Training for a Marathon? Follow our 12 Week Marathon Training Plan

Who Should Run a Marathon?

There are many reasons why somebody might decide to up and run 26.2 miles, and none of them are more correct than the others. Whether you’re an experienced runner interested in taking on the ultimate running challenge or an absolute beginner setting an ambitious goal for the future, you can run a marathon if you commit to it and train properly.

Related: Are You Ready for 26.2?

Who Is This Plan For?

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That being said, it’s worth noting that a 12-week marathon training plan is best suited for intermediate to advanced runners comfortable covering fairly long distances. This plan is also a good option for people who have previously run a marathon at least once and have a goal of improving their time or achieving new personal records. 

As you read over the plan, you’ll know it’s a good fit for you if it seems achievable, but challenging. After all, marathons are all about challenging yourself, right?

We don’t recommend this plan for anybody who could not go out today and comfortably run at least eight to ten miles. If you fall under this category, don’t be discouraged! You can absolutely be successful in training for a marathon; you just might need a little bit more time of committed training to get there.

And, naturally, regardless of your experience as a runner, it’s important to consult your doctor before beginning any new exercise plan, including this one.

Related: How to Avoid Running Injuries

What’s In This Plan?

This is a 12-week plan consisting of 5 running workouts a week, with an optional day for cross-training. You’ll alternate rest days with tempo runs to improve your endurance, short runs for maintenance, strength runs, and longer, slower runs.

Mondays will be a rest/optional cross-training day. Tuesdays are a tempo run. Wednesdays are short, easy runs. Thursdays are for strength and speed training. Fridays are another rest day. Saturdays are another short, easy run, and Sundays are your long run days working up to 26.2 miles on the very last day of the program: marathon day. 

Related: Why the Half Marathon Might Be Your Jam

Terminology

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Rest day

This is a day that you abstain from exercise entirely in order to allow your body to recover. But don’t worry, you don’t have to stop yourself from doing chores or playing with your kids, even if it gets your heart rate up a bit.

Cross-training workout 

Because this is an option that you might choose instead of having a rest day, your cross-training workouts should be light and low in both impact and intensity. Think active recovery. Good options include:

• Stretching or yoga
• A walk or easy hike
• Light dancing
• Swimming
• Light cycling
• Roller skating

Tempo Run

The goal of a tempo run is to improve your endurance and your body's ability to handle stress. Your goal pace for a tempo run is about 80% of your max heart rate, or roughly 30 seconds faster per mile than your target marathon pace. Tempo runs should include 10 to 20 minutes of light running at the beginning and end as a warm-up and cool-down. 

Easy Run

These are easy, short runs that you do in order to stay in shape. They should be comfortable, at about 60 to 90 seconds per minute shorter than your target marathon pace or 70% of your target heart rate. During these runs, focus on form, breathing, and enjoying yourself.

Strength or Speed Run 

This is strength and speed training, achieved by doing hill sprints or speed runs. During a sprint, your goal is to get to 90% of your max heart rate during the hard interval and cool down as much as you can during the low interval. Strength and speed runs should both begin and end with 10 to 20 minutes of light running to warm up and cool down.

Related: A Runner’s Survival Kit

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Long Run

These are runs that will slowly build up in length throughout the 12 weeks. You should try to run them at your target marathon pace, or about 65% of your max heart rate. These runs will help you train your endurance and aerobic system so that your final marathon feels achievable and even normal. 

Max Heart Rate

If you’re not sure what your max heart rate is, you can calculate it by subtracting your age from 220. For example, if you are 35 years old, your max heart rate is 185 beats per minute. This gives you a jumping-off point for calculating target heart rates for different types of runs. 

Target Marathon Pace

Your target marathon pace is your goal for how fast you’d like to run each mile during your marathon. This is a personal goal that you can only set for yourself. If you’ve run a marathon before, you can consider setting a target marathon pace of 15 to 30 seconds faster than your previous marathon time. 

If you’ve never run a marathon before, try to set a modest goal, as overestimating your abilities is a classic rookie mistake that could lead to a disappointing first marathon experience. A good place to start is to calculate your target marathon time based on a recent 5k or half-marathon time. Let’s say you know you can run a half-marathon at 2:20. That gives you a marathon time of 4:40. Using a pace calculator, you can deduce that this gives you a target marathon pace of about 10:40 per mile. 

Related: How to Get Better at Running (Without Running)

Modifying The Training Plan

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Like we’ve mentioned before, this training plan is designed for intermediate-to-advanced runners. However, depending on your running experience, you are welcome to modify it to better fit your needs. 

If you choose to modify the plan, do so as you see fit. If you’re not sure where to start, you might consider the following suggestions:

• For less experienced runners, use Monday as a rest day. You might also use it as a rest day for the first 4 or 6 weeks, switching to cross-training after that period.
• If this plan is skewing on the easier side for you, you can add tempo work to your long run days, alternating between intervals of running at an easier pace with the pace you’d use during your tempo runs.

