Training for a marathon is a serious undertaking. Covering 26.2 miles pushes your aerobic system, muscular endurance and energy reserves to their limits, which means success comes from more than simply increasing mileage. Smart marathon training balances volume, intensity, recovery and nutrition so you arrive on the start line prepared, and reach the finish line strong.

Whether you’re training for your first marathon or refining your approach to chase a faster time, this guide outlines how to structure your training, fuel your efforts and avoid the most common mistakes runners make along the way.

Before diving into how you should train, it is important to know how long you should train for, so you have enough time to build your body and get marathon-ready. Most runners will need between 12 and 20 weeks to prepare properly for a marathon. The exact length depends on your current fitness, running background and race goals.

If you can already run comfortably for 60–90 minutes, you’re in a good position to begin structured marathon training. What matters most is gradual progression, increasing training load slowly enough to allow your body to adapt without breaking down.

The majority of marathon training should feel comfortable. Easy runs build the aerobic base that underpins endurance performance, strengthening your heart, lungs, muscles and connective tissue.

These runs should be genuinely easy, allowing you to hold a conversation and recover well for harder sessions. Runners often make the mistake of pushing these days too hard, which compromises recovery and increases injury risk over the course of a long training block.

Consistency here matters far more than pace, which is similar to running nutrition, as eating well throughout the training block is very important. 

Long runs are the backbone of marathon training. They develop the physical and mental resilience required to sustain effort for several hours, which is essential for practising race-day strategies.

Over the course of your training block, long runs will gradually increase in duration, often peaking between 18 and 22 miles for most runners. These sessions aren’t just about distance as they’re an opportunity to practise pacing, hydration and fuelling.

This is where nutrition becomes critical. Any run lasting longer than 75–90 minutes will significantly deplete glycogen stores, making carbohydrate intake essential. Training with fuel helps maintain effort levels and conditions your gut for race day.

To support you on these long runs, it is definitely worth taking energy supplements with you to ensure you do not hit the wall. For example, there are energy chews and energy gels which can be carried with you to supply carbohydrates to your body when you need them most

While easy miles and long runs build endurance, marathon-pace and tempo sessions teach your body how to sustain effort efficiently.

Marathon pace running helps you become familiar with the rhythm and feel of your target race pace, improving pacing discipline and confidence. Tempo runs, typically performed slightly faster than marathon pace, raise your lactate threshold and make race pace feel more manageable.

These sessions should be challenging but controlled. Overreaching here can lead to accumulated fatigue that undermines your overall training.

Tempo runs improve your ability to sustain faster paces without fatiguing.

• Tempo runs: “comfortably hard” effort

• Marathon pace runs: sections at goal race pace

• Improve lactate threshold and pacing discipline

Although the marathon is an endurance event, incorporating speed and hill work improves running economy and strength. Shorter, faster efforts recruit muscle fibres that are often neglected during steady running and help maintain form as fatigue sets in late in the race.

Strength and conditioning play a similar role. Strong glutes, hamstrings and core muscles support efficient movement and reduce injury risk, particularly during high-mileage phases. Even one or two short strength sessions per week can make a meaningful difference. To help with muscle building, we have protein bars which are filled with 20g of complete protein, 5g Type I & III bovine collagen and zero artificial ingredients.

Most marathon plans follow a predictable rhythm, alternating hard and easy days to allow adaptation.

Rest days are a critical part of this structure. Skipping them may feel productive in the short term, but it often leads to fatigue, illness or injury over the course of a long training cycle.

Marathon training places a heavy demand on your energy systems, and under-fuelling is one of the most common reasons runners struggle late in races.

Day-to-day nutrition should support training volume, with sufficient carbohydrates to replenish glycogen and enough protein to aid muscle repair. During longer runs and harder sessions, fuelling becomes performance-critical.

Training with fuel improves session quality, speeds recovery and reduces the likelihood of “bonking”, the sudden drop in energy caused by depleted glycogen. To make sure your energy levels stay high, carbohydrates are essential, which is why we recommend food such as overnight oats, as they offer plenty of slow-release carbs that can boost your energy in long training sessions.

Race day is not the time to experiment. Your marathon training should include repeated practice of exactly what you plan to consume before and during the race.

This includes the timing of your pre-race meal, how often you fuel during the marathon and which products you use. Familiarity reduces stress and helps ensure your stomach tolerates nutrition at race intensity.

To simplify preparation, Veloforte’s Marathon Race Day Bundle brings together pre-race, in-race and recovery fuel in one place.

The final two to three weeks before race day are about reducing fatigue while maintaining fitness. Training volume drops, but some intensity remains to keep your legs sharp.

During the taper, sleep, hydration and nutrition become even more important. Increasing carbohydrate intake slightly helps to maximise glycogen stores, ensuring you arrive on the start line well-fuelled and energised.

Training for a marathon is a long-term project that rewards patience, consistency and attention to detail. The strongest marathon performances come from runners who respect the process, building endurance gradually, recovering properly and fuelling intelligently.

By combining structured training with a proven nutrition strategy from Veloforte, you give yourself the best chance to train well, race confidently and finish strong.