You're asking the wrong question. You should not train for your first marathon the way other people trained for their <i>first</i> one, because many people don't necessarily do it right the first time, and it is not necessary to repeat that!<p>Stick to the standard formula. Follow a weekly schedule which includes: a long run which builds to about about 20 miles, and a tempo run of 6 to 10 miles (can start at 4 until you get used to it). The rest is easy running. A weekly mileage of around 50 is adequate. It may sound like a lot, but it isn't. The 20 mile long run eats up 40% of it right there, and the tempo run whittles it down to 20 miles, which can be covered in three runs of 8, 8 and 4. And that leaves two days of rest per week.<p>Those looking to run a fast marathon should do some interval training, but that is advanced and not recommended for the first marathon, unless you have a fierce, competitive spirit that can't be held back. Interval training for marathon involves long repeats of 800 to 1200 meter long repeats. I believe that even shorter ones of 400 meters can still be useful. They improve the quality of the longer repeats, and the longer repeats in turn improve the quality of the weekly tempo run: a kind of trickle down effect. You probably don't want to be doing 100 meter sprints or heavy squats in the gym.<p>Here is a tip: use treadmills to your advantage. Don't do too much running on treadmills, but put in some treadmill mileage. Here is why: treadmills quite precisely control pace, much more accurately than the newbie runner (plus other conditions are under control too). From time to time, put in a good 8 mile steady run on a treadmill, at the same pace from beginning to end. Try to get your body to memorize how differently that pace feels at the beginning, middle and end. Always remember to set a treadmill to 1% incline, to approximately compensate for the lack of headwind, or you will get a grossly wrong sense of effort for a given pace.