Printable · Week-numbered · Readiness-based

Physical Training Planner

Build a printable marathon or half-marathon plan from where you are now. The calendar below updates as you type. Weeks are numbered, not dated, so start whenever you're ready and repeat a week if recovery is poor. General fitness guidance, not medical advice.

Quick start Pick the closest starting point, then fine-tune anything below. Your units, dates and paces stay as they are.
Where you are now
Units
Switching converts what you've already entered.
Your average over the last 3–4 weeks, not your best week.
Within the last month, and you recovered within a day or two.
Why no calorie target? A calorie number from a few inputs can be well off for any one person, and it's easy to treat as a limit, while eating too little for your training (REDs) is a real risk for runners; see Nutrition in the reference guide. Instead, enter your weight for carb and protein ranges, and eat around training even when you're not hungry: hard training can blunt appetite. The weekly running-energy figure is extra on top of your usual needs, never a target. For exact energy needs (weight change, pregnancy, a medical condition, or a history of disordered eating), work with a sports dietitian or clinician.
Unlocks daily carb and protein ranges (see Fuel & fluids) and a rough running-energy figure each week. It stays in your browser and never goes into shared links.
Plan shape
Goal
Enter a whole number from 6 to 30.
The biggest week the plan builds to. You don't need high mileage to finish a first marathon; more volume can help performance but adds load and injury risk. You only reach the peak if earlier weeks go well.
The longest run in the plan, usually 3–5 weeks before race day. The long run is kept to about half of that week's total distance, so a low peak weekly distance can cap it below what you enter here.
Cutback week
A lighter week, about 25% less distance and a shorter long run, that lets your body absorb the training before the next build. Choose every 3rd week if you're new to this volume or tend to recover slowly.
Taper
The final weeks before the race. Distance drops step by step, but you keep a few short, familiar faster efforts so you arrive fresh rather than flat. Marathons usually taper over 2–3 weeks; half marathons over 1–2 (the last week is race week).
Your week
Running days per week
5 is recommended. 4 means fewer, longer runs; 6 adds a short recovery jog.
Long-run day
A true day off every week. The workout and short runs are arranged around it.
Strength sessions per week
Short (20–30 min) sessions of squats, calf raises, hinges and core work, placed on easy-run days and never the day before the long run. They start light and ease off in cutback and taper weeks. The exercises are in the reference guide below.
Printing
Calendar week starts on
Changes the column order only, not the plan.
Orientation
Landscape gives each day more room. Portrait fits more weeks per page with smaller text.
Paper size
Adds pages on effort, nutrition, strength exercises, hydration and safety after the calendar.
Pacing optional — add suggested min/mi paces alongside effort

Enter a recent race result, the paces you already know, or both. Leave everything blank for effort-only guidance.

Paces come from the Daniels/Gilbert race-equivalency formulas, which estimate equal-effort paces from one race result. Easy covers roughly 62–70% of your aerobic capacity, tempo about 88%, and the race-effort range adds a small buffer (15 s/mi for the marathon, 6 s/mi for the half) to the predicted pace. These formulas tend to be optimistic, especially for a first marathon, so treat paces as a ceiling and let effort decide.
h:mm:ss, or mm:ss for a 5K or 10K. Use a hard race effort from the last 3 months. Use h:mm:ss (1:50:00) or mm:ss (24:30).
The pace you can hold while chatting. Overrides the calculated easy range. Use m:ss, for example 10:15.
Replaces the race estimate for race-effort sessions. You'll get a warning if it's faster than your race result predicts. Use m:ss, for example 9:15.
Fuel & fluids optional — carb, protein and drink amounts sized to you

Your body weight (above) gives daily carb and protein ranges. For a drink plan, do a one-hour sweat test: weigh yourself without clothes before and after an easy 60-minute run, and note what you drank. These numbers stay in this browser and never go into shared links.

Before minus after. Enter a negative number if you gained weight.
Enter 0 if you drank nothing.

The link saves your plan settings (not your body weight), so you can bookmark it or send it to someone.

