My Training Plan for the 2024 Yonkers Marathon

Training for a fall marathon means lots of hot and sweaty runs.

Curious what a marathon training plan looks like? Check out my complete 10-week training plan for completing the Yonkers Marathon on September 15, 2024. 

Important: This plan was designed to help me achieve my specific goals based on my current capabilities. This plan isn't meant to be used by anyone else. I'm just sharing what I'm up to. Please be inspired, but don't take this as advice for what you should do. Please see my post How to Create a Run Training Plan if you would like your own plan. 

Weekly Overview

• Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: barre3 in the morning

• Sunday: Long run day

• Mileage Build-Up: Gradual increase each week with a mix of easy runs, hill workouts, and long runs

Training Plan

Week 1 (July 8 - July 14)

• Monday: Easy run 3 miles + barre3

• Tuesday: Easy run 3 miles + barre3

• Wednesday: Easy run 3 miles + barre3

• Thursday: Rest + barre3

• Friday: Hill repeats 4 miles (Warm-up, 4-6 hill repeats, cool-down)

• Saturday: Rest or easy 2 miles

• Sunday: Long run 5 miles

Week 2 (July 15 - July 21)

• Monday: Easy run 3 miles + barre3

• Tuesday: Easy run 4 miles + barre3

• Wednesday: Easy run 3 miles + barre3

• Thursday: Rest + barre3

• Friday: Tempo run 4 miles (1 mile easy, 2 miles at tempo pace, 1 mile easy)

• Saturday: Rest or easy 3 miles

• Sunday: Long run 6 miles

Week 3 (July 22 - July 28)

• Monday: Easy run 3 miles + barre3

• Tuesday: Easy run 4 miles + barre3

• Wednesday: Easy run 4 miles + barre3

• Thursday: Rest + barre3

• Friday: Hill repeats 5 miles

• Saturday: Rest or easy 3 miles

• Sunday: Long run 8 miles

Week 4 (July 29- August 4)

• Monday: Easy run 3 miles + barre3

• Tuesday: Easy run 5 miles + barre3

• Wednesday: Easy run 4 miles + barre3

• Thursday: Rest + barre3

• Friday: Tempo run 5 miles

• Saturday: Rest or easy 3 miles

• Sunday: Long run 10 miles

Week 5 (August 5 - August 11)

• Monday: Easy run 4 miles + barre3

• Tuesday: Easy run 5 miles + barre3

• Wednesday: Easy run 4 miles + barre3

• Thursday: Rest + barre3

• Friday: Hill repeats 6 miles

• Saturday: Rest or easy 3 miles

• Sunday: Long run 12 miles

Week 6 (August 12 - August 18)

• Monday: Easy run 4 miles + barre3

• Tuesday: Easy run 6 miles + barre3

• Wednesday: Easy run 4 miles + barre3

• Thursday: Rest + barre3

• Friday: Tempo run 6 miles

• Saturday: Rest or easy 3 miles

• Sunday: Long run 14 miles

Week 7 (August 19 - August 25)

• Monday: Easy run 4 miles + barre3

• Tuesday: Easy run 6 miles + barre3

• Wednesday: Easy run 4 miles + barre3

• Thursday: Rest + barre3

• Friday: Hill repeats 7 miles

• Saturday: Rest or easy 3 miles

• Sunday: Long run 16 miles

Week 8 (August 25 - September 1)

• Monday: Easy run 5 miles + barre3

• Tuesday: Easy run 6 miles + barre3

• Wednesday: Easy run 4 miles + barre3

• Thursday: Rest + barre3

• Friday: Tempo run 7 miles

• Saturday: Rest or easy 3 miles

• Sunday: Long run 18 miles

Week 9 (September 2 - September 9)

• Monday: Easy run 5 miles + barre3

• Tuesday: Easy run 6 miles + barre3

• Wednesday: Easy run 4 miles + barre3

• Thursday: Rest + barre3

• Friday: Hill repeats 6 miles

• Saturday: Rest or easy 4 miles

• Sunday: Long run 8 miles

Week 10 (September 8 - September 14) - Tapering

• Monday: Easy run 4 miles + barre3

• Tuesday: Easy run 4 miles + barre3

• Wednesday: Easy run 3 miles + barre3

• Thursday: Rest + barre3

• Friday: Easy run 3 miles

• Saturday: Rest or easy 2 miles

• Sunday: Marathon

Notes:

1. Hill Repeats: Find a hill that takes about 1-2 minutes to run up at a strong effort. Walk or jog down for recovery.

2. Tempo Runs: Run at a pace that is comfortably hard, about 80-90% of your max effort.

3. Long Runs: These should be run at a conversational pace, focusing on building endurance.

4. Rest Days: Make sure to listen to your body and take additional rest days if needed to prevent injury.

This adjusted plan allows for a gradual increase in mileage while including key hill and tempo workouts to prepare for the hilly marathon course. Adjust as necessary based on how your body feels throughout the training period.

What's your favorite training day?

Olivia Lovejoy is your run bestie who shares running tips, training plans and motivation online and offers one-on-one run coaching to help new runners achieve their goals. Based in Hastings on Hudson, NY but just a click and scroll away: Instagram | YouTube | Strava | Run with me | Email me | Join my mailing list