If you have a good marathon training plan, this should not be a problem because your program should clearly specify how much long run you should be running per week in marathon training. For advanced runners, this should be basic, but if you are new to running marathon, you should not feel bad, everyone starts somewhere. It is important to understand that the one main cause of most injuries related to marathon training is overtraining. Until you understand how to avoid overtraining, you may never train to your potential. This is obviously because every time you start training you are forced to stop or quit by an injury. However, if you or your coach design a reliable marathon training plan and follow to the later, you will be far much better than most marathon runners.

So, coming back to the question, “how much long run volume per week is ideal?” The answer is it all depends on several factors such as your current total mileage per week, your marathon training plan, the phase of training, and projected date of competition among other factors. However, as a rule of thumb, your long run should be once per week and should not exceed 25 percent of your weekly mileage. For example if your current weekly mileage is 60 miles, then your long run should not exceed 15 miles.

It is important that you keep your long run easier than the shorter runs that you do. Running them too fast will not give you the benefits you should be getting from your long run. Remember every part of your marathon training plan is important for success and should not be changed unless the program or coach advises so. When doing long runs, it is also important to run them on trails or softer surfaces to avoid injuries that are associated with pounding on hard or paved surfaces. The fact that most marathon races are run on paved roads does not necessarily mean you have to do your marathon training on hard surfaces. It is fine to do some of the shorter runs on paved roads, but try to limit them to less than 25 percent of your weekly total mileage.

For beginner marathon runners, a good way to determine your long run pace if your marathon training plan does not specify is through your breathing. If you are struggling to breathe, you are probably running your long run too fast. Some other runners prefer to judge their pace based on easy or hard it is for them to hold a conversation during the run. A good long run pace in marathon training should allow you to hold a conversation as you run, not that you have to. Obviously, this will not help if you are running alone, in which case you can use your breathing.

Finally, it is invaluable to start your marathon training with a reliable marathon training plan or program. When you do so, you will limit the chances of encountering overtraining problems and put yourself in a better position to achieve your marathon training goals.

You just found a marathon training plan and got excited to train for a marathon race coming up in six months. Everything seem perfect for the first three weeks, you feel like your program is too easy for you so you decided to increase a couple of extra miles per week. You feel great for another three weeks, but then you begin feeling sore continuously on your legs even in the morning before you have done any training. Then suddenly your soreness turns into pain, you try to train through it, but it gets worse and finally you are forced to quit training; you are down with Achilles tendonitis or stress fracture. This is a common scenario especially for beginner marathon runners. Running related injuries have different causes preventing these causes will help to minimize the chances of getting injured.

The following are some simple ways to prevent Marathon Training injuries:

As I pointed out earlier, most injuries in marathon related to training plan or program either directly or indirectly. When you use unreliable training program, you are subjecting yourself not only to poor performance, but also to severe injuries that may put you out of training for a long time. Similarly using a reliable marathon training plan and not following it correctly may lead to injuries as well. This usually happens because most people try to do too much too quickly leading to overtraining. So to prevent injuries related to training program, one must find or design and follow a reliable marathon program to the later. Make sure you take enough recovery breaks in your training. This will not only prevent overuse and injuries, but also guarantees better performance.

Besides marathon training plan, injuries can also arise as a result of poor running or training equipment especially training shoes. Marathon is such a demanding fitness exercise that puts your body especially legs through extreme pressure. The type of running shoes determines your susceptibility level to running injury. Good marathon training shoes minimize the chances of getting injuries related to running shoes. A good shoe must have reliable support for the hundreds of miles you will be running in a couple of weeks.

Additionally the type and the gradient of the running surface play a role in causing injuries. You must have heard before that running on a pave or hard surface is not good for your knees. It is similar to running on an inclined surface where your feet and landing at angle instead of upright. When you run on these kinds of surfaces for several miles, you are messing up your bone alignment especially your spine. Before long you may begin to experience knee or back pain. Therefore in order to save yourself time and money; stay away from training on uneven and inclined surfaces.  Also minimize running on paved and hard surfaces as much as possible and use trails more frequently.

