Marathon Training Plan for Busy Professionals: Conquer 26.2 Miles Without Sacrificing Your Career
- Ollie McCarthy
- Mar 24
- 6 min read
If you have ever dreamt of running a marathon but feel like your work commitments don’t align with running 4-6 days a week, don’t worry- there is a way you can do both.
Combining a demanding job with the training needed to do 26.2 miles can be difficult but not impossible. Having more time, may mean you can do more training and therefore potentially get better results.
But if your ambition is to conquer the marathon distance while not sacrificing you career then read on.
This blog is aimed to give an outline of how you can get the best of both worlds. Maybe even see improvements in your work life after benefiting from the improved health, fitness and mental resilience you get from taking on a marathon.
Why is it difficult?
Time
Having a busy work diary means you have limited amounts of time to pursue your own interests outside of work.
Your schedule may change sporadically and vary from week to week.
Therefore having a set “plan” doesn’t always work.
Energy
Putting a lot of mental energy into work can leave you lacking energy elsewhere.
It will therefore make it more challenging doing the training when all you want to do is relax at the end of a stressful day.
Working long days may make it harder to get up for those early morning runs.
Stress
Managing stress is difficult for most of us anyway- exercise is an additional stress.
Adding in something else to worry about can potentially inhibit our overall recovery.
This can potentially cause fatigue, low energy or even burnout.
Work-life balance
It's hard keeping a balance between work and life at the best of times.
Running even more will mean even less time at home/ time to relax at the end of the day.
Long runs may encroach on time normally spent with family/friends at weekends.
Principles to overcome these challenges
Individuality- the key principle to underline this, is a plan that suits you. If you can only run twice a week, that’s fine. But then trying to follow a plan that has 6 weekly runs will not align with the time you have available. Your plan needs to be based around what you need as an individual and what you can commit to.
This will allow you to manage all the principles above more effectively.
Adaptability- some weeks you may be able to train 4 days. Some weeks it may be once. Being able to adapt your plan is key to keep moving forwards regardless of your situation.
Adapting your plan will be a key part of your marathon success.
Prioritisation- you should have a clear understanding of what sessions are going to have the biggest impact and which ones are less important. Being able to adapt your training comes from knowing the order of priority of your weekly sessions.
This will allow you to make progress regardless of whether you run once or four times in a week.
Quality over quantity- one of the biggest mistakes we make is always trying to do more. A few quality sessions will always give you better results than a higher volume of average ones.
Focus on quality will mean you can recover better and allow you to perform in work and in your running.
Recovery- you can only grow from what you can recover from. Get a regular 6+ hours a night sleep. Eating protein rich meals to recover and high carb meals for performance before runs. Being able to utilise breathwork to aid recovery.
All these things will help you to recover, stay energised, reduce stress and perform at home and at work.
Setting realistic expectations- if this is your first marathon then I would genuinely look to just get around the course. That itself is a huge achievement. But if you are shooting for a time then you need to be realistic with whether you have the time and energy to do the training in order to get the result.
Being realistic with your expectations will take the pressure off feeling like you should always be doing more training. Plus it will make race day and training much more enjoyable.
A sample plan: Judy
Judy is a 52 year old investment banker with a high pressure job, two kids and an hour commute each way to work (if the trains run right.) She works 10-12 hour days and regularly travels for work (abroad and nationally.)
She has entered the London marathon and is running for a Prostate Cancer charity after her Dad was diagnosed with it a couple of years ago. Having not run regularly in a few years she is nervous about the physical challenge of a marathon let alone all the other elements.
Her fundraising page is currently nearing the target she set herself, so she has multiple pressures to compete with- colleagues asking her about training and her time, being able to train around a busy family life, commitment to the charity and people who have donated.
Plus an unrelenting schedule with work, made even more difficult with a hiring freeze and looming redundancies meaning she has to be constantly performing at work.
Due to her busy schedule Judy can commit to 3 sessions per week- 1 day a week she can get into the gym at lunch for 45-60 minutes, 1 session she can do at home weekly in the evening for an hour. Plus a longer weekend run.
We came up with the following:
Judy's Plan
Tuesday Lunch: 45 minutes of interval running (e.g., 400m repeats at 5k pace with recovery jogs).
Thursday Evening: 30-45 minute easy run followed by 15-20 minutes of full-body strength training (e.g., squats, lunges, push-ups).
Sunday: Long run of 90-120 minutes at a conversational pace.
Warm up and cool down for all sessions.
If she can only train twice, the long run and combined intervals and strength are prioritised.
If she can only train once, the long run with strength after is the workout.
If she travels, she adapts with hotel gym workouts, body weight workouts, or rest.
The key principles will be:
Keeping her fit, healthy and injury free.
Utilising the time she has most effectively.
Making sure we stick to the priority (preparing her for a marathon.)
Adapting the plan as needed to her schedule.
What benefits will Judy get out of this experience?
Improved mental health and wellbeing: running is a great way to deal with stress and get some time away from the constant overstimulation we are bombarded with day in day out. Plus it will enforce the notion she is capable of hard things.
Improved health physical fitness: running will help to improve her cardiovascular health, so she will no longer be out of breath after a flight of stairs. Plus her yearly health check will vastly improved.
More resilience: being able to overcome tough physical challenges and wanting to give up will help her to be more resilient in work and day to day life.
Better stress management: after runs she will feel calm, in control and buzzing off the post run endorphins.
Achieving something she wasn’t sure possible: having not been sporty when she was younger and having not run in a long time, a marathon always felt like a goal that was out of reach. Overcoming this and crossing the line will make her wonder what else she is capable of.
Conclusion
Running a marathon is an incredible achievement and it’s a very special feeling when you cross the finish line. I don’t believe that you should put any limitations on taking the plunge and entering just because you have a busy job.
Running has some huge benefits on your mental health which can help to energise you, deal with stress positively and perform even better at work.
While it may seem like time spent away from your desk, I often find my best thinking and problem-solving is done during runs, when I have mental clarity.
Anything which improves your physical and mental health while achieving something amazing has to be worth entering.
You CAN achieve your marathon goals without sacrificing your career by prioritising quality, flexibility in your plan and recovery.
If it means a lot to you and you really want to do it, you will find a way. And obviously if you need help getting there you can drop me a message for tips or help.
If you have any questions or comments I would love to hear from you either below or using a contact detail below.
About the Author:
Hi my name is Ollie McCarthy and I am a Running Coach and Personal Trainer in Tunbridge Wells. I help people to build fit, robust and capable bodies that look good but also perform well. This is done through a combination of running, mobility, strength and conditioning work.
T: 07828573920
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