The three crucial marathon training phases for race-day success

Completing a marathon is a formidable challenge. Runners must navigate three distinct marathon training phases to successfully tackle this physically demanding task, which requires careful preparation and commitment. With the guidance of a personal running coach, and following a program that ensures all the stages are completed at the proper time, a good race day is guaranteed.

The foundational phase involves gradually building endurance through a structured training plan. It is important to have a personal running coach who understands this concept.

Increasing mileage progressively is crucial, allowing the body to adapt while minimising the risk of injury. Cross-training activities, such as cycling or swimming, can also be beneficial during this phase to improve overall strength and flexibility.

Once the body is well-adjusted to the easier training runs and feels ready to move to the next marathon training phase, runners typically start incorporating a mix of long runs, tempo workouts, and interval training to enhance their cardiovascular fitness and stamina.

As the race date approaches, the tapering phase becomes vital. This phase involves reducing mileage and intensity to allow the body to recover fully and store energy for the big day.

Proper rest, sleep, and mental preparation are also crucial during this period. Taking time to visualise the race and develop a pacing strategy can enhance confidence and focus.

In all these marathon training phases, runners should ensure they fuel their bodies properly for optimal performance. They should focus on a balanced diet of carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and healthy fats.

Hydration also plays a critical role—runners need to be mindful of their water and electrolyte intake, especially during long training sessions.

During training runs, experimenting with different nutrition strategies, such as energy gels or sports drinks, can help establish what works best for the individual on race day.

By carefully navigating these three phases—gradual mileage loading, race-specific workouts, and tapering—runners can position themselves for success in completing a marathon.

Nestled in the breathtaking highlands of Kenya, I have had the incredible opportunity to train alongside some of the world’s elite marathon runners and become their personal running coach.

As we prepare, with these elites, for prestigious events like the Chicago, London, Sydney, Boston, Paris, Toronto Waterfront and the Philadelphia Marathon, I am compelled to share our training methods.

As a personal running coach to several runners, my goal is to empower runners everywhere, regardless of their location, to adopt strategies that can help them run with the grit and efficiency of a Kenyan.

It’s important to understand that marathon training is structured into three distinct phases, each designed to progressively build strength, endurance, and speed.

Marathon Training Phases

Gradual Mileage Loading

At this stage of your training, the primary focus is on accumulating as much easy mileage as possible without hastily pushing your limits. The goal is to gradually enhance your overall fitness and condition your legs and feet for extended periods of running.

Begin this phase by incorporating easy runs into your routine 3 to 4 times weekly. Aim to progress toward running 5 to 6 days a week. Ideally, you should reach a point where you can comfortably complete runs lasting between 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes each morning, alongside a longer 2-hour easy run every weekend.

It’s crucial that these runs feel easy. This will allow you to finish each session with enough energy in reserve, ready for the next day.

As you become more accustomed to this rhythm, you can gradually introduce one speed session or hill workout each week.

However, it is essential to ensure that these workouts are not overly intense; the focus should remain on maintaining a manageable level of effort to support your overall development without risking injury or burnout. This thoughtful approach will lay a solid foundation for your future training.

Your feedback to your personal running coach will inform them when it is time to move on to the next marathon training phase.

The Race-Specific Workouts Phase  

About 10 weeks out from your race, it’s time to dive into more demanding workouts. Starting this intense training closer to your race is key, as beginning too early can lead to injuries, illness, or exhaustion.

In Kenya, the training programs are quite similar, so it’s less about the group you choose and more about the consistency of the training regimen. Training days are nearly uniform across the board: Mondays are dedicated to hill runs, Tuesdays focus on track intervals, Thursdays are for speed workouts on the road—whether that be fartleks or measured distances—Saturdays are reserved for long runs, and Sundays are for recovery.

While some runners may prefer to shuffle their workouts—for instance, moving long runs from Saturday to Thursday and placing speed workouts on Saturdays—that’s perfectly fine. Flexibility is essential; you should accommodate for mock races, fun runs, or how your body feels on any given day.

Before every workout, athletes must warm up with 15 to 20 minutes of easy running or callisthenics to prepare their bodies. Following each hard morning workout, you’ll engage in an easy run for 40 to 50 minutes in the evening. This approach ensures you’re well-trained and ready for race day.

Hill workouts

In most training groups in Kenya, hill work is the first workout of the week. But no matter when your personal running coach schedules the workout, it’s very important to do at least one each week to build strength and stamina.

Depending on how close athletes are to doing their races, there are different ways of doing hill workouts. 

