How to Train for Your First Marathon

Participating in a competitive event such as running a marathon is not to be taken lightly. Running for 26.2 miles will out a huge amount of stress on your feet, back, tendons, knees and joints. In order to toughen your body to handle such a level of stress without going through an injury requires at least one year of constant training to build up to it. To be honest, if you are not running on a regular basis or have a daily fitness regimen, you should consider to first run half a marathon and work towards the full one in the future years.

We have provided you with a 24-week plan which is intended to get a fit, and healthy runner get into the required physical condition so that he will be able to complete an entire marathon with minimum difficulty. You might notice that this plan is deliberately conservative. If you are a more experienced runner, you might find that you progress faster than the schedule. In this case, you can increase the frequency, distance, and even the intensity of the runs. However, if you feel that you cannot progress fast enough, we advise you to switch to the half marathon for this year.

In this plan, a rest day means that you should not participate in any type of exercise, especially running! An easy run means that you should pace yourself. A tempo one means that you can increase the speed at some parts of the workout. The long and the moderately long runs are supposed to build the endurance that you are required to have in order to run for 26.2 miles. The distance has to be done in a comfortable and steady pace with short breaks for water.

After base training, each week will have these components: a moderately long run, a long one, 3-4 easy runs, and 1-2 rest days. If you want to increase the intensity of your training, like running on Forest trails or up and down a hill, we advise you to limit such workouts to 1-2 times a week.

A weekly schedule should look something like this:

Sunday - rest. Monday – tempo or easy run. Tuesday – moderately long run. Wednesday – rest day or easy run. Thursday – tempo or easy run. Friday – easy run. Saturday - Long run.

If you prefer to do your long run on Monday or another day, just adjust the weekly schedule to your preference.

Download Example 24-Week Marathon Training Program

Week 1: Run 4-5 miles, 4-5 times. Weekly Mileage: 18-24 miles.

Week 2: Run 4-5 miles, 5-6 times. Weekly Mileage: 20-26 miles.

Week 3: Run 4-6 miles, 5-6 times. Weekly Mileage: 22-28 miles.

Week 4: Run 3-5 miles, 4-6 times. Weekly Mileage: 15-18 miles.

Week 5: Run 4-6 miles, 5-6 times. Weekly Mileage: 23-30 miles.

Week 6: Run 4-6 miles, 5-6 times. Weekly Mileage: 25-32 miles.

Week 7: Run 4-7 miles, 5-6 times. Weekly Mileage: 27-35 miles.

Week 8: Base training is over! Run 3-5 miles five times. Weekly Mileage: 16-20 miles.

Week 9: Moderately long run - 6 miles, long run: 8-9 miles, tempo or easy runs – 4 miles. 1-2 rest days. Weekly Mileage: 26-32 miles.

Week 10: Moderately long run – 7 miles, long run: 9-10 miles; tempo or easy runs – 4-5 miles. 1-2 rest days. Weekly Mileage: 28-35 miles.

Week 11: Moderately long run – 7-8 miles, long run: 10-12 miles, tempo or easy runs – 4-5 miles. 1-2 rest days. Weekly Mileage: 30-36 miles.

Week 12: Moderately long run – 6 miles, long run: 7-8 miles, tempo or easy runs – 3-5 miles. 2 rest days. Weekly Mileage: 22-25 miles.

Week 13: Moderately long run – 7-8 miles, Long run: 10 to 12 miles, tempo or easy runs: 5 miles. One or two rest days. Weekly mileage: 32 to 38 miles.

Week 14: Moderately long run – 8 miles, long run: 11-13 miles, tempo or easy runs: 4-5 miles tempo or easy runs – 4-5 miles. 1-2 rest days. Weekly Mileage: 34-40 miles.

Week 15: Moderately long run – 8-9 miles, long run: 12-14 miles; tempo or easy runs: 5 miles tempo or easy runs – 4-5 miles. 1-2 rest days. Weekly Mileage: 35-43 miles.

Week 16: Moderately long run – 7 miles, long run: 8 miles, tempo or easy runs – 3-5 miles. 2 rest days. Weekly Mileage: 24-30 miles.

Week 17: Moderately long run – 8-9 miles, long run: 13-15 miles, tempo or easy runs: 5 miles. 1-2 rest days. Weekly Mileage: 35-45 miles.

Week 18: Moderately long run – 8-10 miles, long run: 14-16 miles, tempo or easy runs: 5-6 miles. 1-2 rest days. Weekly Mileage: 37-47 miles.

Week 19: Moderately long run – 8-10 miles, long run: 16-18 miles, tempo or easy runs: 5-6 miles. 1-2 rest days. Weekly Mileage: 40-50 miles.

Week 20: Moderately long run – 7 miles, long run: 10-12 miles, tempo or easy runs: 4-5 miles. 1-2 rest days. Weekly Mileage: 31-36 miles.

Week 21: Moderately long run – 10-12 miles, long run: 18-20 miles, tempo or easy runs: 5-6 miles. 1-2 rest days. Weekly Mileage: 43-52 miles.

Week 22: Moderately long run – 8 miles, long run: 15-16 miles, tempo or easy runs: 4-5 miles. 2 rest days. Weekly Mileage: 35-40 miles.

Week 23: Moderately long run – 7 miles, long run: 10-12 miles, tempo or easy runs: 4 miles. 2 rest days. Weekly Mileage: 29-31 miles.

Week 24: The Marathon will be this Sunday! You should do several easy runs between 5-7 miles, one of which could be a tempo run. You have to rest on Friday and Saturday. Eat pasta for dinner at the Expo and sleep well Saturday evening. We wish you luck!