How To Run a Marathon—Even If You Think You Can't

Congratulations, you caught the marathon bug, and now you have 26.2 miles ahead of you. If you don’t know where to start, I’ve got you covered. I’ve done five marathons, coached plenty of runners in my time with Nike, and once I even raced a horse for 25 miles—just shy of marathon distance—on foot. Even with all my expertise, I still remember how confusing it was to set out to run my first marathon.

To make it as simple for you as possible, I pulled together a super team of experts—scientists, pro runners, everyday runners, and esteemed coaches—to help guide your training. While a lot of folks focus on the miles ahead of the marathon, I’ve found that running a marathon takes much more than that. To succeed, you need to contextualize how marathon training fits into your life. The point of this guide is to provide you with the frameworks for how to succeed in each phase leading up to race day, and how to add the benefits you gain from running the marathon into your life after the finish line.

Step 1: Make the Decision

If you decide you want to run the marathon, you need to commit to it—no flip-flopping; no one foot in, one foot out. You in? Good. From there, it’s important to figure out your “why,” which will increase your chances of success. Take time to really think about this, and make it motivating to you.

Then determine the “what.” When you cross the finish line, what do you want to have accomplished? Are you doing this to truly race and hit a goal time? To enjoy yourself and be satisfied with completing? Or is it something else entirely? Be honest with yourself as this will help you not compare yourself against everyone else during your training, while still holding yourself to the standard you set.

Next, determine “when.” Set a realistic time frame for finishing your marathon. It doesn’t even have to be this year! If you’re trying to go “couch to marathon” and haven’t been exercising much, you should give yourself at least nine months—or even more. If you are relatively “fit” but don’t consider yourself much of a runner, you should give yourself at least five or six months. I know it sounds long, but allowing yourself time can help ensure you reduce your injury risk and enjoy the process. There’s a reason why estimates say that as many as 70% of runners sustain overuse injuries in a given year. You don’t have to rush your way to the finish line.

Step 2: General Prep

You can make your training easier by becoming a better athlete. Upping your “bio-motor” skills such as endurance, flexibility, and strength will help you when the miles get tough. So, go to that yoga class; try Pilates or group strength training; and don’t write off simple walking circuits. “Step one is just getting out moving. It's restructuring the body, and it's just the basic stuff,” says Steve Finley, head coach and founder of Brooklyn Track Club. “For the first 10 to 12 weeks we are building this routine where you actually want to go out and run and you can actually see improvement as you go.”

Even if you already consider yourself in shape, it can be a shock to the system to suddenly throw yourself into high mileage when your body is not yet ready. To avoid this, think of activities aside from running that get your heart rate up but don’t stress your system. You honestly do not need to run more than two times a week during this phase, unless you want to. I personally love to work in activities that still tap my cardiovascular system but are lighter impact—also known as “non-specific conditioning.” Then I add foundational strength training and mobility-based work to the conditioning. Think two runs a week, two strength training sessions, and then fill in the rest with nonspecific conditioning and recovery work as you see fit. You should commit three to six weeks for this phase.

You want the first weeks of your training plan to feel easy. You shouldn’t be getting in shape once you start training for a marathon. While, of course, your fitness for the marathon distance will improve once you start training seriously you should already have a base level of fitness and conditioning.

Step 3: Training

Training for the marathon doesn’t have to be complicated—just find a plan and stick to it. Give yourself 12 to 20 weeks for this. If you have additional resources, feel more than free to get a coach, but there are an abundant number of really exceptional training plans and app-guided runs that will help you complete a marathon. Each one usually will have these key types of runs separated by rest days.

1. Base Runs: These are usually easy-paced, shorter runs that help you build your mileage without overworking your body.
2. Interval Runs: All of the different types of speed workouts. Think hill repeats, tempos, track workouts, etc. These will help improve your running economy and overall aerobic fitness.
3. Long Runs: These usually are done to build your endurance for the marathon distance but at a slower than race pace. You progressively increase the distance done week over week as you lead up to the marathon.

Don’t worry if you end up missing a few runs over the course of your training. You have a life. Coach Finley often runs into this fear with his athletes but he shares that, “if you do 80% to 85% of a plan, you're 100% good to go. Everyone's gonna have a wedding or they're gonna have an event that causes them to miss a run, and that’s fine. Nobody is living in a bubble.” In addition to the runs in your plan, it’s a good idea to include one or two strength or mobility sessions a week, which may help you reduce injury risk and also keep your power up so your running feels easier.

Last but not least, get good shoes. “I wouldn't say choose the brand you think is best or the prettiest or whatever; try on multiple shoes, see which one feels best on your foot as you do a little running in it, and that's most likely the best shoe for that person,” says Iain Hunter, PhD, professor of exercise sciences at BYU. Simple, but science says it works.

Step 4: Lifestyle Adjustments

You’re in the mix now. The first four weeks or so of your marathon training have gone well and you want to keep that momentum. To keep you from feeling overwhelmed, the first few weeks you don’t want to change too many things at once. Once you get into the groove of running this is where you want to pay attention to the things outside of our actual running plan by adjusting your lifestyle.

Look, we are not talking about a complete overhaul of your lifestyle that sucks out all of the joy, but small tweaks can support you. First, you want to look at the core components of your well-being in addition to physical activity, including your sleep and diet. While the research is mixed, and we all have our own personal sleep needs, it is likely the more physically active you are, the more sleep you need. At the very least, you don’t want to be sleep-deprived and try to train for a marathon, as that can increase your risk of injury. Sleep is, to an extent, a protector and extender of exercise performance, and even taking restful breaks during the day can be helpful when training.

