Marathon training plan: 4 runs a week

Why four runs a week works

The fourth run is what separates this plan from the three-run version. In the hardest weeks it stays an easy run, so the week has one quality session, one marathon-pace run, the long run, and some easy running around them. That balance lets the plan climb to about 60 km a week without stacking hard days.

The table compares the three versions of the same 3h30 plan. The long run is the same on every schedule: it is set in minutes and reaches 3h00 three weeks before the race.

How a four-run week is built

With the long run on Sunday, the runs fall on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

• Weeks 1–3, base: three easy runs and the long run, which grows from one hour to 90 minutes.
• Weeks 4–6, build: two easy runs, one quality session (threshold and VMA intervals in turn) and the long run.
• Weeks 7–13, peak: an easy run, a marathon-pace run (8, then 10, then 12 km), a threshold or VMA session and the long run, with 2×5 km at marathon pace in its second half from the third week.
• Weeks 14–15, taper: two short easy runs, a short marathon-pace rehearsal and a shorter long run.
• Week 16, race week: three short easy runs and the race.

Every fourth week is a cutback week, about a quarter lighter. The easy runs are the part that stretches: Run 42 lengthens or shortens them, between 20 and 80 minutes, so each week reaches its planned kilometres.

Getting the most from four runs

• Keep the easy run easy. At 5:43–6:19 per km for this goal, it is there to add volume and help you recover, not to test your form.
• Put the hard days apart. The quality session and the marathon-pace run are the two days to protect. If your week moves, move the easy run, not them.
• Rehearse race day on the long runs. Wear your race shoes and practise your fuel on the long runs with marathon-pace blocks.

Run 42’s sub-4 and sub-4:30 sample plans use four runs a week too. With a fifth slot, the five-run plan adds a second easy run and a little more volume.

Your paces for 3h30

The sample plan targets 3:30. A different goal keeps the same structure, only the paces change: find yours in the marathon pace chart.

The 16-week sample plan

This is the plan Run 42 builds for a 3:30 goal, four runs a week, the long run on Sunday, for a runner who raced a half marathon recently. It starts at about 37 km a week and peaks around 60 km.