Marathon Run-Walk-Run – 24 Weeks
Jeff Galloway
About the plan
The marathon using Jeff Galloway's Run-Walk-Run method, for runners who want to finish the 26.2 miles (42 km) safely while running only three times a week. Walk breaks are planned from the very first workout: they start at a 2-to-1 ratio (two minutes running, one minute walking), move to 3 to 1 in week nine and to 4 to 1 in week seventeen as your legs adapt. Tuesday and Thursday are short sessions of 35 to 45 minutes; every fourth week the Thursday run becomes the Magic Mile, a 1.6 km time trial that Galloway uses to calibrate race pace. Sunday is the long run, which grows week by week up to two hours and from there alternates a big long run with a short, recovery Sunday, as the method prescribes: the biggest one reaches 3h45 (close to 20 miles, or 32 km, at run-walk pace) three weeks before race day. The long/short alternation in the second half creates large swings in volume between neighboring weeks; this is intentional. On race day, keep the ratio you trained with from the first mile to the last.
The plan in numbers
- Duration
- 24 weeks
- Runs per week
- 3
- Weekly volume
- 2h 9m → 5h 15m
- Longest run
- 3h 45m
Week 1 starts at 2h 9m and volume builds to 5h 15m in week 21, the heaviest of the plan.
A typical week has 3 runs, and the longest session reaches 3h 45m (Long, week 21).
Over the final 3 weeks volume drops from 5h 15m to 1h so you arrive at the race rested.
Race day (26 mi) falls on Sunday of week 24; the week holds 1h of running before it.
There are 5 tune-up races on the way to the goal race.
Key workouts
The quality sessions that come up most in this plan:
- Long23 sessions across 23 weeks
Who it's for
Beginner level. To start safely you should already be running about 2h 9m per week and be comfortable with a 59 min session — that is what week 1 asks for.
Week 1 — workout preview
2h 9m this week
35 min
35 min
59 min
Week 21 — the heaviest of the plan
5h 15m this week
45 min
45 min
3h 45m
Plan Structure
24 weeks · 72 workouts · 96 rest days
See the full plan
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