Marathon training plan: how to prepare for your best race ever

Success in a marathon is all in the planning – we’ve got top training tips including a 90-day plan to help you run your best race yet.

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By Paul Larkins | Published - 10 Aug 2023 | Updated - 6 Nov 2024

When it comes to running, the marathon sits at the top of the mountain for achievement. It is tough, time consuming, and requires a great deal of dedication but, most important of all, it benefits from a marathon training plan.

We’re here to help you, inspire you and motivate you as you embark on your marathon journey, and guide you on how to train for a marathon.

Create a plan

There are six elements to include if you want to make sure your 26.2-mile run (42.2km) is as enjoyable and rewarding as you expect it to be.

Get a support team around you. That could include a masseur, or a physiotherapist, who you should visit once a fortnight. Or invest in something like a massage gun, which can help relax your muscles after a long run.
Create two goals you want to achieve on the way to your marathon. That can be to run a certain distance or race a certain time. I recommend a half-marathon after six weeks’ training and then a fast 10k race in the final month. Choose what works for you.
Prioritise three one-hour slots a week when you will either go for a run or, if you're feeling low energy, a walk. If there was ever a magic ingredient, it should be consistency. Plans aren’t about one or two weeks; they are about the total.
Give your nutrition some thought. Marathons are as much about the recovery process as they are the actual running. So, think about carbohydrates and, for older runners, it’s good to understand the importance of protein in helping muscles repair.
Along with running, fit in one strength training session every 10 days or so.
Invest in a good pair of running shoes. “It’s worth spending as much as you can afford,” says Eamonn Martin, winner of the 1993 London Marathon.

Key elements

Now you have all the marathon training elements in place, it’s time to think about how you’ll structure your fortnight.

As older runners, forget a seven-day plan, as physiology will confirm you need more time to recover. In fact, make rest a priority, plus each fortnight should have some strength training and, most important of all, your plan must be flexible.

Written plans are massively influential in ensuring success, as they add a little structure to your running. It’s easy to get a bit demotivated, but with a clear path to follow, you will feel there’s purpose to what you’re doing.

Although, I must stress plans aren’t set in stone. Life gets in the way. Your plan should include the following:

A collection of medals on ribbons — Image credit: Some pictures here/Shutterstock

Easy runs

These are key to your success. It’s vital they are nice and slow – as slow as you like. And yes, that does involve walking. Essentially, the science behind it all is that you’re helping your capillaries become more receptive to carrying oxygen. And to do that effectively, you need to run slowly.

Too many of us (and I include myself here) clip along at too fast a pace, which in turn slows your muscles’ ability to repair. Be confident in going slow. It will pay dividends.

Tempo runs

Another way to describe a run like this is to say, ‘not fast, but not slow either’. Basically, if you’re running 30 minutes, you’re going to try and run the middle 15 minutes a bit faster. That may sound a bit simplistic but it’s what the best runners in the world are doing, for distances anywhere from 15 minutes to 45 minutes or so.

Work out the speed by imagining that if you had to, you could do it again at the same pace. That thought process controls your initial enthusiasm.

Intervals

Using intervals means your body will adapt to stress and learn to run faster, more efficiently. In short, running will start to feel easier. These runs are all about moving faster for a shorter distance, resting and then repeating it all five or six times.

There are no definitive distances or times for intervals, but a good guide is to decide how far you’re going to run using minutes. So, for example, a marathon runner would run intervals such as five times five minutes with one minute recovery. Another great marathon workout would be three times eight minutes with two minutes recovery.

Long run

No marathon plan can ignore the long run, it’s important for so many reasons.

Your 90-day marathon plan

“Over weeks and months, the body adapts, in both speed and endurance, just as it always did.

"I’ve been surprised at 80+ at how quickly it gets better at the job. I haven’t yet found the limit,” says Roger Robinson, a lifetime elite runner and author.

