24-Week Marathon Training Schedule for Beginners

A Training Program for Marathon Novices

To many people, the marathon is the ultimate endurance event: 26.2 miles (42 km) of running with added suffering leading to the elation of finishing.

The realistic goal of a first-time marathoner should be to finish their race as the body is not often subjected to the physical effects of running and training for a marathon. A marathon will push your endurance capabilities to their limit and requires a large amount of time to be dedicated to the needs of training for a marathon.

Good luck with your marathon preparation!

How Do You Know if You Can Run a Marathon?

Due to the intensive endurance nature of a marathon event, it's recommended to ask yourself a few questions before starting to train for a marathon.

Am I a generally healthy individual with no ailments or health problems that could prevent me from completing a marathon?

It is vital to your long-term health that you are healthy prior to training for and completing a marathon event. If you are in any doubt it's best to get a thorough check over by your doctor/ physician prior to starting a marathon training program.

Have I run before or do I have a background in another endurance exercise?

It's not recommended for non-runners or those with no running background to simply launch themselves head-first into a marathon training schedule. You should already have some form of endurance sports background prior to starting an intensive running training program. The beginner's marathon running programs further down the page take this into account for you, so you can tailor your program to your running experience.

How many miles do you average in training per week?

Ideally, a runner should be averaging 10–15 miles of running per week prior to starting a marathon training program. A newcomer to running who shows training restraint can build this mileage up over a period of a couple of months and be able to run a marathon with the right preparation over a 24-week beginner's marathon training program. If you already run 10–15 miles per week it's possible to build up to distance with a 16-week marathon training program.

Do you have the available time to train for a marathon?

Marathon training can be very demanding on your time. Particularly when you are performing long runs to prepare your body for the extreme endurance of the event.

The Novice Runner's 24-Week Marathon Running Schedule

If you have very little background in running it's recommended to take at least 24 weeks to prepare for your first marathon. This will allow you time to develop your running steadily in preparation for your event.

This schedule works on the basis of building up to four running workouts a week with the below suggestions. You can change the days around depending on your own personal circumstances although make sure you get a day's rest between any workouts (except easy recovery runs after your long days).

Daily schedule for weeks 1-8

To get you used to running, this training program concentrates on short runs twice a week initially to get your body used to running and allowing you to progress to longer distances later in the program. If you haven't run regularly before it is likely that your leg muscles with take a hammering and you will learn exactly where each muscle is in your leg as they get sore

2 runs per week - Wednesday and Saturday

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Daily schedule for week 9

Midweek runs - Tuesdays and Thursdays

Weekend long run - Saturday

Recovery run - Sundays

The 24 Week Beginners Marathon Training Schedule

The 16-Week Beginner's Marathon Running Program

For those who already have a regular running background, it is possible to prepare for your first marathon in a 16-week marathon training program.

For those who have a running background, the 24-week marathon training program featured above can be entered from week 9.

More on Running Marathons

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This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.

Comments

Owen Carver on May 21, 2020:

This looks like a pretty smart program with rest days in between each run throughout. Are there other non-running conditioning tips you have that can help, like icing and stretching or resistance training?

Liam Hallam (author) from Nottingham UK on July 16, 2012:

Great to hear London, I feel that 16 weeks is very short to go from nothing to an extreme distance. Good luck with your training in future. CF

LondonhereIcome on July 15, 2012:

Thanks for the info, I'm planning on doing a marathon next year so looks like if I start this in the new year I could do a summer marathon.

Everyone else seems to go for 16 weeks to prepare which I think would be a little too much for me so soon.