I used the beginners program for my first marathon and it worked well for me. I took their suggestion and altered the long runs and reduced the long runs to max out at 20 miles. However, I felt good one day and did a 21 to 22 miler for the final 20 miler. I was very well prepared for the marathon and had a great experience.

There is a school of thought that a runner should not run a 26 miler thinking that it is indeed to much to ask of your body to recover from a training run of 26 miles that close to the actual race. Most people I have talked to top off their training with around a 23 miler as the longest run regardless of experience level.

I am training for my 2nd marathon in August and am using the beginners program again. This time around I am running the program as written, except, I am not doing the 26 mile training run. I repeated two weeks of training about midway through the program and will finish with a 23 to 24 miler before starting taper.

Good Luck!

Yep. Generally only elites or people who run lots and lots of miles run 26 in training. The rule of thumb is that your long run should only comprise 1/3 of your weekly mileage. So if you run 26, you should be supporting it with 78 miles for that week. Now I know a lot of beginner programs do not strictly follow that rule, but you can see what I am getting at. I don't think it is necessary to run over 20. Hitting 21 or 22 can be a real confidence builder, so I usually do that. If you can pick it up to marathon pace at the end as Andy suggests, even better.

On another note, don't you want the first time you run 26 to be during your race?!? This ain't no 5K - the first time you hit that 26.2 will be something you'll never forget. I'd hate to leave your performance out on the roads during your training . . . or worse bonk hard because you have not tapered and are tired and go into the race without a shred of confidence. 20 miles will get you to the finish line come race day if you have trained right.

FWIW, I have heard the coolrunning program criticized for that long run many many times. Otherwise I have heard the program is pretty solid. Just be smart and cut it down.

Best of luck.