How to Train for a Fall or Winter Marathon

Many people who take up jogging to

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while on a diet, end up getting addicted to the sport and take it to the next level, becoming runners. The first sign of this evolution is signing up for local 5K races. After a few of these, the hook has been set.

The Next Step: Distance Running

Soon, the running neophyte moves up to longer distance road races like the 10K and half marathon and begins to chart progress in a training log. Most runners that get to this stage eventually start looking at the long-distance standard, the full 26.2 mile marathon.

Training for this distance gets a little more complicated than the shorter ones mentioned above. The chance of running injuries increase, nutrition must be addressed a bit closer, and much more time must be comitted for training. It’s also important to establish a training schedule.

The Marathon Training Schedule

The marathon training schedule, or plan, generally begins about 26 weeks out from the target date and is a gradual build-up. Why gradual? To allow the body to adapt while avoiding stress or overuse injuries. The build-up follows the 10 percent rule, which means never increasing either the total weekly mileage or the weekly long run distance by more than 10 percent.

The build-up does have an end, of course. Two weeks out from the race date, the “taper” begins, which means decreasing the total weekly mileage and the distance of the long runs until finally resting completely for one or two days before the race.

At this point, the idea is to maintain the high level of fitness, while at the same time completely charging the batteries. When race day morning arrives, all systems are go!