Marathon training program and training schedule to train for your first marathon.
If ever you have wanted to train for your first marathon then it is important that you learn how to train for it the right way. Personally I see way too many first-time marathoners hit the pavement and go out and train hundreds of miles without knowing what it is they are doing.
The problem with this is that they lose motivation and more often than not will develop debilitating injuries. I don’t blame these marathon runners for their enthusiasm for wanting to run a marathon because for me it’s one of the most challenging physical challenges that I have ever done. However, I wish more first-time marathoners would learn how to approach running a marathon the right way.
For example, most beginner marathoners I see try to train as many miles as they can in order to get as many miles into their legs. I suppose their rationale is that in order to get fitter and build their endurance levels that they need to train more. If that were the case, most Olympian marathon runners would be out on the pavement from dawn until dusk and even do something like cross-train at night before going to bed.
However, if you had this type of motivation and all you do is train all day then you will start to feel yourself become tired and lethargic during the day. Not only will you start feeling tired but you will also start to find that you can also start to develop niggling injuries.
You see, our body is not designed to work 24/7. It is designed to function for a certain period of time and then rest. That is why if you are a beginner marathon runner that you must incorporate rest days into your training program.
I know it sounds counter-intuitive and I am not saying that you should stop training. All I am saying is that in order to avoid feeling tired and lethargic and from developing injuries that you should make sure you incorporate rest days into your marathon training program.
Ideally, every time that you do a long training session you should follow it up with a rest day. That is why you should not increase your weekly mileage by large amounts because it will tend to make you feel tired and lethargic.
You should also break your training sessions up during the week. For example, you will build your stamina and endurance levels more rapidly if you incorporate both long, semi-long and shorter training sessions into your running schedule.
That means that ideally you should do a long training session on the weekend, followed by a rest day in order to give your muscles the chance to recover. Then typically around Wednesday you should do a semi-long training session again followed by a rest day.
It is these longer training sessions that will not only build your endurance and fitness levels but it will also build your stamina over the marathon distance.
On your other days you should also aim to do 2-3 shorter runs. It is these shorter training sessions that allow you to get speed into your legs to leave you feeling fresh and ready to hit the longer training runs.
Following a simple step-by-step training session like this will have you finish your marathon typically within 3-6 months from starting training. Naturally that means you will have to put some time and effort into your training but the reward is worth it when you follow a marathon training schedule that is proven to work.
