What it Takes to Train for Berlin Marathon - Thoughts & Tips
- Dr Jess Klain
- Sep 14
- 6 min read
I've always loved running - I spent every day of my youth either playing soccer or participating in track and field - but I never imagined I would ever run a marathon. In high school I actually never ran a race longer than 400m! In my 20s, I started logging longer miles to help manage stress, get some fresh air, and stay fit for ski season. Then, I dabbled in triathlons and half marathons before I eventually caught the marathon bug. It's hard to resist the allure of the iconic New York City Marathon! Lucky for me, I got a coveted lottery spot on my very first try and was able to run my first marathon through the 5 buroughs of NYC on a perfect fall day in 2018. That training cycle and race taught me so much, and since then I’ve gone on to run Chicago (2019) and Boston (2021, 2022). Now, I find myself just a week away from lining up for Berlin — my 5th marathon and 4th World Major.
When I committed to training for Berlin, I knew it had to be more than just piling up miles. As a physical therapist and someone who mixes yoga, strength training, and mindfulness into my running life, I’ve learned a lot from past training mistakes. I now know that marathon prep has to be holistic. If you’re considering running your first marathon or aiming for a new PR, here’s what I’ve discovered - through my own training, my yoga practice, and my work treating runners in Denver - about how to prepare your body, mind, and schedule to cross that finish line strong and reach your goals.
1. Establishing a Solid Base
Before you even think about speed work and getting faster, you need aerobic endurance and a foundation of strength.
Volume build-up: Gradually increase your weekly mileage. Start accumulating miles a few months before you start your marathon specific training. A basic rule of thumb is to increase your miles by 10%, or less, each week.
Easy runs matter: Those “easy” days are not the easy days to skip. They’re what allow recovery, tissue adaptation, and reduce injury risk. These help build resilency for both your body (muscles, tendons, ligaments) and your mind.
Rest & recovery: Sleep, rest days, good nutrition, and light cross-training (walking, cycling, yoga) are not negotiable. Your body (and mind) needs time to repair and rebuild.
2. Integrate Yoga, Mobility & Strength
As a physical therapist and trained yoga instuctor, one of my biggest priorities is keeping the body balanced.
Mobility & flexibility: Regular yoga sessions help me maintain hip, hamstring, glute, ankle, and thoracic mobility. This helps with stride efficiency, reduces risk of overuse issues. It also helps harder runs “feel” better - work smarter, not harder!
Strength work: Think glutes, core, calves, and posterior kinetic chain. Just 2-3 short strength sessions per week can make a big difference in stability when fatigue sets in toward the end of your long runs and race day.
Injury prevention: I pay attention to small niggles, they seldom fix themselves and can turn into bigger issues if ignored. As a physical therapist, I address issues early with regular soft tissue work (foam rolling, Theragun, streching, cupping), manual work (dry needling, joint mobilization), recovery sessions (sauna, cold plunge) and deloading (cross-training, reducing miles or speed) when needed. Better to slow down for a few days than be sidelined for weeks.
3. Speed, Specificity & Consistency
No marathon training plan is complete without work that challenges your pace.
Interval / speed work: Think of sets like 10×2 minutes at threshold pace with 2-3 minutes of easy recovery. Intervals teach you how to sustain effort and improve lactate threshold. Use tempo runs to dial in what your goal pace feels like, both physically and mentally. Find my specific workouts on Strava.
Long runs: For marathon training, build up to your long run to ~18-22 miles, but don’t feel pressure to run any exact pace, or even to run the whole time (strategic walking intervals can be a game changer!).
Consistency over perfection: Life happens and training doesn't always go as planned. What matters is getting back on track and adjusting as needed rather than beating yourself up when you miss a workout.
4. Listen to Your Body: Adjust & Adapt if Needed
This is where my physio background really kicks in: being sensitive to what your body is telling you.
Watch for signs of overtraining: Common indicators include lingering fatigue, unexplained soreness, dips in mood or motivation, and sleep disturbances. I pay close attention to my heart rate and sleep data on my Garmin Fenix and adjust my training as needed to avoid overtraining.
Modify as needed: Sometimes the smartest choice is to cut back a workout instead of pushing through. In the past six weeks, I’ve skipped three workouts and cut two others short because my body felt like it needed the extra rest. This allowed the sessions I did complete to be more effective.
Regular check-ins: Massage, physical therapy sessions when needed, and yoga for recovery are all key parts of staying healthy.
Out for an easy run
5. Logistics and Setting Goals
Because good preparation can make all the difference.
Gear: Shoes that work with your foot mechanics, clothing perfect for the ever changing weather, and a fueling plan (gels, snacks, hydration, etc.) are all essential to dial in before race day. Burning 100 calories per mile is a basic estimate of your energy needs during a run.
Nutrition & hydration: What you eat and drink matters,not just on race day, but throughout your training and especially in the week leading up to the marathon. Carb loading isn't just for the night before, but should start a few days prior to race day. The recommended amount is 10 grams of carbs per kilogram of body weight per day. Everyone responds differently, so figuring out what works best for you can make or break your performance.
Course planning & weather prep: Familiarizing yourself with the course terrain, race-day schedule and logistics, aid station locations and fuel options, and even your spectators’ plan to cheer you on can make race day feel much smoother.
Goal setting: Commit to your training plan, but also build in backup strategies to account for illness, injury, or signs of overtraining. When it comes to race goals, set an ambitious “A goal” for your perfect day, but also create a realistic “B goal” that reflects a strong effort if conditions aren’t ideal.
6. Small Changes - Big Outcomes
Marathon preparation can be as simple or as complex as you make it. For this training cycle, I’ve focused on a few small but meaningful changes that I believe will add up to one big result: a new marathon personal record.
More "off-season" strength training: 6–9 months ago I made it a priority to lift weights 4–5x/week. Not only did this help me have a stellar ski season last winter, it also set me up for harder and longer marathon workouts.
More calories, more protein: For my first few marathons, I expected to lose weight because my exercise load increased so much. But with an increase in exercise comes the need for an increase in fuel and calories. I’ve realized that when I fuel properly before, during, and after my runs, I actually tend to gain weight — not lose it — during a training cycle.
Blood work and supplements: This has been a game changer for me, not just for training but for life in general. I have a great Functional Medicine provider, Alison at Wild Rice Wellness, who has helped dial in supplements based on my blood work. This has allowed me to better manage the stress hormone cortisol, as well as iron/ferritin levels and micronutrients like zinc and magnesium.
Less is more: Many training plans include 6 days of running, sometimes with double sessions. I know my body can’t handle that, so I stick to 4–5 runs per week and cap my peak mileage around 50 miles.
Final Thoughts
Training for Berlin has me putting together all the threads: endurance, strength, flexibility, speed, and mindset. What I keep returning to is that balance is everything. With thoughtful and consistent effort I believe we can run our best races.
Dr Jessica Klain PT, DPT, COMT, CSCS, OCS, CNPT
Board Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist (OCS)
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS)
Certified Orthopedic Manual Therapist (COMT)
Certified Nutritional Physical Therapist (CNPT)
Certified Vestibular Specialist
Certified Concussion Specialist
Trigger Point Dry Needling Certified, L1&2
Certified Yoga Teacher
University of Florida, Doctorate in Physical Therapy (2009)
The Ohio State University, Bachelor of Science in Biology (2006)
Call/text: 720-295-0060
Physio, Yoga & Wellness is located in Denver, Colorado in the Santa Fe Arts District. We're helping active people in Denver (and beyond!) recover from injury, reduce pain, and optimize health.
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