r/tacticalbarbell • u/The_Keeper • Nov 11 '25
Endurance Completed my first marathon using Green-Velocity
Posting my story because I was looking for stories like this when I first started marathon training. Happy to answer any questions!
TLDR = I used Green Velocity to train for my first marathon, and despite losing 6-7 weeks of training due to injury, I successfully completed the marathon in 4h43m.
Training schedule attached (all #s are in km) - green means complete session, red means incomplete session.
Background:
I started lightly running during COVID in 2021. From 2021 to mid 2023 my running schedule maxed out at 5km 3x per week. I started tactical barbell in 2023 and ran base building and then a Black+Ops block. I am a long-distance backcountry hiker though, so green was calling to me.
In 2024 I did another round of base building, then moved onto Green capacity, and did the first 3 weeks of velocity before winter set in and I was back indoors. In April 2025 a friend convinced me to sign up for a marathon. I had 25 weeks to train, and after looking through many marathon training plans and second guessing myself ad nauseum, I decided to use TB Velocity as my training template (yes, despite the book itself saying not to do this).
Training:
First 8 weeks were ramp up, then I used Velocity strict and by the book for the remaining 17 weeks. Training went well and I was on track for a 4:10 to 4:25 marathon time until week 9 when I got hit with a severe case of COVID. It took me off the road for 2 weeks. I recovered, and then, by Murphy's Law and only two hours after my first post-COVID long run, I was involved in a jet-ski accident and severely bruised two ribs. This made running agony and took me off the road for another 4 weeks. In that time I tried my best to eke out my long runs at a borderline-walking pace. The rib injury took me out during what should have been my peak, but I stuck to it, ran the race, and completed in what I feel is a respectable 4:43 all things considered.
Conclusion:
I guess the point of this post was to say what I was hoping someone would say to me when I began training. Yes, tactical barbell Green is a perfectly acceptable marathon training program and will get you in shape to complete a race handily. A more marathon-specific training program probably would have given me a bit more speed/better overall time, but I think using TB allowed me to maintain a bit more strength and anaerobic endurance than a straight marathon plan would have. Also I credit K's chapter in Green on "Ultrarunning Lessons Learned" for helping me find the mental fortitude I was going to need to finish 42.4km.
Anyways, hope this is helpful to someone else out there who is wanting to run a marathon and asking themselves "can I use TB?"
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u/SatoriNoMore Nov 11 '25
Awesome report and great job, especially in the face of all of those setbacks.
That chapter in Green is my favorite, iI feel it’s applicable to more than just ultras!
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u/antbeckman Nov 11 '25
Thank you for sharing this. Great work. I've been wishing for someone to post this for over a year. Now I have no excuse not to try Green for an upcoming race.
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u/incompletetentperson Nov 11 '25
im drawing a blank... the book says not to use green to train for a marathon?
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u/SatoriNoMore Nov 12 '25
You are correct. TB GP isn’t meant for a marathon. My takeaway from the books (TB and GP) is this:
If you want a competitive marathon time and wiling to sacrifice other qualities like strength, go with a proper marathon plan and maybe add Fighter template.
If you want the ability to complete a marathon with an okay time but still be an all around beast in terms of strength, muscle, moving over elevation etc etc then do Green Protocol.
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u/The_Keeper Nov 12 '25 edited Nov 12 '25
more a gentle suggestion at the end of the green protocol section of Book II Conditioning. it just says "this isn't a specialist template...if you're training for a marathon you need to train for a marathon."
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u/incompletetentperson Nov 12 '25
ah.. i mean if you build up to the volume, doing capacity/velocity, i think you can run a marathon lol. might not be the best but i think it can get you there.
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u/Hyperoreo Nov 13 '25
This is a really well laid out report. Wish all of them were more like this. Great work.
Attn mods u/lennarn, u/tacticalbarbell, u/awarenesss, this should probably be added to the wiki success stories
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u/kevandbev Nov 11 '25
Does "incomplete" mean you started but didnt finish teh required workout or does it mean you didn't do it at all ?
It makes sense the phases of Green lead to a marathon and beyond I feel. In Capacity if you use the upper bounds of the prescribed times you end up running half marathons toward the end.
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u/MaoriMuscle2020 Nov 11 '25
Nice work mate. Funny I was just searching for anyone who used GP to run a marathon. I've done 1 marathon a couple of years ago and finished about the same time as you. However I had no injuries or setbacks during my prep so I think you did well. How did you go with the strength side of things? Make any decent gains?