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Advanced Marathon Training Plan
Run the marathon time your training has earned.
You already train with enough volume and quality to take a demanding marathon build seriously. You want a result that reflects the runner you are now, not just the ability to cover 26.2 miles.
Getting there asks your training to develop speed, endurance, race-specific strength and the ability to keep all 3 available deep into a marathon.
Two quality sessions stay 48 hours apart, with easy and recovery running giving each one room to land. That separation lets the full week remain repeatable as the mileage and long-run demands grow.
- 20 week plan
- 6 runs per week
- 34 to 61 miles a week
- Longest run 22 miles
- 120 coached runs
One-time purchase, yours for life. Delivered through Final Surge.
Is This You?
If your current week has 6 running days and one workout, use the Intermediate Marathon. If your next race is longer than 26.2, choose the 50K.
A free 15-minute call can sort out every other starting point.
Weekly Speed Makes Marathon Effort Cheaper
When progress flattens, you are usually running enough. What changes is the cost of holding marathon effort. A pace that should feel controlled starts taking too much from your stride, and the difference appears late rather than early.
Short, fast repeats keep your mechanics and muscle recruitment sharp. They are not there to improve your mile. They create more room between your top gear and marathon effort, so each mile at race effort asks for a smaller share of what you have.
Tuesday changes with the build. Short 400s wake the legs without taking much out of you. The repetitions extend through 800s and miles, then move to marathon effort in the specific block. The same weekly track session develops speed early and rehearses the race late.
Or have the plan written as you go
This plan is fixed the day you buy it. A marathon build is not, and neither is the life you are fitting it around. With coaching, Andrew reads what you ran, what hurt and what got in the way, then writes the next 4 weeks against it rather than against a template.
$129.99 a month, no contract.
What Makes A Sunrise Running Plan Different
Most plans tell you how far to run. This one tells you how it should feel, and what to do when it doesn’t.
More on why this Sunrise Running plan runs on effort instead of pace.
A Real Week From The Plan
Week 17 pulls back the track work so the 22-mile marathon-specific long run gets the week.
| Day | Session | Time | What It Asks For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Easy Run Plus Strides | 70 minutes | Run easy, adding 5 to 6 relaxed strides in the second half. |
| Tuesday | Track Workout, 4 × 1 Mile, Strength and Mobility for Runners | 75 minutes + 20 minutes | Run the mile repeats at marathon effort, controlled enough to preserve sharpness, then work core and upper body. |
| Wednesday | Recovery Run | 40 minutes | Run noticeably slower than your easy days. |
| Thursday | Medium Long Run, Strength and Mobility for Runners | 13 miles + 15 minutes | Add sustained running without turning the day into another workout, then restore movement before the peak long run. |
| Friday | Easy Run | 60 minutes | Keep the effort controlled before the longest run. |
| Saturday | Peak Long Run With Marathon Effort Segments | 22 miles | Run 12 miles easy, then 2 × 4 miles at marathon effort with 1 mile easy between. |
| Sunday | Rest With Optional Mobility and Recovery | Rest or 20 minutes | Take the day off or complete gentle work at RPE 1 to 2. |
| Week total | 61 miles | The peak week, built around the longest and most specific long run. |
The 22-miler is the last chance to settle what you take in while running it, 3 weeks before doing it for real.
Every Week Opens With A Note Like This One
Week 17 turns race morning into a rehearsal before the taper begins.
This is the peak of your plan and the longest run in it. Twenty-two miles, and then everything gets easier.
Tuesday deliberately steps back to 4 repeats. The long run is the session that matters this week and the track work exists to keep sharpness alive, not to add fatigue to it.
Twenty-two miles is the longest run in the plan and the last one over 20. Treat Saturday as a full dress rehearsal: race-morning timing, race breakfast, race kit, race fuel. After this week nothing gets longer or harder.
Focus this week on:
- Running Tuesday well within yourself.
- Starting Saturday slowly. You have 22 miles and 2 marathon-effort segments to get through.
- Planning nothing on Sunday.
Everything comes down from here. The taper starts next week.
You receive 20 weekly notes like this, plus a separate coaching note on every run.
