MARATHON TRAINING GUIDE

Beginner Marathon Training Plan

Amanda Wendorff

Whether you’re aiming for a personal best or hoping to finish your first marathon, having a good training plan will help you maximize the benefit of your training runs and set you up for success. This article details a Beginner Marathon Training Plan, a structured training schedule that will get you ready to cross the line safely and comfortably.

The training plan we will discuss in this article has been developed for beginner runners.

Specifically, this plan is appropriate for athletes who already know how to run and, ideally, are able to run continuously for 45 minutes. If you’ve been running for a while and fall into one of the following categories, this is the best training plan for you:

You’ve never done a running race and want to start with a marathon
You’ve done a running race before, like a 5k, 10k or half marathon, but it’s been a while
You’ve done some races but have never trained with any sort of structure

MOTTIV app user Laura Yamasaki is holding her hydration as she races on a hot day on the Big Island of Hawaii!

If you’re a brand new runner or still building up your endurance enough to run 20 minutes, we suggest starting with our Couch to 5k / Learn to Run plan. The Couch to 5k program carefully builds your endurance through a combination of jogging and walking breaks and provides enough training to get you to the finish line of a 5k.

Similarly, if you’re a more experienced runner looking to improve your finish time, we also have marathon training plans available for intermediate and advanced runners.

This Beginner Marathon training program is adapted from the training plans in our app that are written by coaches who know what it takes for amateur age group runners to overcome challenges and reach their endurance race goals.

Before describing the plan, let’s go through a few basic questions, which we’ll address in this article:

How long is a marathon?
What’s an average finish time for a marathon?
How do you train for a marathon?
What’s a good marathon finish time?
How long should you train for a marathon?
What is your marathon pace?
What is a beginner marathon training program?

Also, keep in mind that while the training plan below is absolutely sufficient to prepare you to finish a marathon race, if you really want a personalized training program that’s designed for your abilities, your goals, and your schedule, you should check out the MOTTIV training app. You can use the app for free, and it includes much more detailed and personalized plans than we can include in a blog post.

TRAINING PLAN OVERVIEW

Plan length: 18 weeks
Hours per week: 2:55 – 7:00
Longest workout: 3:15
Gear required: Heart rate monitor

Tips to Successfully Train for a Marathon

Before diving into the training plan, we’ll provide some basic information about the marathon running distance, as well as a few training tips. These will help you prepare for your marathon race successfully while avoiding some of the pitfalls that many runners encounter.

How Long is a Marathon?

Before starting a marathon training program, make sure you understand what you’re preparing for. A marathon is 42 kilometers. For non-metric folks, that’s equal to 26.2 miles.

What is an Average Marathon Finish Time?

Enter your age and gender into the calculator below to find out good and average finish times in the marathon for your age group.

How Much Do You Need to Train for a Marathon?

Knowing your weekly mileage (how many miles per week you should run in training) depends on your race distance, your athletic background, and your goals.

For example, say you’re a newer athlete without an endurance sports background but aim to be very competitive in a marathon race. To do this, you’ll need to build up your training for much longer and run many more miles per week than, for example, an elite endurance athlete from another sport who just wants to finish the marathon.

Use the calculator below to get a sense of our recommended training time and miles a week required to meet your goals.

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What Gear Do You Need to Train for a Marathon?

We recommend two items for all runners to prepare for a marathon: proper running shoes and a strap-based heart rate monitor. Here’s a video about what to look for in running shoes, and here’s an article on everything you need to know about heart rate training zones and why we use them.

While not required, a running watch with GPS is a great investment if you’d like to dial in your training and racing even more.

Heart Rate Training Zones for Running

One of the first steps in training using our Beginner Marathon Plan is determining your heart rate zones. Heart rate zones provide ranges of heart rate for different levels of running intensity. The lowest heart rate zones—Zones 1 and 2—are the proper zones for easy running.

You can use this calculator to determine your heart rate training zones:

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In any run training plan, you’ll find that a lot of the running you’ll be doing is easy, low-intensity running. Low-intensity running should always be guided by heart rate, not pace.

When you follow your heart rate, you’ll likely find that your easy run training is quite slow. This is okay! Low-intensity, easy running allows you to build endurance without as much physical stress.

Marathon Training Paces

Interval running workouts, also known as “speed work,” should be done using pace as opposed to heart rate. Pace is better than heart rate for intense runs because heart rate will lag by 60-120 seconds - which means you’ll often be done with the interval before your heart rate stabilizes. On the other hand, your running pace, which you can track using a GPS watch, is instant.

Use this calculator to calculate your run training pace per mile and kilometer.

