The First Step in Your Marathon Training Plan

Congratulations! You have decided to run a marathon. Good for you! It will be one of the most exhilarating and at times trying experiences of your life. Now that you have made this decision, the next step is to create a marathon training plan. We are here to help you with this running training program.

The first step to a marathon training plan is determining your goal. To do this, ask yourself a couple of questions:

1. Which race do you want to do?

2. Is your goal to finish or run it in a given time?

3. How much time do you have for training each week?

You wouldn't, for example want to make a goal to run a 3:30 marathon if you only have 30 minutes a day to train. And if it is your first marathon, it is highly recommend to make your goal to finish the race strongly rather than shooting for any sort of time goal.

Once you know your goal, we are ready to move onto step two in your marathon training plan which is determining how often you will train each week. There are really three different approaches to training depending on your goal. They are Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced.

Beginners consistently run between 15-20 miles a week and have been doing so for a good six months or more. Beginners can also complete a 10K run without feeling like they have over-strained themselves. Intermediate runners are running more like 20-30 miles per week and could be half-marathon ready in six weeks without a lot of extra effort. Finally Advanced runners are running over 30 miles per week and are likely already doing speed work, tempo runs and likely trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon or run a PR (personal record). Which bucket do you fall into?

Now that you know your race date and which training bucket you fall into, your marathon training plan becomes very simple. Create a spreadsheet with 16 weeks represented and work backwards from your race date. If you are a beginner, each week will be filled with four runs as well as at least one day of cross training and one day of rest. Your long runs will start at 6 miles and progress in the following manner: 6, 8, 9, 10, 8, 12, 13.1 (race), 8, 14, 16, 10, 18, 10, 20, 15, 8. Note that this marathon training plan recommends increasing gradually for two weeks and then stepping back for a week. For an Intermediate program, you will be running an extra day a week and start adding in one or two days a week of speed work. Advanced programs will have two days of speed work with tempo runs and 800 repeats and you should be running five long runs over the 18-mile distance.

These are some general guidelines but tailor your marathon training plan for your schedule and needs.

Good luck and most importantly, HAVE FUN!

Alecia Hoobing is a working mom, runner and adventurer. She loves to run, cycle, travel, read and go on adventures with her husband and toddler daughter. She is passionate about helping others learning about running and exercise and is excited to share her marathon training tips with all runners at her marathon training plan blog.

Welcome to the world of marathon training!