Marathon | 4 months to go training plan
- Overview
The following programme is part of a six-month training regime for a marathon. See the full programme here.
With four months to go you should focus on improving strength with an emphasis on active recovery in order to maintain and increase training load without injury. Incorporate weights into your strength and conditioning sessions to continue with improvements in muscle gain and strength.
By the end of this month you should be able to...
Complete 16km at a steady pace without stopping. You should also be able to complete a minimum of eight repetitions of each of the S&C exercises in a circuit format, with little or no rest between each exercise.
The programme
Follow the week-by-week programme below these instructions:
Runs
- Endurance = slow and steady
- Speed = 7 on the rating of perceived exertion scale
- Max effort = 9 on the rating of perceived exertion scale
Strength and conditioning (S&C) sessions
Include three sets of the following:
- 8 - 12 reps Band-resisted Push up
- 8 - 12 reps Body weight pullup
- 8 - 12 reps Deadlift
- 8 - 12 reps Kettlebell squat
- 30 secs Plank
S&C1 - perform the above with 60 seconds rest between each set
S&C2 - perform the above with no rest inbetween each set
Active recovery
Complete after as many of your runs as possible:
- Use a foam roller on your IT band / quad / hips / calves
- And complete band assisted hamstring stretch / couch stretch
WEEK 1
| Day 1 | 5km speed |
| Day 2 | REST |
| Day 3 | 4 x 400m max effort; walk for 120 secs inbetween |
| Day 4 | REST |
| Day 5 | 10km endurance |
| Day 6 | REST |
| Day 7 | S&C1 |
WEEK 2
| Day 1 | 5.5km speed |
| Day 2 | REST |
| Day 3 | 4 x 400m max effort; walk for 120 secs inbetween |
| Day 4 | REST |
| Day 5 | 11km endurance |
| Day 6 | REST |
| Day 7 | S&C1 |
WEEK 3
| Day 1 | 6km speed |
| Day 2 | REST |
| Day 3 | 5 x 400m max effort; walk for 120 secs inbetween |
| Day 4 | REST |
| Day 5 | 12km endurance |
| Day 6 | REST |
| Day 7 | S&C2 |
WEEK 4
| Day 1 | 6.5km speed |
| Day 2 | REST |
| Day 3 | 6 x 400m max effort; walk for 120 secs inbetween |
| Day 4 | REST |
| Day 5 | 13km endurance |
| Day 6 | REST |
| Day 7 | S&C2 |
WEEK 5
| Day 1 | 7km speed |
| Day 2 | REST |
| Day 3 | 6 x 400m max effort; walk for 120 secs inbetween |
| Day 4 | REST |
| Day 5 | 14km endurance |
| Day 6 | REST |
| Day 7 | S&C2 |
Last updated Monday 14 June 2021
First published on Monday 14 June 2021