How to Create a Marathon Breakthrough: A Coaching Call on Massive Marathon Improvement
The Strength Running Podcast
Jason Fitzgerald
4.7 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 21 August 2025
⏱️ 71 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Dan joins us on the podcast today: a runner who recently improved his marathon from 3:38 to 3:08.
In this conversation, Dan shares what he did to improve by a massive 30 minutes over 26.2 miles. But what if he wants to keep going? What if Dan wants to run another 30 minutes faster and start flirting with a sub-2:40 marathon?
We'll cover what training changes need to happen to break 3 and run a much more competitive marathon finish time.
Thanks to Dan for coming on the podcast and sharing his story!
More resources:
- How to build running-specific strength
- Marathon Pacing & Warm-up Strategy
- Pete Pfitzinger on how to run your best marathon
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Thank you LMNT!
A big thanks to LMNT for their support of this episode! They make electrolyte drinks for athletes and low-carb folks with no sugar, artificial ingredients, or colors. They are offering a free gift with your purchase at LMNT. And this does NOT have to be your first purchase. You'll get a sample pack with every flavor so you can try them all before deciding what you like best.
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LMNT's products have some of the highest sodium concentrations that you can find. Anybody who runs a lot knows that sodium, as well as other electrolytes like magnesium and potassium, are essential to our performance and how we feel throughout the day.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Ready, set, go! |
| 0:04.4 | This is episode 420, featuring a coaching call with a runner named Dan on how he improved from 338 to 308 in the marathon, and what it would take to chop another 30 minutes off that time. |
| 0:28.6 | Welcome to the Strength Running podcast. |
| 0:31.5 | We surround you with the same experts as pro-runners. |
| 0:36.5 | So keep listening to hear coaches, physical therapists, strength experts, dietitians, |
| 0:39.2 | sports psychologists, and other thought leaders give you the best guidance possible to take your running to the next level. I'm your host, |
| 0:44.5 | coach Jason Fitzgerald. I'm a former cross-country and track athlete for Connecticut College. |
| 0:49.6 | I've been coaching runners since 2010, and I used to write for Trail Runner magazine and Runners World. |
| 0:55.5 | Today, I'm the head coach of Strength Running, host of this podcast, and I work with a small |
| 0:59.7 | handful of startups in the running space. You can learn more about me and Strength Running at |
| 1:04.9 | strengthrunning.com. Well, my friends, it's a big day for me. I am getting ready for a big mountain adventure tomorrow. |
| 1:13.1 | I'm hiking the four-loop pass from Aspen, Colorado, which is a 27-mile hike over four different passes at pretty high altitude. |
| 1:22.7 | I'm really excited about it, but to be honest, I'm also a little nervous for what's going to be a |
| 1:28.4 | 12 to 14 hour day on my feet. I'm going to be sharing a lot more about this off the podcast |
| 1:35.0 | on my Instagram and YouTube channels, so be sure to subscribe there. And while I'm not sure |
| 1:40.8 | if I'm actually 100% prepared for this, I've been gradually increasing |
| 1:45.5 | my hiking distance. |
| 1:46.8 | I'm getting stronger in the gym for more durability, which is probably my number one concern. |
| 1:52.2 | And I'm planning all the logistics, which is a very different exercise than simply going |
| 1:57.1 | for a run. |
| 1:58.0 | So ready or not, it is showtime. |
| 2:03.9 | Stay tuned. And a big thanks to our brand partners who help make this podcast possible. If you get value from the show, please consider |
... |
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