Downloads every workout as an all-day event for Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or Outlook. Needs a race or start date. If you change your plan later, delete the old events before importing the new file.

Printing tip: if your browser doesn't pick up the orientation automatically, choose it in the print dialog, and turn off headers and footers. On a phone, use your browser's Share → Print to save a PDF.

What the terms mean: Strides
Short, relaxed accelerations of 15–20 seconds at the end of an easy run, with a full walk or jog recovery between them. Quick and smooth, never a sprint. They're optional; skip them if they're new to you or anything hurts.
Tempo
"Comfortably hard," about 6–7 out of 10. You can say a few words but not hold a conversation. Done as intervals inside an easy run, with easy running before and after.
Race effort
The effort you could sustain for your whole goal race: steady and controlled. Marathon effort is a little quicker than easy; half-marathon effort sits closer to tempo. It's rehearsed in short segments during the race-specific phase.
Cutback
A planned lighter week, about 25% less distance, that lets your body adapt. It doesn't mean you're behind, so don't add miles back in.
Readiness gate
The dark bars between phases list what should be true before you move on. If you're not there yet, repeat a week or two and shift the rest of the plan back. Weeks are numbered, not dated, for exactly this reason.

Reference guide

Effort and pace

TypeEffort cueHow to use it
Easy / recovery3–4/10; full sentencesDefault for most runs. Pace is secondary on hot, hilly, windy, or low-energy days.
Long run3–4/10 early, controlled lateEasy through most of the build. Walk breaks are fine. Practice fuel and fluids on runs over 75–90 minutes.
Strides (optional)Fast but relaxed, never all-out4–6 × 15–20 s with full easy recovery, only if familiar and pain-free.
TempoAbout 6–7/10, comfortably hardShort intervals inside an easy run. Not a time trial.
Race effort (marathon or half)Controlled, sustainableIntroduced in the race-specific phase. Treat suggested paces as a starting point and confirm them in training.

About suggested paces: a recent race result is useful evidence of fitness, but equivalency formulas tend to be optimistic for the marathon, especially for first-timers or runners under about 40 mi (65 km) per week. Start marathon-effort work at the slower end of the range, and never turn easy days into pace tests.

Readiness gates (the calendar assumes you pass these)

  • Into Build: several consistent weeks, normal sleep/appetite/mood, no persistent pain, long runs recovered within ~24–48 h.
  • Into the race-specific phase: for a marathon, 30–35 mi (48–56 km) per week feels sustainable and 14–16 mi (23–26 km) long runs are comfortable; for a half, 20–25 mi (32–40 km) and 8–10 mi (13–16 km). No recurring pain or lingering fatigue.
  • If you don't pass: repeat the previous week (or block) and slide the remaining weeks back. There's no penalty for repeating.
  • Peak long run (marathon 16–20 mi / 26–32 km; half 10–13 mi / 16–21 km) is a ceiling, not a requirement. Don't attempt the upper end if shorter peaks leave you depleted or sore.

Nutrition

  • No fixed calorie target without age, sex, height, weight, health context, and activity. Eat enough for daily needs plus training; avoid intentional restriction while building endurance unless supervised. Eating too little for your training (low energy availability, or REDs) raises the risk of stress fractures, illness, hormone and menstrual changes, and stalled progress. Hard training can blunt appetite, so eat around sessions even when you're not hungry.
  • Running energy: roughly 1 kcal per kg per km (≈0.7 kcal per lb per mile). Add it to usual needs — it's not a ceiling.
  • Carbohydrate: about 5–7 g/kg/day in moderate training, more on long or demanding days as tolerated. Protein: about 1.2–1.6 g/kg/day, spread across meals.
  • Before long runs: familiar carb-rich meal or snack 1–4 h before. During runs over 75–90 min: practice 30–60 g carbs/hour; build toward more only gradually. After: carbs + protein + fluids.
  • Low-energy warning signs: persistent fatigue, declining performance, irritability, frequent illness, poor sleep, recurrent injury, cold sensitivity, menstrual changes, reduced libido. Reduce load and consult a clinician or sports dietitian.

