How Many Weeks Does It Take to Train For a Marathon?

How many weeks does it take to train for a marathon? Many runners want to know how long they should plan for marathon training. It depends on many factors including your experience and race goals. Its also important to look at where your current fitness is. Here are some things to consider when planning for marathon training.

How Many Weeks Does It Take To Train For a Marathon?

When you first decide to train for a marathon, you need to assess your current fitness. If this is your first marathon, you will probably benefit from a longer training block. It’s also important to consider your current fitness and mileage. If you are running 3 days a week, for a total of 10 miles each week, you will need to train for longer than if you are running 5 days a week and 25 miles each week.

It’s also important to be realistic about your availability to stick to a training schedule. If you anticipate missing some training days it may be better to factor that in and add on a bit of time to your training.

How many weeks on average does it take to train for a marathon?

The average marathon training plan is 16-20 weeks. This gives you enough time to make sure you have a strong base, then build your mileage, and finally get into race specific workouts as you peak and taper before your race.

What are the phases of a marathon training plan?

It is helpful to understand the phases of marathon training as you plan for how long you will need to train. Most plans are broken into base building, fundamental, and sharpening phases (although these sometimes go by different names). You want to make sure you have enough time in your training to focus on all of these phases.

Base Building Phase

Base building can be a part of your marathon training plan, but if you already have a solid base in place then you may benefit from a shorter plan of around 12 weeks. During the base building phase you spend 4-6 (or even 8) weeks building your endurance. You may benefit from adding in some short speed interval, strides, or hill work. This will help you prepare for the later phases of training.

Fundamental Phase

During this phase you will spend several weeks introducing longer workouts such as threshold runs and marathon paced runs. You will also build up your long run. This phase can last about 6-12 weeks and while you may continue to include some speed workouts, you will be building your stamina and endurance.

Sharpening/Taper

During the last phase of marathon training you will build to your peak fitness for the marathon before tapering. During this phase you will really focus on marathon pace workouts and may add some intensity to your long runs. Even during the taper it’s important to maintain the intensity of your workouts although the amount will be less along with your overall mileage. This phase can last 4-8 weeks, usually with a 2-3 week taper.

Sample Breakdown of a Marathon Training Plan

If you are starting off marathon training running a moderate amount of mileage and decide to train for 16 weeks, this may be how you break down your training plan:

Weeks 1-4: Base building and speed/hills

Weeks 5-11: Fundamental with focus on threshold and marathon pace workouts

Weeks 12-16: Sharpening with peak mileage, marathon pace workouts, and 2 week taper

There are many ways to train for a marathon as well as different approaches to periodization. This is just an example of one way to train. When deciding on how long you need to train for a marathon it’s important to consider your own needs as a runner and what you will really need to focus on. If you have trained for a marathon before you can look back on your training to see what worked well and what areas could use some improvement.

Keep in mind that a longer training block is not always better. You may peak too soon or end up burnt out. If you have a long time before a goal race you can spend some time focusing on a shorter distance or extend your base building period.

You may also like:
How To Choose The Perfect Beginner Marathon Training Plan
5 Things to Consider When Choosing Your First Marathon How to Determine an Appropriate Race Goal Before Beginning Your Training Cycle

How long do you usually train for a marathon?
Do you think you would prefer a longer or shorter training block?

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