Episode 74: Ben Rosario 10 Weeks To Boston

Welcome to episode 74 of the Final Surge Podcast where we welcome back Hoka NAZ Elite Coach Ben Rosario who talks about what he has planned for the Boston Marathon. Ben has two elite runners, Kellyn Taylor and Scott Smith who will be competing in Boston. We are just over 10-weeks out from Boston and Ben is offering three new training plans that are specific to the Boston Marathon. These three plans are tailored to the level of runner you are. In addition to the training plans Ben will have a weekly blog post which talks about exactly how to execute the training plans for the upcoming week. Make sure you check out his plans on FinalSurge.com/10weekstoboston and follow along with his professional athletes as they prepare for the unique course that is Boston. 

You have two runners joining the great American field at the 2018 Boston Marathon, want to talk about them?

• Kellyn Taylor off a top 10 finish in New York City
• Scott Smith coming off a 2:12 PR in Frankfurt

With Boston you never know what the weather will be like, could be 40 and raining or 75 and sunny, but if the weather is not a factor Boston can be a fast course so is the intention to run a PR at Boston?

• Net elevation drop can be fast
• Course-specific work for the downhill
• Although it is about racing more than time

If you look at the field, especially the women's side, it is an incredibly deep field. Was the goal for Kellyn to always run Boston? 

• At first, she wasn't sure if she wanted to do a spring marathon
• Once she decided she wanted to do a marathon, Boston was her choice
• She is ready to handle the course as well as the level of competition

You make your logs available for all your athletes. But for Boston, you are going a step further with 10-weeks To Boston.

• This is a plan for the last 10-weeks heading into Boston
• Specifically prepared for being ready for that course
• Hills to match the up and down of Boston
• Train like the pros with three plans that are variations of what Kellyn and Scott are doing
• Super advanced (120 miles a week), Advanced (75-100 miles a week), Intermediate (50-75 miles a week plan)

You have other plans available for the marathon too, how do these differ from those plans?

• We have 5 other marathon plans on Final Surge, but these are based on what our athletes are doing specifically for the Boston course 

Can you tell us about the blogging you have planned for these 10 weeks?

• Will be doing a weekly blog talking about what Scott and Kellyn are doing and how their training is going and second will be talking about the upcoming week, how to execute the workouts on your plan for this week and it will be like you are training with the pros

You have 10 weeks before Boston, what do some of the staple workouts look like during that time?

• Each week they get closer to specific 
• Start out mile and a half at marathon pace and gets long specific work as gets closer to race
• 6 weeks out gets harder with tempos and hills
• Weekends alternate long runs and longer marathon pace work

You have a document you include with your plans that talk about your terminology. Can you explain how you use the CV workouts in your plan?

• This is 30-40 minute race pace
• Faster than marathon pace, but not going to really hammer you
• Because running so many miles in marathon training gives you some faster work without jeopardizing training

When you get to your long runs are most of them steady or are you working quality into your long runs?

• Every other week
• Some carb depleted steady runs
• Some race pace specific work into your long runs  

There is a lot of specific work to Boston so runners who have never run Boston can be prepared. This weekly blog is going to be able to help a lot of athletes. We want to get on again before Boston to talk about this training some more.