(Watch co-author Jim Finlayson #322 racing neck and neck against March 2007 IMPACT Magazine cover athlete Steve Osaduik #526 in the 2007 Oak Bay KOOL Half Marathon, Victoria, British Columbia, below.)

You could blame Oprah. In 1994, Ms. Winfrey ran the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. Her race and advance training were surely the most-documented marathon program execution in history.

In order to keep pace with the mileage increases demanded of a sixteen-week marathon  program, a beginning to even moderately experienced runner’s athletic development must be accelerated beyond optimal rates.

The everyperson had their way: In 1994, the year of the Oprah Marathon, 277,000 runners finished marathons worldwide; by 2006 that number had jogged upwards of 410,000. The marathon, once the proving ground of only the elite and off-balanced, had become—like Oprah—of the people.

The people, however, don’t typically have a staff of coaches and trainers to get them to the marathon start line, as did Oprah in Virginia.

What’s the problem?

Typical marathon training programs presuppose that a runner starting the program is capable of running around twenty to thirty minutes without stopping, or between two and four miles for the average runner. In order to keep pace with the mileage increases demanded of a sixteen-week marathon program—i.e., from that two to four miles up to 26.2 miles within four months—a beginning to even moderately experienced runner’s athletic development must be accelerated beyond optimal rates. As a consequence, the runner’s knees, shins, and ankles, supporting muscles and tendons, none of which have had time to adapt to rapidly increasing training loads, are all put in a state of critical stress. Injury potential is multiplied. The result: an unnecessary number of runners left injured to a greater or lesser extent, wondering whether perhaps they really weren’t meant to run that marathon.

They were. And you are. The human body just asks for a little more time to prepare. Just how much more becomes a challenging question to answer.

In an ideal world all marathoners would receive a coaching program individualized to their unique requirements, one that increases training volumes and specificity at a rate adapted to that particular athlete. For most runners this is not a practical reality. Still, one can draw constructive generalizations from running’s first principles. For example, running’s ten-per-cent rule-of-thumb, i.e., that a runner should never increase their weekly mileage by more than ten per cent of the previous week’s total, or than the previous week’s longest run, tells us that most new marathoners will need between twenty-four weeks and a full year to prepare properly (read: enjoyably and injury free) for their first marathon.

This timing parallels the guidelines set out by two of the world’s foremost running experts, physiologist Jack Daniels and physician Tim Noakes. Daniels and Noakes independently advocate marathon training programs with a minimum twenty-four-week commitment. What’s more, these programs presuppose runners with a relatively significant degree of experience at the start. In Noakes’s case, that “pre-training” period takes the form of a twenty-five-week build program to be completed even before the marathon program begins. Experience shows that, at a minimum, runners embarking on a marathon training program should be able to run comfortably for an hour.

Without question, Oprah has inspired more runners to attempt a marathon than generations of Olympians before or since. Though this is nothing but good news for the sport of running, new and novice runners would do well to emulate the patience and experience that has fostered the dreams of those Olympians and allowed them to get the most from their bodies. Take the long view: when training for a spring or summer marathon, begin building a running base now, in autumn. By extending your base period, allowing for gradual increases in your long run and overall weekly mileage, your risk of injury will be minimized and the potential rewards when spring arrives will be that much greater.

About the Authors

Rumon Carter has been coaching runners for seventeen years, most recently on the coaching staff of PR Peak Performance, www.peterreid.com/pr_peak_performance.htm. Carter was the bronze medalist at the 2007 Canadian 50km Ultramarathon Championships.

Jim Finlayson is a two-time Canadian National Marathon Champion who provides coaching services to runners of all goals and abilities.