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

An episode of [The Marathon Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1803837535), 31 Aug 2026, 1 h 17 min.

Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/11464a0e0/podcast/play/124945159/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-7-30%2F430833283-44100-2-a080cb940f7bc.mp3

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

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