Marathon training

A marathon is 42.2 km. Training for it takes a lot of time. Long runs last for hours, and you need to recover after them. All of this has to fit into a life with work and family.

How many weeks to train#

TriCoo usually plans 20 weeks for a marathon: 10 weeks of base, 8 weeks of build and 2 weeks of taper.

This is the timeline for training for the race itself. You need a running base before it. How long that takes is different for everyone.

Sometimes there is little time left before the marathon and no base. TriCoo does not try to make it up. It uses a simplified preparation aimed at finishing. Such a plan does not confirm that you are ready for the marathon.

How many hours a week you need#

There is no single hours threshold below which a marathon is off limits. How many kilometres fit into an hour depends on your pace. And hours for all your sport and hours for running are different numbers.

There is one careful piece of advice. If 4 hours a week is a hard limit for you and you do not have a regular running base yet, a 10K or a half marathon is a more sensible first race. Whether you are ready for a marathon is better judged by the load you already handle and by whether your week has room for long runs.

If marathon training does not fit into your life, that is fine. You can pick a shorter distance or a later race.

How the week works#

A normal week of the Running profile has 3 runs. One of them is a long run if your training history and the plan's limits allow it. The rest of the running is mostly easy. This is a guide to what the week contains. On its own it does not mean that such training is enough for a marathon.

The long run#

The standard ceiling for the long run is 120 minutes in the base and 150 minutes in the build. There are exceptions. The ceiling does not say that this much is enough for everyone, and nobody has to reach it.

TriCoo measures the long run in minutes. How many kilometres that is depends on your pace.

The long run grows from the one you have already done. The step is up to 5 minutes, and only after you completed the previous long run. The long run also takes only a share of the week's running minutes: up to 40% in the base and up to 50% in the build. Its length takes into account the time you gave for that day, with a small allowance. So with little time for running the long run stays below the ceiling.

Taper#

The last 2 weeks before the race are the taper. Before the race TriCoo cuts the volume and shortens the long run to reduce built-up fatigue.

You can work out the time your pace gives over a marathon with the pace calculator.

Pick a race#

Marathons are in the race calendar. If a marathon feels like too big a step for now, start with the half marathon.