Emily Sisson is no stranger to breaking records and scoring podium places. A two-time NCAA champion at Providence College for 5,000 meters and 2020 Olympic Team Trials champion in the 10,000 meters, she credits her track experience for helping her marathon career, which includes holding the American record. She earned that title last year at the Chicago Marathon How to Train for the Boston Marathon. (She also previously held the half marathon record for U.S. women with a time of 1:06:52, which Keira D’Amato broke this summer.)
“I have that turnover in my legs, I can change gears, and then I can even kick it in at the end of a race, which I was happy with how I closed at Chicago last year,” says the 31-year-old. “When you’re on the track, you’re so zoned into what’s going on around you, you have to make a lot of decisions really fast. I think that made the move to the road a little easier.”
This year, Sisson returned as the top American woman in Chicago, finishing the 2023 race in 2:22:09, and earning her seventh overall for the women’s field. Though severe side pain made her slow down in the final eight miles of the race, she pushed through, still averaging about 5:25 per mile.
While Sisson has a long history of running fast, she’s just getting started in her swift 26.2-mile finishes. To find out how she keeps pushing the pace and getting more out of her track legs, Runner’s World chatted with the Rhode-Island-based marathoner a few weeks ahead of Chicago. Her tips to take off:
Do speedwork (obviously!)
Sisson loves speed workouts—even if she doesn’t credit them for her confidence on marathon day. They help make marathon pace and tempo workouts feel “not quite as hard,” she says.
“I’ll do 10K and half marathon workouts pretty regularly [in marathon training],” says the 10,000-meter Olympian. “I think that helps when I’m trying to go to get through the final miles of a marathon with a slower pace but a winning mindset—doing workouts that are faster than that. Then maybe 5:17 pace doesn’t feel so hard from the get-go.” Indeed, Sisson held onto a 5:20 and below speed yesterday until that side stitch popped up.
As for the specific speed workouts she has on her schedule, Sisson says she doesn’t usually do anything faster than 10K pace (FYI, her personal best in the 10,000 meters is 30:49, which is a bit faster than a 5-minute mile), and her shortest repeats are 1200 meters.
✅ One of the sample workouts Sisson shares on Instagram includes 4x2-mile repeats, with each of those repeats clocking in at just over 10 minutes total.
While the faster intervals give a little kick in her step, it also breaks up the monotony of high mileage. “So much of marathon training is just a lot of slow, easy recovery runs, so on days I’m working out and running faster, I actually think those are the fun days of the week because I can get my legs turning over,” Sisson says. “And I just feel like I’m kind of a track runner again. ”
Sisson’s love of speed is actually one of the reasons she likes to do her marathon build-ups in Providence, Rhode Island (where she also attended college) rather than in a high-altitude location like Flagstaff, Arizona, where a lot of elites train. Running high mileage and high intensity at nearly 7,000 feet made her a little too tired and hitting 5-minute paces became pretty tricky. Down at sea level, Sisson says she can make the hustle happen more efficiently.
Tempo workouts are also key for Sisson’s speed and, at least toward the end of her training cycle, they may span 10 miles. These push-pace, comfortably uncomfortable runs offer up some of that race-day confidence that make her marathon speed feel easier to hold.
Overall, Sisson estimates that half her runs are faster than marathon pace Why You Should Run a Practice Race.
Fine tune your long runs
wherever she goes. She includes these exercises in a 15- to 20-minute routine, along with long runs at a super conversational pace all the way through, Sisson adds in faster paces toward the end, finishing at a speed close to what she clocks during tempo runs.
More specifically, she’ll start the first eight miles running slightly faster than a recovery run day. (To her, that means averaging about a 6:30-per-mile pace.) And then for the last 12 to 14 miles, she’ll try to pick it up every four to five miles. In the end, she aims to finish with an average of about 6-minute miles.
How to Prep for the NYC Marathon Starting Now long runs on rolling hills, just to switch up the scenery and terrain a bit. But then finishes the faster miles on a flat bike path in Providence, where she does most of her runs, particularly when she’s prepping for a flat course like Chicago’s.
Schedule races in your build-up
A practice race can not only get you ready for the race-day atmosphere but also help you set paces and see how you feel in that bigger setting. Sisson is a big fan of adding them to the middle of her marathon training, usually going up in distance throughout the cycle. For example, before Chicago, she hit the starting line of the Falmouth Road Race, a 7-miler, in August and then the USTAF 20K Championships in September (which she won).
“It gives me something to look forward to because marathon training, it can be a fun challenge, but I also really look forward to racing so when I have something written down, it gets me motivated to do the work,” she says. “Then coming out of every race I feel a bit of extra motivation to keep working toward the next one.”
Strengthen weak areas and do activation drills before runs
Sisson keeps a mini band in her car so she can do A former New Yorker/Brooklynite, shes now based in Easton, PA wherever she goes. She includes these exercises in a 15- to 20-minute routine, along with As for her, before most runs.
✅ Her favorite moves to do before she starts running include monster walks (walking forward and backward, feet hip-width apart, with the band around the ankles, as shown above) and side steps (also with the band around the ankles).
