14-Week Marathon Training Plan

Runners who already run 5–6 times a week and have done at least a few 12-mile runs. Pick a max weekly mileage between 40 and 100 miles. Every band runs six days a week; from 70 miles the midweek run becomes a medium-long run.

With a marathon, the long run is a workout most weeks, so "one workout" here means the long run carries the quality and Tuesday is easy, except on the weeks the long run is easy, when Tuesday is a full session. Two workouts adds a Tuesday session every week. One is the starting point at 40–50 miles; two from 50.

20 miles for most runners, 22–23 if you are running 70 miles a week or more. For slower runners the plan caps long runs at 3 hours 15 minutes, which matters more than the number: a 4:30 marathoner's 20-miler would take nearly 4 hours, and that costs more than it gives.

One is enough at 40–50 miles a week, two at 50–70, three or four above that. What matters more is what is in them: this plan puts marathon pace in most of its long runs, so you practise running goal pace on tired legs rather than just covering the distance.

Start from what you run now. Your max is your biggest week of the plan. About 15 miles per week above your current average is a sensible build over 14 weeks. If you have had injuries when mileage climbs, pick the lower end and let the long runs do the work.

Three weeks. Three weeks out, cut mileage to about 80% and keep the intensity. Two weeks out, about 65%, with one last continuous session at marathon and half marathon pace. Race week is the big cut: a short race-pace tune-up, a rest day three days out, strides, and a 3-mile shakeout the day before. Cut the amount of hard running, not the easy running.

Skip a missed run rather than squeezing it in later. After a week off for illness, repeat the previous week before moving on. Never make up a missed long run by stacking two in a week. This is where a static plan stops helping: it can't tell whether you should push on, hold, or pull back. That judgment is what a coach adds.

Yes, if you already have a running base of 30–40 miles a week and some 12-mile runs. Fourteen weeks is enough to build the long run, do the marathon-pace work and taper. If you are starting from less, spend a couple of months building mileage first.

Yes. There is a sample PDF at the default mileage with effort cues instead of paces. Enter a recent race time on the page and the PDF and Excel downloads carry your own distances and paces.

This plan is the same every week no matter how your training goes. Toga builds your plan from your own runs, adjusts it when you miss days, get sick or feel great, and coaches you through each workout on your phone and watch.