Your recent mileage
The weeks you have actually run set the opening volume.
Personalized marathon training plan
42.2 km is a long way to follow someone else's calendar.
Most marathon plans assume a runner you might not be yet. This one starts from the mileage you have actually been running, the longest run you have actually finished, and the days you can actually train.
Read-only activity sync Personalized guidance
Week 1 fits you
Not a stranger's baseline
Build, then absorb
Recovery weeks are scheduled
Honest timelines
You hear it if the date is tight
Where the build starts
The first week decides whether you finish the block.
Start too high and you spend sixteen weeks digging out. Your opening load comes from training you have already completed, not from where a template wishes you were.
Your longest recent run
Long-run progression starts from real endurance, not an assumed base.
The days you have
Four training days and six training days are different plans.
The date on the calendar
If the timeline is too short for your base, you hear about it before you start.
How the block unfolds
Not every week is bigger than the last.
A marathon build has phases. Volume rises, then backs off so your body can absorb it, then rises again from a higher floor.
Get consistent
Establish a weekly rhythm you can actually repeat.
Extend the long run
Push endurance gradually, from where you are now.
Rehearse the race
Add marathon-relevant pace work, fueling, and pacing practice.
Taper
Cut volume, keep rhythm, arrive fresh instead of flat.
Beyond the mileage total
A long run means nothing without the week around it.
The same 30 km means one thing after a rest week and something very different after three hard ones.
Easy mileage builds the aerobic base that carries the last 10 km.
Long runs progress from your current endurance, not a fixed template.
Quality work appears when your base can support it, not before.
Recovery weeks are scheduled, not earned by feeling tired.
What you actually completed shapes what gets recommended next.
Connected training
Four months is longer than your memory is reliable.
Connect Strava, Apple Health, or Health Connect on Android so the long runs, the easy miles, and the cross-training from week three are still in view when week fourteen needs a decision. Oura is coming.
Strava
Available · read-only
Apple Health
Available · HealthKit
Health Connect
Available · Android
Oura
Coming soon
Marathon training in depth
What a marathon build asks that shorter races do not.
The long run is a progression, not a target
Plenty of marathon calendars fixate on hitting a 32 km long run by a specific week. That number only means something if the runs before it were completed and absorbed. Progressing from your actual longest recent run means a runner coming back from a break and a runner holding 60 km weeks do not get handed the same Sunday just because they typed in the same race date.
Cumulative fatigue is what usually breaks the block
Marathon builds rarely fail because one session was too hard. They fail because sixteen weeks of small increases quietly stacked up. Reading the trend across your synced activities catches what judging workouts one at a time misses — a week that looks fine on its own but sits on top of three heavy ones.
Race pace needs rehearsing under fatigue
Marathon pace feels easy at 15 km and brutal at 35 km. That gap is the whole race. Race-specific work belongs in the phase where your base can absorb it, so you get the rehearsal without paying for it in the weeks that follow.
The taper protects what you already banked
You do not get fitter in the last two weeks, but you can absolutely arrive tired. A taper cuts volume while keeping enough frequency that your legs stay sharp and race morning feels familiar rather than strange.
Frequently asked questions
What runners ask
How long should a marathon training plan be?
It depends on your current mileage, longest recent run, how often you train, and your race date. Peakora works the timeline out from those inputs instead of assuming everyone needs the same sixteen weeks.
Can a beginner train for a marathon with Peakora?
Yes, if the timeline is realistic for your base. If it is not, Peakora says so before you start and offers a later date or a shorter goal rather than building a plan that quietly sets you up to fail.
How long should marathon long runs be?
Long-run progression depends on your experience, weekly volume, training phase, and how well you are recovering. There is no single peak distance that suits every marathoner.
What if I miss a marathon workout?
The missed session gets looked at against the rest of your week. Peakora does not automatically pile the missed distance onto your next run, which is the reflex that turns one skipped day into two.
Can Peakora use my Strava runs?
Yes. With read-only access, your Strava history sets the starting baseline and completed runs get compared against the sessions they were meant to fulfil.
Continue exploring
The road to 42.2 km
Start the marathon plan from the runner you are today.
Pick your race date, connect your training history, and get a progression built on the week you can actually sustain.
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