If you have plans to run a marathon, then prepare for months and months of grueling training. For a beginner, the usual training period for a marathon takes a minimum of 24 to 26 weeks before race day. When you have entered a marathon, you should start a marathon training calendar by marking the days and weeks backward until you reach six months. This would be the first serious training day on your marathon-training calendar.
If you look at the duration of your marathon training calendar, then you would realize that this would be a lifestyle-altering activity. You should get a marathon-training calendar and begin writing daily what each exercise you should do because they seem to change daily. The marathon training calendar typically would consist of a training regimen of short runs on weekdays and one long run on a weekend. This routine should be repeated for the next three months. The only modification in the monthly training calendar would be the 10 percent increase on the distances to be run on specific days of the training session.
If you were a beginner, a typical first week of a marathon-training calendar would have you run short miles on alternating days. The other days you would be resting your limbs and body. The second week of your marathon training calendar is similar to the first week except for one change, your first long run on a weekend. Long runs consist of long distance running as required by your marathon-training regimen. Covering the distance is the ultimate goal of the long run and not how quickly you can complete it. Brisk walking can be incorporated on the long run on the first few weeks and then start gradually decreasing it as you build endurance and stamina.
You can also notice in your marathon training calendar that other types of training sessions are incorporated in your training regimen so as to avoid monotony. There are also recovery and rest days wherein you let the body recover from running. This means that you should refrain from running but incorporate some low intensity workouts for the body to recover and gain stamina. The marathon-training calendar would mark the increasing mileage that you need to run until the 5th month. On the fifth month, there would be a decrease in the distance that you run and there would more recovery periods. This is the tapering off period that would allow the body to recover, be loose and performs at peak condition during race day.