| Marathon Training | |
| Long | 2 to 3 hours or start from your longest run now and add 15 minutes a week working up to 3.0 hours max in duration. Pace should be around 2 minutes slower than your 10K time.Base the run on the total time, not distance. |
| Hills | 45 to 60 minutes. Alternate workouts. Try fast pace up hill, then slow down hill; or progressively faster but shorter repeats; or every other lap fast; or add hills to your long run. |
| Tempo | 30 to 45 minutes at a pace that is about 10 to 15 seconds faster than your average marathon goal per minute time. |
| Intervals | 30 to 60 minutes. Do mile repeats at a pace about 20 to 25 seconds faster than your average marathon pace. Gradually increase the number. See the Mile Repeat Table below for number and pace |
| Marathon Pace | 45 minutes to 1.5 hours. Run at your targeted average marathon pace. Begin with shorter runs. Base your time on your heart rate. Try to keep it below 80-28% of max. If it goes above 85% stop or slow down. |
| Easy | 30 to 60 minutes. Aerobic pace or slower. Enjoy the scenery. |
| Cross Train | Run only 3 to 4 times a week - 5 max. Bike, swim, workout or rest on off days. |
| Notes |
This schedule assumes that you have a good base and could do a 2.5
to 3.0 hours long run. You only need to do run three to five per
week, but make sure you get in your long run and at least one
quality run. High mileage is not crucial. If you do more runs,
decrease the mileage per run. Mix hard days and easy days. Do not
do back to back hard runs. Always warm up first for 10 to 15 minutes
and cool down afterwards. Every 3 to four weeks reduce your volume for a week, then test your progress with either a 5 to 10 K race or you can do the following test: Run 8 to 12 - 800 meter repeats as fast as you can with a 20 second walk in between. Your average lap time should improve. And it can be a direct indication of your potential marathon time. An average lap time of 3 minutes 20 seconds indicates a marathon time of 3 hours and 20 minutes |
| Week | Long | Strength | Speed | Easy |
| 1 | 2 hr long run | 1 hr tempo run 1 hr hill repeats | 4 miles | |
| 2 |
|
1 hr tempo run 1 hr hill repeats | 4 miles | |
| 3 |
|
1 hr tempo run | 1 mile intervals (1 to 2) | 5 miles |
| 4 |
|
0:5 hr marathon pace run | 1 mile intervals (2 to 3) | 6 miles |
| 5 |
|
1 hr hill repeats | Good week for a 10K race | 6 miles |
| 6 |
|
1 hr tempo run | 1 mile intervals (3 to 4) | 6 miles |
| 7 |
|
1hr marathon pace run | 1 mile intervals (4 to 5) | 6 miles |
| 8 |
|
1 hr tempo run | 1 mile intervals (5 to 6) | 6 miles |
| 9 |
|
1 hr hill repeats | Good week for a 10K race | 6 miles |
| 10 |
|
1 hr marathon pace run | 1 mile intervals (3 to 4) | 6 miles |
| 11 |
|
1 hr marathon pace run | 1 mile intervals (4 to 5) | 6 miles |
| 12 |
|
0.5 hr marathon pace run | Race | 4 miles |