10-day training blocks to help you build stamina

Training day	Activity
Block one: build endurance
Day 1	Easy run up to 45 minutes
Day 2	Rest
Day 3	Yoga, Pilates or gym work
Day 4	Easy run up to 45 minutes
Day 5	Rest
Day 6	Rest
Day 7	Faster run up to 30 minutes
Day 8	Yoga, Pilates or gym work
Day 9	Rest
Day 10	Longer run up to around 75 minutes
Block two: build endurance
Day 11	Rest
Day 12	Yoga, Pilates or gym work
Day 13	Tempo run up to 50 minutes
Day 14	Short jog of around 15 minutes
Day 15	Rest
Day 16	Yoga, Pilates or gym work
Day 17	Easy run of around one hour
Day 18	Rest
Day 19	Medium length run of around 30 minutes
Day 20	Longer run up to 75 minutes
Block three: build endurance
Day 21	Rest
Day 22	Yoga, Pilates or gym work
Day 23	Tempo run up to 60 minutes
Day 24	Short jog of around 15 minutes
Day 25	Rest
Day 26	Yoga, Pilates or gym work
Day 27	Easy run of around one hour
Day 28	Rest
Day 29	Medium length run of around 40 minutes
Day 30	Longer run up to 2 hours
Block four: build endurance
Day 31	Rest
Day 32	Yoga, Pilates or gym work
Day 33	Tempo run up to 70 minutes
Day 34	Short jog of around 25 minutes
Day 35	Rest
Day 36	Yoga, Pilates or gym work
Day 37	Easy run of around 75 minutes
Day 38	Rest
Day 39	Tempo run of around 20 minutes
Day 40	Longer run up to 2 hours
Block five: time to recover
Day 41	Rest
Day 42	Rest
Day 43	Rest
Day 44	Long run of around 60 minutes
Day 45	Rest
Day 46	Yoga, Pilates or gym work
Day 47	Short, fast run of around 30 minutes
Day 48	Easy/slow run of around 45 minutes
Day 49	Rest
Day 50	Yoga, Pilates or gym work
Block six: build speed
Day 51	Warm up 10 minutes, then 10x 1-minute intervals with 1 minute rest. Cool down 10 minutes
Day 52	Rest
Day 53	Rest
Day 54	Slow jog of around 25 minutes
Day 55	Rest
Day 56	Yoga, Pilates or gym work
Day 57	10 miles where every three miles is one minute faster than the previous three
Day 58	Rest
Day 59	Rest
Day 60	Longer run up to two hours 30 minutes
Block seven: build speed
Day 61	Warm up 10 minutes, then 8x 2-minute intervals with 2 minutes rest. Cool down 10 minutes
Day 62	Rest
Day 63	Rest
Day 64	Slow jog of around 25 minutes
Day 65	Rest
Day 66	Yoga, Pilates or gym work
Day 67	10 miles where every three miles is one minute faster than the previous three
Day 68	Rest
Day 69	Rest
Day 70	Longer run up to one hour 40 minutes
Block eight: test time
Day 71	5k race or very fast 20-minute run
Day 72	Rest
Day 73	Rest
Day 74	Slow jog of around 25 minutes
Day 75	Slow jog of around 25 minutes
Day 76	Rest
Day 77	Rest
Day 78	Tempo run of around 20 minutes
Day 79	Rest
Day 80	Rest
Block nine: ease off and race
Day 81	Slow jog of around 25 minutes
Day 82	Rest
Day 83	Rest
Day 84	Rest
Day 85	Slow jog of around 15 minutes
Day 86	Rest
Day 87	Rest
Day 88	Slow jog of around 10 minutes
Day 89	Rest
Day 90	Marathon

written by: Paul Larkins

Paul Larkins has been a sports journalist for more than 30 years, covering two Olympic Games, one Paralympics, numerous World Championships and, most recently, the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022. He’s also been a magazine editor, heading up titles covering everything from running to cooking and buying tractors.
But his real passion is running. As a former GB International athlete and sub-4-minute miler in the 1980s, Paul has a great understanding of life-long fitness and the benefits it can provide.

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