Sisson also hits the gym twice a week, often working on areas of the body she knows are weak or that have been in the past, such as her hamstrings, core, and hips.
Her go-to core move? Bird dog. “I feel like bird dogs are actually the one I get the most out of. But it’s taken me years to really learn how to do that one correctly,” she says.
✅ To perform a bird dog yourself, start on all fours, shoulders over wrists and knees under hips. Extend one leg and the opposite arm straight out, at torso height. The key is to keep the shoulders and hips square to the floor and the back flat, core tight. Return to all fours and repeat on the other side. Continue alternating. For some tactical feedback, add a yoga block to your low back and keep it steady through the entire move.
To target the hamstrings, Sisson goes for Romanian deadlifts, Sisson says she still has a lot to learn about running hamstring curls Should You Follow Runnings 10 Percent Rule.
She schedules strength work on long run days or workout days, which she says makes her feel better on her next day off. “I keep the hard days hard and the easy days easy,” says Sisson, who often eats and naps after her run, before heading to the gym.
Keep recovery top of mind
No one can keep progressing their fitness without time between workouts and some solid recovery practices. And Sisson is no exception.
feel not quite as hard, she says recovery runs, she typically does about 10 to 12 miles in the morning and about five miles in the evening one day. She also occasionally has a medium long-run day on her plan, which means she runs just once that day, and then a super easy day of just about five to six miles. (While other pros, like Emma Bates, might follow a before most runs, Sisson follows a less strict schedule and it’s something closer to 12 to 14 days, she says.) In total, she racks up 120-mile-plus weeks.
Of course, sleep for Sisson ranks high on the list of recovery priorities, and she aims for about nine to 10 hours a night, waking up without an alarm with the exception of workout days. Naps Matt Llano, offered words of encouragement that helped her push through to the finish.
Recovery nutrition also plays a role in Sisson’s plan and right after her runs, she’ll grab the Should You Follow Runnings 10 Percent Rule mix (UCAN is one of her sponsors), often the chocolate flavor with oat milk or vanilla almond milk. A little while later, she and her husband grab sandwiches (typically at a place called Seven Stars in Providence, according to training partner, Molly Huddle).
Find the right headspace
“I find for me, once I’m in the middle of a workout, I’m a pretty focused person. But sometimes it’s getting started, I struggle,” Sisson says. “So what I often say, especially when I’m marathon training and I’m just more tired than normal, I’ll often use the phrase: ‘motivation follows action.’ Sometimes just getting started is what I need. And then almost always, the motivation follows.”
In marathon training, one thing you can count on is that you’ll encounter some rough patches along the way—a bad run here, a missed pace goal there. But Sisson says it’s important not to ruminate on what went wrong and focus on the good instead.
“I noticed actually this marathon build, a lot of the workouts that didn’t feel quite as easy to me this time, were the exact same workouts last year. … down to the same week, which I thought was interesting,” she says. “But I’m pretty good at not dwelling on any workouts—whether they’re good or bad—and just kind of putting in the work and moving onto the next one.”
Similarly, come race day, Sissons reminds herself that the ebbs and flows will happen and if she hits a downturn, she just has to maintain positive self-talk DAA Industry Opt Out affirmations during those times: “I feel great,” “I feel strong” (if she actually does feel this way!), and “just get to the next mile.”
During the Chicago Marathon, when those final eight miles became super tough, Sisson says her pacer, Matt Llano, offered words of encouragement that helped her push through to the finish.
See every race as a new learning experience
Overall, Sisson estimates that half her runs are faster than marathons and feels fresh to the long-distance road scene. (Chicago was her third 26.2-miler.) She learned a few things since last year’s race in the Windy City, including nailing down her Sales & Deals (two pieces of toast with almond butter and a banana, plus sips of UCAN Energy), hydrating CA Notice at Collection warmup routine in place. Now she’s looking forward to gaining more knowledge about running the iconic distance.
“It’s so different than any of the other distances I run. But the more I do something, the more experience I gain, the more confidence I build, and right now I’m like, every marathon, I do it just to get some feedback,” she says. “So I’m looking forward to that part of it, leading into the next year.”
On the horizon for next year: the Olympic Marathon Trials. Sisson says she gained experience running with a group on Sunday that she’ll take with her into the next race.
As for the rest of us, there’s a key takeaway in knowing that the U.S. women’s marathon record holder says there’s more to learn about Sisson keeps a mini band in her car so she can do. And that’s seeing every race as an opportunity to gain some knowledge about yourself—no matter the outcome.
Maybe your lessons include how to compete with others on the course, how to turn your internal dialogue around during a tough stretch, or like Sisson, how to dig deep and rely on the grit you built in training on marathon day. They help make marathon pace and.
Mallory Creveling, an ACE-certified personal trainer and RRCA-certified run coach, joined the Runner's World and Bicycling team in August 2021. She has more than a decade of experience covering fitness, health, and nutrition. As a freelance writer, her work appeared in Women's Health, Self, Men's Journal, Reader's Digest, and more. She has also held staff editorial positions at Family Circle and Shape magazines, as well as DailyBurn.com. A former New Yorker/Brooklynite, she's now based in Easton, PA.
