Your first marathon
Finish 42.2 km — 16 weeks, 4 running days a week.
16 weeksSixteen weeks and no time goal. Finishing a first marathon is a project in consistency rather than speed: the long run climbs from 16 km to 32 km, every third week is a cutback, and the last three weeks take the volume away again so you arrive fresh. Nothing in this plan is fast, because for a first marathon nothing needs to be.
Before you start: A completed half marathon, and at least six months of running 30 km or more a week.
The full 16-week schedule
Every session written out. Print this page — the navigation, banners and footer are all stripped from the printed version, leaving the table.
| Week | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Long run |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rest | 30 min steady | Easy 7 km | Rest | Easy 7 km | Cross-train 30–40 min — cycling, swimming or brisk walking. Easy effort. Skip it entirely if the legs are heavy. | Long run 16 km, easy | 16 km |
| 2 | Rest | 35 min steady | Easy 7 km | Rest | Easy 7 km | Cross-train 30–40 min — cycling, swimming or brisk walking. Easy effort. Skip it entirely if the legs are heavy. | Long run 18 km, easy | 18 km |
| 3 | Rest | 3 × 10 min tempo, 2 min jog | Easy 8 km | Rest | Easy 8 km | Cross-train 30–40 min — cycling, swimming or brisk walking. Easy effort. Skip it entirely if the legs are heavy. | Long run 20 km, easy | 20 km |
| 4 Cutback week |
Rest | 30 min steady | Easy 7 km | Rest | Easy 7 km | Cross-train 30–40 min — cycling, swimming or brisk walking. Easy effort. Skip it entirely if the legs are heavy. | Long run 14 km, easy | 14 km |
| 5 | Rest | 2 × 15 min tempo, 3 min jog | Easy 8 km | Rest | Easy 8 km | Cross-train 30–40 min — cycling, swimming or brisk walking. Easy effort. Skip it entirely if the legs are heavy. | Long run 22 km, easy | 22 km |
| 6 | Rest | 40 min steady | Easy 8 km | Rest | Easy 8 km | Cross-train 30–40 min — cycling, swimming or brisk walking. Easy effort. Skip it entirely if the legs are heavy. | Long run 24 km, easy | 24 km |
| 7 Cutback week |
Rest | 30 min tempo | Easy 8 km | Rest | Easy 8 km | Cross-train 30–40 min — cycling, swimming or brisk walking. Easy effort. Skip it entirely if the legs are heavy. | Long run 18 km, easy | 18 km |
| 8 | Rest | 3 × 12 min tempo | Easy 9 km | Rest | Easy 9 km | Cross-train 30–40 min — cycling, swimming or brisk walking. Easy effort. Skip it entirely if the legs are heavy. | Long run 26 km, easy | 26 km |
| 9 | Rest | 45 min steady | Easy 9 km | Rest | Easy 9 km | Cross-train 30–40 min — cycling, swimming or brisk walking. Easy effort. Skip it entirely if the legs are heavy. | Long run 28 km, easy | 28 km |
| 10 Cutback week |
Rest | 30 min tempo | Easy 8 km | Rest | Easy 8 km | Cross-train 30–40 min — cycling, swimming or brisk walking. Easy effort. Skip it entirely if the legs are heavy. | Long run 20 km, easy | 20 km |
| 11 | Rest | 2 × 20 min tempo, 3 min jog | Easy 9 km | Rest | Easy 9 km | Cross-train 30–40 min — cycling, swimming or brisk walking. Easy effort. Skip it entirely if the legs are heavy. | Long run 30 km, easy | 30 km |
| 12 | Rest | 50 min steady | Easy 9 km | Rest | Easy 9 km | Cross-train 30–40 min — cycling, swimming or brisk walking. Easy effort. Skip it entirely if the legs are heavy. | Long run 24 km, easy | 24 km |
| 13 Longest run of the plan |
Rest | 40 min steady | Easy 9 km | Rest | Easy 9 km | Cross-train 30–40 min — cycling, swimming or brisk walking. Easy effort. Skip it entirely if the legs are heavy. | Long run 32 km, easy | 32 km |
| 14 Taper begins |
Rest | 30 min tempo | Easy 7 km | Rest | Easy 7 km | Cross-train 30–40 min — cycling, swimming or brisk walking. Easy effort. Skip it entirely if the legs are heavy. | Long run 22 km, easy | 22 km |
| 15 | Rest | 25 min steady | Easy 6 km | Rest | Easy 6 km | Cross-train 30–40 min — cycling, swimming or brisk walking. Easy effort. Skip it entirely if the legs are heavy. | Long run 14 km, easy | 14 km |
| 16 Goal week |
Rest | 20 min easy with 4 × 20 s strides | Easy 5 km | Rest | Easy 5 km | Cross-train 30–40 min — cycling, swimming or brisk walking. Easy effort. Skip it entirely if the legs are heavy. | Race: marathon | Race: marathon |
How to run this plan
- The long run peaks at 32 km, not 42. Running the full distance in training costs more recovery than it buys confidence.
