Welcome to our Marathon Training Program!

If you have set your mind on running a Marathon, then you are embarking on a journey to accomplish something that only 0.01% of the world’s population accomplishes each year, and we are so excited for you! Running a Marathon is one of the most rewarding and impressive achievements for a runner. Not only are you conquering 26.2 miles, but getting to that finish line requires incredible physical and mental preparation. Staying motivated and consistent in your training is key. The goal of this program is to help you get across the finish line feeling strong, confident and incredibly proud to call yourself a Marathoner!

This 20 week program includes a variety of workouts, including speed sessions, strength training sessions, easy run sessions (some with strides), distance running sessions, and rest days. As you progress through each week of the program, the workouts will become more challenging, and your overall mileage will increase. The goal is to build physical and mental strength and endurance over time so you are ready for race day! The last three weeks of the program are taper weeks designed to help you maintain the endurance and stamina you have built up over the course of the program, but not totally gas your legs before race day!

This program is flexible. Make it work for your schedule and listen to your body. If you need to move a couple of the workouts around, that is OK! The speed and distance running sessions are incredibly important, but remember to give your legs a rest in between them with either a rest day or easy run day so that you can recover and be ready to push yourself in the next workout! You can also cross train if you prefer - biking, yoga, pilates, swimming are all great workouts!

Before you head out on your first run, make sure you have good running gear. We always recommend going to your local running store to get fitted for the right gear and running shoes. You can also check out our running blog for some of our favorite running shoes!

Running is a journey. It takes time, commitment and patience. Take training one day at a time. Remember that building endurance takes time. Each training day is a brand new day to tackle your goals. If you have a bad day, no sweat! We all have them. Shake it off, and look to the next workout as an opportunity to improve and get one step closer to accomplishing your goals! Be confident that you can do this!

Running should be fun! Celebrate your victories and reward yourself for all of your hard work!

We recommend starting each workout with a 5-10 min. warm up jog to help get your muscles ready to move, and ending with a 5-10 min. cool down jog to help them recover. This is in addition to the workout.

Dynamic stretching during a warm up is important to help make sure your muscles are ready to go, and reduce your risk of injury. Static stretching after any workout will help your muscles recover so they are ready for the next session. Check out our exercise programs page for quick warm up and cool down stretches to include in your routine!

No workout on these days! Rest days are crucial to training. Your muscles and your mind need time to recover so you can perform week after week. If your body is feeling restless, or your muscles are tight after some of the harder workouts, go for an easy 30 min recovery walk to get the blood flowing, followed by a good stretch!

Easy recovery runs are just as important as your speed and distance runs. The goal is to add mileage to your weekly running routine, but keep it easy breezy. Your pace during these easy runs should be comfortable. You should be able to hold a conversation for the duration of the run. Remember, these runs are meant to help your legs recover from the speed and distance runs.

Each easy run session has a range of miles. Listen to your body and run the distance that makes sense for you. If you are a beginner marathoner, you may opt for the shorter end of the miles range so your legs have more time to recover before your speed workouts and distance runs. You don’t need to run the same mileage for each easy run each week. Some weeks might feel more challenging than others, so be flexible and do what feels best on your legs. If you need to do a combination of running and walking during these easy run sessions (especially after some of the tough speed workouts), that is OK!

Speed training helps build strength and makes you faster. These are the workouts where you really push yourself week after week. These should be your hardest workouts of the week. Run based on how you feel. These programs are designed to get you across the finish line, feeling strong and confident. If the speed run feels too easy, this means you can go faster, so increase your effort during the workout.

What does 5K pace and speed pace mean? 5K pace is a strong pace that you could hold solid for 30 minutes or 3 miles, but probably not much longer. It is not a sprint. Speed pace means slightly faster than 5K pace where you really push yourself to go fast. As the weeks progress, the number of repeats in your speed workouts will increase (and so should your pace!).

We recommend doing speed workouts on a track to help measure the various distances in the workouts.

A tempo run is a hard but controlled run at a pace that you could hold steady for 60 minutes, but probably not much longer. The goal is to push yourself outside of your comfort zone (physically and mentally) for a set period of time or miles. You may be able to chat with a running friend at the beginning of your tempo run, but by the time you reach the end, your responses should be polite grunts. Your tempo run pace should be a bit slower (about 30 seconds) than your 5K pace.

An intervals workout involves running short, fast repeats with a recovery jog or walk in between. The distance of your speed interval and the pace at which you run each interval may vary throughout the workout. If you are really pushing yourself during these internals, you may need a rest in between each interval, which is OK! Interval workouts are great to gradually push your body to become faster over time!

A fartlek run involves alternating the pace you run at for varying periods of time. You will run fast for the set distance, followed by a recovery jog or walk, and you will repeat this for the number of sets in the workout. A fartlek workout is great preparation for changing speeds during a race.

Hill speed and endurance workouts help you develop speed, strength and form. Running hills takes more effort than running on flat roads, so you may not run as fast during your hill speed workouts as you do on the track. The goal is to maintain good form - a slight forward lean with chin in front of chest - for the duration of your workout, and focus on controlling your breath. Doing these hill speed workouts during training helps make you a more efficient runner. Plus, if your Marathon race is on a hilly course, you want to be prepared!

Your pace during the Hill Speed Workout should get faster as the time you run goes down. For example, your 30 secs sprint up the hill should be faster than your 2 min drive up the hill.

Strides are short “sprints” where you accelerate to a fast speed, and then decelerate for a total of 100m per stride. Take a 30 secs to 1 min rest between each stride. Strides are beneficial in a number of ways: they help (1) work on good running mechanics and running form, (2) prep your muscles for faster running (and add some speed work into training), and (3) stretch out your legs and break up some lactic acid build up in your legs to promote recovery.

Strength training is so important for women runners because it helps prevent injuries, enhance performance, promote better posture and running form, and makes us stronger, more efficient runners. We recommend at least two days per week of strength training. You can strength train on any day that makes sense for your schedule. We like to strength train on our speed workout days so our other weekday runs are true recovery runs. If crunched for time, consider splitting up your speed workout and strength training sessions so you do one in the morning, and one later in the day! Check out our exercise programs page for 20 min. at-home strength training exercises to include in your routine.

Endurance training helps prepare your body and mind to run the entire 26.2 miles distance. In this program, your distance runs will vary between easy efforts where your pace should be comfortable and conversational, and workouts where you push yourself to your “goal” pace - the pace at which you want to run the Marathon. Listen to your body - if your “goal” pace feels too easy during these runs, it means you can go faster! You may find that week after week your “goal” pace improves because you are becoming a stronger runner!

Throughout this program, your distance runs will get progressively longer, but as you get into the back half of the program, every other week will be a “step back” week where you slightly reduce the miles in your distance run in order to give your legs extra recovery time to tackle the upcoming longer distance run.

Running 26.2 miles is challenging! Don’t be afraid to take walking breaks during your training and the race. Walk breaks can be a strategy to help get you across the finish line. For example, sometimes our training and race strategy will involve running 1 mile at a time, followed by a 1 min walk break, to give our body a chance to rest so we can continue to run strong. Another strategy could be to take a short walk break at each aide station when you get your water or electrolytes. Everyone has their own strategy for running a Marathon, so find what works best for you!