The Perfect Marathon Training Plan
You have signed up for a marathon (or any race for that matter) and now you’re on the hunt for the perfect training plan.
After a relatively short amount of time on Google you will likely have come across numerous terms, hacks, and “must do’s” for your training cycle.
Said training cycle might be advised to be 8 weeks, 12 weeks or even 16 weeks by various platforms and/or coaches. Instantly confusing you. As you delve little deeper, you discover even more contradicting advice.
One website will tell you that long runs should be slow and steady, another will say they should be at marathon or tempo pace; one might even suggest two long runs a week. Some will have double days, or even double threshold days. Strength training might sit alongside your hardest run day of the week, or it could be a few days out from it. Hills might be included weekly, monthly, or not at all! Oh and of course you will be advised that you have to run at least 5x a week. Or is it 3x? Or 6x?
Your dopamine is either sky high by this point, or you have done the opposite and you wish you’d never signed up to this race. Totally overwhelmed! After all, all the sources seem credible, people seem genuine and everyone is selling “the perfect plan” to get you race ready.
If you understand anything about endurance, you surely know there is no quick fix. Training takes time. And the last time I checked, I could not define “perfect training”.
The reason being, we are all unique. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, and we also all have our own priorities. From experience, there is little point telling someone they “have” to run 5x a week if they can only make room for 3x based on their other commitments.
So, in order to get your training off to a good start…
Identify the areas that you need to work on, be it strength, speed, mindset… and have those as a staple session each week.
Check your calendar each week, and for the coming months, to flag any particular busy periods where you might need to ease off the stress of training due to elevated life stress.
Be prepared to drop or add a session (or two) week on week depending on fatigue, workload, social plans etc.
Leave honest feedback for your coach, or to yourself, so that you increase your awareness of how your body and mind is feeling throughout and thus performing.
Whether you are working with a coach, or scheduling your own training, the perfect plan is the one that works for you!
