What is a suitable post-marathon training plan? - Project Sports
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What is a suitable post-marathon training plan?

4 min read

Asked by: Veronica Sanchez

After a marathon, you may find it helpful to do some active recovery workouts, such as walking, swimming or easy cycling. About 30 minutes of light activity 3-4 times a week will help work some of the stiffness out of your muscles.

How do you maintain a marathon post workout?

A few key maintenance program ingredients should include shorter, easy-to-moderate paced runs, endurance runs, strength training, cross-training, and rest days. The concept of the off-season is to maintain not gain (fitness) and follow a more playful program.

What should a marathon training plan look like?

Most marathon training plans range from 12 to 20 weeks. Beginning marathoners should aim to build their weekly mileage up to 50 miles over the four months leading up to race day. Three-to-five runs per week is sufficient. The vast majority of these runs should be done at a relaxed pace.

What should an athlete do after a marathon?

Invest the first week in short, light effort, low-impact cross-training activities that will boost circulation, warm your muscles, and aid in the healing journey (think: walking, cycling, swimming, or yoga). If all feels well later that week, run a short, easy-effort run (30 minutes) to test the waters.

How many days should I rest after a marathon?

How long it takes to recover from your race depends upon how well prepared you were going in. A general guideline is one day of rest for every mile raced, or about 26 days of rest. Note that “rest” here means a break from intense training – like speedwork and races – not avoiding running altogether.

Is 3.5 hours a good marathon time?

Across the board, most people finish a marathon in 4 to 5 hours, with an average mile time of 9 to 11.5 minutes. A finishing time that’s under 4 hours is a real accomplishment for everyone other than elite runners, who can finish in around 2 hours.

What pace is a 3.5 hour marathon?

8:00 pace

To run a marathon in 3.5 hours, you need to maintain an 8:00 pace for 26.2 miles.

What is the fastest way to recover from a marathon?

Exactly what to do after you’ve run a marathon to recover faster

  1. Avoid static stretching. …
  2. Avoid lingering in damp, sweaty kit. …
  3. Avoid anti-inflammatory painkillers such as ibuprofen (nurofen). …
  4. Avoid excessive alcohol. …
  5. Avoid people with colds and infections. …
  6. Avoid running just yet. …
  7. Avoid ice baths.


What is average marathon time by age?

Average Intermediate Marathon Times: Male

Age Group Average Intermediate Marathon Time
20-30 3:34:56
31-40 3:37:34
41-50 3:51:08
51-60 4:12:14

Can barely walk after marathon?

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is thought to be caused by overstretching of the muscle fibers following “unaccustomed” and/or eccentric exercise like a marathon or half marathon race. The pain and stiffness usually occurs 1-3 days after the event.

How do I set up a marathon training plan?

Pace or for your predicted. Pace you should aim for one to two minutes slower per mile than what you want to race your marathon. In this is going to help you build confidence with the longer miles.

How do you create a marathon training schedule?

You want to plan the first week to have 3 or 4 runs in it, at a distance and pace that you find achievable – but not too easy. For example, if you can currently run for 30 minutes without stopping, you might want to have 3 x 30min runs through the week, and at the weekend attempt a 45min run – more on that later.

How many miles a week should I run to train for a marathon?

How many miles a week do I need to run to train for a marathon? You should run at least 25 miles a week to train for a marathon. If you plan to finish in a faster time, of 4 hours or less, you should be running closer to 40-50 miles a week to train for a marathon.

How do you create a running training plan?

There are three basic principles that make for a good running plan:

  1. You have a goal.
  2. You add different types of runs to your training – and different kinds of training to your routine.
  3. You increase your load – distance and intensity – gradually, allowing enough recovery time.


What is a good running plan?

A 7-week plan to take you from 5K to 10K:



You should have been running for at least 30 minutes, five days per week for at least six weeks, and be able to run three miles or 5K without walking. Room to manoeuvre: If you’re ready for a greater challenge, skip ahead a week. But don’t rush it.

What is a training plan template?

The Training Plan Template is designed to help guide your team’s planning process in developing a training program. This tool can be used to guide discussions around rationale, core components, knowledge, skills, outcomes, and assessment.