As you are probably already aware, finding the right marathon training program for your personal physique is vital for preparation of running a marathon.

Many people assume that the harder they train, they better they will compete. This is certainly not the case. Training too hard could make you tired for the actual event, training too little could leave you unprepared and even completing it could be tough. Below we look at some key points to consider when looking for a marathon training program to ensure your schedule is as easy as it can be!

Every runner and sportsperson is different. We all have differing strengths and weaknesses as well as different experiences of running. As an athlete you have to be able to assess these attributes and work out exactly where you excel and where you may fall behind. Maybe you are naturally good at shorter distances but want to push yourself to complete a marathon. Your pace may be good or stamina may not be up to scratch for example?

A good place to start when considering your marathon training program is to look at your past results, how did you get on in other races? Did you finish well? Did you run a good time? Work out why you ended up with that time and what weak points may have held you back on improving those times.

Marathon Training: Goals

For your own personal marathon training program, you need to look at your main goals of achievement for your schedule and the race itself. What time are you aiming to run the race? Is your goal simply to complete the marathon unscathed?

Well having a training program at all means that you get structure to your preparation and will help you achieve that goal. You schedule will help you build the required muscles, stamina, mental strength and overall experience to get over the finish line.

Marathon Training Program

If you have seen any training programs up until now, you may have noticed how varied they can be. The number of miles per week ranging from 20 to 60 and the program itself being anywhere from 8 to 24 weeks long! Because of this it can be quite confusing when you try and choose your own schedule that you think is best suited to your needs.

How to Choose Your Training Program…

All good training programs will be based on solid basic principles that work on the basis of alternating easy and hard training days and weeks. The program itself should be of “medium” length, which for a typical runner would be about 16 weeks (give or take a few weeks), however this will vary depending on current fitness levels.

Here are some points to take into consideration for your personal schedule:

- Have you had a check with your doctor first for overall fitness and wellbeing? If not it’s worth doing this before beginning training.
- Allow flexibility throughout your training program, if you feel particularly tired one day, shorten your estimated training for that day or maybe taker a break.
- You don’t need to be a drill sergeant and run 100 miles per week with weights on your back! About 40 to 60 miles should be your maximum unless you are an elite athlete. Obviously if you are a complete beginner your mileage will be less, especially at the beginning.
- Have a gradual build-up in distance from the beginning of the program. You need to work on building up your ability to run distance without straining your body. Including long and slow distance runs regularly and slowly increasing distance should form the foundation of your schedule.
- Ensure your training program is conservative and not overly ambitious. It can be quite easy to get carried away and think you are capable when really you need to take it slower. There is nothing wrong with taking in slow so don’t exert too much pressure on yourself for no reason.
- Though the marathon is 26.2 miles, there is little need to actually have 26.2 runs in training. 20 miles is enough.
- Speed training is not necessarily required in training to run a marathon (unless you are aiming for 2hours 30m!).
- You don’t need to run a 20 mile training run every week. About 2 to 4 will be enough for most over the course of your program and probably in the second half of the schedule.
- Don’t overdo it or “over-train”. You could find that your best performance has already been used during training and not the main event!
- Ensure you have a balance of easy pace running, long runs, tempo runs, hill training, marathon pace running and rest days that fit in with your own life and that you feel comfortable achieving.
- Is your diet in line with your training schedule?

Running a marathon can be made a simpler and easier task if you get your marathon training program right, though as you can see above there is quite a bit to consider. If you would like help tailoring your own schedule check the infamous 100-day marathon training guide which has had much good feedback from marathon runners all over the world. If you are training for a half marathon, click here.