You’ve set yourself a big goal – and we’ll be with you every step of the way. Over the next few weeks, you’ll follow a smart, adaptive training plan tailored to your fitness level, your schedule, and your personal goal.
What do you need? Curiosity, a bit of patience, and the willingness to show up – even when it gets tough. This plan will prepare you not just physically, but mentally for the challenge ahead.
Ready to go? Lace up – it’s time to begin! Here is a quick introduction of what you can expect. You can always come back to this overview. You find it in the Enduco Knowledge Base in your Profile or on the enduco Website.
Overview
Your marathon training plan is divided into several progressive phases that systematically guide you toward peak performance. Each phase consists of individually tailored weeks of training and recovery, with a clear training objective and targeted intensities to help you improve step by step.
The structure of the plan follows a proven sequence – depending on your preparation time:
Base, Build, Peak, Pre-Competition, Taper – and finally, Race Day. Each phase serves a specific purpose and has its own focus and duration:
Base Phase: Building the Foundation
This phase lays the groundwork for your marathon. The focus is on long, easy endurance runs to improve your aerobic capacity, cardiovascular function, and metabolic efficiency. At the same time, muscles, tendons, and ligaments gradually adapt to the increasing load, gaining the stability required for the training ahead.
Supplementary work includes hill sprints, strides, and short HIT sessions. These develop muscular resilience, improve running form, and mentally and physically prepare you for more intense training later.
Build Phase: Developing Capacity
Training becomes more targeted and intense in this phase. The focus is on improving your VO₂max to enhance overall performance capacity. At the same time, you develop speed endurance and train your body to run efficiently and steadily even under prolonged stress – a key foundation for the marathon-specific work that follows.
Key sessions include VO₂max intervals, sweet spot runs, and tempo efforts just below threshold – plus your first marathon-specific long runs, designed to progressively condition your body for the full race duration.
Peak Phase: Building Race Toughness
This phase is all about marathon-specific fitness. You now train at intensities around your anaerobic threshold – exactly the effort level required in the race.
A central component of this phase are specific long runs that include marathon pace segments, pace changes, or even simulations of parts of the race. These sessions build muscular endurance and help your body stay efficient under fatigue.
Pre-Competition Phase: Final Sharpening
Just before race day, your training gets a final polish. Intensity stays high enough to maintain your fitness, while overall volume is reduced.
The last long runs still include race-specific segments – ideal for fine-tuning your nutrition, pacing, and fueling strategy under realistic conditions.
Taper Phase: Reduced Volume, Peak Form
In this final phase before the marathon, training volume is significantly reduced while moderate intensity is maintained. The focus is on active recovery and mental readiness.
Your body can fully recover without losing fitness. You arrive at the starting line fresh, focused, and fully prepared – ready to run your 42.195 km with confidence and strength.
Specific Workouts for Marathon Demands
The marathon places unique physiological demands on the body: you must sustain a high, steady pace below your threshold for an extended period – efficiently, in control, and resistant to fatigue. To develop this “durability” – your ability to stay strong and economical deep into the race – the training plan includes specific sessions that simulate this challenge:
Base C: Strides to improve technique and cadence, plus longer VO₂max intervals to boost maximum oxygen uptake.
Build: Alternating Fat Max and Sweet Spot intervals – ideal for improving metabolic efficiency and preparing for sustained efforts.
Peak: Combinations of Sweet Spot and Fat Max work – designed to build race-specific endurance and stability under fatigue.
Pre-Competition: Long Sweet Spot blocks mixed with Race Pace – these prepare you for the pace and demands of race day, while also providing the ideal opportunity to test fueling, gels, and your race-day rhythm.
These targeted sessions ensure you’re not only fast but also consistent and efficient on race day.
Conclusion: Your Marathon Plan
The structured progression of your marathon training plan ensures you’re prepared for the demands of the marathon in a systematic, sustainable, and balanced way. Each phase builds on the last, developing your endurance, efficiency, and fatigue resistance, and aligning your fitness with the unique challenges of 42.195 km. Through a mix of base conditioning, high-intensity intervals, and marathon-specific long runs, you’ll be physically and mentally ready to master your race – strong, steady, and confident.