marathon training
Download Our Free Sports Training Reports:
Enter your email address below: (As a bonus, we'll start sending you our free weekly newsletter, Sports Performance Bulletin.)
Marathon training: Whether you are a veteran at marathon running or at the beginning of your marathon training, the articles below are for you. Running marathons is not a light-hearted undertaking, so take your marathon training seriously… To browse our library of free sports training articles, browse using the categories on the left or use the search box.
We'll pay you to ask questions
Got a question about sport? We'll pay you to ask it, and pay more to answer others' questions!
Marathon Training: distance running in the North Pole
North Pole Marathon: how to cope in cold weather
Glycerol - can it help athletes stay hydrated?
Glycerol - how does it work and are there any downsides?
Strength Training for Endurance Athletes
Endurance Strength Training - Optimising muscle mass
Pilates for Running with Caroline Sandry
In this video TV presenter, personal trainer and Pilates expert Caroline Sandry takes you through a number of Pilates exercises that are of specific benefit to runners.
Improve your distance-running performance
Explosive type strength training enhances distance-running performance
Allergy Information for Marathon Athletes
Probiotics don’t help reduce pollen allergy in marathon runners
Cycling Training improves sports performance
Can bike training improve the performance of non-cycling athletes?
Body Fat and Running Performance
Optimum Running Performance and Body Fat Levels
Time Efficient Running - run less to run faster?
Running efficiency training ideas
Allergic rhinitis in endurance athletes
Allergic rhinitis in endurance athletes
Hiigh sodium drinks
High Sodium Drinks: Sodium, plasma and performance
slow training
Slow Training: Why long, slow training runs may be best after all
hydration
Hydration : How to calculate your personal fluid needs
muscle cramps
Muscle Cramps : No link between hydration and cramps
gastric emptying
Gastric Emptying : How variable-intensity exercise slows gastric emptying
caffeine dehydration
Caffeine dehydration : Caffeine and alcohol - just how dehydrating are they?
marathon world record
Marathon world record: The day of the two-hour marathon
How Athletes Perform Under Pressure
Choking under pressure
distance running veterans
Distance running veterans - Is ageing inevitable - or simply the result of 'detraining'?
london marathon
London marathon: Lies, damned lies and statistics: what we know about the incidence of injury, illness and death in the London Marathon
scientific training | marathon training
Scientific training: How one former couch potato found a talent and then called on the appliance of science to become an elite performer
marathon training schedule
A marathon training schedule for the non-specialist, which has been tested in the lab and on the roads
marathon runners
Marathon runners: Metabolic markers of peak performance
marathon injuries
Marathon injuries: Injury risks for marathon 'virgins'
carbohydrate drinks
Carbohydrate drinks: Carbohydrates and perceived exertion
Haile Gebrselassie and sports drinks
Haile Gebrselassie - How Fast Might Geb Have Run the London Marathon with the Help of a Good Sports Drink?
400m workouts | marathon workouts
These are the 'golden' workouts for the key distances from 400m to the marathon
Marathon running: common mistakes to avoid in your marathon training plan
Make sure your marathon training schedule is not littered with mistakes
athletes' lungs | training | asthma | lung diseases
How training takes its toll on athletes' lungs
Distance events
Distance Events: The risks of going long: when the super-fit endurance athlete turns into the heart attack victim
Metabolism
Metabolism: You do have a 'fat-burning zone', but do you really want to go there to burn off fat?
Sport-specific training
Sport-specific Training: The ultimate training programme: an indispensable year plan for runners
Marathon
Beyond the marathon
High speed running tests | marathon
High-speed running tests are excellent predictors of marathon finishing time
dehydration and performance
Dehydration And Performance: We've said it before and we'll say it again: even on cool days, dehydration can seriously damage your performance. Here's a guide to avoiding it
endurance athletes workouts
Endurance Athletes Workouts: You may (mistakenly) think this training method is old hat,
but it is brilliant for endurance athletes. Here are a couple of suggested workouts
Fluid replacement
Fluid Replacement: Regular topping-up is far more than a matter of just quenching thirst.
Marathon winner
Marathon Winner: The remarkable schedule of the girl who won the New York Marathon.
Nutrition for soccer players
Nutrition for soccer players: How soccer players can overcome the second-half slump.
