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Going the Distance

The general philosophy is to run 3 key club runs a week, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are optional easy run days ranging from 30-75 minutes, we suggest trying to get 2 of these in each week. Saturday is either a short easy run with strides, parkrun, or cross-country; don't run a hard parkrun in advance of any races. Sundays are longer runs and moderate in intensity, with some marathon-paced mileage. This 16 week schedule is designed to get you to the start line of the London Marathon.

Customization

The schedule shown is for a runner hoping to complete a MARATHON race in a time of 04:20:00.

No optional days selected.

Full Schedule:

Use our pace calculator to find out more about the terms used in the schedule.

Week 1

02/01/23-08/01/23

Monday  
Tuesday Highgate. 7 miles Easy (1h17 - 1h22)
Wednesday  
Thursday New Year Circuit Pyramid: 400m, 800m, 1600m, 800m, 400m (10mi) with 30sec exercises (squats, lunges, high knees, lunges, squats) followed by 90s recovery between each
Friday  
Saturday  
Sunday WU + RP 10k + CD up to 10-12 miles in total

Week 2

09/01/23-15/01/23

Monday  
Tuesday Easy to Regents Park, 5x4 minutes at HM pace with 2 minute jog recoveries, easy back to Talacre
Wednesday  
Thursday 3x (beginner) or 6x {600m (5k pace=3'15'') [200m jog recovery]} Total 1800-3600m hard
Friday  
Saturday  
Sunday 8 miles Steady (1h21 - 1h29)

Week 3

16/01/23-22/01/23

Monday  
Tuesday Highgate. 7 miles Easy (1h17 - 1h22)
Wednesday  
Thursday 8x {400m (10k pace=2'16'') [200m walk]} + 4x {200m [1mi] [200m walk]}. Total 4000m hard
Friday  
Saturday  
Sunday Fred Hughes 10 or 90-100min

Week 4

23/01/23-29/01/23

Monday  
Tuesday Easy to Regents Park, 5x6 minutes at HM pace with 2 minute jog recoveries, easy back to Talacre
Wednesday  
Thursday 3-4x (beginner) or 5-6x {800m (10k pace=4'31'') [90s static recovery]}. Total 2400m-4800m hard
Friday  
Saturday  
Sunday 8 miles Easy (1h29 - 1h34)

Week 5

30/01/23-05/02/23

Monday  
Tuesday Highgate. 7 miles Steady (1h11 - 1h17)
Wednesday  
Thursday 2x (beginner) or 4x {1200m (10k pace=6'47'') [2 min static recovery]} + 4x 200m [1mi] [200m walk]}. Total 3200m-5600m hard
Friday  
Saturday  
Sunday WU + RP 10k + CD up 10 14 miles in total

Week 6

06/02/23-12/02/23

Monday  
Tuesday Easy to Regents Park, 4x8 minutes at HM pace with 2 minute jog recoveries, easy back to Talacre
Wednesday  
Thursday 2x (beginner) or 4x {1600m (10k pace=9'03'') [2-3 min static recovery]}. Total 3200-6400m hard.
Friday  
Saturday  
Sunday 11 miles Steady (1h52 - 2h02)

Week 7

13/02/23-19/02/23

Monday  
Tuesday Highgate. 7 miles Steady (1h11 - 1h17)
Wednesday  
Thursday 200m (3k pace=1'03'') [200m recovery], 400m (5k pace=2'10'') [2 min rest], 800m (10k pace=4'31'') [2 min rest], 1200 (10mi) [2 min rest] 1600m (HM) [3 min rest], 1200 (10mi) [2 min rest], 800m (10k pace=4'31'') [2 min rest], 400m (5k pace=2'10'') [2 min rest], 200m (3k pace=1'03'') [200m recovery]. Total 6800 hard Beginners do 200, 400, 800, 400, 200
Friday  
Saturday  
Sunday 13 miles Steady, 3 miles Marathon (2h42 - 2h54)