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Low-Intensity Running

Our training plans are based on the pyramidal model (similar to polarized training, 80/20 running, and the Maffetone Method, but with improvements) of training where 70-80% of the training is done at low intensity, or in Zones 1 and 2.

Studies have shown that all athletes will perform better when completing the bulk of their training at a low intensity. If you are a newer runner, you may initially find it tough to keep your heart rate in Zone 2. Stick with it! You’ll perform much better in the long run if you do the bulk of your training at a low intensity.

What To Eat When Training for a Marathon

Making good decisions as to what you eat and drink before running, during your training runs, and during your marathon race can have a major impact on your performance. In fact, physiologists we’ve worked with believe that proper nutrition and hydration can generate the same race results with half the training!

This article discusses what to eat before your runs, and this article explains what you should eat during running workouts and races.

BONUS: Check out the example workout below from one of our marathon training plans. You can see that every workout in our app comes with personalized nutrition guidance for before and during the workout to maximize its effectiveness.

Rest & Recovery

Your marathon training plan will include complete rest days. Also, every third or fourth week will be a rest week with reduced training hours. It’s critical that you take these days to truly rest and recover. If you do a bunch of heavy yard work or spend the recovery days on your feet walking around a mall, your body won’t have the chance to recover and improve from the training.

Remember this formula:

WORKOUTS + REST = PROGRESS

Take your rest days seriously to make sure you avoid overtraining and actually progress in your training.

Taper Weeks

The Beginner Marathon training plan will have a taper period in the two weeks before race day, during which training volumes will be reduced by roughly 50% while some intense bursts of speed will be maintained. This process will allow your body to flush out all the training fatigue and have lots of energy in the race. Take the taper process seriously, resting and sleeping as much as possible during taper week.

Marathon Race Pace

Workouts in a good training plan will have race pace intervals where you’ll develop the ability to run at your marathon race pace for extended periods of time. You can use the calculator below to calculate your approximate marathon race pace for these intervals.

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The Best Marathon Training Plan for Every Runner

The run training plans in our app are written by the excellent coaches at Run Free Training, who know what it takes to help amateur athletes reach their goals. While the coaches are elite runners themselves, they have a great understanding of how to create training plans that are time efficient and overcome the obstacles most age group runners face in their training.

Beginner Marathon Training Plan Workouts

The Beginner Marathon plan has runs on three days a week, as well as one day of strength work, and maxes out at just over seven hours of training per week.

Here are the types of runs you’ll find in our Beginner Marathon plan:

Long Run (60 Minutes to 3 Hours, 15 Minutes)

The most important run in a run training plan is the weekly long run that most runners do on the weekend when they have more time available. The long run is low intensity, building up gradually to eventually reach three hours and 15 minutes for the Beginner Marathon training program.

This run will build endurance and teach your body to produce the energy necessary to complete the distance of your race. You can learn all about the long run, how to execute it well, and what to eat before and during the long run in this article.

Here is an example of what a long run looks like from our Beginner Marathon training plan:

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Interval Run (40 to 80 minutes)

In the Beginner Marathon plan, you’ll see a weekly interval run, which we call the “Intense Run.” The interval run will build your top end speed and be based on your goal run pace determined in the calculator above.

You can learn all about how to execute an interval run and what to eat before and during the workout to get the most out of it in this article.

Here is an example of what an interval run looks like from our Beginner Marathon training plan:

Tempo Run (40 to 90 minutes)

The weekly tempo run (which we call the steady run) bridges the gap between the endurance you’ll build in your long runs and the speed you build in the interval runs. It teaches you how to maintain a strong speed over increasingly longer distances.

Tempo runs have been proven to be a key component of a successful run training plan. You can learn all about tempo runs in this article.

Here is an example of what a tempo run looks like from our Beginner Marathon training plan:

Strength Workout (30 minutes)

Cross-training with strength workouts is critical for athletes who don’t want to simply finish their race and want to finish feeling strong. Strength training for runners has been proven to improve race performances, and athletes tend to feel much better physically. We believe so strongly in strength training that our app has 25 hours of guided strength workouts designed specifically for the needs and imbalances of endurance athletes. You can read all about strength training for runners here.

