Vinny Mauri has become one of the most intriguing names in the American marathon scene. In a wide-ranging profile published by Jonathan Gault on LetsRun.com, the journalist reviews the preparation of the American for the Chicago Marathon, detailing a long buildup of mileage and quality workouts that is hard to compare with what other elite runners are doing.
Mauri, 25, had already surprised in April with a 2:05:54 at the Glass City Marathon in Toledo, a solo run without pacers. It was the fastest marathon debut by an American, and at the time it placed him as the fourth-fastest American in history. Now, barely six months later, he will tackle his second marathon in Chicago this October 11.
But what he has done between one race and another is even more remarkable. Over his last ten weeks of preparation, he has logged 1,223 miles (1,968 kilometers), at an average pace of 3:30 per kilometer, since his warmups, cooldowns, and rest between sets are always at paces close to 3:40 min/km. His weekly average volume has been around 122 miles per week (196 km).
45 miles of quality in a single day
One of the workouts that has attracted the most attention occurred on September 8. Mauri completed 45 miles (72.4 km) in one day, including 36 miles (57.9 km) of tempo-focused work at an average pace of 3:04/km.
On four straight Tuesdays he undertook sessions with an enormous load. In every one of them he surpassed 36 kilometers, with at least 27 kilometers run at paces of 3:04/km or faster. He has also turned long runs into true experiments. For example, on August 30 he covered 48.9 km at 3:07/km.
The peculiarity is that a large portion of these workouts are performed on Planet Fitness treadmills, in Ohio. Mauri explains that the treadmill allows him to control the pace precisely and to avoid weather conditions, but he also acknowledges that it helps him curb his tendency to speed up when running outdoors.
In addition, the machines he uses have a maximum speed of 20.0 km per hour, equivalent to 3:00/km, so to accumulate large amounts of fast work he needs to stretch the sessions.
Another monster of a training day
And there are more examples of the scale of this preparation. In a Strava session, this time on asphalt, Mauri completed 42.45 kilometers in 2:17:31, at an average pace of 3:14/km. The workout consisted of two kilometers of warmup, 10 repeats of a fast mile followed by a recovery, and two more miles that were still faster. The first nine fast miles came in around 3:01/km, while the recovery portions were done at 3:25–3:30/km. The climax arrived in the last four miles, with the fast segments at 4:30 and 4:25 (2:48 and 2:45/km) and the slow segments at 3:20 and 3:17/km. The session was so demanding that Mauri ended up vomiting on the final rep, but he described the day as fantastic and said the paces were coming out better than he had ever imagined.
Will it show in the Chicago Marathon?
Mauri himself acknowledges that this kind of training is not sustainable in the long term. His plan is to ride the momentum after having already achieved an extraordinary result in Toledo.
The big question is how much of that preparation he can translate to Chicago. CJ Albertson, another American specialist in extensive treadmill training, considers Mauri’s work exceptional, though he cautions that running on a treadmill and running on a road surface aren’t exactly the same.
Chicago, however, will present a completely different scenario from his debut: a fast course, top-tier rivals and pacemakers. Conner Mantz holds the American record at 2:04:43, and Mauri has stated that if a group forms to chase that mark, he is prepared to follow it.
He himself avoids setting a concrete time. He simply asserts that he arrives in Chicago in better physical condition than before his 2:05:54 Toledo performance.
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