The marathon; hours of grit, grind and sweat…sometimes blood, and very often tears! It’s a definitive race when it comes to one’s identity as a runner, and the goal of many who lace up their shoes to train each and every day. If you’re reading this article, you’re likely one of them! Let’s dig into marathon training and discuss some of the best ways to approach this distance.

What Is a “Marathon”?

A marathon is a long-distance running race with an official distance of 26.2 miles (approx. 42 kilometers). The event is named after the Greek town of Marathon, where, according to legend, the messenger Pheidippides ran from the Battle of Marathon to Athens to announce victory over the Persians. This distance became standardized in the Olympic Games in 1921.

Pheidippides apparently collapsed and died from exhaustion upon his arrival in Athens (hence the commemoration of this exorbitant feat). We’re going to try to replicate his achievement, but in a way that avoids a similar outcome after crossing the finish line! 

How to Train for a Marathon

How someone trains for a marathon is going to rely heavily on their running experience, fitness levels, and current injury status. Many people pick the marathon distance as the first official road race they enter, and use it as a monumental milestone in their running careers. To avoid the possibility of not finishing due to injury or fatigue, we need to make sure we train intelligently.

This means giving ourselves enough time to adequately prepare, and doing so in a way gradual enough that it allows the body to adapt and not become overstressed. Our bodies are remarkably accommodating, and will respond to the stimulus applied to them. In other words, the more we run, the better we will get at running. Is it really that simple? To an extent.

We need to run, and we need to run a lot - but that’s far from a complete training plan. There are several factors that need to be considered in order to set us up for success. Let’s go through some of them together before laying out a plan that you can tweak and adjust to fit your personal goals and schedule.

(Credit: Adobe Stock)

Training Load

Adjusting your volume properly is going to be one of the most important components of your training. If your weekly miles fall somewhere in the 5-10 range, bumping that up immediately to 20 or 30 is almost a guaranteed recipe for injury. Getting hurt is a normal part of training, but we can mitigate the risk to a large degree by just paying attention to some simple loading principles.

The 10% Rule

A general guideline in the running world is to never increase your mileage by more than 10% each week. If you currently run a weekly total of 10 miles, the following week should not exceed 11 miles. The week after that, 12.1 miles. Then 13.3 miles, etc. With this gradual increase in training volume, it gives the body time to adapt to the new demands being imposed upon it.

Consistency

We all miss workouts and even whole training weeks due to laziness, sickness, work schedules, events…all of the above. It’s normal, but consistency is king when it comes to training for a marathon. This is a big distance we have to build up to. Running is tough on the body, and the tolerance of our soft tissue needs to be tempered through regular exposure. 

Individualization

Everyone has a different starting point, and we all respond differently to training - some adapt quicker than others because of genetic factors, previous athletic experience, body composition, and so on. Give yourself the grace of personalization, and take standardized times/distances designed for the average person (who doesn’t actually exist) with a grain of salt.

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Strength & Mobility Training

Injuries are common in running, and their prevalence amongst participants can range anywhere from 20%-80% annually. Many of these injuries are classified as overuse or chronic, indicating a breakdown over time and/or an inability to recover from the training an individual is doing. A common correlation with these types of injuries is a lack of strength and mobility training.

Running, like any sport, exposes one to different forces and ranges of motion, to the exclusion of others. We become mobile enough to run with our particular gait, and strong enough to propel ourselves at a particular pace for a certain duration of time. The problem is, once we’re strong and mobile enough to achieve those metrics, there’s no further reason for the body to change.

Further, there are many muscles not adequately trained by running alone, not least of which being the entire upper half of your body. Running is a wonderful activity for health in general, but like any activity falls short in a number of ways when it comes to overall balance. Some muscles are going to be overworked, while others are going to be underused.

This is a major contributing factor to the high incidence of injuries in runners, and it’s exactly the void that a separate strength and mobility program can fill. Not only can it increase your performance by building stronger, more powerful muscles, but it can also reduce the likelihood of injury by correcting muscle imbalances and promoting overall balance.

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Marathon Training Plan

Below we have made a 17-week beginners marathon training schedule to help you build up to running your very first marathon! The first 16 weeks are divided into four tables, one for each month. The final week is race week - which includes a taper period to allow you to rest and recuperate prior to giving it your all on race day and running 26.2 miles for the first time.

We’ll first give you a couple of program tips to help manipulate the schedule according to your unique circumstances, and also 

Program Tips

• Adjust accordingly to your individual fitness levels
• Mobility work can be performed on rest days and as many times as you’d like during the week
• Strength training should be performed 2-4 times/week; perform prior to your run or 3-4 hours post-run; can also be performed on rest days
• These numbers are not set in stone, if you feel pain or have an off day, simply adjust as necessary
• If you get sick or otherwise have to miss an extended period of training, simply start where you left off
• If you miss 2 or more weeks of training, consider entering a different race at a later date to avoid the heightened risk of injury
• Most importantly, enjoy your training!

You can do it! (Credit: Adobe Stock)

Month 1 (Weeks 1-4)

Month 2 (Weeks 5-8)

Month 3 (Weeks 9-12)

Month 4 (Weeks 13-16)

Race Week (Week 17)

Dynamic Runner: Strength & Mobility Training

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Written by Eric Lister – Certified Personal Trainer & Corrective Exercise Specialist