Coopah How To: Create the ultimate marathon training plan

I like to compare marathon training to making a sandwich; there are lots of different ways to do it, lots of extras you can add in, but if you can nail the basics, then you will always have a solid foundation to work from.

So, lets break it down together.

The Key Ingredients

Long Runs

Think of these as the ‘bread + butter’ of your marathon training, this is what everything else should be built around, and ultimately what keeps your training all held together.

There is no getting away from it, the marathon is a really long way (26.2 miles to be exact) and the best way to prepare for this is to ensure that over the coming weeks and months you gradually start to increase the distance of your longer runs so that your body is physically (and mentally) prepared to tackle the marathon distance.

Now, before you start panicking that you need to be out running 20+ miles every week to prepare, you absolutely don’t. In fact, the distance and frequency of your long runs will really vary from person to person - but this is exactly where Coopah can help, by providing you with a plan that is tailored exactly towards your goals and experience.

Throughout your plan we will gradually build you up so you are comfortable tackling the longer distances and ultimately feel confident when you are standing on that start line in April.

Easy Runs

Think of these as your main filling (I love a cheese sandwich so that’s what I’m going with, but feel free to pick your own.) These are the runs that will make up the main bulk of your training and should not be overlooked - because really, who wants a sandwich with no filling.

Easy runs should be exactly what it says on the tin - easy. These should be really low effort, feel comfortable and used as a way to build your overall mileage throughout your training.

A lot of people think they need to be out absolutely smashing every single run, or working to their maximum, but in reality all that is going to do is make you feel exhausted, and then stop you being able to put effort in when it really counts.

My best advice for these runs is to really tune in with how your body is feeling. You want your heart rate to be steady (not spiking up and down), your breathing to be controlled and be able to hold a conversation with ease - so these are great runs to do with a running buddy.

It is also important to remember that your easy pace can change day by day; maybe you had a hard run the day before, or you’re tapering for a race. Perhaps you didn’t sleep well the day before, or you haven’t fuelled as well as you could have. All of these things can affect your pace which again is why it’s important to focus on how you feel, rather than what your watch says.

Interval Runs

A cheese sandwich is great (yes, I am still going with this) but what makes it even better? Pickle.

In my opinion this is what makes a good sandwich a great sandwich, and its the same with marathon training. Once you have your long runs and easy runs covered, it's then time to add in those other runs that help bring everything together.

Interval runs come in many different forms, but ultimately they all follow the same principle. It is a period of hard running, followed by a period of rest and recovery. And that’s it - it doesn’t need to be overcomplicated.

No matter your goal or experience, everyone can benefit from this style of training. Not only does it help to improve your overall speed, it helps improve endurance (key for running a marathon) and also it can be a great way to mix up your training and keep it fun.

But I get it, if you have never done this type of running before it can feel a little daunting knowing where to start, which is why every week from now until the marathon, I will be sharing our Workout of the Week.

And this week we have… (drumroll please)

The Antwerp - 8 x 1 minute on/1 minute off

This is a great workout to do if you are new to interval training (or perhaps coming back to it after a break) and quite simply the aim is to run at a faster pace for 1 minute, followed by a 1 minute walk/jog recovery.

It is super important to always warm up ahead of running faster paces, so make sure you start with a 10 minute easy run to raise your heart rate and get the blood pumping to your muscles.

In terms of pacing for the hard 1 minute efforts, these should feel tough. If you were to imagine a scale of 1-10, with 10 being your absolute maximum effort, you want to be aiming for around a 7-8. So not an all out effort, but definitely enough to feel like you have worked hard by the end of it. But most importantly, try and aim for a pace that you can hit consistently for each 1 minute effort.

Once you have finished the workout, it’s important to cool down, so similar to the warm up just aim for 10 minutes of very easy running, focusing on bringing your heart rate back down.

With the Coopah app, you don’t need to try and work out what paces you need to be running, or what workouts you need to do - we do all of that for you. So if you are looking for that extra level of support + advice, then download the app and create your personalised marathon training plan today.

So there you have it, how to create the perfect marathon training sandwich.

As I said earlier, if you can nail these basics you really are onto a great start. But as you might have already realised, there is a lot more to running a marathon than just running.

Over the next few weeks I will be sharing lots of advice on how you can really maximise your training + covering topics around injury prevention, strength + conditioning, how to fuel your training and much much more.

You’ve got this!

Coach Jordan 🧡