This is a 24 week Marathon Training plan designed for those who are already running and want to add some good, proven structure to their training to finish their first Marathon strongly or get that Marathon PB!
Using the sessions prescribed with my coached athletes I have had great success, for example qualifying as Good For Age to Abbott World Marathon Major events, and winning age categories and podium places overall at other events.
The sessions are almost exclusively based on Threshold Heart Rate and assume you have correctly set your run Threshold Heart Rate in TrainingPeaks- if you haven't then this is basically set off your average Heart Rate for a best 10k effort.
I strongly suggest using a good Heart Rate Chest Strap as I find these far more accurate than any wrist based monitor built into a watch, particularly for intervals. Setting the actual zones on TrainingPeaks and on your running watch isn't particularly important as the sessions give you the actual heart rate you should aim for, hence I suggest you show actual HR rather than Zone on your device.
One of the main reasons I work with Heart Rate rather than Pace is that it can help to take into account terrain (especially if training on the trail!), temperature and stress levels. Don't sprint to get the heart rate into target zone, let it climb gradually. Aim to be in the bottom of the target zone after the first minute or so of any interval or longer if it's an endurance block.
Don't worry about being 'over target' during recovery periods after an interval. A good sign of improved fitness is how quickly the HR comes down after the effort, so see what happens over the course of the plan!
The first 6 weeks are fairly basic and are of a very low intensity, just to get into the routine and ensure the body and mind prepared for the tough sessions ahead. Try and get out every day if you can during this period.
If you've just finished a big block of training for another event, (For example, you've just completed this plan and want to go through the plan again to get even faster!) this low intensity, low volume period gives your body and mind time to recover and rebuild from the fatigue and stress.
Quality sessions are added in after this first 6 week period and do get tougher/longer over the course of the plan. At this point, the scheduled easy days can also be rest days instead.
The harder sessions are put in on a Wednesday and Sunday but these can be moved by you to suit, although I suggest the very minimum of one easy or rest day between each hard session.
I have schedule an Endurance Run each Saturday, this means you can get it done at parkrun if you like, but don't get embroiled in racing it, stick to your plan! It is a good test of fitness to see how your parkrun time improves for the same Endurance Heart Rate.
In the first 6 weeks and from then on before each 'Hard' session I have included some Plyometric drills as an important warm up.
The plan finishes with a well-deserved Taper for your big event.
Good luck, and most of all, enjoy yourself! If you have any questions or wish to speak to me about coaching or indeed plans for other distances then please get in contact.
Alex
Cycling, Duathlon, Triathlon and Running coaching
Strength and Conditioning
Association of British Cycling Coaches qualified and insured.
Over 15 yrs Coaching and Power Meter experience