You can have a great marathon training plan, great running shoes and do most of the runs on trails and still get injured due to poor diet. Most people tend to overlook this important aspect of training. Marathon being such as demanding physical activity requires a lot of energy. And as you know, your body derives energy from the food you eat or stored fat in your body. Your muscles use this energy to produce the force needed for training. If you don’t pay attention to your nutrition and supplements, your muscles may suffer and result in injuries.

For example your muscles need protein for energy and recovery (rebuild damaged cells and tissue), therefore if your diet does not provide this essential protein, and you continue training you will be at higher risk of an injury. The best solution is to observe a healthy balanced diet at all times. Better food means better recovery and fewer injuries.

These are by no means the only ways to minimize injuries associated with marathon training, they are the main ones. So once again, get a reliable marathon training plan, find the right training shoe, avoid running on paved and inclined surfaces, and finally pay attention to your nutrition. If you follow these tips from the beginning, you will have more fun in your marathon training as well as better chances of achieving your goals.

Like in any other sport, there are distinct stages in a good marathon training plan or program. These stages which are also known as training blocks are designed to help you progress naturally to your full potential. Most marathoners or runners for that matter fail to reach their potential in running due to poor training program design. It is the primary responsibility of you as a marathon runner to find a knowledgeable coach to help you design an effective program. The main reason behind training phase-format is periodization.  The number of blocks in a marathon program can range from 3 to 5 depending on the program you are using.

The following are the main phases that you need to have in a good marathon training plan:

Phase one:

This is usually the beginner phase where the focus is on building the foundation for the rest of training. The key is to get strong and fit before the more demanding training later. The volume at this phase is fairly low to medium. There is hardly any speed training at this phase. Mileage is low but builds gradually. This phase may seem boring to some people. As a result the chances of getting overtraining and overreaching related injuries are high since it is tempting to want to do too much too quickly. A rule of thumb here is to make every training session easy and remember not to increase more than 10 miles of mileage in one week. You may introduce some easy steady strides after the third week, but much later for beginners or those coming off a long break.

Phase two:

This is sometimes considered as the continuation of phase one in that you are still working on building the base. It is at this phase of your marathon training program that you may include some hill runs and tempo runs. Remember this phase potentiates better outcome in the next phase in your training. If you do it right, you will be able to handle the more challenging workouts in phase three. You may start going beyond one hour for some of your runs a couple of times per week at this phase in your marathon training.

Phase three:

This is considered the turning point in your training. If you are following a well designed program you should start to see repetition training, speed training, interval training, threshold running, marathon pace running and even some few shorter road races such as 10Ks or 15Ks as part of the program. This is also the hardest part of marathon training plan, but is the phase where you start building your actual marathon race plan. If you prepared well in the previous two phases, you should immediately see huge improvement in everything you do. It is really important to pay attention to your recovery aspect, listen to your body and watch to any sign of overtraining. Pay attention to your nutrition and hydration as well.

Phase four:

Depending on your marathon training goals, this may be the last phase in your training. This is also the phase where your major marathon takes place. So what does that mean to you? It means you should start cutting down your training volume, but keeping the intensity consistent. The last part of phase four is where you start to taper off and get ready for the big day. If you are training for one particular event, you will begin the cycle again after your race is over. In other words, you take a small recovery break then start from phase one again, or take a long break if you don’t plan to race again soon.

On a final note, my advice as a coach is “No matter how good of a runner you are, if you don’t have a well designed marathon training plan to follow, you will never reach your potential!” So before you begin training for marathon, find a coach or a good marathon program that will guarantee you success.

