Skip to content
80/20 Endurance

Marathon Training Plans

4.7out of 5TrainingPeaks rating across every level of the 80/20 Marathon plan.

Run about 80 percent easy and you build marathon endurance with legs left for the hard days. Four levels, coach support included.

Join Team 80/20Buy a single plan from $49.95

Every plan and TrainingPeaks Premium, as low as $16.58/month when paid annually. 30-day money-back guarantee.

  • Coach email support
  • Free switch to another level
  • Never expires
  • Syncs to Garmin, Wahoo, Zwift, Apple Watch and more

Marathoners on 80/20

Marathoners on our Wall of Fame have taken 11 to 45 minutes off their best using 80/20.

  • “I never thought I could beat my personal best Marathon time of 3:09, but with the 80/20 I ran a 2:57! My last kilometer was my fastest and I could have gone another 10K at that pace!”

    Lindt de la Port

    Marathon

Testimonial 1 of 5, from Lindt de la Port: “I never thought I could beat my personal best Marathon time of 3:09, but with the 80/20 I ran a 2:57! My last kilometer was my fastest and I could have gone another 10K at that pace!”

Rotating automatically every 10 seconds.

Read hundreds more athlete results

Choose your plan and level

Pick the level that matches the running you can sustain today, not the one you hope to reach. If it turns out wrong, we switch you to another level at no cost. Still not sure? Try the plan finder.

Best value

Every plan on this page, and every other 80/20 plan

Team 80/20 Gold includes TrainingPeaks Premium and Mind of Matt, as low as $16.58/month when paid annually. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Join Team 80/20

Marathon

80/20 Running

4.7TrainingPeaks rating

The plan most of our marathoners choose. Most of your running stays easy, so the hard sessions count.

18 weeks · Heart rate, pace, power and RPE

Help Me Choose

Which level is right for you?

Every plan includes

  • Every workout on your TrainingPeaks calendar, synced to your watch
  • Your zones built into each session
  • Works with a free TrainingPeaks account, no Premium needed
  • Coach email support for as long as your plan runs
  • A free switch to another level if yours is wrong
  • Lifetime access, the plan never expires

Why 80/20 works for the marathon

Most runners drift into moderate effort most days, too hard to recover from and too easy to build much fitness. An 80/20 plan keeps about 80 percent of your running at low intensity, so you build marathon endurance and still have legs for the faster sessions. Every run lands on your TrainingPeaks calendar with your zones built in, a coach answers your questions by email, and Team 80/20 includes all three plans on this page.

Elite runners do about 80 percent of their training at low intensity, and the research shows the same balance works for everyone else. Easy running builds the aerobic engine a marathon runs on, and keeping it easy leaves you fresh enough to make the faster sessions count.

The same discipline pays off on race day. Matt's advice is to err on the conservative side with your pace, because going out too hard in a marathon is the one bid you cannot take back. And a study of more than 158,000 runners found that a disciplined taper, with volume falling steadily, was the strongest predictor of a better race. That is how our plans taper. There is more in our running articles.

What a week looks like

Take a typical Level 1 week. Day 1 is your rest day and Day 7 usually carries the long run, which is set by distance rather than time. Most of the other runs are easy Foundation and Recovery Runs in Zones 1 and 2, and you can swap any of them for nonimpact cardio of the same duration and intensity.

The faster work comes in sessions such as Marathon Pace Runs, at a speed you could hold for a full marathon, and Critical Velocity Runs, at the fastest pace you could sustain for 30 minutes. Every rest week includes a test, so your zones keep up with your fitness. Each run lands on your TrainingPeaks calendar and syncs to most watches.

Read the workout code glossary

Marathon training plan questions

How many weeks is a marathon training plan?

All three of our marathon plans run 18 weeks at every level, from base building through a disciplined taper. Our race season guide puts a tune-up half marathon or 10K in week 15. If your race is closer than 18 weeks, email a coach before you start and we will tell you where to begin.

How many hours a week do I need to train for a marathon?

On the 80/20 Marathon plan your weekly running averages 4.5 hours at Level 0 and 9 hours at Level 3, with peak weeks of about 7 to 11 hours. The Masters and Norwegian plans run a little lighter at some levels. Pick the level whose average you can hold most weeks, not the biggest one.

Is there a marathon training plan for beginners?

Yes. Level 0 is built for first-timers and low-mileage runners, with five runs in a typical week and two days off, and it walks you to your first finish. If you are torn between two levels, start with the lower one. If it turns out to be the wrong one, we switch you to another level at no cost.

Should I train by heart rate, pace or power for a marathon?

Any of them works, and the 80/20 and Masters plans also come in an RPE version for running by feel. We recommend pace or power as your main measure and heart rate as a check. Pace is the most race-relevant but stops being reliable on hills, and heart rate lags behind changes in effort and drifts with heat and fatigue.

What if I miss a week of marathon training?

Don't try to make it up. If you miss a run or two and you are healthy, pick up the schedule where you are. After a longer break, especially for illness or injury, ease back in for a few days before you rejoin the plan. If the plan no longer fits, email a coach and we can switch your level.

Does it include strength training?

Not in the plan itself. Strength comes as a separate Marathon Strength Training Plug-in, matched to your level and to the plan's 18 weeks so the sessions fit around your key runs. For a fuller gym program there is Marathon/50K Premium Strength. Team 80/20 includes both, along with every other 80/20 plan.

4.7out of 5TrainingPeaks rating across every level of the 80/20 Marathon plan.

Your marathon is one race. Team 80/20 includes every 80/20 plan, so the strength plug-in for this one and the plan for your next race come with the membership, backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Join Team 80/20Or buy a single plan

Other running distances

Half Marathon Training Plans

10K Training Plans

5K Training Plans

Ultramarathon Training Plans

Running training plans · Intensity Guidelines for 80/20 Running