Strength workouts

Workout A — squat / calf / trunkDoseWorkout B — hinge / single-leg / upperDose
Goblet squat or sit-to-stand2 × 6–10Dumbbell Romanian deadlift / hip hinge2 × 6–10
Standing calf raise2 × 8–12Reverse lunge or supported split squat2 × 6–8 each
Step-up or split squat2 × 6–8 eachSeated / bent-knee calf raise2 × 10–15
Glute bridge or hip thrust2 × 8–12Hamstring curl (machine or sliders)2 × 8–12
Dead bug or plank2 × 20–40 sRow or incline push-up; side plank or bird dog2 × 8–12 / 20–40 s
  • Weeks 1–2: 1–2 sets, light, 3–4 reps in reserve. Weeks 3–6: 2 sets if soreness resolves in 24–48 h. Later: 2–3 × 6–10 on key lifts, still well short of failure.
  • Pair strength with easy runs; never hard lower-body work the day before the long run. One consistent session beats two that hurt your running.
  • Muscle effort is expected; sharp, joint, or worsening pain, numbness, or a gait change is not — stop and get advice.

Hydration

BeforeStart normally hydrated; drink with meals and to thirst. Don't force large volumes.
Long runs / heatCarry or plan fluids; consider electrolytes for long, sweaty, or hot sessions. Estimate sweat rate from pre/post body mass, accounting for fluid taken in.
AfterDrink to thirst with food; after heavy sweating replace fluid and sodium with meals rather than chugging.
AvoidGaining weight during exercise from drinking — overhydration can cause dangerous hyponatremia.

Possible heat illness: unusual weakness, dizziness, nausea, headache, chills in heat, or worsening coordination — stop, cool down, get help as needed. Confusion, collapse, seizure, or altered mental status is an emergency: call emergency services and start rapid cooling.

When to modify, stop, or seek care

  • Modify or rest: poor sleep, illness, heavy legs that don't improve in warm-up, soreness that changes your stride, fatigue lasting more than 1–2 days.
  • Stop and get assessed: localized bone pain, pain that worsens as you run, swelling, limping, pain at rest or night, recurring symptoms.
  • Urgent care: chest pressure/pain, fainting, severe or unusual shortness of breath, palpitations with dizziness, confusion, collapse.
  • Check with a clinician first if you have cardiovascular, metabolic, kidney, or other significant conditions, take medicines affecting heart rate or fluid balance, are pregnant/postpartum, or have a history of eating disorder or stress fractures.

Weekly self-check

  • □ I slept reasonably well.
  • □ Appetite and energy feel normal.
  • □ No pain is changing my stride.
  • □ Easy pace feels easy.
  • □ I fueled longer sessions.
  • □ I drank to thirst and considered conditions.
  • □ I had at least one rest day.
  • □ I didn't make up missed runs.
  • □ I could repeat this week without dread.
  • □ I'm willing to hold or reduce load if needed.

Decision rule: several "no" answers → repeat or reduce the week. Persistent or worsening symptoms → stop and seek professional advice.

Evidence and references

  1. Damsted C, et al. Changes in training load and running-related injuries: systematic review. Int J Sports Phys Ther (2018). Full text
  2. Fredette A, et al. Running injuries and training parameters: systematic review. J Athl Train (2022). Full text
  3. Thomas DT, Erdman KA, Burke LM. Nutrition and Athletic Performance. Joint position statement (2016). PubMed
  4. ACSM. Exercise and Fluid Replacement. Med Sci Sports Exerc (2007). PubMed
  5. Roberts WO, et al. ACSM Expert Consensus Statement on Exertional Heat Illness (2023). PubMed
  6. Wang Z, et al. Effects of tapering on performance in endurance athletes: meta-analysis. PLOS ONE (2023). Full text
  7. Mountjoy M, et al. 2023 IOC consensus statement on Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs). Br J Sports Med (2023). PubMed

These sources inform the plan but can't determine individual medical risk or guarantee injury prevention. For exact calorie needs, a personalized pace prescription, or a race-specific plan, work with a credentialed professional.