Free Marathon Training Plans For All Abilities

Our plans have been refined and road-tested by tens of thousands of runners, and each comes in various formats (printable file, PDF, Google Sheet / Excel) with accompanying guidance notes. 

Pick a training plan that reflects your current state of running fitness, the amount of time you have available, and your marathon goals.

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What Is The Best Training Plan for Beginners?

If you have plenty of time, we would highly recommend the 6 month training plan. It’s designed so very gradually build up the mileage volume, so you shouldn’t get overwhelmed by the crazy workload.

Why Is There No Speed Work in the Beginner / Novice Plans?

Speed-based sessions (interval training, repeats, Yassos, etc.) are excellent for improving your marathon pace, but they add a lot of intensity to an already busy marathon agenda. 

For novice runners, adding speedy sessions exponentially increases the risk of injury – so we don’t include it in our novice training plans.

Keep reading to get the low-down on how the plans work, who makes them, how to pick the right one, and other training tips.

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Marathon Training FAQs And Guidance

• How Long Is A Marathon?
• How Long Does It Take To Train For A Marathon?
• How Far Do You Need To Run During Marathon Training?
• How Often Do You Need To Run To Train For A Marathon?
• What Should I Do If I Get Injured When Training For A Marathon Race?
• What Kind Of Strength Training Should I Be Doing On Cross Training Days?
• What Shoes Should I Be Wearing?
• How Do I Choose A Training Plan?
• How To Customize Our Marathon Training Programs?
• Who Has Designed These Training Plans?
• How Do These Plans Compare With Other Marathon Running Plans Available Online?
• Do You Have A Marathon Training App?
• If These Plans Are Really Free, How Do You Make Money?
• Training Plan Elements Explained

How Long Is a Marathon?

A marathon is 26.2 miles or 42.195 kilometers.

How Long Does It Take To Train For A Marathon?

You should spend at least three months training for your marathon, although most good training plans are generally four to five months in length. This allows sufficient time to build up the required mileage base, without ramping up too quickly.

(we’ve got a 3-month plan above!)

How Far Do You Need To Run During Marathon Training?

In terms of distance, most marathon training programs are unlikely to have you running much more than 20 miles (32.2 km) in a single run during your training. You will not usually run the full marathon race distance until race day.

In terms of weekly mileage, most plans start with between 10 to 20 miles (16-32 km) per week, depending on running ability. Beginner plans generally reach around 35-40 miles per week (56-64 km), but highly advanced runners may run 100+ miles a week during their training.

How Often Do You Need To Run To Train For A Marathon?

To effectively train for a marathon, your program should include four to five runs per week, although some plans may only include three runs per week. One of these runs should be a longer run that gradually increases in distance each week, and the others should be shorter training runs.

Most good schedules will also include an additional day of cross-training per week to help keep the body flexible, strong, and prevent injury.

All of our plans come with accompanying guidance notes, as well as links to many more of the marathon resources that we’ve got on the site!

Related: Marathon Time Calculator: Predict Your Marathon Finish Time

What Should I Do If I Get Injured When Training For A Marathon Race?

The most important point is to never run through your injury; you may worsen any damage done and then have to ditch your marathon goals.

The good news is that most common running injuries can be diagnosed quickly and easily by a specialist, and often a rehab plan can be put in place that has minimal impact on your actual training plan.

Cross-training is something we’re huge advocates of – both for injury avoidance and performance, as well as adding volume to your training. All of our plans come with at least one cross-training day (though if you can squeeze in 2, even better).

In short, most injuries shouldn’t derail your race altogether as long as they are addressed early on.

As always – prevention is better than cure. Therefore, try a gentle 5-minute warm-up before starting your running workouts to reduce the chance of injury. This is particularly important for speed work or higher-intensity workouts that have a higher risk of injury.

What Kind Of Strength Training Should I Be Doing On Cross Training Days?

Cross training – and specifically strength training, or resistance training, is a huge tool in your marathon training toolkit.

Not only does it help ward off weaknesses and imbalances that can lead to injury, but also makes you stronger, more powerful, and faster.

For the most bang for your buck, we recommend lifting weights. But, even if you just do bodyweight resistance workouts, you’ll notice a huge difference.

See Strength Training For Runners for our full guide on which specific muscles, exercises, and types of workout you should focus on.

What Shoes Should I Be Wearing?

Getting a good pair of running shoes is critical to marathon success.

You don’t need the latest, carbon-plated, $300 performance shoes.

But equally, those old worn trainers in your closet probably aren’t ideal.

Here’s our complete guide on how to choose running shoes and here are some recommended marathon running shoes to check out.

One thing to note is that we wouldn’t recommend buying a new pair of running shoes just before race day, as it can take a while to ‘wear in’ running shoes. In general, running shoes should be replaced after approximately every 300-500 miles of use.

How Do I Choose A Plan?

Deciding which marathon program is right for you is a personal choice – it depends on what your current running ability is, how long you have until your marathon, and what your marathon goals are.  

Check out the notes alongside each plan above to help you choose.

How To Customize Our Training Programs?

At Marathon Handbook, we aim to help you to run far.  

With that in mind, all our plans are completely free and fully customizable.  

Do other commitments mean that you can only train on certain days?  

Need to trim a couple of weeks off the schedule?

No problem, edit the plan as you see fit.  

Our training plans come in Google Sheets, PDF, and Printable formats; feel free to grab a copy of the Google Sheet, edit it, download it to Excel, print it – do whatever you want!