How to Stay on Track During the Holidays: Marathon Training Edition
- Ben Barwick
- Dec 16, 2025
- 5 min read
December doesn't care about your marathon plan. Family dinners, closed gyms, icy paths, and 4pm darkness all conspire against consistency. But here's the thing: December doesn't need to derail your training. It just needs a different approach.
The goal isn't "perfect weeks". The goal is to arrive at the start line healthy, confident, and consistent.
The Problem
December compresses time. Travel, late nights, family plans, closed facilities and sharp weather all pull at your routine. With marathon training, inconsistency and a couple of ill-judged "make-up" sessions do more damage than a few shortened runs. The win in December is keeping the aerobic lights on, protecting one quality training session, and arriving in January healthy.
The Issues We Want to Avoid
"Compensation" runs—bolting 30–60 minutes onto the next day—spike injury risk and wipe out the week's quality work.
Chasing paces after a late night turns an easy run into a grind. When you work too hard you compromise the fitness gains that can be made.
Letting one missed run become a missed week breaks momentum and dents confidence, which is the fuel for January.
The Psychological Trap
December guilt is real. You see Christmas meal plans and think "I should bank miles now." You miss one run and catastrophise the entire month. Social media shows everyone else crushing sessions while you're negotiating with relatives about gym access.
Here's what actually matters: showing up four times per week, even if those sessions are shorter or easier than planned. The streak builds confidence. The consistency maintains fitness. Perfect December weeks are a myth. Wise December weeks are achievable.
The Solution (What Good Looks Like)
We suggest keeping our training principles front and centre:
Run to effort, not pace. Keep easy runs truly easy.
Run to time, not distance. Sessions are a stimulus, not a performance test.
Prioritise recovery. Fitness adapts between sessions, not during them.
Protect consistency. Small, frequent wins beat boom-and-bust weeks.
A Holiday-Proof Training Week
Aim for four training touchpoints. If life starts to bite, hit the first two and you're winning. Order them around your busiest days.
1) Threshold session (quality, short, focused)
Get your warm up and cool down in
Hit the efforts that work for where you are at with your training
Why it works: Builds speed-endurance without draining the tank. Pairs well with treadmill or a flat loop near home or hotel.
2) Long run (not distance)
Around 90 minutes at a fully conversational effort level.
Why it works: Builds endurance and confidence while respecting recovery bandwidth.
3) Easy run (stress relief and aerobic base)
30–50 min fully conversational
Why it works: Maintains frequency and economy with minimal recovery cost.
4) Strength & Conditioning (20–35 min)
Hips, glutes, calves, core. Bands and bodyweight are enough.
Why it works: Durable runners train more consistently, which is the real secret.
What to Do If You Miss a Run
Do not stack two hard sessions back-to-back. Skip or down-shift the missed one.
Keep the next key quality session and the long run. Consistency beats compensation.
Use a 20–30 min micro-session if a day gets away from you. The streak matters more than the stats.
Why Strength & Conditioning Actually Matters Most in December
Lower training volume means this is perfect timing to build durability without fighting fatigue. Plus, stronger hips and calves stabilize your pace when sleep, weather, and terrain fluctuate.
S&C isn't about smashing yourself. It's about bulletproofing the bits that take a beating when training volume rises. Two short sessions a week move the needle, and you don't need a gym to do it.
Suggested Minimal Kit
A theraband loop (around ankles/knees)
A medium kettlebell or dumbbell (10–16 kg as a starting point if you're healthy)
A step or bench
Movement Prep (5–8 min)
60 s ankle rocks and calf pulses each side
60 s hip airplanes or hip openers each side
60 s thoracic rotations each side
10–15 bodyweight squats + 10–15 glute bridges
Why: Brings range back to ankles/hips/thoracic. Your running feels better immediately.
Session A: "Runner's Chassis" (20–25 min)
Split squat: 3 × 8–10 each side, slow down, smooth up
Single-leg Romanian Dead Lift with Kettle Bell / Dumbbell: 3 × 8 each side
Step-up (with a knee-drive finish): 3 × 8 each side
Thera-band lateral walk: 3 × 12–15 steps each way
Forearm plank with marching: 3 × 30–40 s
Session B: "Elastic and Resilient" (20–25 min)
Calf raises on a step: 2–3 × 12 to 14 each of bent-knee and straight-knee raises (2 s up, 2 s hold, 3 s down)
Glute bridge: 3 × 10–12 (pause 2 s at the top)
Copenhagen side plank: 3 × 20–30 s each side (regress to knees if needed)
Where to Put It in the Week
Easiest: after an easy run (same day) or on a non-running day.
Avoid: heavy lower-body S&C the day before threshold or the long run.
Quick Hotel-Room Variant (No Weights, 15–20 min)
2–3 rounds: 10–12 reverse lunges each side, 10–12 single-leg RDL hinges (bodyweight), 12–15 glute bridges, 10–12 push-ups or incline push-ups, 30 s side plank each side, 12–15 mini-band lateral steps.
Fuelling for Real Life (and Real Parties)
December isn't about spreadsheets. It's about simple rules that work when plans shift.
Things to Focus on as Best as Possible Each Day
Protein at each meal (hand-sized portion). Helps repair damage from training and curbs snacking.
Lots of colour on the plate. Micronutrients support immune function in winter.
Carbs want to flex with training load. More on quality run/long-run days; less on full rest days.
Party Nights and Heavy Meals
Swap the next day's hard run for easy running or cross-training. Protect threshold and long-run quality by moving them 24 hours later.
Hydration: perhaps alternate drinks if you're out; aim for a glass of water before bed; and perhaps use electrolytes the next day to help rehydrate.
Breakfast the day after: simple carbs and protein. Toast + eggs + fruit or porridge + yoghurt + banana.
Travel and Bad Weather Tactics
Need to use a treadmill: set 1% incline, run to effort. Ignore speed.
Hotel-loop hack: 5–8 min loops around the block. Safe, simple, repeatable. Pick one landmark corner and count laps.
Indoor swap: Elliptical or bike intervals at the same time and effort as your planned run when the weather is icy. The heart and lungs don't care what's under your feet.
Effort Over Pace (Why It Matters Most Now)
Sleep, food, stress, cold, terrain and company all shift pace. Fix the effort; let the pace float. Easy means fully conversational. Threshold means controlled discomfort where you can speak in short phrases. Your watch confirms what your body already knows; it doesn't get to run the session.
Common December Traps
Joining a speedy friend and turning your easy run into a low-key race.
Banking miles on a long run because "it felt good"—then missing two sessions with heavy legs.
Comparing winter paces to your autumn 5K. Different context, different data.
Your Sunday Night Planning Ritual
Plan the week on Sunday night. Place sessions where they'll actually happen.
Choose routes now. Out-and-back or short loops.
Kit prep the night before. Reduce friction.
Decide your minimum viable session for each day. You'll often do a bit more once you begin.
Keep a simple training note. Holiday weeks blur; your diary proves the work.
The Bottom Line
December doesn't need perfect training. It needs wise training.
Your one job this month: Protect four touchpoints per week—one quality session, one long run, two easy runs. Everything else (S&C, fuelling, sleep) supports those four anchors.
Do that, and you'll hit January healthy, confident, and ready to build. Which is exactly where you need to be.
Ready for a training plan that adapts to real life? Whether you're training for London, Brighton, or Paris, our personalised marathon programs are built around your schedule—not against it. Learn more about Full Potential training
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