A marathon is a long project: four or five months of training for one morning. The good news is that the plan itself is simple. Run often, mostly easy, make the long run a little longer every few weeks, rest a bit every fourth week, and arrive fresh. This guide explains each piece, with numbers for a first marathon and for runners chasing a time.
In short. Give yourself 16 to 20 weeks. Run 3 to 5 times a week, mostly at an easy, chatty pace. Build the long run step by step to about 30 to 32 km, reached about three weeks before the race. Make every third or fourth week easier, and cut your running by about half over the last two to three weeks.
How long to train
Most plans last 16 to 20 weeks. That's long enough to build up safely without months of training before the plan really starts.
Before day one you should be able to run comfortably for about an hour, or 10 km, three times a week. If you're not there yet, spend a couple of months getting there first: it is the best marathon training you can do. If you already run 40 km or more a week, 12 to 14 weeks can be enough.
How many runs a week
How often you run matters more than how far you go in any one run. Spread the week out: several medium runs are easier on your legs than a few big ones.
| Goal | Runs a week | Biggest weeks |
|---|---|---|
| First marathon, to finish well | 3 to 4 | About 35 to 50 km (4 to 5 hours) |
| A time goal, around 3 h 30 to 4 h | 4 to 5 | About 50 to 70 km (5 to 7 hours) |
| A fast time, under 3 h 15 | 5 to 7 | About 70 to 100 km or more |
These are typical ranges, not targets to reach at any cost. If your body is happy at the low end, stay there.
The long run
The long run is the heart of marathon training. It teaches your legs to keep going and your body to use its fuel well. Start from what you can already do, often about an hour or 12 to 15 km, and add 2 to 3 km every week or two. Every third or fourth week, shorten it again to let your body absorb the work.
- How far: most runners top out at 30 to 32 km, or about 3 hours, whichever comes first. Going much further costs more recovery than it gives.
- How fast: easy. Roughly 45 to 90 seconds per kilometre slower than your marathon pace, so you could hold a conversation.
- Practise race day: eat and drink on long runs as you will in the race, wear your race shoes, and do a few long runs at the time of day the race starts.
Three kinds of running
A marathon plan mixes three paces. Most of your running is the first one.
- Easy running is the base of everything: about three quarters of your weekly time or more. It builds endurance without wearing you out.
- Marathon pace comes in the last eight weeks or so, usually as sections inside the long run (for example the last 5 to 10 km at goal pace). It teaches you what race pace feels like.
- Faster running, once a week: a tempo run (20 to 40 minutes at a "comfortably hard" effort) or intervals (for example 5 × 1 km a little faster than 10 km pace). First-time marathoners can keep this to short strides at the end of an easy run.
Research on endurance athletes keeps pointing the same way: lots of easy running with a small amount of hard work beats running every session at a medium effort.
A sample week
Here is how a regular week might look for a runner aiming at about 4 hours, running four times a week. The same shape works with three runs (drop the Thursday run) or five (add an easy run).
| Day | Early weeks | Middle weeks | Last weeks before the taper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | 40 min easy + strides | 50 min with 4 × 5 min tempo | 60 min with 5 × 1 km faster |
| Thursday | 40 min easy | 45 min easy | 50 min easy + strides |
| Friday | Rest or strength | Rest or strength | Rest or strength |
| Saturday | 35 min easy | 45 min easy | 45 min easy |
| Sunday | Long run 14 km | Long run 22 km | Long run 30 km, last 8 at goal pace |
Monday and Wednesday stay free: rest, a short walk, or cross-training such as cycling or swimming if you enjoy it.
Easier weeks and the taper
Every third or fourth week, run about 25 to 35 % less. You'll often feel stronger the week after. Don't skip these weeks when you feel good: that's when they work best.
Over the last two to three weeks, cut your running gradually by about half. Keep running almost as often, and keep a few short sections at marathon pace so your legs stay sharp. Studies on tapering show that cutting the volume, not the intensity, is what helps most. Feeling restless or heavy in taper week is normal.
A first marathon or a time goal
For a first marathon, the goal is to start healthy and finish feeling good. Run the long runs slowly, and plan to run the first half of the race a little slower than you think you can.
For a time goal, pick a realistic pace from a recent race. A common rough guide is your half marathon time doubled, plus 10 to 20 minutes. Then check it in training: if the marathon-pace sections of your long runs feel controlled, the goal is right.
On race day
Most marathon trouble starts in the first 10 km, when the crowd and fresh legs make goal pace feel easy. Hold back: run the first half at your goal pace or a little slower, and only speed up after 30 km if you feel good. Eat and drink from early on, as you practised, rather than waiting until you feel empty. Nothing new on the day: no new shoes, no new gels, no new breakfast.
When things don't go to plan
Missed a few days? Carry on with the plan. Missed a week or more? Repeat the last week you did well instead of jumping ahead. A pain that changes how you run, or gets worse during a run, is a reason to stop and see a doctor or physiotherapist, not to push through.
Plan it in MyTrainingDesk
Set your race and MyTrainingDesk lays out the weeks to get there from what you run today: target hours for each week, the easier weeks and the taper. The calendar shows each week against its plan, and the coach plans the sessions to it.
Read next
- Why most of your runs should be easy, and how easy is easy
- Fitness, fatigue and form (CTL, ATL, TSB) explained
Sources
- Seiler S. What is best practice for training intensity and duration distribution in endurance athletes? International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 2010; 5(3): 276–291.
- Bosquet L, Montpetit J, Arvisais D, Mujika I. Effects of tapering on performance: a meta-analysis. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2007; 39(8): 1358–1365.