Marathon Training Series

Week 1 - Building a Marathon Training Plan

There is no shortage of marathon training plans. Search online and you'll find everything from 12-week beginner programs to 26-week schedules designed for experienced runners. Some emphasize mileage. Others emphasize long runs. Some have multiple workouts every week, while others are built almost entirely around easy running. So what actually makes a marathon training plan good? The answer isn't one magic workout, a certain number of miles, or even a specific number of weeks. A good marathon plan is one that develops the qualities required to run 26.2 miles while giving the athlete enough recovery to actually absorb the training.

What Does a Marathon Actually Require?

The marathon is an interesting distance because it requires several different abilities to come together. You need to be able to:

  • Run a substantial amount of mileage consistently.

  • Handle long periods of running.

  • Develop a strong aerobic system.

  • Run efficiently at marathon pace.

  • Maintain good mechanics when fatigued.

  • Use carbohydrates effectively.

  • Recover between training sessions.

  • Stay mentally composed when the race becomes difficult.

And there isn't one workout that develops all of those things. That's why a good marathon plan isn't simply:

Easy runs + long run + marathon pace

It's a combination of different training stimuli that work together. For my runners, the major pieces will be mileage, long runs, tempo runs, marathon-pace work, faster running, recovery, strength, fueling and tapering. Let's look at each one.

1. Mileage Builds the Foundation

Mileage is probably the most obvious component of marathon training. And for good reason. Running more consistently gives you more opportunities to develop your aerobic system and accumulate the physical adaptations that allow you to handle a marathon. But "more" isn't automatically better. A runner who goes from 30 miles per week to 50 miles per week and can recover from it may improve dramatically but if they spend the entire week exhausted they may actually become a worse marathoner. The appropriate mileage depends on:

  • Training history

  • Current fitness

  • Age

  • Injury history

  • Available recovery

  • How much intensity is being included

  • How well the athlete responds to increased volume

The goal is to find the highest sustainable workload that allows a runner to continue performing quality training.

2. Long Runs Build Marathon Durability

If mileage builds the foundation, the long run teaches the body how to operate after you've already been running for a long time. Long runs help develop:

  • Aerobic endurance

  • Muscular endurance

  • Fuel utilization

  • Mental endurance

  • Running economy under fatigue

  • Confidence

But there's an important misconception about long runs. Every long run doesn't need to be hard. Some long runs will simply be long. For example: 16 miles easy can be an extremely valuable workout. Other long runs might include faster running: 16 miles with the final 5 at marathon pace. Those two workouts have different purposes. We'll use both. And the appropriate long-run distance will also depend on the athlete. The stimulus matters more than the number on the watch.

3. Tempo Training Raises the Aerobic Ceiling

My runners will be the first to tell you that they do plenty of what I call tempo runs/workouts. Running several miles around tempo effort develops the ability to sustain a relatively high aerobic output without turning the workout into a race. Tempo training can take many forms, the most coming being:

  • Continuous tempo runs

  • Mile repeats

  • Longer 2-3 mile repeats

What Is Tempo Pace?

Tempo pace is best thought of as a “comfortably hard” effort, fast enough to create a significant training stimulus, but controlled enough that you can sustain it for an extended period without turning the workout into a race. For many runners, tempo pace is around the effort they could sustain for roughly an hour of racing, though the exact pace varies based on fitness and experience. It should feel like about a 7–8 out of 10 effort: breathing is noticeably elevated, conversation is limited, but you finish feeling like you could have continued for several more minutes.

4. Marathon Pace Is Its Own Skill

Marathon pace is slower than tempo pace but considerably faster than an easy run. It also has a unique requirement:

You have to hold it for 26.2 miles. That means simply being capable of running a certain pace for a few miles doesn't necessarily mean you can run it for a marathon. So how does a runner figure out their marathon pace without running 26.2 miles? For my runners I am to gradually test their marathon pace through training. For example, I often use workouts like:

10 to 15 miles easy + 5 miles at marathon pace or Repeating 1-3 mile segments at MP pace with short breaks between

If those workouts become controlled and repeatable, we have much stronger evidence that the pace is appropriate. Marathon pace is a hypothesis. Training tests the hypothesis.

