How many marathons can or should we do in a year?

Marathons take a grueling amount of work, especially if you want to perform well. So how many marathons should we do in a year? The simple answer - 2. But like anything else, it’s never that simple. It’s more complex than you might think.

Training properly for a marathon involves creating a season or a plan. It’s about looking at it from a broad view filled with smaller intricate pieces that achieves daily, weekly, and monthly goals. It’s those goals that gets you to experience speed, training zones, competition, long runs, tempos, hill work, fatigue, and so much more. 

You’ll want to start by putting together a macrocycle. This involves breaking down your plan for let’s say 5 to 6 months of training. Here you can begin to build each part of your plan with the goal of achieving your peak as well as a recovery period to safely complete your macrocycle. Peaking is typically only done twice a year due to the rigorous training involved. Peaking multiple times a year is likely a recipe for future injury and longer recovery periods. 

Next is the mesocycle. Looking slightly deeper into your macrocycle, you’ll want to create phases. These typically are comprised of a preparatory, competition, and transitional phase. Each one is crucial to developing a safe and gradual succession of performance. In other words, a progression of strength and speed to create a running phenomenon! If done right, you’ll see your times improve along with neural and muscular adaptations. 

Next, the microcycle. This is taking a week of training from any part of the mesocycle and analyzing what specific components of training are being targeted. For example, is this a high mileage week, a speedier focus, a recovery style approach, etc. looking at a microcycle, you could probably determine what part of a season you’re in.

Lastly, the individual training session. Here is the smallest unit of measure within the macrocycle. These isolated activities add up fast, building upon the previous session. A lot of fun can be placed on creating practices focused on what’s essential according to the particular phase you’re in. If we’re in the competition phase for example, you already know that speed is high and mileage is low to ensure a solid peak performance. If we were in the preparation phase, mileage would be high so expect some longer style runs. 

In the end, being prepared with an organized map, gives athletes a sense of confidence and trust in the process. Again, 2 is the magic number for marathons but I’d always sprinkle in a few more throughout the year and use it as a long run. It also gives me an excuse to travel more. Until we race again, hope this breakdown helps to understand a small yet important role in the running game.

Reach out with any questions you may have. Cheers and happy training!