Running training plans: 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon
Four week-by-week plans, one per distance, built with the same phases and session types the app uses to generate yours. Paces are written as a percentage of your vVO₂max, so they work at any level once you know that number.
Pick your distance
5K training plan
Eight weeks and four days a week to run a better-prepared 5K: base, VO₂max intervals, race pace and a taper week, with zone-based paces from your vVO₂max.
- Level
- Beginner with a base
- Length
- 8 weeks
- Days a week
- 4
- Longest run
- 60 min
10K training plan
Ten weeks and four days a week to prepare for a 10K: threshold work, VO₂max intervals, long runs up to 85 minutes, two deload weeks and a taper week, with your zone-based paces.
- Level
- Intermediate
- Length
- 10 weeks
- Days a week
- 4
- Longest run
- 85 min
Half marathon training plan
Twelve weeks and five days a week to prepare for a half marathon: long runs up to 110 minutes with race-pace blocks, threshold work, two deload weeks and a two-week taper.
- Level
- Intermediate
- Length
- 12 weeks
- Days a week
- 5
- Longest run
- 110 min
Marathon training plan
Sixteen weeks and five days a week to prepare for a marathon: a long base, long runs up to three hours, marathon-pace blocks, three deload weeks and a three-week taper.
- Level
- Intermediate-advanced
- Length
- 16 weeks
- Days a week
- 5
- Longest run
- 3 h
How to read the plans
Every plan has four phases: base (easy volume and some cheap speed), build (VO₂max intervals and threshold work), specific (sessions that look like the race) and taper (less volume, same intensity). Every fourth week is a deload week.
| Zone | % of vVO₂max | How it feels | In the plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Z2 Easy | 65-75% | Full sentences | Easy runs and long runs |
| Z3 Moderate | 75-84% | Short sentences | End of long runs, half and marathon pace |
| Z4 Threshold | 84-92% | 3-4 words | Tempo, threshold, 10K pace |
| Z5 VO₂max | 92-105% | One word | Intervals, 30/30, 5K pace |
| Z6 Speed | > 105% | None | Strides |
Turn the percentages into your paces
With your vVO₂max, every percentage becomes a pace per kilometer or mile. The calculator gets it from a 6-minute test or a recent race.
- 6-min test1,450 m
- vVO₂max14.5 km/h
- Z25:31-6:22/km
Most of the time, easy
Well-trained distance runners spend around 75-80% of their time at low intensity and only a small fraction above threshold. The tables keep that split: one or two quality sessions a week and the rest conversational running.
Sources
- [1]Seiler S (2010). What is best practice for training intensity and duration distribution in endurance athletes?. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance.
- [2]Silva Oliveira P, Boppre G, Fonseca H (2024). Comparison of Polarized Versus Other Types of Endurance Training Intensity Distribution on Athletes’ Endurance Performance: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis. Sports Medicine.
Your plan, at your paces, for your race date
Tell the app your race, the days you have and what you run now: it builds the weeks, warns you if the goal is optimistic and adjusts the plan when life does not follow the table.
