Beginner runner marathon training: pick a race, train and finish

Beginner runner marathon training, short version: be running regularly before you start, give the build 16 to 20 weeks, run four times a week with almost all of it easy, grow one long run to around 18 to 20 miles, practice your race-day fueling on it, keep lifting once or twice a week, taper for two to three weeks, and start the race slower than feels necessary. Your first marathon goal is to finish. Everything else is a bonus.

That's the plan. What follows is how to pick the right first race, what each part of the build is for, and the mistakes first-timers make most. If you also lift and don't want two apps arguing about your Wednesday, a running plan app that covers the gym too puts both in one schedule.

Beginner runner marathon training: what you're signing up for

A marathon is 26.2 miles (42.195 km). For a first-timer, that means hours on your feet, not minutes. It's a big project, but not a mysterious one. A first-marathon build has six parts:

1. ›A base. You're already running a few times a week before the build starts.
2. ›Easy volume. Most of your running, at a pace you can talk at.
3. ›The long run. One a week, growing slowly. The most important session in the plan.
4. ›A little quality. One session a week at most, and some marathon-pace miles late in the build.
5. ›Strength work. Kept, not chased.
6. ›A taper. Volume comes down in the final weeks so you arrive fresh.

If you want those laid out week by week, with the lifting already placed, that's what a 16-week marathon plan is for. For the full picture of each part, this breakdown of how to train for a marathon is the long version. This post is the first-timer's edition.

Are you ready to start a marathon build?

The marathon build isn't where you learn to run. It's where a runner learns to run far.

A sensible starting point for a first-marathon plan is running three or four times a week, comfortably covering 3 miles or more, ideally with a longer run of 6 to 8 miles already done. Hal Higdon's widely used Novice 1 marathon plan is 18 weeks with four runs a week and a longest run of 20 miles, and that's the scale of commitment you're looking at.

If you're not running yet, the marathon is a project measured in months, not weeks. How long to train for a marathon explained breaks it down by starting point, and from zero it's closer to a year. A half marathon along the way is the best checkpoint you can give yourself.

How to pick your first marathon

Picking the right race does half the work. Things that matter for a first-timer:

• ›Enough weeks. Count back from race day. If you can't fit a base plus a 16 to 20 week build, pick a later race.
• ›A flat, fast-ish course. Big hills are a fine second-marathon problem.
• ›Cool expected weather. Heat makes everything harder, including pacing and fueling.
• ›A generous cut-off. Check the time limit before you enter, especially if you plan to run-walk.
• ›Aid stations you can train with. Find out which sports drink and gels the race serves, and how often.

What's a good first marathon time?

Finishing. Seriously.

You don't have marathon data on yourself yet, and race-time calculators tend to be optimistic for runners who haven't done much long running. If you want context, what is a good marathon time covers the medians and the benchmarks. But your first marathon is the race that sets your baseline, not the one that beats it.

If you've recently raced a half, you can use it as a rough guide to how to pick a realistic race pace. Then run the first half of the marathon a little slower than that pace suggests, and see what's left.

A first-marathon week

A typical week in the middle of the build, for a beginner who also lifts:

The rules behind it:

• ›Most running is easy. Conversational, full sentences, slower than you think "training" should feel.
• ›The long run is a hard day, even when it's slow. Nothing heavy the day before or after.
• ›Lower-body lifting on an easy day, as far from the long run as the week allows.

The long run

The long run is the marathon session. Everything else supports it.

• ›Start from your current longest run, not from where you wish it was.
• ›Add about a mile most weeks, with a shorter long run every third or fourth week.
• ›Peak around 18 to 20 miles, about three weeks out. You don't need to run 26.2 in training. Race day and the taper cover the rest.
• ›Run it easy. Slow is the point. You're building time on feet.
• ›Use it as a dress rehearsal. Same shoes, same breakfast, same gels, same start time if you can.

Fueling: the part beginners skip

For a first marathon, eating is training. Most beginners will be out there well beyond two and a half hours, so fueling moves from optional to essential.

