Your first marathon: a training plan built to get you to the finish

What you need before you start

Before a first marathon, Running Workout's plan looks mainly at two things: your longest run in the last 90 days and how much time is left before the race. The benchmark is a run of at least 90 minutes. If you don't have one, the setup shows a warning and asks you to confirm: nothing is blocked, but you start the build from further back.

The plan lasts 12 to 16 weeks. You need at least 12 weeks before race day: that is the earliest date the setup screen offers. With more time, up to 4 ramp-up weeks are added at the start, with a long run that begins at 55 minutes. For a first marathon, that extra time is valuable.

The number of sessions per week (3 to 7) is suggested from what you already run on Garmin Connect: up to about 31 miles a week, three sessions; up to about 40 miles, four. Never more than one session above what you do now.

Aiming for the finish: marathon pace without a target time

With no target time, Running Workout sets marathon pace from your MAS: centred on 75% of MAS below 14 km/h (8.7 mph), 79% between 14 and 17 km/h (8.7 to 10.6 mph), 82% above that. This is the pace of the race-specific blocks and of the long-run finishes. The table shows the calculation for three MAS values; it is a pace guide, not a promised time.

If your MAS is unknown, your assistant can calculate it from a 6-minute test recorded on Garmin (the compute_vma_test tool), then store it once you confirm the test was a genuine all-out effort.

Long runs: up to 2.5 hours, not necessarily 30 km

In Running Workout's marathon plan, the long run is counted in minutes, not miles. With a 12-week build, it starts at 75 minutes, rises in steps and reaches 2 h 30 min in the peak week, including a final 45 minutes at marathon pace. Lighter weeks are slotted in to absorb the work.

This matters for a first marathon: at easy pace, 30 km (about 18.6 miles) takes far longer than 2 h 30 min for a runner with a MAS of 7.5 to 8 mph. The roughly 30 km alternative in the peak week is therefore offered only if it fits in about 2 h 50 min at your easy pace, which means a MAS of about 9.4 mph or more. Below that, the time-based version stays the rule.

That peak run is also your dress rehearsal: race-day shoes, kit and fuelling get tested there. The key session of the same week: 2 × 8 km (about 5 miles each) at marathon pace.

Race day: start slower than planned

The plan ends with the race itself, set up like a workout: 10 minutes of easy warm-up, the first 3 km (about 2 miles) a notch slower than marathon pace, then an even pace to the end. The last two weeks cut the volume so you arrive fresh.

• — Each week, your assistant sends the plan's workouts to Garmin Connect, then to your watch.
• — The weekly review compares what was planned with what you actually ran, from your Garmin activities.
• — Race date, plan variant or stopping the plan can be changed at any time from the Plan screen.

Frequently asked questions