To complete a full marathon at 42km or 26 miles or even a half marathon at 21km (13 miles) is a massive personal achievement. 

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It is also very difficult, so it's important to approach the event with a structured training schedule that allows your body enough time to prepare for such a challenge. 

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Allow at least 4 months to prepare properly for your first marathon. 

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Preparing for a marathon

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There is complete mixture of joy, pride, relief, fatigue and pain that comes with completing a marathon. 

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After your first marathon you'll probably say never again, then all of a sudden start looking forward to the next one.

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You should ideally finish your first marathon feeling as strong and as well as possible. The aim is to run through the finish line, not walk across it or fail to finish at all. 

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To achieve all this, you need a well structured plan that will help prepare your body for the upcoming challenge.

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The most common mistake that people tend to make is leaving their longest run to the day of the marathon itself.

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Very often, people do a lot of running in preparation, bit over short distances.

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Even if you leave your long runs until a week or two before the marathon, you don't allow your body enough time to acclimatise  to the level of endurance required to run 26 miles.

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How the programme works

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This programme builds strength as well as aerobic endurance and speed. 

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You start with short runs and work up to longer ones; there os also adequate essential recovery time built in, let your body rest and don't feel guilty on a day of rest!!!

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Training for a marathon is tough and there is always the risk of injury.

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The programme guides you day-by-day towards the main event and stretches over 4 months, which is the minimum amount of time you can allow yourself to prepare adequately for a marathon. 

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Unless of course you are very fit, training for any less than this will make the marathon experience less than enjoyable to say the least.