Why strength work belongs in your marathon plan

Most marathon training plans are built on miles. You tick off the Tuesday intervals, the Thursday tempo, the long Sunday run out towards Earsham or along the Waveney, and the weeks roll by. What often gets forgotten is the quiet, unglamorous work that keeps all those miles from breaking you: a short, regular dose of bodyweight strength.

The reason it matters is simple. When you run a marathon, your form doesn't stay tidy for 26.2 miles. Somewhere around 18 or 20 miles, fatigue creeps in. Your hips drop, your knees drift inwards, your stride shortens and you start hanging off your joints rather than driving from your muscles. Strong legs and a strong core delay that moment and soften its consequences. Ten to fifteen minutes, two or three times a week, makes a genuine difference — and you don't need a gym, a barbell or a fancy membership to do it.

Squats: the foundation move

The squat is the closest thing runners have to a universal strength exercise. It loads the quads, glutes and lower back in a pattern that mirrors the push-off phase of every stride.

• Set-up: Feet roughly shoulder-width apart, toes turned out slightly, weight spread evenly across the whole foot — not just the heel.
• Descent: Push your hips back and down as though sitting into a chair. Take two to three seconds to lower.
• Depth: Go as low as you can while keeping your chest tall and your knees tracking over your toes. For most runners that's thighs approaching parallel.
• Drive: Push the floor away and stand tall, squeezing your glutes at the top.
• Dose: Three sets of ten to fifteen reps, with a minute's rest between sets.

If your knees collapse inwards on the way up, that's the exact weakness that shows up in the last hour of a marathon. Slow the movement down, reduce the depth, and concentrate on pushing your knees gently outwards as you rise.

Lunges and step-ups: single-leg strength for the miles

Running is a single-leg sport. You are never on both feet at once, so split movements deserve a place in every runner's routine.

• Forward lunge: Step forward, lower until both knees are bent to about 90 degrees, then push back to standing. Alternate legs. Two to three sets of eight to ten per leg.
• Reverse lunge: Step backwards instead. Kinder on the knees and easier to control if you're new to the movement.
• Step-up: Find a bench, a low wall or a sturdy garden step around knee height. Place one foot on it, drive up through that leg without pushing off the back foot, then lower slowly. Three sets of eight per leg.

These build the hip stability and glute strength that stop your pelvis dipping with every footfall. If you've ever finished a long run in Bungay and felt one hip ache more than the other, single-leg work is usually the answer. Keep the movement slow and controlled — a wobbly lunge done fast teaches you nothing.

Planks and core work: holding form when you're tired

A strong core isn't about sit-ups and it isn't about a six-pack. It's about your trunk resisting unwanted movement while your legs do the work. That's what keeps you upright in the final miles.

• Front plank: Forearms and toes on the floor, body in one straight line from heels to head. Squeeze your glutes, brace your belly as though about to be poked, and breathe normally. Hold for 30 to 45 seconds. Three rounds.
• Side plank: On one forearm, hips lifted, body straight. Twenty to thirty seconds each side. This targets the lateral hip muscles that control the drop in your pelvis.
• Dead bug: On your back, arms up, knees bent at 90 degrees. Slowly extend one arm and the opposite leg towards the floor while keeping your lower back pressed down. Eight to ten reps per side.

If your plank starts to sag at the hips, stop the set. A short, honest plank beats a long, sloppy one every time.

Fitting it in without wrecking your week

The golden rule is to keep strength work away from your hardest runs. Doing a heavy leg session the day before a long run is a recipe for heavy, flat legs.

• Best timing: Straight after an easy run, when your muscles are already warm, or on a rest day.
• Frequency: Two sessions a week is plenty. Three if you're injury-prone or new to running.
• Duration: Fifteen to twenty minutes. This is not a gym session, it's maintenance.
• Progression: Add reps or slow the tempo before you add difficulty. Once bodyweight squats feel easy, try single-leg squats to a chair.
• Tapertime: In the final fortnight before your marathon, cut back to one light session a week. The work is already banked.

Doing it together

One of the nicest things about running around Bungay is how social it is. The lanes out towards Flixton, the paths across Outney Common, the quiet roads through the Waveney Valley — these are shared spaces, and most of us got faster and stronger partly because someone else was waiting at the corner.

Strength work can be the same. A short circuit at the end of a club run, a few planks in the park while everyone catches their breath, a mini session on the common before a Sunday long run. It's more fun, you're more likely to actually do it, and there's something quietly motivating about groaning through lunges alongside people who are training for the same race as you.

You don't need much. A patch of grass, a step, fifteen minutes and a bit of consistency. Build the strength now and it will carry you through the miles when your legs would rather stop — and you'll cross that finish line running, not surviving.