The joint position stand from the ACSM, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and Dietitians of Canada gives these targets (Thomas, Erdman and Burke, 2016):

• ›Before: 1 to 4 g of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight, 1 to 4 hours before exercise longer than an hour.
• ›During: 30 to 60 g per hour for 1 to 2.5 hours, and up to 90 g per hour beyond about 2.5 to 3 hours.
• ›Carb loading: 10 to 12 g per kilogram per day for 36 to 48 hours before events longer than 90 minutes.

Burke et al., 2011 describe the same during-exercise ranges, noting that events over 2.5 hours may benefit from up to 90 g per hour with products that blend different carbohydrate types.

The high end is something you build up to over many long runs. Start lower, see how your stomach copes, and add. For race morning, the timing matters as much as the food, and how long should I eat before a run has the practical version: a familiar carb breakfast, two to three hours before, if your start time allows.

This is general guidance, not a personal prescription. If you have diabetes, a GI condition or anything else clinical, talk to a doctor or registered dietitian first.

Keep lifting, but less

You don't have to quit the gym for your first marathon. You do have to let running lead.

• ›Two sessions a week early on, one or two in the peak weeks.
• ›Heavy-ish weights, low volume. A few hard sets of squats, deadlifts or lunges, plus calves and hips.
• ›No PR attempts. You're staying strong, not peaking.
• ›Lower body nowhere near the long run.

There's a reason to keep it: a systematic review by Blagrove and colleagues (2018) found strength training improved running economy by 2–8% in most of the studies that measured it, without negatively affecting body composition. Good marathon strength workout planning follows the same rule as everything else here: when before what.

The taper

The last two to three weeks, volume comes down. A meta-analysis by Bosquet et al. (2007) found a two-week taper cutting volume by 41–60%, while keeping intensity and frequency, was the most effective approach across the studies it pooled. Many marathon plans stretch it to three weeks.

You'll feel restless and slightly sluggish. Everyone does. Do not add a hard session to feel better.

Race day for first-timers

• ›Nothing new. Not shoes, not breakfast, not a gel flavor from the expo.
• ›Start slower than you want. The first few miles should feel almost silly. You'll pass people later.
• ›Fuel early. Take your first carbs well before you feel you need them, the way you practiced.
• ›Walk if you need to. A planned run-walk is a perfectly good way to finish a marathon. An unplanned walk from mile 18 is less fun.

If your race is too soon

Short on time? Can you train for a marathon in 12 weeks has a short answer: yes if you're already running regularly and have done a half recently, and not comfortably if you're starting from little. Options if you're behind: drop to the half if the event has one, defer if your race allows it, or plan a run-walk from the start.

And the question every first-timer secretly asks: can you skip the training? The honest answer on a marathon with no training is that some people finish, but it hurts in ways a few months of easy running would have spared you, and the risk of getting hurt goes up. Train.

Common first-marathon mistakes

• ›Growing the long run too fast. Patience is the plan.
• ›Every run at medium effort. Too tired for the long run, not fast enough on race day.
• ›Never practicing fueling. Then trying four gels for the first time at mile 10.
• ›Heavy squats the day before the long run. You'll feel it at mile 12.
• ›Going straight back to hard training afterwards. Give yourself a couple of easy weeks. If something hurts beyond normal soreness, see a professional.

How exrsz handles this

exrsz builds a periodized marathon plan backward from your race date, using your level, the days you can train and your equipment, with running and lifting in one plan so heavy legs and long runs don't collide. It adapts each week to how training went and reshuffles missed sessions so the build still lands on race day.

FAQ

How long should beginner runner marathon training take?

If you're already running a few times a week, most first-marathon plans are 16 to 20 weeks. From no running at all, allow closer to a year so you can build a base first.

How many days a week should a beginner run for a marathon?

Four runs a week is a sensible floor for a first marathon, with most of them easy and one long run.

How long should my longest run be before my first marathon?

Most beginner plans peak at 18 to 20 miles, about three weeks before race day. You don't need to run the full 26.2 miles in training.

How many carbs should I take during my first marathon?

The ACSM, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and Dietitians of Canada position stand gives 30 to 60 g per hour for 1 to 2.5 hours, and up to 90 g per hour beyond about 2.5 to 3 hours, built up gradually in training (Thomas, Erdman and Burke, 2016).

Can I keep lifting during my first marathon build?

Yes. Keep one or two sessions a week, lower the volume, skip PR attempts, and keep heavy lower-body work away from the long run.