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.
The schedule shown is for a runner hoping to complete a MARATHON race in a time of 04:20:00.
No optional days selected.
Use our pace calculator to find out more about the terms used in the schedule.
02/01/23-08/01/23
Monday | |
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Tuesday | Highgate. |
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 |
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 |
16/01/23-22/01/23
Monday | |
---|---|
Tuesday | Highgate. |
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 |
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 |
30/01/23-05/02/23
Monday | |
---|---|
Tuesday | Highgate. |
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 |
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 |
13/02/23-19/02/23
Monday | |
---|---|
Tuesday | Highgate. |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
13/03/23-19/03/23
Monday | |
---|---|
Tuesday | Highgate. |
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 |
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 |
27/03/23-02/04/23
Monday | |
---|---|
Tuesday | Highgate. |
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 |
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 |
10/04/23-16/04/23
Monday | |
---|---|
Tuesday | Heath. |
Wednesday | |
Thursday | 4 x {600m [MP] [200m easy] + 200m [3k] [200m walk/jog recovery]} |
Friday | |
Saturday | |
Sunday |
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 |
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: