#208 Denmark's Fastest Marathoner: Jacob Simonsen's 2:07 Breakthrough

Get 20% off a Strava annual subscription with code KRISTIAN

Save on FlexBeam using code WARWICKRUNS or this link: https://rechargehealthas.sjv.io/55GAPb

Kristian sits down with Jacob Simonsen, the Danish national record holder in the marathon with a 2:07 personal best, for a deep dive into smart training, missing the Olympics by one minute, and bouncing back to break a national record weeks later.

Jacob shares how becoming a father changed his approach to training, treating running more like a job while also learning to reschedule sessions instead of pushing through fatigue. He walks through the years long climb from his marathon debut to a 2:07, the heartbreak of narrowly missing direct Olympic qualification, and how he turned that disappointment into a national record breaking performance in Berlin weeks later. The conversation goes deep into his actual training: double threshold sessions, weekly mileage around 190k, and why building a strong aerobic base matters at every distance. He closes with his goal of breaking the one hour half marathon barrier at the World Championships in Copenhagen.

In this episode:

- Balancing elite training with being a parent

- How having kids changed his mentality around training

- The years long climb to a 2:07 marathon personal best

- Narrowly missing direct Olympic qualification by one minute

- Turning disappointment into a national record in Berlin

- A full breakdown of his double threshold training sessions

- Why aerobic training matters at every distance, not just the marathon

- Recovering from a stress reaction and learning to manage recovery

- Bouncing back from a bike accident ahead of the World Championships

- His goal: breaking the one hour half marathon barrier in Copenhagen

Timestamps

00:00 A preview: learning to run faster without training harder

00:52 Welcome and introducing Jacob Simonsen

01:53 Kristian's own week of feeling under the weather

03:46 Jumping into the conversation with Jacob

04:11 Balancing elite training with being a parent

05:35 How becoming a dad changed his training mentality

19:30 What his coach and team have brought to his career

27:17 Respect for the marathon distance after his debut

28:00 Finally cracking the code on handling more volume

29:03 Chasing direct Olympic qualification and coming up short

31:32 The disappointment of missing the cut by one minute

32:23 Turning that setback into a national record in Berlin

46:59 Increasing mileage safely and staying strong enough to handle it

48:53 Learning when to push through and when to back off

51:22 Building mileage and finding his current training ceiling

54:42 The philosophy behind double threshold training

58:40 Why aerobic training matters at every distance

59:36 A full breakdown of his current training week

1:00:35 What his double threshold sessions actually look like

2:03:24 The importance of high volume in a marathon block

2:13:49 His next goal: breaking sub one hour in the half marathon

2:14:41 Closing thoughts and good luck in Copenhagen

Jacob on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacobssimonsen/

Start your free Musicbed trial: https://fm.pxf.io/kristianwarwick

Full episodes + the Boston 2025 documentary: https://www.youtube.com/@Warwickruns

Follow my training journey on Instagram: @warwick.runs

Music from Musicbed: MB01XPYH8ZYENVAMB0133EV2TCQFZY