Description

A marathon plan calculated from your numbers, not a generic template.

The marathon exposes everything. Paces that felt comfortable at 10K become a liability at 20 miles, and the difference between a good day and a bad one is usually decided weeks earlier in training. This plan builds your long runs and your race pace work from your own performances.

What you get

• A complete week by week plan, 12 to 24 weeks, through base, build, peak, sharpen and taper
• Seven personalised pace zones, each given as a target range
• Progressive long runs with goal pace segments as race day approaches
• A lighter week every fourth week, and a properly structured taper
• Session logging space, notes pages, and your own cover photo if you want one
• Delivered as a branded PDF within 24 hours

How long should a marathon plan be?

Twelve weeks is the absolute minimum and we will not build shorter. Sixteen to twenty is what we would recommend for most runners, because the long run has to be built progressively and there is no safe way to rush it.

An honest word about goals.

The marathon is where unrealistic targets do the most damage. If your goal time does not match your current fitness or your current mileage, we will say so plainly before you start, show you a realistic alternative, and let you decide.

Your paces come as ranges, not single numbers

Every pace in your plan is a range. A hilly route, a headwind, heat, a poor night of sleep or the accumulated fatigue of a hard week will all cost you seconds per mile at exactly the same effort. None of that means the session failed.

On a flat route with fresh legs, aim at the quicker end. On hills, into wind, or late in a heavy week, the slower end is the correct target, not a compromise.

The ranges are wider on easy and recovery runs than on hard sessions, because easy running works across a broad band of paces while threshold work needs a more specific intensity. Your plan explains all of this on its own page, so you always know what a session is actually asking of you.

Your paces progress as you do

Most plans give you one pace table for the whole block, which means by week twelve you are training at the fitness you had in week one.

Yours does not. Week 1 uses your current fitness and race week uses your goal fitness, with every week in between on a curve between the two. Your plan shows both, so you can see exactly where you are heading.

How it works

1. Buy your plan
2. You get an email with a link to a short form: race times, current mileage, goal and available days
3. Complete it, and your plan is written and emailed within 24 hours

What we need from you

One personal best is enough to build your plan. Four (5K, 10K, half and marathon) makes it noticeably better, because a single result tells us how fit you are while four tell us what kind of runner you are, and whether your speed is ahead of your endurance or the other way round. You can also add a result at any other distance from 1500m to 50K.

Who this is not for

If you are carrying an injury, returning from a long layoff with no recent race times, or want someone adjusting your training week to week as life happens, a fixed plan is the wrong purchase. 1:1 coaching is £80/month and does exactly that.

About your coach

I ran 2:24:35 for the marathon while working full time, I’ve been a qualified personal trainer since 2010, and I haven’t missed a day’s running since 30 November 2015. These plans use the same approach I use with my 1:1 athletes: built on your own paces, around the days you actually have, and aimed at getting you to the start line fit rather than broken.