Is your goal to run a marathon in 3:00? If so this plan is for you!
This 12-week marathon training plan was created by Joe Friel using the principles described in his popular article, The Fast Marathoner. You may find this article to preview the specific details of the plan by going to www.trainingbible.com and clicking on Free Resources. (more...)
In order to reasonably assume that you are capable of running a marathon in 3:00 with proper training it is assumed that you have run other marathons within 20 minutes of this goal time or have run a 10k in the past year in at least 38:30 or a half marathon in at least 1:26. If that is not the case then you may need to reconsider your goal and purchase a different goal-time plan.
This plan is based on 3 weeks of increasing intensity load specific to your marathon goal followed by 4 days of recovery and testing before resuming training for the next 4-week period. Alternative cross-training workouts are suggested for recovery days along with easy run options. Weekly volume varies from 5 hours per week to 8 hours per week. Most weeks are around 7 hours. There is a day off every Monday to allow for recovery and rejuvenation.
If you have training questions, you may post them on the Training Peaks Athlete Forum and they will be answered by a TrainingBible coach. On purchasing the plan you will receive an email within a few days giving you more detailed information on assistance should you have training problems along the way.
You should start this plan 12 weeks prior to your marathon. It will guide you day by day to your goal. All you need to do is follow the daily workout schedule. It has worked for many runners over the past 7 years.
All the best for your training and racing! --Joe Friel