Beginner Marathon Training Program

Week 1: Fitness Testing & Zone Development. (2:30-3:10hrs)
Monday. Rest Day
Tuesday. Intense Run (40-60mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. 5 minutes at the fast end of 10k race effort 1 minute easy jogging recovery 4 minutes at the fast end of 10k race effort, 1 minute easy jogging recovery, 3 minutes at the fast end of 10k race effort, 1 minute easy jogging recovery, 2 minutes at the fast end of 10k race effort, 1 minute easy jogging recovery, 1 minute at the fast end of 10k race effort, 1 minute easy jogging recovery
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Wednesday. Rest Day
Thursday. Steady Run (50-70mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set 1. 20 Minutes: Run steady at tempo effort top of Zone 3
Rest Set. 3 Minutes: Easy walking/jogging
Main Set 2. Repeat twice: 5 minutes at tempo effort 1 minute walking/jogging recovery
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Friday. Rest Day
Saturday. Rest Day
Sunday. Run Time Trial Workout (60mins):
Warm Up. 10 Minutes: 5 minute easy jogging warm up, 5 minutes of running drills & dynamic stretching, include 5x50m strides building to zone 4 effort
Running time trial. 3 kilometres (1.86 miles): Run this distance as fast as possible
Cool Down: Run the remainder of the run in Zone 2 until you reach 60 minutes total running
Week 2: Adapt to New Training Zones. (3:00-3:50hrs)
Monday. Rest Day
Tuesday. Intense Run (60-80mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. Repeat 6-8 times, ending when you feel like the next interval is the last you could possibly do at the same pace: 800m at marathon goal time, 2.5 minutes easy jogging recovery
Cool Down. (10-20mins): Easy jogging in zone 2
Wednesday. Rest Day
Thursday. Steady Run (55-75mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. Repeat 3 times: 12 minutes running steady at tempo effort top of Zone 3 1 minute easy walking/jogging
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Friday. Rest Day
Saturday. Rest Day
Sunday. Long Run (65-75mins):
Run easy in Zone 2 heart rate
Week 3: Build Endurance & Speed. (3:00-3:50hrs)
Monday. Rest Day
Tuesday. Intense Run (45-65mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. Repeat 10-12 times, ending when you feel like the next interval is the last you could possibly do at the same pace: 1 minute effort uphill at moderate effort zone 4 effort, easy downhill jogging recovery
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Wednesday. Rest Day
Thursday. Steady Run (65-85mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. Repeat 3 times: 15 minutes running steady at tempo effort top of Zone 3, 1 minute easy walking/jogging
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Friday. Rest Day
Saturday. Rest Day
Sunday. Long Run (70-80mins):
Warm Up. 30 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 1
Main Set. Repeat 3 times: 12 minutes at goal marathon pace, 3 minutes easy jogging recovery
Cooldown. 15-25 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 1
Week 4: Recovery Week. (2:55-3:45hrs)
Monday. Rest Day
Tuesday. Intense Run (60-80mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. Repeat 5-6 times, ending when you feel like the next interval is the last you could possibly do at the same pace: 1 mile (1600m) at 10k race pace, 3.5 minutes easy walking/jogging recovery
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Wednesday. Rest Day
Thursday. Steady Run (50-70mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. 30 Minutes: Run steady at tempo effort top of Zone 3
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Friday. Rest Day
Saturday. Rest Day
Sunday. Long Run (65-75mins):
Run easy in Zone 2 heart rate
Week 5: Build Baseline Endurance & Speed (3:20-4:10hrs)
Monday. Rest Day
Tuesday. Intense Run (60-80mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. Repeat 8-9 times, ending when you feel like the next interval is the last you could possibly do at the same pace: 3 minutes at the fast end of 10k race effort, 2 minutes easy jogging recovery
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Wednesday. Rest Day
Thursday. Steady Run (70-90mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. Repeat 7-8 times, ending when you feel like the next interval is the last you could possibly do at the same pace: 1 mile at fast tempo effort 1 minute easy walking/jogging
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Friday. Rest Day
Saturday. Rest Day
Sunday. Long Run (70-80mins):
Warm Up. 15 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 1
Main Set. Repeat 10-11 times, ending when you feel like the next interval is the last you could possibly do at the same pace: 1 mile at goal marathon pace, 2 minutes easy jogging recovery
Cooldown. 10-15 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 1
Week 6: Build Baseline Endurance & Speed. (3:20-4:10hrs)
Monday. Rest Day
Tuesday. Intense Run (70-90mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. 1 mile at 10k race pace, 3.5 minutes easy walking/jogging recovery, 2 miles at 10k race pace, 3.5 minutes easy walking/jogging recovery, 2 miles at 10k race pace, 3.5 minutes easy walking/jogging recovery, 1 mile at 10k race pace, 3.5 minutes easy walking/jogging recovery