Nutrition is also crucial. Many people make the mistake of simply thinking they need to eat more and can eat whatever they want once they start training for a marathon. Sure, you might need more calories, but you need to nourish yourself as well and make sure the food you are eating is nutrient-dense. I’m not promoting any excessive restriction when it comes to food, but you’ll definitely notice the benefits to your energy once you mix in some “healthy” eats during your marathon training.

Next, notice if certain outside aspects are making it harder for you to complete your runs. If there are, dial them in. You don’t need another device to track this necessarily, but one positive component of the wearable revolution with brands like Oura and Whoop is that people are more aware of the outside stressors in their lives that they previously ignored. Try to reduce these.

Step 5: Optimize Your Training

Optimization does not mean everything is perfect, we just see how we can get the most out of the time we spend training and deal with some key components that come with racing a marathon.

As you enter the key stretch of your training plan, be sure to simulate what it will be like when you run the marathon. Test out the gels or any food you will think about consuming during your race or right before it. Figure out the cadence at which you will eat and drink and test this out for at least a couple of your speed runs and long runs before race day. You need your stomach to get used to what that feels like especially if you will be ingesting gels with caffeine. If you know you will have to get up early for your marathon, but won’t actually start running for hours after your wake-up time, practice this. I learned this when I ran the Chicago Marathon versus the New York City Marathon. In Chicago, the start line is very close to the city center so the commute to get there is much shorter. NYC, on the other hand, is a headache. You have to take a ferry and a bus to get to the start line, which means you have to wake up much earlier. Your body likes regularity, rhythms, and knowing what to expect, so if you never practice this during your training there’s a strong chance your race day performance will suffer.

While the basics of every good marathon training plan are relatively universal, your response to them is personal. So don’t be afraid to tweak the plan slightly. If you find that you need an extra recovery day between certain workouts, use it. If the long run works better for you during the week rather than on the weekend, switch it up. You simply want to keep up the intensity and volume of the workouts if you’re new to running. And remember: The easy runs are easy for a reason and the hard ones hard. The mileage increases week over week instead of a lot immediately. Respect the process.

Think about the support team you might need and the tools that can help you complete the training program. I am a big fan of physical therapy, so I typically utilize a physical therapist or consistent massages during my training. This accompanies tools, like a Normatec compression boots or a Hypervolt massage gun to make sure my recovery goes well. You don’t have to invest in expensive gadgets, though. Simply go look on YouTube for a good foam rolling video. Add in a mindfulness practice so you can deal with the mental rigor training has on you. You want to make sure that you fully recover—physically and mentally so that you’re ready to race.

Step 6: Final Stretch

There are a few things you don’t know about until you experience them when it comes to the marathon. The race itself, sure, but also the “taper blues,” wherein some racers feel like they’re in a bit of a funk right before the marathon when the volume and intensity of your training reduces. The idea behind a taper is to let your body have a brief recovery period so your legs are rested and ready for the marathon; however, since your body got used to the training you were doing, reducing the amount of activity can cause mood swings or changes in how your body feels. Not everyone gets this. But I do. And (maybe) you will too.

In the final stretch, you want to trust your training and recognize that your fitness will not fade. You put in the necessary work to improve your fitness, and now it is just a mental game. Your body is recalibrating to give its best when you hit the start line. Be kind to it, don’t be afraid to pep talk to yourself a bit, and make sure you just focus on sleep and proper nutrition. To keep your energy up, you can still do a few intense, speed-based workouts in the days leading up to the race with lower reps to beat the taper blues and feel good on your feet.

Step 7: Race Day

The hay is in the barn. It’s time to eat. The work is done. The point of race day is to go and enjoy the experience and have fun. But there are still a few things to take into account to make sure you hit the finish line smoothly.

One mistake many first-time marathoners commit is that they end up going out way too fast. The point is to feel good (as you can) at mile 20, not to go superfast in the beginning. This is why it pays to have a strategy. I typically employ the “green light, yellow light, red light” race method. Which is you start easy for the first 10 to 15 miles (green light, feels easy and you can hold this pace for a while), then pick it up for the next five or so miles (yellow light, your body is telling you caution), and push to the brink the last six miles (red light, your body is telling you to stop but this is where you push through). I know it sounds absurd, but the marathon really can be a 20-mile jog and a 6.2-mile race.

There’s nothing more joyous than a raucous marathon crowd. I don’t think I would have been able to do well in any of the marathons I raced, especially in New York, without the energy of the crowd. Marathons are often one big party. Feed off the crowd when you need a little bit of a boost. Two good ideas: Run with a shirt that has your name on it so people can cheer you on, and if you have friends or family there, ask them to be at a specified mile marker where you know you’ll need some extra energy.

You practiced your fuel strategy, now use it. There’s no shame in walking, so if you need to slow down or walk while at the water stations, please do that. You lose a substantial amount of water through sweating during a marathon. While sweat rates may vary, you do not want to just wait until you’re thirsty to start drinking water or other fluids. At this point, it will be too late.

This is how you can get the marathon done. Simple, but not easy; you are still going to have to put in the work. And if you choose to do it, sometimes just once is enough. And that’s fine! But you’ve learned a few things about yourself in the process and can take that fortitude into other areas of your life. At the very least, you know nobody can take that marathon medal away from you.