Midwinter and a lot of runners are switching their focus to Spring Marathon Training Programmes. With a range of spring marathons here and in Europe coming up in April including London , Manchester and Brighton from first-timers to experienced marathon runners to elite standard Marathon runners the priority is to plan their training and racing for a three month period round a structured Marathon Training Programme which will deliver on the day of the big race.

As with all non training programmes which are not individually tailored there are generic ones which apply to whichever category of runner you are. I have outlined a basic sample Marathon Training Programme for first time marathoners below but particularly for beginners new to running and those more experienced runners who will be attempting their first Marathon an individually tailored programme from Run and Race is an option which should be seriously considered.

A tailored programme will take into account all aspects of a runners training history to date, general health and injury issues and not least that all important life/work balance which will be even more important with the significant increase in training / running time to meet the demands of the Marathon Programme.

Before starting on this programme you should have been running around 2-3 times a week for a period of around 5-6 months.The weekly mileage builds up from a base of around 15 miles to a maximum of around 40 miles and finishes with a 2- 3 week “taper” down period prior to the big day.

Week Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat. Sun. Total
1 Rest 3 Easy 4 Easy Rest 3 Steady Rest 6 Easy 16
2 Rest 4 E 4 E Rest 3 S Rest 8 E 19
3 Rest 4 E 4 E Rest 4 S Rest 10 E 22
4 Rest 4 E 5 E Rest 4 S Rest 12 E 25
5 Rest 5 E 5 S Rest 4 S Rest 12 E 26
6 Rest 5 E 5 S Rest 4 S Rest 12 E 26
7 Rest 3 E 4 E Rest 4 E Rest 8  E 19
8 Rest 4 E 5 S Rest 4 S Rest 12 E 25
9 Rest 5 E 6 S Rest 4 S Rest 14 E 29
10 Rest 5 E 5 S Rest 5 S Rest 14 E 29
11 Rest 5 E 7 S Rest 4 S Rest 16 E 32
12 Rest 5 E 5 S Rest 5 S Rest 18 E 33
13 Rest 6 E 7 S Rest 7 S Rest 20 40
14 Rest 5 E 5 E Rest 4 Fast Rest 14 E 30
15 Rest 3 E 4 F Rest 4 F Rest 9 E 25
16 Rest 3 E 3 F 2 F Rest Rest 26.2 MAR