© Believeinme | Dreamstime
How long? 18 weeks
How many days per week? 3-4
How many miles? Peak week is 39 miles
Longest long run? 20 miles
Speedwork? Minimal
Race plan? To finish
Rest or cross-train Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Add 6 x 100 meter sprints during weeks 10 through 16 at the end of each run.
| Week | Tuesday | Thursday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 miles | 3 miles | 2 miles | 6 miles |
| 2 | 3 miles | 4 miles | 3 miles | 8 miles |
| 3 | 3 miles | 3 miles | 4 miles | 10 miles |
| 4 | 3 miles | 4 miles | 3 miles | 7 miles |
| 5 | 4 miles | 4 miles | 3 miles | 12 miles |
| 6 | 4 miles | 5 miles | 4 miles | 14 miles |
| 7 | 4 miles | 6 miles | 3 miles | 16 miles |
| 8 | 4 miles | 4 miles | 4 miles | 11 miles |
| 9 | 4 miles | 4 miles | 4 miles | 18 miles |
| 10 | 4 miles & sprints | 6 miles | 3 miles | 20 miles |
| 11 | 4 miles & sprints | 6 miles | 4 miles | 15 miles |
| 12 | 6 miles & sprints | 5 miles | 4 miles | 18 miles |
| 13 | 7 miles & sprints | 7 miles | 3 miles | 20 miles |
| 14 | 6 miles & sprints | 7 miles | 6 miles | 15 miles |
| 15 | 7 miles & sprints | 7 miles | 5 miles | 20 miles |
| 16 | 6 miles & sprints | 6 miles | 5 miles | 15 miles |
| 17 | 5 miles | 4 miles | 4 miles | 10 miles |
| 18 | 3 miles | 3 miles | 2 miles | Race Day! |
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Here are five adages to live by when you train for a marathon:
Build your base
The more miles you can get to before starting this plan, the better. Walk, run, or do a walk run/combo. You should be able to complete 15 miles a week without any problems before starting.
Avoid too much, too soon
The 10% rule exists for a reason. Increase your weekly mileage and weekly long run by no more than 10% to avoid injury and burnout.
Pain or soreness
Pain is bad. Soreness is expected. Know the difference between the two to keep running or avoid prolonged injury.
Long run, long run, long run
If you can do 3 runs of 20 miles in training, you can finish a marathon. This is the most important workout to not skip during training.
Taper smart
During the last 3 weeks of training, keep the pace the same, but lower the mileage. Get plenty of sleep and fill your plate with plenty of nutritious foods.
Carissa Liebowitz has run the Boston Marathon as well as dozens of marathons and half marathons. You can follow her running adventures on Strava, Instagram and her blog.
This is a great plan. Are these sprints “in addition to” the mileage or “part of” the mileage, i.e. 6 miles with some sprints included?