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Wednesday. Rest Day
Thursday. Steady Run (60-80mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. 40 Minutes: Run steady at tempo effort top of Zone 3
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Friday. Rest Day
Saturday. Rest Day
Sunday. Long Run (70-80mins):
Run easy in Zone 2 heart rate
Week 7: Recovery Week. (2:55-3:35hrs)
Monday. Rest Day
Tuesday. Intense Run (50-60mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. Repeat 10-12 times, ending when you feel like the next interval is the last you could possibly do at the same pace: 30 second zone 5 effort uphill, easy downhill jogging recovery
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Wednesday. Rest Day
Thursday. Steady Run (55-75mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. Repeat 3 times: 10 minutes running steady at tempo effort top of Zone 3, 1 minute easy walking/jogging
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Friday. Rest Day
Saturday. Rest Day
Sunday. Long Run (70-80mins):
Easy running at Zone 2 heart rate
Week 8: Build Endurance & Speed. (3:25-3:40hrs)
Monday. Rest Day
Tuesday. Intense Run (50-70mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. Repeat 12-16 times, ending when you feel like the next interval is the last you could possibly do at the same pace: 200m at the fast end of 5k race pace with 1.5 minutes easy jogging recovery
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Wednesday. Rest Day
Thursday. Steady Run (50-70mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. Repeat twice: 15 minutes running steady at tempo effort top of Zone 3 1 minute easy walking/jogging
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Friday. Rest Day
Saturday. Rest Day
Sunday. Long Run (70-80mins):
Run easy in Zone 2 heart rate
Week 9: Fitness Testing & Zone Development. (2:20-3:10hrs)
Monday. Rest Day
Tuesday. Intense Run (40-60mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. 5 minutes at the fast end of 10k race effort 1 minute easy jogging recovery 4 minutes at the fast end of 10k race effort, 1 minute easy jogging recovery, 3 minutes at the fast end of 10k race effort, 1 minute easy jogging recovery, 2 minutes at the fast end of 10k race effort, 1 minute easy jogging recovery, 1 minute at the fast end of 10k race effort, 1 minute easy jogging recovery
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Wednesday. Rest Day
Thursday. Steady Run (50-70mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set 1. 20 Minutes: Run steady at tempo effort top of Zone 3
Rest Set. 3 Minutes: Easy walking/jogging
Main Set 2. Repeat twice: 5 minutes at tempo effort 1 minute walking/jogging recovery
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Friday. Rest Day
Saturday. Rest Day
Sunday. Run Time Trial Workout (60mins):
Warm Up. 10 Minutes: 5 minute easy jogging warm up, 5 minutes of running drills & dynamic stretching, include 5x50m strides building to zone 4 effort
Running time trial. 3 kilometres (1.86 miles): Run this distance as fast as possible
Cool Down: Run the remainder of the run in Zone 2 until you reach 60 minutes total running
Week 10: Build Endurance & Speed. (3:20-4:10hrs)
Monday. Rest Day
Tuesday. Intense Run (45-65mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. Repeat 10-12 times, ending when you feel like the next interval is the last you could possibly do at the same pace: 1 minute effort uphill at moderate effort zone 4 effort, easy downhill jogging recovery
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Wednesday. Rest Day
Thursday. Steady Run (65-85mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. Repeat 3 times: 15 minutes running steady at tempo effort top of Zone 3, 1 minute easy walking/jogging
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Friday. Rest Day
Saturday. Rest Day
Sunday. Long Run (90-100mins):
Warm Up. 30 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 1
Main Set. Repeat 3 times: 12 minutes at goal marathon pace, 3 minutes easy jogging recovery
Cooldown. 15-25 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 1
Week 11: Build Endurance & Speed. (3:35-4:25hrs)
Monday. Rest Day
Tuesday. Intense Run (55-75mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. Repeat 8-10 times, ending when you feel like the next interval is the last you could possibly do at the same pace: 2 minutes at the fast end of 10k race effort, 1 minute easy jogging recovery
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Wednesday. Rest Day
Thursday. Steady Run (50-70mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. Repeat 4-5 times, ending when you feel like the next interval is the last you could possibly do at the same pace: 1 mile (1600m) at fast tempo effort, 1 minute easy walking/jogging
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Friday. Rest Day
Saturday. Rest Day
Sunday. Long Run (110-120mins):
Run easy in Zone 2 heart rate
Week 12: Recovery Week. (2:50-3:50hrs)
Monday. Rest Day
Tuesday. Intense Run (55-75mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. Repeat 5-6 times, ending when you feel like the next interval is the last you could possibly do at the same pace: 1 kilometre at 10k race pace 2 minutes easy jogging recovery
