Marathon training puts a lot of repetitive load through your body over a short period of time, and most injuries we see in new marathoners come from doing too much, too soon — not from running itself. Here’s how to build toward 26.2 miles without breaking down along the way.

Respect the 10% rule

A good general guideline is to avoid increasing your weekly mileage by more than about 10% from one week to the next. Tendons, ligaments, and bone adapt more slowly than cardiovascular fitness does — your lungs might be ready for more before your joints are. Sudden mileage jumps are one of the most common causes of overuse injuries like shin splints, IT band pain, and stress reactions.

Don’t skip strength training

Running alone doesn’t build the hip, glute, and core strength needed to keep your form efficient over long distances. Two short strength sessions a week — focused on single-leg stability, glutes, and core — measurably reduces injury risk in distance runners and helps maintain good mechanics in the later miles of a race, when fatigue causes form to break down.

Build in recovery weeks

Most solid marathon plans include a deliberate “down week” every third or fourth week, where mileage drops by 20-30%. This isn’t a sign of falling behind — it’s what allows your body to actually absorb the training and come back stronger. Skipping these because you feel good is one of the most common ways runners talk themselves into an injury.

Pay attention to pain that doesn’t warm up

Normal training soreness tends to ease up in the first 10-15 minutes of a run. Pain that gets worse as you run, or that’s sharp and localized to one spot, is a different signal — that’s your body telling you something needs attention before it becomes a bigger problem. Getting it assessed early is almost always faster and cheaper than waiting until it forces you to stop training entirely.

Get your gait and footwear checked

Small mechanical inefficiencies that are harmless at low mileage can become real problems at marathon-level volume. A running assessment can catch things like overstriding, poor cadence, or worn-out or poorly fitted shoes before they turn into an overuse injury — and it’s a lot easier to fix early than to fix after sixteen weeks of training.