Week 1: Building a Strong Foundation
Starting your training from a position of readiness rather than playing catch-up is non-negotiable for marathon success. Before diving into marathon-specific training, you need a solid foundation that can carry you through 15+ weeks of progressive training. This includes base fitness, physical preparedness, proper habits and routines, and mental resilience.
Building Your Aerobic Base
Before you start marathon training you should be comfortable running multiple times per week without excessive fatigue or soreness. If easy runs feel hard or recovery between sessions is incomplete, you're not ready for marathon-specific training.
Coaching Tip:
There is no set number of days, mileage, or time on feet that you need to hit to be “ready” to start marathon training—this will all be athlete-specific. However, a decent rule of thumb is that you should be comfortable at a mileage near 50% of your anticipated peak mileage in marathon training.
Workouts in Foundation Building
Most, if not all, of your running should be at an easy, conversational pace. Once easy runs feel easy it is a good idea to start adding some short, quality workouts and strides 1-2 times a week. Your workouts should be controlled and conservative efforts, especially during this base building phase.
Coaching Tip:
I often tell athletes to aim for an effort level 1-2 gears below where they might want to be or think they should be for a given interval. Think of a 7/10 effort and you could do several more reps at that effort level if needed. If you are almost frustrated by how easy the workout feels, and you want to do more or go faster, that is a very good sign that you are ready for the true marathon build.
Injury Maintenance and Prevention
This phase is a critical time to address lingering issues, imbalances, or movement dysfunction. Physical therapy, corrective exercises, and building basic strength are investments that pay dividends when training intensity increases.
Coaching Tip — Key Action Items:
Take an honest inventory of nagging aches, pains, or movement restrictions
Schedule appointments with physical therapists or other sports medicine professionals
Implement a strength routine focusing on glutes, core, and single-leg stability
Focus on mobility in problem areas (hips, ankles, thoracic spine)
Establish pre-run and post-run routines that include dynamic warm-up, cool-down, and recovery
Establishing a Training Routine
Consistency is key to successful marathon training. As you layer in mileage, workouts, and injury prevention, developing a routine helps ensure you are maintaining that consistency and balancing all elements of training. The foundation building phase is a great time to establish a routine with a manageable load so you aren’t scrambling to figure it out once training intensifies.
Coaching Tip:
If possible, find a group of runners with a similar running pace and training schedule. Accountability is a great way to establish a routine, develop good habits and build consistency.
Extra Coaching Tip:
Marathon training cannot be considered separate from the rest of your life. It will apply stress to your personal and professional life, and your personal and professional life will return the favor. A good training routine is built to account for anticipated life stressors and also to allow flexibility when the unexpected arises. For examples, have a back up plan to move your workout from Tuesday to Wednesday if you have a work dinner pop up on a Monday night. Plan your down week with no long run workout when you are taking a long weekend trip to the mountains.
Mental (and Emotional) Preparation
Marathon training is physical, mentally, and emotionally grueling. It is critical to start not only physically prepared but also mentally fit and emotionally resilient. This is definitely the most difficult and athlete-specific piece of foundation building to describe, but you should enter the marathon cycle confident in your ability to handle the training, excited to experience the process, and curious about what you can accomplish.
Coaching Tips—Mental Skills to Develop:
Effort Awareness: Our minds obsess over pace and distance, but our body perceives effort and time. Learn to distinguish between different effort levels without relying solely on pace.
Patience: You can’t force fitness and you REALLY can’t force speed, but if you train where you are, and not where you want to be, you are far more likely to get there. Embrace the long-term process rather than seeking immediate validation (more on this later).
Flexibility: I highlighted the importance of building a routine, but life happens and unexpected issues arise. It is great to have structure and training goals, but allowing things to go a little differently than planned is a major key to staying healthy and seeing progress.
Consistency Over Perfection: Not every workout is going to be a banger. Learn to let go of bad days and trust that if you keep showing up you will see progress. I am particularly averse to “make up” or “prove it” workouts after a bad workout. This is far more likely to send you into a spiral rather than provide reassurance. Just flush the bad day and move on to the next one as planned.
Foundation Building is Non-negotiable
If circumstances prevent adequate foundation building before your planned marathon cycle, incorporate it into your training rather than skipping it. Better to start your cycle with a longer base phase and shorter peak than to build on unstable ground.
Coaching Tip–What to do if it's training week 1 and you DON’T have a foundation:
Add a base cycle and shorten the marathon training cycle
Start with lower mileage than originally planned and build more gradually
Delay the introduction of marathon-specific workouts for a few weeks
Adjust your expectations for the marathon
The Cost of Skipping Foundation
Runners who skip proper foundation building often experience:
Higher injury rates
Inability to handle planned training loads
Mental burnout from constant struggle
Poor race performance despite significant effort
Need for an extended recovery period post-marathon