Week 8

20/02/23-26/02/23

Monday  
Tuesday Tuesday Special: Easy to Regents Park, 3x10 minutes at HM with 3 minute jog recoveries, easy back to Talacre
Wednesday  
Thursday 3x (beginner) or 6x {1000m (10k pace=5'39'') into 200m [3k] [2 min static recovery]}. Total 3600m-7200m hard
Friday  
Saturday  
Sunday 11 miles Easy (2h02 - 2h09)

Week 9

27/02/23-05/03/23

Monday  
Tuesday Tuesday Special: Easy to Regents Park, 3x12 minutes at HM pace with 3 minute jog recoveries, easy back to Talacre
Wednesday  
Thursday 2-3x (beginner) or 5x {1600m (10k pace=9'03'') [2-3 min static recovery]}. Total 4800m-8000m hard
Friday  
Saturday  
Sunday WU + RP 10k + CD - up to 18-20miles in total

Week 10

06/03/23-12/03/23

Monday  
Tuesday Hampstead heath run (approx. 5.5miles)
Wednesday  
Thursday 4x (beginner) or 8x {400m (10k pace=2'16'') [1min static recovery]}. Total 1600-3200m hard
Friday  
Saturday  
Sunday Paddock Wood Half Marathon

Week 11

13/03/23-19/03/23

Monday  
Tuesday Highgate. 7 miles Steady (1h11 - 1h17)
Wednesday  
Thursday Reverse pyramid: 1600m (HM) [3 min rest], 1200 (10mi) [2 min rest], 800m (10k pace=4'31'') [2 min rest], 400m (5k pace=2'10'') [2 min rest], 800m (10k pace=4'31'') [2 min rest], 1200 (10mi) [2 min rest] 1600m (HM). Total 7600m Hard
Friday  
Saturday  
Sunday 12 miles Steady (2h02 - 2h13)

Week 12

20/03/23-26/03/23

Monday  
Tuesday Easy to Regents Park, 3x15 minutes at MP with 3 minute jog recoveries, easy back to Talacre
Wednesday  
Thursday 2-3x (beginner) or 4x {2000m (10mi) [2-3 min static recovery]}. Total 4800m-8000m hard
Friday  
Saturday  
Sunday 13 miles Steady, 2 miles Marathon (2h32 - 2h44)

Week 13

27/03/23-02/04/23

Monday  
Tuesday Highgate. 7 miles Steady (1h11 - 1h17)
Wednesday  
Thursday 2x {2x (1600m (10k pace=9'03'') [2 min static recovery]) + 3x 200m [1mi] [200m walk]} 2min rest between sets. Total 4800m-8000m hard
Friday  
Saturday  
Sunday 11 miles Easy (2h02 - 2h09)

Week 14

03/04/23-09/04/23

Monday  
Tuesday Easy to Regents Park, 40-60min MP tempo, easy back to Talacre
Wednesday  
Thursday 30min curves & straights - 5k pace on the straights and jog recoveries on the curves
Friday  
Saturday  
Sunday 8 miles Easy, 6 miles Steady, 3 miles Marathon (2h59 - 3h10)

Week 15

10/04/23-16/04/23

Monday  
Tuesday Heath. 6 miles Easy (1h06 - 1h10)
Wednesday  
Thursday 4 x {600m [MP] [200m easy] + 200m [3k] [200m walk/jog recovery]}
Friday  
Saturday  
Sunday 10 miles Steady (1h42 - 1h51)

Week 16

17/04/23-23/04/23

Monday  
Tuesday Easy to Regents Park, 3 x 6 min MP with 3 minute jog recoveries, easy back to Talacre
Wednesday  
Thursday Paarlauf (8x 400m) followed by 3x200m sprints - marathoners should skip track
Friday  
Saturday  
Sunday London Marathon

 

Advice

It's important to be flexible out your schedule. This plan is just an outline and it is important to pay attention to how you feel. Here are some tips: