When I was in undergrad I remember reading something along those lines. The author ran 3-5 miles 2x a week. On the 3rd day he ran 20-24miles.
Where it is now I don't know.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

This will depend greatly on where you are now fitness wise and how much other training you are doing. That said I would definitately work up to a long run of 3 hours every other week. The off week I would do as long a run as you can without having to recover too much. At least one of the other runs should be a good warm up and then 3- 5 miles at near 10 K race pace. The third run should be easy for as long as you can do an easy run.

Also, just because you're training for a marathon don't discount the benefits of throwing in short 15 - 20 minute runs on your off days.

My first marathon, I ran only 3X per week and finished in 3:53. Tuesday I ran 5 miles easy. Thursday I did speedwork on the treadmill for 45 minutes. And then I did a long run on Saturdays (up to 20 miles). I lifted weights and did spin classes on the other days. I think depending on your fitness, you can only run so fast with 3 days a week. Good luck!

I use a three day plan: 1 track, 1 long, and 1 tempo. In between I use active recovery workouts (mostly bike, I swim before my runs). I plan to keep this routine for my off season (for tri)/ marathon training season. I find I can keep the intensity up on the 3 weekly runs but avoid injury while not losing endurance. Plus, it keeps me mentally fresh. This off season, I might cut down I my 2-a-days and swim on off days (my limiter).

Hope this helps!

"...you can only run so fast with 3 days a week."

I run 3 times/week year-round and average about 1 marathon/year. I'm not an elite level runner by any means, but on a "normal" course I almost always finish in the 2:50-3:00 range. I think 3 days per week is plenty assuming that one gets in at least one long run per week.

Yup, me too. F

My first marathon last year in 3.38.

Following plan: 4months of 3-4x per week. . 45min-1.30hr adlib.

Ie, running as fast or as slow as I wanted to or felt like on a given day, between 45min and 1.30hr (thats how long the trail I ran on takes). Pace varied between recovery and tempo. I added some long runs the last two months.

Ziva

I agree also, 3x/week is adequate. I did my first mary on 4months of training using 2x6 miles on a very hilly course, 1xlong run (up to 20 miles) and finished in 3:27. I felt other key workouts were long bike (up to 4 hours) and weights, which gave me the endurance and leg strength to muscle through the last 6 miles.

I use a 3 times per week running plan combined with multisport training to get max marathon results on minimum running miles. Doing this I have gone sub 3 many times, including Boston:



Mon: rest or easy 60 min ride or 45 min swim

Tue: run 90 min @4.5 min per K , including 10x60 seconds at marathon race pace

Wed: ride 60-90 min easy @95-110 RPM

Thu: Same as Tue, no intervals, just steady

Fri: rest or same as Wed

Sat: Run easy 2.5 to 3 hours. Closer to race, do 2x20 min at race pace

Sun: Ride 120-180 min hard @ 95-110 RPM and at Marathon race pace heartrate (for me 160-170 rpm).

Total run time = 5.5 - 6 hours

Total hours = 10-12 hours

The week is pretty easy, but the weekend workouts are pretty tough. The idea is to get enough total hours in to do a sub 3 hour marathon, excercise enough time at a high intensity so the cardiovascular system is tuned to race day, while minimizing the impact of injury which comes with running lots of high intensity miles. For me, I would not be able to run a fast marathon on 5-6 hour per week of running alone, as this is insufficient load on the aerobic system to establish the efficiencies required to run hard on race day for 3 hours straight. If it is an early season marathon like Boston, I replace all the rides with XC skis sessions of equivalent length and intensity.

I ran a marathon last spring running 2 times a week for the 12 weeks leading up to the marathon. One long run on the weekend and the other was either a track session or a tempo run. Of course there was also a lot of biking for the aerobic fitness. One other thing I did for some of the long runs was to do a brick (1.5 to 2 hours on the bike immediately followed by 1.5 to 2 hours of running).

Lots of people swear by Hal Higdon's marathon programs. He has one with three days of running per week. Scroll to the bottom for the schedule.

http://www.halhigdon.com/senior/Senior.htm