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Marathon training is one of the most physically challenging sporting events that most normal people can do. For example, it covers a distance of 26.2 miles and will take most first-time marathoners around 4 hours to complete.
That is why it is critical that you follow a proven step-by-step marathon training schedule if you are wanting to complete the distance.
What most first time marathoners do however is to start out all enthusiastic and put hundreds of miles into their legs. The only problem with this is that you are more likely to get injured if you don’t know what you are doing. It sounds great at the start of your marathon training program to jump in and start training hundreds of miles. However if you train for your first marathon like this then it if very likely that you will get injured.
The reason for this is that your body is just not used to doing these sort of miles in preparation for your marathon. What happens is that you will get little tears in your muscle fibers every time that you train for your marathon. If you don’t incorporate rest days into your marathon training schedule then these minute tears will tend to grow and if you over-train then your will develop an injury in these locations.
The better way to train for your marathon is to follow a step-by-step marathon training program that advanced marathon runners use. That they typically do is start out their training slowly and then build up over time. For example, most veteran marathon runners use the 10% rule in that they only increase their training by a maximum of 10% in any given week.
The reason for this is that it doesn’t put as much strain of your body when training for a marathon.
A lot of other marathon runners who are aiming to run their first marathon also tend to increase each individual training session until their weekly mileage increases. This however is not the most efficient way to train for your marathon. A more effective way to train is to break up your training sessions into long, semi-long and shorter training sessions.
The reason for this is that it allows your muscles to develop gradually over time. What most elite marathoners do is a very long training session on the weekend and follow this up by a rest day. Usually it is this long training session where most of your endurance and stamina levels will come from.
Then most elite marathon runners also do a semi-long training session. This is usually done around mid-week and is roughly two thirds the distance of their longer training session. Either side of this semi-long training session most elite marathon runners will also do two shorter training runs in order to keep their legs fresh and their muscles ticking over.
Rest is also another important part of training for a marathon. It is your rest days that allow your muscles to recover from the strain that they go under during the harder training sessions. If you don’t include rest days in your marathon training schedule then you will not perform at your best on your marathon race day.
That is also why it is critical that approximately 3 weeks before your marathon race that you should include a taper period into your marathon training schedule. During your taper phase you should decrease your total weekly mileage. The reason for this is that it is next to impossible to get any fitter in the final weeks before your marathon.
If you decide to train for your marathon then including a marathon training schedule such as this will next to guarantee that you will cross the finishing line. Perhaps the biggest mistake I see most beginner marathoners make is to over-train and get injured during the build-up phase of their marathon training routine.