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Wednesday. Rest Day
Thursday. Steady Run (55-75mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. Repeat 4 times: 8 minutes running steady at tempo effort top of Zone 3, 1 minute easy walking/jogging
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Friday. Rest Day
Saturday. Rest Day
Sunday. Long Run (60-80mins):
Easy running at Zone 2 heart rate
Week 13: Build Endurance & Speed. (3:20-4:45hrs)
Monday. Rest Day
Tuesday. Intense Run (60-80mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. Repeat 5-6 times, ending when you feel like the next interval is the last you could possibly do at the same pace: 1 mile (1600m) at 10k race pace, 3.5 minutes easy walking/jogging recovery
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Wednesday. Rest Day
Thursday. Steady Run (50-70mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. 30 Minutes: Run steady at tempo effort top of Zone 3
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Friday. Rest Day
Saturday. Rest Day
Sunday. Long Run (120-135mins):
Run easy in Zone 2 heart rate
Week 14: Build Endurance & Speed. (4:40-5:35hrs)
Monday. Rest Day
Tuesday. Intense Run (70-90mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. 1 mile at 10k race pace, 3.5 minutes easy walking/jogging recovery, 2 miles at 10k race pace, 3.5 minutes easy walking/jogging recovery, 2 miles at 10k race pace, 3.5 minutes easy walking/jogging recovery, 1 mile at 10k race pace, 3.5 minutes easy walking/jogging recovery
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Wednesday. Rest Day
Thursday. Steady Run (60-80mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. 40 Minutes: Run steady at tempo effort top of Zone 3
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Friday. Rest Day
Saturday. Rest Day
Sunday. Long Run (150-165mins):
Run easy in Zone 2 heart rate
Week 15: Recovery Week. (3:05-3:45hrs)
Monday. Rest Day
Tuesday. Intense Run (50-60mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. Repeat 10-12 times, ending when you feel like the next interval is the last you could possibly do at the same pace: 30 second zone 5 effort uphill, easy downhill jogging recovery
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Wednesday. Rest Day
Thursday. Steady Run (55-75mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. Repeat 3 times: 10 minutes running steady at tempo effort top of Zone 3, 1 minute easy walking/jogging
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Friday. Rest Day
Saturday. Rest Day
Sunday. Long Run (80-90mins):
Easy running at Zone 2 heart rate
Week 16: Build Endurance & Speed. (5:30-6:25hrs)
Monday. Rest Day
Tuesday. Intense Run (80-100mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. Repeat 10-12 times, ending when you feel like the next interval is the last you could possibly do at the same pace: 800m at marathon goal time, 2.5 minutes easy jogging recovery
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Wednesday. Rest Day
Thursday. Steady Run (70-90mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. 6-8 Miles: Run steady at tempo effort top of Zone 3, ending when you feel like the next mile is the last you could possibly do at the same pace
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Friday. Rest Day
Saturday. Rest Day
Sunday. Long Run (180-195mins):
Run easy in Zone 2 heart rate
Week 17: Peak Marathon Training Week. (4:40-5:30mins)
Monday. Rest Day
Tuesday. Intense Run (40-60mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. Repeat 10 times: 1 minute at the fast end of 10k race effort 1 minute easy jogging recovery
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Wednesday. Rest Day
Thursday. Steady Run (50-70mins):
Warm Up. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in Zone 2, 5 minutes of running drills including 5x15 seconds strides at zone 4 effort
Main Set. Repeat 3 times: 8 minutes running steady at tempo effort top of Zone 3 1 minute easy walking/jogging
Cool Down. 10-20 Minutes: Easy jogging in zone 2
Friday. Rest Day
Saturday. Rest Day
Sunday. Long Run (190-200 Minutes):
Run easy in Zone 2 heart rate
Week 18: Taper Week. (50mins)
Monday. Rest Day
Tuesday. Intense Run. (25mins)
25min easy run with heart rate in Zone 2, include 8x30sec fast pick ups at Zone 4 pace spread throughout.
Wednesday. Rest Day
Thursday. Rest Day
Friday. Easy Run (15mins):
Run this entire run easy, including 3x1min at marathon race pace. Take as much time as needed between these intervals.
Saturday. Shakeout Run (10mins)
Easy jogging to keep the legs fresh for race day
Sunday. Race Day:
You’re ready to nail this marathon!!

Wrap-Up

Once you’ve achieved your marathon race goal, it might be time to move on and start training for your first ultramarathon. Or, you may want to try another marathon and see if you can finish in a faster time.

If you’re looking to set big personal goals and you want the best for your body, check out our app with unlimited options for marathon training. You can choose a training plan setup that’s personalized specifically for you and will get you training as well as you could imagine.

You’re ready to take on that big challenge, and when you train with MOTTIV, you’re ready for race day!