Warming Up and Cooling Down

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We can not stress enough the importance of properly warming up and cooling down before and after your runs, especially on tempo runs and strength/speed runs. Warming up is defined as raising your core body temperature by one to three degrees in order to help loosen up your muscles to prepare them for exercise. This is a crucial part of any form of exercise for your own safety.

While 10 to 20 minutes of light running is sufficient as a general warm-up and cool-down, you might want to modify these to be more involved, especially if you have a history of injury. You can add walking and dynamic stretching into your warm-up before you start running, as well as foam rolling and static stretching after your runs.

In fact, we recommend doing these things after all of your runs if you can find the time, not just on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

12 Week Marathon Training Schedule

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Week 1

• Monday: Rest or cross-training
• Tuesday: 2.5-mile tempo run
• Wednesday: 4-mile easy run
• Thursday: 6 reps of hill sprints @ 60 seconds high interval, 2 minutes low interval
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: 3-mile easy run
• Sunday: 6-mile long run

Week 2

• Monday: Rest or cross-training
• Tuesday: 3-mile tempo run
• Wednesday: 4-mile easy run
• Thursday: 8 reps of hill sprints @ 60 seconds high interval, 2 minutes low interval
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: 3.5-mile easy run
• Sunday: 8-mile long run

Week 3

• Monday: Rest or cross-training
• Tuesday: 4-mile tempo run
• Wednesday: 4-mile easy run
• Thursday: 9 reps of hill sprints @ 1.5 minutes high interval, 2 minutes low interval
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: 4-mile easy run
• Sunday: 10-mile long run

Week 4

• Monday: Rest or cross-training
• Tuesday: 5-mile tempo run
• Wednesday: 3-mile easy run
• Thursday: 10 reps of hill sprints @ 1.5 minutes high interval, 2 minutes low interval
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: 3-mile easy run
• Sunday: 12-mile long run

Week 5

• Monday: Rest or cross-training
• Tuesday: 5-mile tempo run
• Wednesday: 4-mile easy run
• Thursday: 5 reps of speed runs @ 2 minutes high interval, 2 minutes rest
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: 4-mile easy run
• Sunday: 14-mile long run

Week 6

• Monday: Rest or cross-training
• Tuesday: 5-mile tempo run
• Wednesday: 4.5-mile easy run
• Thursday: 7 reps of speed runs @ 2 minutes high interval, 2 minutes rest
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: 4.5-mile easy run
• Sunday: 16-mile long run

Week 7

• Monday: Rest or cross-training
• Tuesday: 5-mile tempo run
• Wednesday: 4-mile easy run
• Thursday: 9 reps of speed runs @ 2 minutes high interval, 2 minutes rest
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: 4-mile easy run
• Sunday: 18-mile long run

Week 8

• Monday: Rest or cross-training
• Tuesday: 5-mile tempo run
• Wednesday: 3.5-mile easy run
• Thursday: 5 reps of speed runs @ 3 minutes high interval, 2 minutes rest
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: 4.5-mile easy run
• Sunday: 20-mile long run

Week 9

• Monday: Rest or cross-training
• Tuesday: 5-mile tempo run
• Wednesday: 4-mile easy run
• Thursday: 7 reps of speed runs @ 3 minutes high interval, 2 minutes rest
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: 4.5-mile easy run
• Sunday: 6-mile long run

Week 10

• Monday: Rest or cross-training
• Tuesday: 5-mile tempo run
• Wednesday: 3-mile easy run
• Thursday: 9 reps of speed runs @ 3 minutes high interval, 2 minutes rest
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: 4-mile easy run
• Sunday: 20-mile long run

Week 11

• Monday: Rest or cross-training
• Tuesday: 4-mile tempo run
• Wednesday: 3-mile easy run
• Thursday: 6 reps of hill sprints @ 60 seconds high interval, 2 minutes low interval
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: 3-mile easy run
• Sunday: 10-mile long run

Week 12

• Monday: Rest or cross-training
• Tuesday: 2.5-mile tempo
• Wednesday: 2.5-mile easy run
• Thursday: 2.5-mile easy run
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: Rest
• Sunday: RACE DAY!

There You Have It!

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If you follow this plan, you should have a smooth road to an improved marathon time or a successful first marathon. 

Just one word of caution before we leave you: like with all types of exercise, running has its risks. It should be done carefully with close attention to your body’s responses. Be sure to run with proper equipment, well-fitted shoes, in a safe and well-lit area, keeping alert without noise-canceling headphones. Rest, fuel your body correctly, and drink enough water. Be attentive to how you feel physically, taking care of your body with regular stretches, massages, and foam-rolling. 

While soreness is normal, if at any point, you feel irregular aches or pains that you might believe to be a possible injury, pause the program and speak to a doctor before continuing. No exercise program is worth getting injured for. 

That being said, this program is designed to make you marathon-ready in 12 weeks without putting excessive strain on your body. If you follow the program and listen to your body’s cues, you should be successful. And don’t forget to download the SportMe app to stay motivated and prepared for your runs. Good luck!

Related: 8 Week Half Marathon Training Plan