Marathon training plan: 3 runs a week

Can you run a marathon on three runs a week?

Yes. Run 42 builds marathon plans on three, four or five runs a week, and its first-marathon plan uses three. What changes is the volume: this plan peaks at about 54 km a week, a little less than on four or five runs, and in the hardest weeks there is no easy run left. Every run is either a quality session or the long run.

The table compares the three versions of the same 3h30 plan. The long run is the same on every schedule: it is set in minutes and reaches 3h00 three weeks before the race.

How a three-run week is built

With the long run on Sunday, the runs fall on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, so there is always a rest day between them.

• Weeks 1–3, base: two easy runs and the long run. Early on, the easy runs carry most of the volume, up to 80 minutes each, while the long run grows from one hour to 90 minutes.
• Weeks 4–6, build: one easy run becomes a quality session, threshold and VMA intervals in turn.
• Weeks 7–13, peak: a marathon-pace run (8, then 10, then 12 km), a threshold or VMA session, and the long run, with 2×5 km at marathon pace in its second half from the third week.
• Weeks 14–15, taper: an easy run, a short marathon-pace rehearsal and a shorter long run.
• Week 16, race week: three short easy runs and the race.

Every fourth week is a cutback week, about a quarter lighter.

What you give up, and how to make up for it

• Less volume. Fewer runs means fewer kilometres, so the long run and the marathon-pace runs matter even more. Don’t skip them to save your legs for something else.
• No easy days at the peak. From week 7, all three runs are demanding. Keep the rest days as rest, and run the long run at true easy pace, 5:43–6:19 per km for this goal.
• Aerobic work without impact. If you want more training without more running, an easy bike ride or swim on a rest day is the gentlest way to add it.

Three runs a week suits runners with little time, runners who need longer to recover, and first marathons. If you can find a fourth slot, the four-run plan keeps one easy run in every peak week.

Your paces for 3h30

The sample plan targets 3:30. A different goal keeps the same structure, only the paces change: find yours in the marathon pace chart.

The 16-week sample plan

This is the plan Run 42 builds for a 3:30 goal, three runs a week, the long run on Sunday, for a runner who raced a half marathon recently. It starts at about 37 km a week and peaks around 54 km.