Immune system
Swimmers' immune systems tumble in response to competition; glutamine doesn't help, but sugar does.
Pre-workout stretching
Pre-workout Stretching: Does stretching before a workout increase the risk of injury?
abdominal muscle exercises, lower back pain exercises and injury prevention
Whether you aim to run a marathon, perform step aerobics, scrummage for Harlequins, or cycle the London to Brighton, you shouldn't neglect a proper conditioning routine as part of your training if you want to achieve muscular balance and avoid injury.
Caffeine
Caffeine: Endurance cyclists, triathletes, skiers, and runners still take caffeine before their long-distance efforts, even though no study has ever linked the nerve-jangling chemical with heightened competitive performances over marathon-type distances.
Bodybuilders: myths about nutrition
Bodybuilders: Myths About Nutrition: How do bodybuilders keep going on this diet of myths and contradictions?
endurance athletes illnesses
Endurance athletes illnesses: Anti oxidants may lower risk of respiratory tract infections in endurance athletes.
Running Performance in 2025
Here's an exclusive report on a world-record attempt made in (or about) the year 2025
Exercise and immunity
Exercise And Immunity: How your diet affects your immune system when you train
Sports supplements
Sports Supplements: Experts determine what's really in bee pollen - but does the stuff actually work?
Marathon carbohydrates
Marathon Carbohydrates: Which works best before and during a marathon: carbs in liquid or solid form?
Creatine Effects
Creatine Effects: A man who is showing athletes how to use advances in sports nutrition to produce dramatic improvements in their performances.
Overspeed training
Overspeed Training: Does making your legs work faster than normal actually make you a quicker athlete?
Choline
Choline: Supplements of this essential compound have helped swimmers, basketball players and distance runners
endurance athletes immune systems
Endurance Athletes Immune Systems: Endurance athletes who swill a carbohydrate drink are not only helping their muscles but also their immune systems.
Half marathon training
Half Marathon Training: The key to improving your half-marathon times is in your 10K running.
Veteran runners, foot speed
Veteran Runners: improve your foot speed
periodisation training techniques
Periodisation Training Techniques 2: If you want to improve your performances, you can't train the same way all the time
Endurance running
Endurance Running: The slippery problem of taking in sustenance when you're on the move.
Marathon drinking
Marathon Drinking: How many drinks stations can you afford to miss in a marathon?
Running economy 2
Running Economy 2: A brief history of the strengthening of the economy, and why it matters
Running economy 1
Running Economy 1: Here are some of the things your mum forgot to tell you about putting one foot in front of the other
marathon training schedules and workouts
Marathon Training Schedules - If you're planning to run a marathon, here's what to do in the crucial four weeks before it
marathon workouts
Marathon workouts - If you're planning to run a marathon, here's what to do in the crucial four weeks before it
hamstring exercises | hamstring stretches
Hamstring exercises: How to keep your hamstrings in tune and singing sweetly
Speed workouts | speed exercises
Speed Work and speed exercises: Speed work does not mean drudgery on the track, and it should never be "rubbish speed"!
Stored elastic energy
Stored Elastic Energy: Imagine the athletes' muscles are like the rubbery part of a catapult...
PMT and performance
PMT and performance
Nourishing the immune system
If you suspect your immune system is getting flabby, toughen it up with nutrients.
800 metres
800 Metres: Coaches and runners are confused about how to train optimally for 800-metre racing, and with good reason. After all, there's a wealth of scientific information about training for 400 metres, 5000 metres, 10,000 metres, and the marathon, but almost no research has been done concerning 800-metre training. As a result, thoughts about 800 preparations tend to be long on philosophy and anecdote -and short on fact
Preparing for your first marathon
Preparing For Your First Marathon: If you're planning to run your first marathon this year, as more and more people are, what should you do to prepare for it properly? Experts disagree on the exact details, but it's safe to say that the "more is better" philosophy is currently holding sway.
Training volume
Training Volume: Long workouts and fast twitch muscles - a nice combination
Nutrition for Football Players | Football Diet
Diet and nutrition for football players: How soccer players can overcome the second-half slump.
Nutrition for Football Players | Football Diet
Diet and nutrition for football players: How soccer players can overcome the second-half slump.
Follow the RSS for this page
