How long? 18 weeks How many days per week? 3-4 How many miles? Peak week is 39 miles Longest long run? 20 miles Speedwork? Minimal Race plan? To finish Rest or cross-train Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Add 6 x 100 meter sprints during weeks 10 through 16 at the end of each run.

Week	Tuesday	Thursday	Saturday	Sunday
1	2 miles	3 miles	2 miles	6 miles
2	3 miles	4 miles	3 miles	8 miles
3	3 miles	3 miles	4 miles	10 miles
4	3 miles	4 miles	3 miles	7 miles
5	4 miles	4 miles	3 miles	12 miles
6	4 miles	5 miles	4 miles	14 miles
7	4 miles	6 miles	3 miles	16 miles
8	4 miles	4 miles	4 miles	11 miles
9	4 miles	4 miles	4 miles	18 miles
10	4 miles	6 miles	3 miles	20 miles
11	4 miles	6 miles	4 miles	15 miles
12	6 miles	5 miles	4 miles	18 miles
13	7 miles	8 miles	3 miles	20 miles
14	6 miles	7 miles	6 miles	15 miles
15	7 miles	7 miles	6 miles	20 miles
16	6 miles	6 miles	5 miles	15 miles
17	5 miles	4 miles	4 miles	10 miles
18	3 miles	3 miles	2 miles	Race Day!

Here are five adages to live by when you train for a marathon:

Build your base

The more miles you can get to before starting this plan, the better. Walk, run, or do a walk run/combo. You should be able to complete 15 miles a week without any problems before starting.

Avoid too much, too soon

The 10% rule exists for a reason. Increase your weekly mileage and weekly long run by no more than 10% to avoid injury and burnout.

Pain or soreness

Pain is bad. Soreness is expected. Know the difference between the two to keep running or avoid prolonged injury.

Long run, long run, long run

If you can do 3 runs of 20 miles in training, you can finish a marathon. This is the most important workout to not skip during training.

Taper smart

During the last 3 weeks of training, keep the pace the same, but lower the mileage. Get plenty of sleep and fill your plate with plenty of nutritious foods. Carissa Liebowitz has run the Boston Marathon as well as dozens of marathons and half marathons. You can follow her running adventures on Strava, Instagram and her blog.