12 Weeks Out From Your Fall Marathon: What Your Training Should Look Like Right Now
If you've got a fall marathon on the calendar, you're right around 12 weeks out, and this is where training stops being general and starts being specific. The early weeks were about building your base. The next 12 are about turning that base into a marathon you're actually ready to race.
I've coached 65 runners to a Boston Qualifying time, and almost every one of those training blocks looked different in the details but followed the same shape starting at this point in the calendar.
Your long run needs a purpose now, not just a distance. Up to this point, plenty of long runs are just about time on your feet. From here forward, I want purpose built into most of them: goal pace segments, negative splits, or fueling practice that mimics race day. A 20-mile long run that's all one easy pace is doing less for you now than a 16-miler with 6 miles at goal effort inside it.
This is when goal pace should start showing up in the week, not just the long run. If you're chasing a specific time, whether that's your first sub-4 or a Boston Qualifying standard, your legs need to know what that pace feels like well before race day. I build that in gradually through tempo work and marathon-pace intervals starting around this point in the build.
Recovery weeks aren't optional, they're what makes the next block possible. The biggest mistake I see in self-coached marathoners at this stage is stacking hard week after hard week because race day feels close. That's exactly backwards. A planned easier week every third or fourth week is what lets your body actually absorb the fitness you're building, instead of arriving at the start line carrying fatigue instead of readiness.
Race selection and course knowledge matter more than people think. If the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon is your race, its flat, fast, USATF-certified course rewards even pacing and smart fueling more than raw toughness. Knowing that now changes how I'd build your final long runs.
If you're 12 weeks out and want a plan built specifically around your goal, whether that's finishing strong or chasing a Boston Qualifier, this is exactly the stage where working with a coach makes the biggest difference. You can see how adult marathon coaching works here, use my free race and training pace calculator to get a realistic sense of your goal pace, or browse training plans available now if you want something more self-guided.
When you're ready to talk specifics, reach out and tell me about your race. You can also read what other runners have saidabout their marathon build working with me, or learn more about my background as a coach and athlete.
Twelve weeks is plenty of time to get this right. Let's make sure it's spent well.
Coach Justin
