By Amby Burfoot

 

According to the conventional wisdom, runners should stick to track races from 1500 meters to 10,000 meters while they are young and fast. And then move up to the marathon 5 or 6 years later, when they are older and slower. The simple rationale: Marathon training and marathon racing will make you slower. So don't go there unless you're ready to leave the track world behind.

For many to today's top runners, however, the record doesn't show this to be true. The chart below shows that a number of top American marathoners, plus Paula Radcliffe, have improved their track bests (or come very close) since launching into their marathon careers. The message, according to them and their coaches: You can continue to run fast track times as long as you prepare specifically for the track season. Indeed, these runners believe that fast track times are essential to their competitiveness in the marathon.

"When I'm in my best 5000 and 10,000 track shape, running the first half of a marathon in 1:04 feels comfortable to me," says Alan Culpepper. "But after I drifted away from track work, I ran a marathon first-half in 1:04 and it was harder. That's why I've gone back to the track.".......