Marathon running is unlike other shorter road racing events in that it takes longer to train for. Marathon Training is also different in many ways compared to programs for events like 10K, 15K or even half-marathon training. So how long should a good marathon training plan last for? Surprising, it depends! It depends on several other factors that include the following:

Your experience with marathon running

Like any other sporting event, beginners need more time to prepare than more advanced runners. Due to the demanding nature of training it is usually important for beginners to build-in more recovery time compared to experienced marathoners. It is important to remember that even if you were running track recently and desire to make a transition to marathon, you still need to treat it differently that you treated track. Track training is characterized by smaller blocks or phases with several built-in contests. The more marathons you run, the better your performance will be, but you can’t run as many marathons within a short period of time like you would in track events.

The event you are training for determines the length of training program

Not all marathon events are the same, some are more important than other. Additionally some courses are more challenging than others, so it is important to build your marathon training plan accordingly. Besides the course and significance of the event, you also need to think of the weather at the venue during the time of the event. If you are training for a marathon event such as in the Olympics, you should approach it with more weight than a smaller event. Training for Olympic will require several months or even years while a smaller event may just need as few as 24 weeks.

Your current fitness level dictates training duration

This should not be mistaken with experience discussed above. You can be a pro and be in poor fitness level due to lack of training or be a beginner in average fitness level. In other words, you should base the length of your marathon training plan on your current fitness level. It is tempting to over-train when you are just beginning your training especially if you have run a marathon before. However, the chances of injuries are higher and caution must be taken. It is important to design a longer program with more recovery periods to allow adequate adaptation and minimize possible injuries. For beginners it is a good idea to run some shorter road races and possibly a half-marathon before running a full marathon.

These factors are not the only ones to remember when building you training program. It is important to remember also that each person is different and may respond differently to different training programs. This means customizing your program based on your goals. If you don’t have a coach, you can find reliable marathon training plans online. As a coach, I have had several people ask me to recommend a good customizable program that works for both professional and beginner marathon runners. Based on my experience, I have found one that has consistently produce good result regardless of the individual’s level of experience. You can also give it a try, my athletes loves the easy step by step structure… Click Here.

What to Consider in A Good Marathon Training Plan

Before you start running marathon you need a good marathon training plan which includes your goals. Though running marathon comes with experience, it helps to have a clear training program. For beginners this may be challenging and may require either coach to build your running training plan or find a reliable do-it-yourself marathon training plan or program. As you build your program, use the following guideline to help you built a solid plan that meets your goals:

When Building a Marathon Training Plan:

Evaluate your fitness level:

This is really important; marathon training is demanding and requires high level of fitness. You will need to take physicals with your physician before you even make any plans. There is no point to begin your running training only to quit due to health problems. If you plan ahead of time, you can improve your fitness level before you actually start your marathon training.

Pick an event to train for as part of Marathon Training Plan:

The best motivation in any sport is to compete. It is part of training plan to choose the even or events you want to train for. It is important to pick several road races besides the marathon event. These other smaller events are significant as part of marathon training. They are great yardstick for measuring your progress. These shorter road races must be chosen after you have chosen the main marathon even you want to run. It is advisable to run a half-marathon before running the full one. However, you don’t need a separate half-marathon training plan.

Choose your training plan:

The next important step after choosing the event you want to run is to choose or build a training program. If you are building your own, make sure your coach is knowledgeable. However, if you don’t have a coach, you can find a reliable marathon training plan that meets your goals. There are several plans or programs available online, but not all of them are reliable.

Choose the right marathon training gear:

Choosing a marathon training plan is not enough; you need to find the right training gear. Marathon training is demanding and is characterized by high mileage. Therefore using wrong running gear e.g. shoes, may lead to injuries. Don’t start training until you have the right marathon training gear, injuries are costly.

Start training gradually:

Finally begin your training gradually, be cautious not over-train, it may cost you everything. Follow the training rule of thumb, “recovery and adaptation”. As you train, strive to achieve one of the three running objectives: compete to win, compete to improve your time, or compete to finish. If you follow your marathon training plan faithfully, you will make good progress.