Marathon training for the first marathon isn’t as hard as you might expect. The main issue I see with first time marathoners is the fact that they do not follow a proven step-by-step marathon training plan that is specifically created to take their marathon training to the next level.

If you’re like most novice marathon runners then you will be all excited at the beginning of your training and hit the pavement fairly hard. This is the way most novice marathoners prepare for their very first marathon. However, the issue with this is that not only will your motivation begin to drop but you are also more likely to get an injury.

The reason for this is that your muscles aren’t prepared to train for a marathon yet. If your muscles aren’t prepared to run a marathon then it’s essential that you increase both endurance and stamina into your body. The best way to do this really is to put miles into your legs, nevertheless you do not wish to increase your mileage too quickly  simply because you tend to be more likely to get  injured.

The most common way veteran marathoners tackle a marathon is to increase their mileage slowly over a period of time. Not only does this prevent the most frequent training injuries but it also helps you build up your muscle groups the best way. Veteran marathoners therefore start their training gradually and then build it up over time.

For example, most veteran marathon runners apply the 10% rule whereby they only increase their weekly marathon training mileage by a maximum of 10% in any week. Not only does this marathon training schedule prevent the most common running injuries but they may also build their endurance levels at a much more normal pace than what most first-time marathoners do.

So if they’ve increased their weekly mileage to say 25 miles then the next week they would train an extra 10% of this. That means they would run around 27-28 miles within the next week.

Relaxation is also another essential aspect of marathon training. For example, should you run every single day then it doesn’t give your system the opportunity to recover from the exercise. So what most veteran marathoners incorporate into their marathon training program is really a number of rest days. For instance, if they do a lengthy running session on a Sunday, most would take the following day off from running in order to give their body a opportunity to recover.

Obviously, the longer and more intense the session the more relaxation days you ought to incorporate into your training. The reason for this is simply because if you have a solid training session then you will usually make tiny tears within the muscle fibers of the muscle groups that you use the most. It’s these small tears that actually trigger your muscle groups to develop further injuries.  However should you over-use your muscles throughout your training sessions then they are more likely to develop into injuries at these weak points within the muscle structure when you’re running.

That is why it’s vitally essential that you select a step-by-step marathon training plan that has been proven to work at, particularly if it’s your very first ever marathon. So that you can discover more about marathon training and to get a step-by-step marathon training program for beginners which has been proven to work then I encourage you to discover much more about marathon running.