The marathon training plan, worked out week after week until race day

A marathon takes months to prepare, and success comes down to a handful of things: a long run that builds without excess, a marathon pace learned by heart, a taper that gets you to the start fresh. You give your race date, the days you're available and what you run today: Trainetic builds the prep and tells you what your slots allow.

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The five rules of marathon race prep

They come from reference plans and from an analysis of 92 published plans. Your plan applies them.

Several months. Twelve weeks for a runner who already trains, sixteen to eighteen for a first marathon. Your plan starts from your race date.

Arrive with a base. Marathon prep grows existing volume; it doesn't create it. Having run a half already is a good benchmark, without being a requirement.

The long run peaks at around 30-32 km. That's the peak seen in every plan analyzed, whatever the level. Running 42 km in training brings nothing more, except fatigue.

Four sessions to be comfortable. Three let you finish; the fourth lets volume build to where the distance requires.

The taper is training in its own right. Two weeks where volume drops clearly and intensity stays. It's what turns months of work into race-day fitness.

The benchmarks of marathon race prep

What published plans say, and what your plan does.

Benchmark	In published plans	In your plan
Peak long run	About 30 to 32 km	Capped at 32 km and three hours
Recovery week	Every three to four weeks	One week in four, volume at 75 %
Taper	Two to three weeks, volume reduced by 41 to 60 %	Two weeks: 70 %, then 55 % of volume
Marathon pace	Clearly slower than threshold pace	About 78 % of your maximal aerobic speed (MAS)
Marathon-pace session	Blocks, then long sections	Up to 60, 80 or 95 minutes depending on your level

The heaviest week falls three to four weeks before the race: that's where fitness is built. After that, you protect it.

The sessions of marathon prep

Three families, and only one that's truly run fast.

The long run

The heart of the prep. It's run slowly, grows in stages up to its cap, and drops back to 80 % during recovery weeks.

Marathon pace

Sections at race-day pace, longer and longer as the plan goes on. They teach you a rhythm you'll have to hold for more than three hours, for most runners.

The easy run and the fast session

Easy volume to build, and a threshold or MAS session to keep a margin above marathon pace.

What if you only have three slots?

A marathon takes volume. With three sessions a week, Trainetic works out how far your plan can build and shows you, with numbers, what one more slot would change. You make an informed choice.

The mistakes you pay for at kilometer 30

Running the long run too fast. It should be clearly slower than marathon pace. Run fast, it needs a week of recovery the plan doesn't have.

Piling up long runs. One a week, no more. A second one doesn't add endurance, it adds fatigue.

Running 42 km in training. Beyond three hours of running, the recovery cost outweighs the benefit. That's what the cap is for.

Cutting the taper short. Fitness rises during the last two weeks, as long as you let your body recover.

Starting at a dream pace. Race day is run at the pace you trained for weeks. The one that feels easy at kilometer 5 is often the one that has you walking at kilometer 32.

Where these numbers come from

Every benchmark on this page comes from a public source.

The peak long run at 30-32 km, the heaviest week three to four weeks before the race and the drop of about 50 % in the final week come from the analysis of 92 marathon plans published in Sports Medicine – Open (Knopp et al., 2024).

The sixteen to eighteen weeks and four runs a week come from Hal Higdon's Novice 1 program, whose long run peaks at 20 miles, or 32 km.

The two-week taper follows the meta-analyses by Bosquet (2007) and in PLOS One (2023): maximum effect between 8 and 14 days, volume reduced by 41 to 60 %.

The median of four sessions a week among recreational marathon runners comes from the NURMI study (Frontiers in Physiology, 2021).

The questions runners ask before a marathon

Do you need to have run a half first?

It isn't required, but it's a good benchmark: it shows the base is there. If you've never run for more than an hour, starting with a half marathon plan makes the marathon much more comfortable.

How long does it take to prepare for a marathon?

Sixteen to eighteen weeks for a first one, around twelve for a runner who already trains. Your plan starts from your race date and your current volume.

How many sessions a week?

Four, for most runners. Three is possible: Trainetic tells you how far your volume can build and what one more slot would bring.

What's the maximum long run distance?

Around 30 to 32 km, or three hours, whichever comes first. That's the peak in published plans, and it's the cap in your plan.

Do you need to run 42 km before race day?

No. No reference plan does it. The taper, a well-controlled pace and the race atmosphere cover the final kilometers.

Can you walk during a marathon?

Yes, and some runners plan it from the start, with a short walk at each aid station. It isn't a failure: it's a strategy, to test in training on your long run.

What pace should you aim for?

A calculated pace, not a hoped-for one. Your plan works it out from your MAS — about 78 % — or from a recent race time. If your target time is well beyond your benchmarks, Trainetic tells you before you train for it.

Is it free?

Yes, for the essentials: creating your plan, taking it with you as a PDF, and running each session with voice guidance. A subscription is available for advanced features — automatic plan adjustments week after week, a written analysis of each session. The plan itself doesn't need it.