Marathon Recovery - Resume Normal Training Timeline?

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some marathoners reverse their training before returning to a nomral schedule.

In other words, they do what they did for the last 2 weeks before the marathon in reverse.

I would recommend taking 2 weeks off from running, feeling free to cross-train that second week if you are going crazy. Then do around 2 weeks of low, easy mileage. After that, I generally find it is pretty easy to hop back into my regular schedule, maybe starting with one hard workout a week and working my way back up and starting with the mileage on the low side of my regular running schedule.

I would definitely advise erring on the side of caution if you are coming back from your first marathon. It is my experience and the knowledge I have gained from watching others around me that recovery from a marathon is something that takes practice in gauging. I almost always feel pretty good the first few weeks after a marathon and then around a month out get niggling aches and pains. It is really easy to push in those early good weeks and then the niggles become true injuries. I think it's easier to be aggressive when you have a better sense of what your recovery pattern is.

The one and only Jack Foster recommended one easy day of running for every mile of a Marathon.

1-3 weeks easy

I agree with Recovery. I took two full weeks off from running after my first marathon (August 2002) before starting to get back into training. It was all easy runs and low mileage, just like the start of a base building phase from a high school/college XC season. I recommend staying away from any kind of hard workout until you've gotten a good 3-4 weeks of steady mileage.

Everyone recovers at a different rate. Some people recover in a few days, some people need several weeks.