5. Why Run Fast When Training for a Marathon?

This is one of the parts of marathon training I particularly enjoy. Faster running can help develop:

  • Running economy

  • Neuromuscular coordination

  • Leg turnover

  • Aerobic power

  • Comfort at faster speeds

My personal favorites:

  • 400-meter repetitions

  • 800-meter repetitions

  • Short strides

But faster running has to be used intelligently. A marathoner doesn't need to prove that they can run fast, repeat 400s every Tuesday. An certainly I’m not looking for all out 400s. The key is to sprinkle this workout into the plan when it makes sense to do so and ensure it’s not so intense that it creates so much fatigue that the rest of the week suffers.

6. Recovery Is Part of the Training

This might be the most overlooked part of marathon training. You don't become fitter because you completed a workout. You become fitter because your body recovers from the workout and adapts to it. That's why my runners’ easy days are actually going to be easy. It’s usually the first thing I establish with new runners because if easy runs don’t leave room for recovery, nothing in the training plan will work.

A typical marathon training week might eventually look something like:

Monday: Easy
Tuesday: Faster workout
Wednesday: Easy
Thursday: Easy or Medium Long
Friday: Easy/Off
Saturday: Easy
Sunday: Easy Long run (that could include some faster runner)

Notice that there are a max of only two true sessions that include work faster than easy running. The rest of the week exists largely to help the athlete prepare for those sessions and recover afterward.

7. Strength Training Has a Role

Running is obviously the centerpiece of marathon training, but strength training can complement it. The goal isn't to turn a marathoner into a powerlifter. We're interested in maintaining and improving the ability to produce force and control movement throughout a long race.

Strength work can include:

  • Squats

  • Lunges

  • Calf raises

  • Hamstring work

  • Glute work

  • Core exercises

  • Single-leg stability

The amount and timing will depend on the athlete. As mileage increases, strength training also needs to fit around the running rather than compete with it.

8. Fueling Is Training

You can have a great aerobic system and still have a terrible marathon if you don't fuel appropriately. That's why fueling shouldn't be something you figure out on race morning. Long runs are opportunities to practice:

  • Pre-run meals

  • Carbohydrate intake

  • Fluids

  • Electrolytes when appropriate

  • Gel timing

  • Which products your stomach tolerates

As the long runs become more marathon-specific, we'll practice the exact strategy we want to use on race day. The goal is to arrive at the marathon having already answered:

What am I going to eat?

When am I going to eat it?

How much carbohydrate am I taking in?

What am I drinking?

Race day shouldn't be an experiment.

9. Eventually, We Have to Taper

After weeks and months of building fitness, the final step is to reduce training load and allow fatigue to dissipate before the race. This is the taper. The taper isn't the time to gain fitness. It's the time to reveal the fitness you've already built. Mileage comes down. Some intensity remains. The goal is to arrive at the starting line feeling rested without feeling flat. And psychologically, this can be one of the hardest parts of marathon training. After spending months trying to do more, suddenly doing less can feel uncomfortable. We'll get to that.

10. There Is No Perfect Marathon Plan

This is probably the biggest lesson I want this series to communicate. A 3:00 marathoner and a 5:00 marathoner do not need the same training plan.

They may have very different:

  • Weekly mileage

  • Workout paces

  • Long-run distances

  • Recovery needs

  • Race fueling

  • Marathon goals

But they still need to develop many of the same underlying qualities. Both need:

Aerobic endurance.

Durability.

The ability to sustain marathon effort.

Fueling skills.

Mental resilience.

Recovery.

Race execution.

The difference is in how those qualities are developed and how much training the individual can tolerate.


The Training Philosophy

As we move through this marathon build, I'm going to keep coming back to a few principles.

1. Consistency beats individual workouts.

One great workout doesn't make a marathoner. Months of consistent training do.

2. Easy days should actually facilitate recovery.

Don't turn easy runs into a test of fitness.

3. Long runs should have a purpose.

Sometimes that purpose is simply accumulating endurance. Sometimes it's practicing marathon pace. Sometimes it's practicing fueling.

5. Marathon pace should be earned.

Don't decide your marathon pace because a calculator says you should run it. Test it in training.

6. Speed has a place in marathon training.

You don't have to become a 5K specialist, but maintaining and developing speed can make you a better marathoner.

7. Training should be individualized.

The best plan is the one that develops the athlete without exceeding their ability to recover.

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Next week, we'll start with one of the simplest and most important question in marathon training:

How easy should your easy runs actually be?