t know of any other Americans that are running as much as him right now. I’m not saying that Jim is necessarily more fit than others. I was looking at an article about Parker Stinson’s training log before he ran 2:10 at Chicago and there are workouts on there that I don’t think Jim could do…yet. Like the 2 by 10k with 1.5 mile quick run in between (10k splits were 31:01 and 30:31). That’s insane. But again, sure, if you compare that to what Kenyans are running, that’s a walk in the park so it’s good to differentiate the American scene and the international scene. I think, in sum, Jim’s training is EPIC so far in a lot of different ways and if it all comes together, through his hard work and creativity in training, I’ll be singing him praises ad infinitum. It’s all exciting for sure. Thanks again for the resources. Interesting concepts. Funny: I did a tempo-like workout last night at 6pm with a group, then woke up and did speed intervals on a hill this morning, at 6am…with sleep in between. Two intense workouts within 12 hours. Mentally it seemed normal enough but I would never do those two workouts during one day, although I kinda did. Ha. Okay, lastly, I’m curious, do you know who manages the Sweat Elite website. Little cryptic. Thx!
All good points, especially the one about Jim beginning his marathon-specific phase with a double track workout. My post was lacking a bit of nuance and context. I believe Canova has his shorter distance athletes (3k steeple–10k) do super-compensation days that consist of two track workouts but I can’t remember why I saw that. Perhaps in a sample from Saif Shaheen’s training log before setting the steeple WR.
It seems to me that there was a period of experimentation with super-compensation days among US elites when Canova’s training methods were made public a decade (or so) ago, but they never became common practice and, as you noted, aren’t used by many of the top training groups these days (NAZ, Hansons, Tinman Elite).
Anyway, keep up the good work.
Will do. Thanks Rich!