Marathon | 5 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 five months to go the following plan will help you to build strength and increase aerobic capacity to cope with increased training load and to help avoid injury.
By the end of this month you should...
Be able to perform a minimum of 12km at a steady pace without stopping and should have a baseline for your 10km from which you will base future pace sessions. You should also be able to complete a minimum of 12 repetitions of each of the bodyweight exercises in a circuit format with little or no rest between each exercise.
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:
- 12-15 reps Push up
- 12-15 reps Body weight row
- 12-15 reps Squats
- 12-15 reps Jump lunge
- 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 | 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 | 3km 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 | 4km 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 | 5km 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 Friday 14 December 2018
First published on Thursday 9 June 2016