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marathon training

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Training for a marathon is all about preparation. This can be the difference between an exhilarating time spent exploring the body's potential, and over 26 miles of sheer hell

The first step in the preparation for a marathon is to decide what sort of time you want to go round in. Training schedules have been developed for the following target times:

The schedules are designed to be started 15 weeks before your marathon date, so pick a race and work back from there. If you don't have a full 15 weeks until your marathon, you can start off at whichever week is appropriate, but bear in mind that without the structured build up of miles and quality sessions you may find it harder to hit your targets.

Guidelines

The schedules are designed as guidelines. They are tried and tested platforms, but may require tweaking depending on your relative strengths. For example, if you find you already have good speed and speed endurance but suffer on the long runs, you may want to occasionally drop one of the speed sessions and add in another long run.

Over training

Another important note about the schedules is that you should take a rest day when your body tells you to. The level of rest included in the schedules is appropriate to the fitness levels required to complete them. The danger of over training is still something that should be borne in mind, however, and if you start finding yourself feeling sluggish and struggling to complete the long runs with good form, you should take an extra day or two off.

Phases

The schedules build up through an endurance phase, a strengthening phase, a sharpening phase and finally a tapering phase.

  Sub 3:00hrs

WEEK	MON	TUES	WEDS	THURS	FRI	SAT	SUN	TOTAL
1	5M easy	5M steady	6M slow	4M slow	4M easy (or rest)	5M steady	10M slow	39M
2	5M easy	1M easy, 3M fast, 1M easy	7M slow	3x2M fast	4M easy (or rest)	6M steady	12M slow	47M
3	5M easy	6M steady	7M slow	3x2M fast	4M easy (or rest)	8M steady hilly run	14M slow	52M
4	5M easy	1M easy, 3M fast, 1M easy	9M slow	8x800m fast	4M easy	4M easy (or rest)	10km race (sub 38mins)	41M
5	5M easy	1M easy, 4M fast, 1M easy	8M slow	8M fartlek	4M easy (or rest)	6M steady	16M slow	53M
6	5M easy	7M steady	9M slow	12x400m fast	4M easy (or rest)	5M steady x-country or race	18M slow	54M
7	5M easy	8M steady	10M slow	12x200m hills	4M easy (or rest)	5M easy	20M steady	50M
8	Rest	1M easy, 3M fast, 1M easy	11M slow	12x60s fast	4M easy (or rest)	5M easy	15M steady (or half marathon race)	5M
9	Rest	10M steady	9M slow	16x200m fast	4M easy (or rest)	5M easy	22M slow	60M
10	5M easy	1M easy, 4M fast, 1M easy	10M slow	3x2M fast	4M easy (or rest)	3M easy	Half marathon (sub 1:23)	50M
11	5M easy	12M steady	7M slow	8M fartlek	4M easy (or rest)	5M easy	20M slow	61M
12	5M easy	1M easy, 5M fast, 1M easy	8M slow	6x1M fast	4M easy (or rest)	5M easy	22M slow	60M
13	5M easy	1M easy, 3M fast, 1M easy	7M slow	8x800m fast	4M easy (or rest)	5M easy	12M slow	46M
14	5M easy	1M easy, 3M fast, 1M easy	6M slow	8x400m fast	4M easy (or rest)	5M easy	12M slow	44M
15	5M easy	Rest	4M slow	8x400m fast	Rest	2M easy	RACE DAY!	42M

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WEEK	MON	TUES	WEDS	THURS	FRI	SAT	SUN	TOTAL
1	4M easy	3M steady	5M slow	4M slow with a few gentle strides	Rest	5M easy	9M slow	30M
2	4M easy	1M easy, 2M fast, 1M easy	6M slow	3x1.5M fast	Rest	5M easy	11M slow	36M
3	4M easy	4M steady	7M slow	4x1M fast	Rest	5M easy	13M slow	39M
4	4M easy	1M easy, 3M fast, 1M easy	8M slow	6x800m fast	Rest	5M easy	10km race (sub 43mins)	34M
5	Rest	5M steady	6M slow	7M fartlek	Rest	5M easy	15M slow	38M
6	4M easy	1M easy, 4M fast, 1M easy	7M slow	10x400m fast	Rest	5M easy	18M slow	45M
7	4M easy	7M steady	8M slow	12x200m hills	Rest	5M easy	20M slow	48M
8	Rest	1M easy, 3M fast, 1M easy	9M slow	12x60s fast	Rest	5M easy	15M steady (or half marathon race)	38M
9	Rest	9M steady	8M slow	15x200m fast	Rest	5M easy	20M slow	48M
10	4M easy	1M easy, 3M fast, 1M easy	9M slow	4x1.5M	Rest	3M easy	Half marathon (sub 1:37)	43M
11	Rest	11M steady	6M slow	8M fartlek	Rest	5M easy	20M slow	51M
12	4M easy	1M easy, 4M fast, 1M easy	7M slow	5x1M fast	Rest	5M easy	22M slow	52M
13	Rest	10M steady	6M slow	7x800m fast	Rest	5M easy	18M slow	46M
14	4M easy	1M easy, 3M fast, 1M easy	5M slow	12x200m hills	Rest	5M easy	12M slow	35M
15	Rest	Rest	4M slow	8x400m fast	Rest	2M easy	RACE DAY!	36M

