{"id":19990,"date":"2026-01-28T15:44:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T15:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scienceinsport.com\/sports-nutrition\/?p=19990"},"modified":"2026-03-10T09:41:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T09:41:12","slug":"common-marathon-training-mistakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scienceinsport.com\/sports-nutrition\/common-marathon-training-mistakes\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Marathon Training Mistakes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Marathon<\/span>
\n

<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\n Written By<\/span>\n

Jonah Rosner<\/h3>\n

<\/h6>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>
5 Min<\/div>
Share
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

Common Marathon Training Mistakes I See New Runners Make (and what to do instead)<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Most marathon training problems don\u2019t come from effort. They come from doing the right things in the wrong order.
Every training cycle, I see the same patterns show up\u2014early fatigue, long runs falling apart, and race day feeling harder than expected.
Here are the most common mistakes behind it, and what to do instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n Mistake #1: Doing too much, too soon<\/strong>\n<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You feel good early in the plan. Mileage climbs quickly. Long runs stretch earlier than scheduled. Recovery weeks get skipped because nothing hurts yet<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first, it feels productive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then easy runs stop feeling easy. Small aches linger longer than they should. Fatigue sticks around even after rest days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is where training starts to unravel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your aerobic system adapts gradually. Tendons, bones, and connective tissue adapt even more slowly. When training load jumps too fast, fitness can\u2019t keep up with fatigue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That doesn\u2019t build durability. It just makes every week harder than it needs to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fix isn\u2019t backing off completely. It\u2019s building progressively enough for adaptations to stack<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That might look like:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n