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Marathon Training Blocks

A full marathon build laid out week by week: race and goal choice, long runs and key sessions, pacing skills, taper, race week and recovery, for first-timers and time chasers.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Then open the Marketplace in the app, search for Marathon Training Blocks, and click Install. It goes into your own files, and works offline from then on.

Before you start: this plan is general information, not medical advice. Check with a doctor before starting a new training programme, especially if you have a health condition, are pregnant or are coming back from an injury, and stop if you feel pain, dizziness or chest discomfort.

What it installs.

1

Pillar

1

Area

50

Projects

201

Starter tasks

🏋️ Fitness & Sport

Marathon Training Blocks

Structuring a full marathon build, from base mileage and long runs to tapering and race day, for first-timers and runners chasing a time.

  1. Choosing the target marathon and build start date
  2. Honest goal time from a recent race result
  3. Eight-week running mileage baseline
  4. Pre-build health check for a first marathon
  5. Training shoe rotation for marathon mileage
  6. Weekly running schedule around work and family
  7. Training paces table for your goal
  8. Marathon block structure from base to taper
  9. Choosing between a set plan and a running coach
  10. Missed session and illness rules for the block
  11. Weekly long run routine
  12. Easy run pace discipline
  13. Weekly marathon block review
  14. Strength sessions for marathon runners
  15. Shoe mileage log and replacement rule
  16. Midweek medium-long run
  17. Weekly key workout at threshold or marathon pace
  18. Long run fuel and drink practice
  19. Measured long run route library
  20. Strides after easy runs
  21. Running marathon pace by feel
  22. Marathon pace segments inside long runs
  23. Marathon plan vocabulary and session types
  24. Hill preparation for a rolling marathon course
  25. Pacing strategy for even or negative splits
  26. GPS watch set-up for structured sessions
  27. Holding form late in long runs
  28. Mid-block goal time review
  29. Deciding whether to defer, drop down or run
  30. Race day shoe choice, plated or trainer
  31. Raising peak mileage for a second marathon
  32. Running with a pace group or alone
  33. Tune-up half marathon in the build
  34. Course reconnaissance and water stations
  35. Race-pace dress rehearsal long run
  36. Marathon taper over the final three weeks
  37. One-page race day plan
  38. Race week logistics checklist
  39. First fortnight after the marathon
  40. First marathon on a charity place
  41. Run-walk marathon plan for first-timers
  42. Marathon build with young children at home
  43. Marathon training around shift work
  44. Winter build for a spring marathon
  45. Summer build for an autumn marathon
  46. Business travel during a marathon block
  47. Chasing a qualifying or good-for-age time
  48. Advanced long runs with fast finishes
  49. Two marathon blocks in one year
  50. Comparing past marathon blocks to design the next

Where it starts.

Each project arrives with its purpose, milestones and first tasks written out. Here is how the first three read.

Choosing the target marathon and build start date

Picking the race first sets everything else: the start date of a 16 to 20 week build, the season you train through and the course you prepare for. Choose a race that gives you at least four months, a course profile that suits your goal and an entry route you can actually get, whether ballot, charity place or open entry.

First tasks

  • List three marathons that fall four to eight months from now
  • Compare their course profiles, cut-off times and entry routes
  • Enter the chosen race or note the ballot result date
  • Count back 18 weeks from race day and mark the build start

Honest goal time from a recent race result

Goal times picked from a round number or a friend's result are the most common reason marathon builds go wrong, because every pace in the plan is set from them. Basing the goal on a half marathon or 10K raced in the last three months, then adjusting for your weekly mileage and experience, gives paces you can actually hold for 42.2 km.

First tasks

  • Find your best half marathon or 10K time from the last three months
  • Run a 5K or 10K time trial if you have no recent result
  • Write A, B and C marathon goals with a line of reasoning for each
  • Race a 10K or half marathon to refresh your goal evidence @recurring(quarterly)

Eight-week running mileage baseline

Before setting week one of a plan you need to know what your body is already used to: average weekly distance, longest run and how many days you run. Pulling the last eight weeks from your watch or app shows whether the plan's starting volume is a step you can absorb or a jump that invites trouble.

First tasks

  • Export or copy the last eight weeks of runs from your watch app
  • Work out your average weekly distance and longest run
  • Compare the baseline with week one of your chosen plan
  • Add base-building weeks before the plan if the jump is large

Make it yours.

Install Marathon Training Blocks, then tell Aurum the date you're aiming for. It checks whether the plan fits the weeks you actually have.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Blueprints are general information to help you organise your own work. They are not medical, financial, legal or other professional advice. See the Terms.