back to top Sub 4:00hrs

WEEK	MON	TUES	WEDS	THURS	FRI	SAT	SUN	TOTAL
1	3M easy	2M steady	4M slow	Rest	Rest	3M easy	7M slow	19M
2	Rest	1M easy, 2M fast, 1M easy	5M slow	2x1.5M fast	Rest	4M easy	8M slow	25M
3	Rest	1M easy, 3M fast, 1M easy	6M slow	3x1M fast	Rest	4M easy	9M slow	29M
4	Rest	1M easy, 2M fast, 1M easy	7M slow	4x800m fast	Rest	4M easy	10km race (sub 50mins)	25M
5	Rest	5M steady	5M slow	6M fartlek	Rest	4M easy	11M slow	31M
6	Rest	1M easy, 3M fast, 1M easy	6M slow	8x400m fast	Rest	4M easy	13M slow	32M
7	Rest	6M steady	7M slow	9x200m hills	Rest	4M easy	15M slow	36M
8	Rest	1M easy, 2M fast, 1M easy	8M slow	12x60s fast	Rest	3M easy	15M steady (or half marathon race)	35M
9	Rest	8M steady	7M slow	12x200m fast	Rest	4M easy	17M slow	39M
10	Rest	1M easy, 3M fast, 1M easy	8M slow	3x1.5M fast	Rest	3M easy	Half marathon (sub 1:50)	35M
11	Rest	10M steady	6M slow	8M fartlek	Rest	5M easy	19M slow	48M
12	Rest	1M easy, 4M fast, 1M easy	7M slow	5x1M fast	Rest	5M easy	22M slow	51M
13	Rest	9M steady	6M slow	6x800m fast	Rest	5M easy	18M slow	43M
14	4M easy	1M easy, 3M fast, 1M easy	5M slow	12x200m hills	Rest	5M easy	12M slow	30M
15	Rest	Rest	4M slow	6x400m fast	Rest	2M easy	RACE DAY!	35M

back to top Sub 4:30hrs

WEEK	MON	TUES	WEDS	THURS	FRI	SAT	SUN	TOTAL
1	2M easy	2M steady	3M slow	Rest	Rest	2M easy (or rest)	6M slow run/walk	15M
2	Rest	1M easy, 2M fast, 1M easy	4M slow	2x1.5M fast	Rest	3M easy (or rest)	7M slow run/walk	22M
3	Rest	3M steady	4M slow	3x1M fast	Rest	3M easy (or rest)	8M slow run/walk	23M
4	Rest	1M easy, 2M fast, 1M easy	5M slow	4x800m fast	Rest	3M easy (or rest)	10km race (sub 55mins)	21M
5	Rest	4M steady	4M slow	5M fartlek	Rest	3M easy (or rest)	10M slow	26M
6	Rest	1M easy, 3M fast, 1M easy	5M slow	6x400m fast	Rest	Rest	12M slow	25M
7	Rest	8M steady	6M slow	8x200m hills	Rest	4M easy (or rest)	14M slow	35M
8	Rest	1M easy, 3M fast, 1M easy	7M slow	10x60s fast	Rest	3M easy (or rest)	15M steady (or half marathon race)	33M
9	Rest	8M steady	6M slow	10x200m fast	Rest	4M easy	16M slow	37M
10	Rest	1M easy, 3M fast, 1M easy	7M slow	3x1.5M fast	Rest	3M easy	Half marathon (sub 1:50)	34M
11	Rest	10M steady	5M slow	7M fartlek	Rest	3M easy (or rest)	18M slow	42M
12	Rest	1M easy, 4M fast, 1M easy	6M slow	4x1M fast	Rest	3M easy (or rest)	20M slow	41M
13	Rest	9M steady	5M slow	6x800m fast	Rest	3M easy (or rest)	17M slow	38M
14	4M easy	1M easy, 3M fast, 1M easy	4M slow	10x200m hills	Rest	3M easy (or rest)	10M slow	25M
15	Rest	Rest	3M slow	6x400m fast	Rest	2M easy	RACE DAY!	34M

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WEEK	MON	TUES	WEDS	THURS	FRI	SAT	SUN	TOTAL
1	Rest	30mins	40mins	Rest	40mins	Rest	60min	2hrs 50min
2	Rest	30mins	45mins	Rest	40mins	Rest	1hr 40min	3hrs 35min
3	Rest	40mins	45mins	Rest	40mins	Rest	70min	3hrs 15min
4	Rest	40mins	50mins	Rest	40mins	Rest	2hr	4hrs 10min
5	Rest	40mins	55mins	Rest	40mins	Rest	70min	3hrs 25min
6	Rest	45mins	55mins	Rest	45mins	Rest	2hr	4hrs 25min
7	Rest	45mins	60mins	Rest	45mins	Rest	2hr 40min	5hrs 10min
8	Rest	45mins	60mins	Rest	45mins	Rest	3hr run	5hrs 30min
9	Rest	45mins	60mins	Rest	45mins	Rest	90min	4hrs
10	Rest	45mins	60mins	Rest	45mins	Rest	3hr 30min	6hrs
11	Rest	45mins	60mins	Rest	45mins	Rest	90min	4hrs
12	Rest	45mins	60mins	Rest	45mins	Rest	4hr	6hrs 30min
13	Rest	45mins	60mins	Rest	45mins	Rest	2hr	4hrs 30min
14	Rest	30mins	45mins	Rest	30mins	Rest	70min	2hrs 55min
15	Rest	20mins	30mins	Rest	20mins	Rest	RACE DAY!	6hrs 20min

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