Training: How many miles per week should I run training for a marathon?

Coach Dean Hebert

A reader named Jill asks a pretty common question. One with lots of misconceptions. This one has the spin of a race called the “Goofy Challenge”, which has runners do both a half-marathon and marathon on back-to-back days. Coach Dean handles this question as part of our training series.

Here’s Jill’s question:

I’m signed up to participate in the Goofy’s Challenge as part of the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend (the half marathon on Saturday and the full marathon on Sunday). I’m not sure how to train for this? I have completed 2 full marathons (2006/2007), I am working on my base of 23 miles a week. I’m not sure how many miles a week I will need to be ready for this “Challenge”. Any advice you can give would be appreciated. Thank you.

On the surface, it all seems simple enough doesn’t it? If you want to run a long race just gradually increase you running until you can run that distance; and more miles are better preparation, right?

Wrong… as you surmise, there is so much more to running and to designing a solid training program!

Weekly mileage is poorly correlated with marathon times and average training pace is better correlated to finishing times. So, let me give you some general guidance but general guidance cannot replace a well designed personalized training program.

Here’s your short answer: As a broad guideline, a beginner should get up to at least 35 miles per week; more experienced runners can run very good marathons (sub-three hours) on 40-55 miles per week.

Here’s the longer answer: Since miles alone are a poor indicator of ability to run a marathon a well designed training program requires a lot of details. A runner’s goals, running history, other races to be run during training, injury history along with the lead time to the race day, paces, distances, workout recovery periods, workout progressions all feed into a solid program. Each element is different for every individual. Each element is different for someone who is running to “better their past times”, “qualify for Boston” or “just finish.”

For those reasons, I’ll offer you an abbreviated rubric I teach to people who go through my coaching program. This will give you the key considerations – beyond mileage:

1. Set a specific, measurable and achievable goal. Write it down. Keep a running log (even entering your workouts on a calendar works just fine) so you can track your progress. This becomes your focus for pacing and offers a feedback system to you on your progress.

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