Andrew Kastor is head coach of the Mammoth Track Club and was coaching director for the L.A. Marathon. He also coaches his wife, Olympic marathon bronze medalist Deena Kastor, but this book is his, not hers. Running Your First Marathon (2018) holds one 20-week plan, and it's the plan on this page.
It's graded on the same 31 measures we use for every plan, with the research behind each measure linked. The ladder is strict. A C is a decent plan with gaps worth knowing about. This one earns a C. Open it to see what it does well, where it falls short, and who it suits.
- Plans reviewed
- 1
- Goals
- Marathon
- Length
- 20 weeks
- Run days
- 6 a week
- Peak mileage
- 49 miles a week
Marathon plans
Training with Andrew Kastor
Kastor built the plan from the workouts he gave the LA Road Runners group, and it keeps the same rhythm all season. From week 2 you run 5 days, cross-train on Friday, and take Monday off. The first 6 weeks are easy running. From week 7, Thursday brings a session at your goal marathon pace, and four Sundays become a long run that finishes with 4 miles at that pace. In week 14, a half-marathon time trial checks your goal before you commit to it.
The plan is strongest where a first marathon is decided. You run goal pace again and again, and the long run reaches 18 to 20 miles three weeks out, because long runs that grow over months are essential for the marathon. When a week goes wrong, the book is clear: keep the weekend, let a weekday run go, and don't try to make up a missed workout.
The gaps are specific. Week 7 brings new hard sessions on top of a jump in running. The strength work the book asks for, 2 to 3 times a week, never reaches the schedule. And nearly all of the faster running happens at one speed, which teaches the race well but won't raise your ceiling much.
Despite the title, this isn't a plan for new runners. The book asks for 25 to 35 miles a week before week 1, so it suits a runner who already trains most days and wants a first marathon done properly.
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In research studies, runners on plans fit to them improved as much as or more than runners on fixed plans, and fewer of them stalled.
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