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What to expect during Marathon training

Dear Athletes! A marathon is not just 4x10km or 2 back-to-back half-marathons! Gettin' ready demands commitment and a balanced training between strength, speed work, mobility, nutrition, hydration, sleep, building-capacity, stamina and long runs! Here's what to expect! Yours, Coach Katharina 🌺


Key workouts in marathon training
Key workouts in marathon training

An early start is advantageous to build up the training load gradually and to reduce the risk of injuries. To exemplify marathon training this article covers the three main phases. The number and duration of sessions depend mainly on your experience and training history.


During the entire period of marathon training it is of the essence to build in adequate sleep and recovery sessions as well as dialing in proper nutrition and hydration that is aligned with each session. Be aware of what and when you eat and what it does to your performance and feeling and test race nutrition in various training situations. Yoga, mobility and a massage gun should be incorporated at least 2-3 times per week. Run technique sessions are good advice, especially in the beginning. Make sure you're listening to your body and supporting yourself by being ready for the next day!


Phase one is all about building aerobic capacity by enlarging the number of capillaries and mitochondria, hormones and enzymes accordingly and by growing your heart capacity. In other words: you want to raise the ceiling to be able to grow later! Further your muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments and joints should be prepared for long runs. This is how:

  • hill runs of up to 30 seconds with walk-downs to recover

  • VO2max sessions with bouts of 30 seconds all-out runs and recovering easy jogs (1-2 minutes)

  • Strength sessions with a 4 Set and 6-5-4-3 reps pattern (around 70% of 1RM)

  • main exercises: squat, deadlift, hip-thrusts and lots of core strength (abs and lower! back)

  • base endurance runs of up to 2 hours with very low intensity


Phase two is ideally the longest phase, but also the toughest one as I call it the Stamina phase. Tempo runs, threshold runs, above threshold runs, half-marathon and marathon pace sessions from 1km to 5km interval sessions with less and less recovery in between each interval dominate this phase. Depending on the athlete I tend to include some hill and VO2max runs in this phase again. This is how:


  • 4-12x 1000m or 2000m at threshold pace with 400m recovery runs

  • progressive runs starting at an easy base and leading up to over-threshold pace varying between 1 and 5 km bouts

  • long runs including half-marathon or marathon pacing

  • base endurance runs with very low intensity around 2 hours, sometimes a bit longer

  • Strength sessions with a 3-4 Set and 5-4-3-2 reps pattern (around 80% of 1 RM)


Phase three is a mixture of very long sessions with marathon pacing and high intensity intervals to incorporate the speed that has been built up in phase one and two. Nutrition and sleep become more and more important. This is how:

  • Strength sessions with a 3-4 Set and 4-3-3-2 reps pattern (around 90% of 1 RM)

  • long runs lead into marathon pace

  • in combination with very low intensity base endurance runs

  • sessions up and sometimes over 30km should be included

  • the spice comes from intervals of 400m with 3-4 minute rest


Remember: every athlete is different. First and foremost it depends on where you're coming from. Analyze your entire training history, work and life situation and build a plan that excites you but is still doable and keeps you healthy and motivated!


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