20 weeks. The goal is to run sub 2:45 marathon. For reference I ran 10k in 40:31 minutes with 6 week preparation (45km / week) and no prior running training experience.

A 2:45 marathon is roughly a 3:55 min/km (6:18 min/mile) pace. Since my current 10k pace is 4:03 min/km, this means I’ll need to improve my endurance and speed to sustain a pace that's just 7 seconds faster than my 10k pace over 42.2 km.

This programme is divided into four blocks:

Foundation & Endurance (Weeks 1-6)
Strength & Speed (Weeks 7-12)
Race-Specific Preparation (Weeks 13-18)
Tapering Phase (Weeks 19-20)

Weekly Structure

• Long Runs: Starting with 20 km (13 miles) and gradually increasing, these runs should take 35-40% of the weekly mileage.
• Tempo Runs: 12-16 km (15-20% of weekly mileage)
• Fartlek Workouts: 8-10 km including warm-up/cool-down. These sessions introduce speedwork with a mix of fast and easy intervals. For example, you may do 4 x 4-minute fast efforts (at your 9-effort race pace) with 2 minutes of easy jogging in between.
• Easy Runs: Couple of easy (30-40% effort) runs of 8-12 km to maintain weekly mileage.

Weeks 1-6

The main goal is to adapt the body and mind to training, understand the weeknesses and work on them, and learn to manage couple hours a day of training.

Weeks 7-12

To be updated during training...

Weeks 13-18

To be updated during training...

Weeks 19-20

To be updated during training...