Active.com has an excellent series of articles on the best six month training schedule for a marathon. Many runners have the goal of running a marathon one day, but do not have a good idea about how to train for one. There are so many variables: How much mileage per week? How many long runs and how long should they be? How many speed workouts should I run and what type of workouts are appropriate? Fartleks? Tempo runs?
The article answers these questions and explains that a proper training base for a marathon should take at least six months. Runners could probably finish a marathon after 10 to 12 weeks of training, but six months is really the best amount of time to get the most out of the.
The article states that the six month training schedule is targeted at two types of marathon runners:
- Those who have been removed from the sport due to injury or a prolonged rest period of six months or more (i.e. an honest self-assessment reveals that you’re out of shape); and
- Those who are relatively new to the sport and have been running for less than a year
The article is worth a read if you fall into either of these categories or just have a general interest in running a marathon.