Most athletes start incorporating hill runs during the loading stage. Hill workouts during this stage are not about the number of repetitions but just the overall amount of time spent running up and down the hills—typically around one hour.

With time, as you get closer to peaking, hill workouts start to incorporate timed sprints on shorter measured distances on a hill. These can be 400m, 200m or 100m sprints up the hill, repeating 10-20 times depending on the length of the sprint. 

Track intervals

This is usually the most challenging workout of the week, as the trick to attaining great speed for a marathon lies in great track interval workouts.

Most athletes call these intervals “lapping” because they consist mostly of 1600m, 2,000m, and 3,000m hard repetitions around the 400m track, with a cool-down period between sets.

The pace is typically brutally fast, much faster than marathon race pace. The total distance done in one session is normally between 12km to 20km.

At the end of these “lapping” sessions, athletes do a few shorter 200m to 400m sprints before cooling down. There’s no better workout for helping build power and speed.

Road Speed – Fartlek

Fartlek, a Swedish term meaning’ speed play’, is a popular speed workout among long-distance athletes in Kenya.

It’s a versatile and effective workout that doesn’t require a measured portion of the road or a flat surface.

Common fartlek workouts include 1 minute fast, 1 minute slow runs or 2 minutes fast and 1 minute slow repetitions. The total length of the run is usually 40 to 50 minutes, making it a great way to improve your speed and endurance.

Road Speed – Tempo Runs

Tempo runs are runs that mimic a race day. You want a good course for this run. There is usually a favourite route at every training spot in Kenya, and every one or two weeks, athletes will try to run fast and set a new course record on the route. You want to be running at a hard pace for around 1 hour, so most courses in Kenya are 16km to 18km.

But tempo runs are really about time and how long you want to run at this gruelling pace, so sometimes athletes decide to warm up for 20 minutes, then run a hard 40 minutes. At the end of this run you should feel tired, like you’ve just run a race.

Road Speed – Road Intervals

Alternatively, athletes can look for a flat and straight 1km or 2km section on the road where they can do the intervals. You run faster than race pace, rest for a couple of minutes and then repeat.

Long runs

In most of the training camps I have trained in here in Kenya, a long run is done once every other week, and a semi-long run is done in between. Long runs are usually 35km to 43km, while the semi-long runs are usually 25km to 30km. 

Water is crucial during long runs. If you’re consuming 300-600ml (10-20 oz) every hour, you’ll need more water than you can carry with you.

Running groups here will have a vehicle drive along the course, distributing water as athletes need it. Knowing that water is just right there when they need it and that there is a vehicle to hop into when the going gets tough, athletes are encouraged to give it their best efforts while training and also to run longer than they would have done without a vehicle by their side.

For runners I coach online as their personal running coach, they have individualised ways of ensuring they meet their targets.

Easy days

Other days in between the tough workouts are usually one-hour easy runs in the morning and 40—to 50-minute easy runs in the evening. Often, this will be Wednesday after the hard track session on Tuesday. 

Most of the runners I coach online as their personal running coach often underestimate the power of easy runs.

The Tapering Phase

The tapering phase marks the final and crucial stage of the three marathon training phases. It focuses on allowing the body to recover and rejuvenate after weeks of intense preparation.

This phase generally begins two to three weeks before race day and involves a strategic reduction of training volume, often up to 50% from the peak of your training cycle.

The primary goal during tapering is to ensure you arrive at the starting line feeling fresh and energised.

During this period, runners should refrain from undertaking long runs exceeding 25 kilometres. While maintaining intensity in speed workouts is still encouraged, these sessions should be shorter in duration and feature fewer repetitions.

For example, interval training might shift from longer repeats at race pace to shorter, sharper efforts, thus keeping the neuromuscular system engaged without overtaxing your recovery.

It’s essential to gauge how your body responds to this tapering approach, as different strategies may suit different athletes. Some runners may fear that scaling back their mileage will hinder their speed on race day, leading them to prefer a more continuous training routine that extends all the way up to the marathon.

Ultimately, the effectiveness of a tapering strategy often becomes clear only through experience; participating in a few races can help you identify the taper that best optimises your performance.

In this critical phase, I often advise the runners I work with as a personal running coach to prioritise listening to their bodies’ signals. The aim is to feel revitalised on the morning of the race, physically prepared and mentally confident to tackle the distance ahead.

With the right balance of rest and intensity, you’ll be equipped to maintain strength and resilience throughout the race, ensuring you cross the finish line at your best.