Health and fitness
Train for a marathon
Forty-two kilometres is a benchmark everyone understands. It is not finished on determination but on weekly volume that grows honestly — and that can be planned.
What the plan does
Builds a weekly rhythm of one long run, easy miles and real rest, with gradual build-up, recovery weeks and a proper taper.
Who it is for
For anyone who already runs and wants to cover the full distance for the first time.
How the plan runs
Weekly volume, not heroic days
One long run a week that grows slowly, two or three easy runs, and at least one full rest day.
Easy runs genuinely easy
At conversational pace. Running the easy runs too fast is by far the most common reason people get injured or stop improving.
Every fourth week lighter
Recovery is not lost time; it is where the body changes. It is written into the plan so that it does not feel like failure.
The taper before the race
The last two to three weeks really do drop in volume. It will feel wrong, and the plan explains why. The longest training run does not need to be the full distance.
When you fall behind
The easy runs get cut. The long run and the rest day stay, and the build-up is never compressed to catch up — that is how the goal ends in an injury instead of a finish line.
What we will ask you
- How much do you run now?
- How many days a week can you run?
- Any injuries or limitations?
The plan is built around your answers: broken down into years, months, weeks and finally today. With rest written into it, and recalculated every time the route and reality part ways.
Start with this template