- Every long run is a fuelling rehearsal: carbohydrate every 40–45 minutes, and fluid to a plan, from 90 minutes onwards.
- Walk breaks at aid stations are a strategy, not a failure. Many first marathons are finished faster with them than without.
- In India, the long runs in an autumn build fall in September and October heat. Start before 05:30 and adjust expectations for pace.
- If something hurts for more than two runs in a row, stop and get it looked at. Sixteen weeks is long enough to lose two to an injury and still finish; it is not long enough to lose six.
Strength work. Strength: 20 min of squats, lunges, single-leg calf raises, glute bridges and planks. This is the injury insurance. Add it on an easy day or straight after an easy run — never the day before a quality session.
The principle underneath the table
Roughly eighty per cent of the running in this plan is easy, and that ratio is not a compromise — it is the mechanism. Easy running builds the aerobic machinery that lets you absorb the hard sessions; hard running that is not paid for by easy running just accumulates fatigue. The most common way an amateur plan fails is that the easy days creep up to a moderate pace, the hard days consequently drift down to the same moderate pace, and the runner spends twelve weeks training one gear.
The second principle is the cutback week. Volume in this plan does not climb monotonically; every third or fourth week it drops. Adaptation happens during recovery, not during the session, and a plan without down weeks is a plan that banks fatigue until something gives.
The third is the taper. The last three weeks reduce volume sharply while keeping a small amount of intensity. It will feel wrong. Do it anyway — nothing you run in the final fortnight can make you fitter, and plenty of it can make you tired.
Questions
How long is the first marathon plan?
16 weeks, running 4 days a week. A completed half marathon, and at least six months of running 30 km or more a week.
What if I miss a week?
One missed week: pick the plan up where you left off, do not try to catch up by doubling anything. Two or more: step back two weeks in the schedule and rebuild. The plan is a progression, and the progression is the part that works — skipping forward to stay 'on schedule' is how people get injured in week ten.
Can I move the days around?
Yes, with one rule: keep at least one easy or rest day between the quality sessions and the long run. The days of the week are arbitrary; the spacing is not.
Do I need a time goal?
No, and for this plan you should not have one. Finishing the distance is the goal; chasing a time at the same moment is the single most common route to an injury or a bad day.
How do I train for this in Indian heat?
Move everything to before sunrise, run the quality sessions by effort rather than pace once it is above about 25°C, and accept that summer paces are slower than winter paces at identical fitness. In the north from November to January, check air quality before every session and take it indoors when readings are bad.
Other marathon plans
All twelve are listed on the training plans page.
Every time, pace and physiological figure on this site is computed from a published formula, and the formula is named and shown on the method page. Nothing here is predicted by a model you cannot check. Race details change — always confirm dates, routes and entry with the official organiser. Training guidance is general information, not individual coaching or medical advice.