A few questions will help better inform a plan for you:

(1) How many hours do you plan to run or swim during each week? OR do you plan to do primarily a 6-10+ weeks running focused build?

This will be a run focused build. I may keep a bike workout in the mix for cross training and to justify keeping my tri bike ;)

Recommendation: Consider a 16 week build for your targeted marathon. See if you can slowly build up to consistent 35 to 40 miles per week prior to the build. If you are running 25 mpw now then add 10% each week perhaps with a few min plateaus to allow your body to adapt until you get to 40 mph - so maybe something like this: 25, 27, 30, 30, 32, 32, 30, 35, 35, 35, 30, 35, 37, 37, 30, 35, 37, 40. This strategy will hopefully keep you injury free and allow you to adapt well to the new training load. You will then be able to enter a dedicated 16 week marathon prep. If you can maintain 3-5 hours of cycling each week as active recovery or to add in an extra intensity work a week that would be great. Many top/pro triathletes will cap there long runs at 2:30 hours followed directly by 1-2 hours of cycling to continue to build a bigger endurance/aerobic engine.

(2) Have you ever run 50+ miles in a week on a regular basis?

I haven’t. Even in my previous marathon builds, I grossly undertrained primarily due to laziness.

Recommendation: Per above, build up the base slowly in preparation for a dedicated marathon build.

(3) What is your 10 km, half marathon and marathon most recent / best times?

10k: 43:00 (Last weekend)
13.1: 1:40:46 (February 2020)
Both of these were on approximately 25 MPW average. I haven’t ran a marathon in over 5 years.

Recommendation: Setting a goal time for the marathon will help determine pacing for workouts. Based on 43 min 10 km then on current fitness this would equate to about 3:50 +/- hours for the marathon. If you plan to increase you mileage to a consistent 50 mpw then something in the 3:20 to 3:30 range is achievable and perhaps faster with a great training block and the right racing conditions.

(4) What is your current HR Zone 2 running pace for one hour? i.e., how many miles/km would you cover in a 1-hour run

I can cover 7-7.5 miles comfortably in an hour. I’ve kind of steered away from monitoring my HR routinely. I’ll wear my HRM for a run here and there, but not religiously. I felt like I was becoming too fixated on my HR versus how I was feeling.

Recommendation: It would be great to monitor your Training Stress Score (TSS) for each workout and each week based on a combination of pace and HR if possible. You can then target what effort/pace zone to run each workout at. Based on a 43 min 10 km your current training zone would be something like this:

Workout TypePace/miPace/km Z1 - Easy 9:03 - 10:03 5:37 - 6:14 Z2 - Moderate 8:33 - 9:33 5:18 - 5:56 Z3 - Long Runs 8:03 - 9:33 5:00 - 5:56 Z4 - Speed Workouts 6:38 - 6:55 4:07 - 4:18 Z5 - Vo2max Workouts 6:17 - 6:38 3:54 - 4:07 Z5a - Lactate Threshold 6:55 - 7:13 4:18 - 4:29 Strength Workouts 7:23 4:35 Half Mar Tempos 7:14 4:30 Marathon Tempos 7:33 4:41



(5) Any history of running injuries?

None. Don’t think I’ve ever really pushed my mileage up enough for any to sneak up on me.

The specific plan can then include progression, time spent in different HR/Effort zones, mix of workouts, etc.

A general plan follows something like this:

Monday - day off
Tuesday - Tempo run; total time 75 min with 30-40 min at half-marathon tempo pace
Wednesday - 20 to 30 min of Z1 easy running with a few strides at the end
Thursday - Alternating weeks of long hill repeats OR strength intervals (i.e., 6-8 x 1 km or 4 x 1 mile); these are run at 10km race pace
Saturday - 30 to 45 min easy run in Z1 on trails or soft surface
Sunday - longer run, build to 2:30+ hours