Marathon Training

Marathon training schedule to train for your first marathon for beginners.

This is a step-by-step marathon training schedule and program to train for your first marathon. If you are a beginner marathon runner then this could be the most important marathon training program that you ever study.

You see, most first-time marathon runners have next to no idea how to train for a marathon. Most beginner marathoners think that the idea is to go out and train hundreds and hundreds of miles by jogging on the pavement and getting a lot of miles into their legs. However, nothing could be further from the truth.

The problem with running hundreds of miles right off the bat is that your body is simply not used to training so many miles and you are very likely to get a running injury if you use this technique.

A far better way of marathon training that most experienced marathon runners utilize is to start their training slowly and then build up their distance from there. For example, most marathon training schedules for beginner marathoners follow the ten percent rule. The 10% rule means that you don't increase your weekly mileage by more than 10% in any given week.

That means if you train for 20 miles in a week, then the next week you should aim to train 22 miles and so on.

You should then continue to increase your weekly mileage slowly like this until around 3-4 weeks before your marathon race. The reason for this is that you want to feel refreshed and ready to run your marathon come race day.

Most beginner marathoners however train right up until their marathon and wonder why they hit the wall at around the 20 mile mark. The reason is usually because they have not incorporated a taper period into their marathon training program.

The other aspect you should be aware of when training for your marathon is to break your marathon training up into long training sessions, semi-long training sessions and shorter training sessions. The reason for this is because you can make your marathon training more effective by splitting your training sessions into a number of training runs of different length.

For example, most experienced marathon runners will do their longest training session on the weekend. This is known as the long run. The long run is where the majority of your endurance and fitness levels will come from. Obviously after your long run you should have a rest day in order to give your muscles the chance to recover.

Experienced marathon runners also make sure that they incorporate a semi-long run into their training program. Often this semi-long training session is done mid-week on a Wednesday. This training session helps to keep your endurance levels strong without pushing your body to the limit when running.

It is also a good idea to incorporate two shorter training sessions into your weekly mileage as well as having two rest days and an optional cross-training session in order to make your muscles more robust.

Following a marathon training program designed specifically for beginner marathon runners will almost guarantee that your will cross the finishing line of your marathon race. That is why it is critical that you follow a marathon training schedule that is designed to work.