Why September Is the Month Marathon Training Falls Apart (And How to Not Let It Happen to You)
I can predict, almost to the week, when a marathon training block is going to start slipping. It isn't during the hardest workout of the cycle. It's the first week of September, right when school starts to pick up for the family, work ramps back into a normal schedule, and every runner I coach suddenly has four fewer hours in their week than they had in July.
If you're training for a November marathon, you're somewhere in the thick of your build right now, and this is exactly the point where good training plans quietly become skipped long runs and moved workouts. So let's talk about why it happens and what actually fixes it.
The problem isn't your fitness. It's your calendar. In July and August, your long run on Saturday morning is the only thing competing for your time. By September, you've got school drop-off, fall sports schedules, work travel picking back up, and a dozen small obligations that didn't exist eight weeks ago. Your training plan doesn't know any of that happened. It just says "18 miles on Saturday" like nothing changed.
The fix: protect one day, and make the rest flexible. I have every marathoner I coach identify their non-negotiable day, the one day each week where the long run or the key workout happens no matter what. Everything else on the plan gets permission to move. A Tuesday tempo run can become a Wednesday tempo run. An easy Thursday can shift to Friday. The long run doesn't get that same flexibility, because it's the one session that actually builds marathon-specific durability, and once you start moving it around too, the whole cycle starts to erode.
Watch for the real warning sign. It's not missing a single run. Everyone misses a run here and there. The warning sign is when you start quietly shortening your long runs "just this once" two or three weeks in a row. That's not an adjustment, that's a pattern, and it's usually the first sign that your schedule, not your legs, is driving your training.
If you're eyeing a November race and you can already feel September starting to squeeze your schedule, this is exactly the kind of thing a coach earns their keep on. I build training plans around real lives, not just around a perfect training calendar, and I adjust in real time when life gets in the way. Reach out for a free 15-minute consultation and let's build a plan that survives your actual September, not just an ideal one.
If you're deep in a build already and want to see whether your current plan is holding up, I wrote more on what your training should look like 12 weeks out from a fall marathon and the exact framework I use three months out from race day.
Not sure what pace your long runs and workouts should even be at right now? Run the numbers through my free race and training pace calculator before your next long run.
And if you've been stuck at the same marathon pace for a cycle or two and you suspect it's more than just scheduling, my full breakdown of what actually causes a marathon plateau is worth a read.
For runners who want more structure than a generic plan but aren't ready for full 1-on-1 coaching, check out my training plans. And if you want to know exactly what coaching looks like week to week for adult marathoners and Boston Qualifiers, here's the full breakdown of my running coaching.
Your fitness isn't what's going to fall apart this month. Your schedule is what needs the plan. Protect the long run, let the rest flex, and you'll come out of September exactly where you need to be for November.
Coach Justin
