Who is it for?
You are an experienced runner who has been running at a good standard for at least 3 years and know your pace for 5km, 10km and Half Marathon (HM).

You are currently running 4 times per week with a weekly mileage of at least 40km and can commit to running five times per week for the duration of this plan.

How is the plan structured?

There are 3 blocks of training within the 12 weeks.
Block One (Weeks 1 to 5) will build your overall mileage from 48 km to 58km per week and increase your long run from 14 km to 16km.

Your five weekly runs will include easy runs, a speed session (intervals or hills), a tempo session to build endurance and a long easy run. The aim of the block is to build a strong all round base to prepare you for the next block.

Week 6 is a recovery week with easier sessions and reduced mileage.

Block Two (Weeks 7 to 10) will build your overall weekly mileage to 72km and your long run to 21km.
The training will become more specific to your event, with less speed work and more endurance. There will be a variety of endurance sessions including tempo intervals, progression runs, surging tempos, race pace runs and fast finish long runs as well as hybrid sessions mixing speed and endurance.

Block Three (Weeks 11 and 12) will focus on the all important taper. The workload will reduce to roll back the fatigue and reveal the fitness underneath.
Volume 48km - 72km per week

The length of the runs are for distance but the majority of the intervals within the run are for duration. Pace is based on RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) For example a session might be:- Run 10km including 4 x 5 minutes at RPE 8, with 2 minutes jog recoveries.

Written by Girls Run the World coach, Tara Shannahan, level 2 English Athletics Coach