The 20 Weeks, Phase By Phase
| Weeks | Phase | Mileage | What it Does |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | Foundation | 35 to 42 miles | 6 runs a week with a track workout every Tuesday from Week 1 and Thursday alternating tempo with a medium long run. The long run reaches 12 miles before Week 4 resets. |
| 5 to 7 | Build | 39 to 46 miles | Track repeats lengthen from 400s to a mile and the long run reaches 14 miles. Everything is still run easy, and Week 7 steps back before the marathon-specific work starts. |
| 8 to 13 | Marathon-Specific Build | 41 to 54 miles | Marathon effort arrives on the long run in Week 8 and stays. Track repeats stretch to 2 miles, the long run reaches 18, and recovery weeks at 10 and 13 hold it together. |
| 14 | Tune-Up Race | 38 miles | The lowest week in the back half, cut to 38 miles so Saturday's half marathon gives an honest reading. It is the only mid-plan race in the marathon group. |
| 15 to 17 | Peak | 55 to 61 miles | The 3 biggest weeks, topping out at 61 miles, with long runs of 18, 20 and 22 miles. Week 17's 22-miler is the longest of the plan and carries marathon effort segments. |
| 18 to 19 | Taper | 34 to 42 miles | Mileage falls 27 miles across 2 weeks, the steepest taper in the marathon group. The long run comes back to 10 and Thursday's marathon rhythm workout keeps the race pace live. |
| 20 | Race Week | 18 miles + race | A race week rhythm workout Tuesday, easy running midweek, and a 20-minute shakeout Saturday before Sunday's marathon. 5 runs in total, none of them longer than 50 minutes. |
There are 10 of these, one for every week, plus a note on every single run.
What You Get Inside Training Plan
- All 20 weeks, 120 coached runs including race day. Two quality sessions keep speed and sustained strength developing together across the full build.
- 38 strength and mobility sessions of 15 to 25 minutes, placed on the 2 hard days so your easy days stay easy, plus 19 shorter mobility sessions for the rest day.
- Run by effort, not pace. Every session on an RPE 1 to 10 scale. No paces, no heart rate, no zones.
- A coach's note on every run: how it should feel, one cue to hold onto, and how to shorten it when today is not the day.
- One-time purchase, yours for life. Printable PDF, syncs to your watch, delivered through Final Surge.
How It Works
Final Surge is free to use — you’re paying for the plan, not a subscription.
Frequently Asked Questions
You are ready if 6 running days, a 10-mile long run and 2 quality sessions in the same week are already normal training. Those are starting requirements, not goals for later. Week 1 opens with 6 × 400m on the track, a Thursday tempo and a 10-mile Saturday long run.
The Intermediate Marathon uses 6 running days, one weekly workout and 2 long runs. This plan keeps 6 days but adds a second quality session, a track workout every week and a tune-up race. Choose between them based on whether your current training already supports 2 demanding sessions in the same week.
A track session every week preserves a faster, more efficient stride while you prepare for the marathon. The repetitions change as training develops, moving from shorter speed early to longer work and marathon effort later. You keep the faster gear while making it more useful to the marathon.
Yes, you should race it properly. A half marathon at genuine effort gives you a marathon effort you can trust for the next 6 weeks. The week drops to 38 miles so the result reflects your current fitness. Running it easy is possible, but it leaves you without the measured reading that the race is there to provide.
Skip the missed run and continue with the next scheduled session. Do not stack runs, squeeze a long run into the wrong place, or turn a recovery week into a make-up week. Consistency across the 20 weeks of the plan beats being perfect for 2.
No. Every session is written on an RPE 1 to 10 effort scale. That means the plan works on hills, in heat, on tired legs and at any fitness level, and it keeps working as you get faster.
Pick your race, set your start date, and the plan builds backward from it. If the race moves, the plan moves. You keep it for life, which means the next build starts from something you already know works.
The 50K is the next direction when you want to move beyond 26.2 rather than chase a faster marathon. Repeating this plan is also a real option, because the fitness left by the first build changes what the same sessions ask of you the next time.
Founder & Head Coach, Sunrise Running Company
Andrew is a USATF Level 1 certified running coach in Modesto, California, with 35+ years of running and 8 finishes at the 100-mile distance. He holds a BS in Exercise Science Education and an MA in Sports Management from Ohio State, and he writes every Sunrise Running plan himself.
20 Weeks To Your Fastest Marathon
Pick your race, set your start date, and the plan builds backward from it. If the race moves, the plan moves. You keep it for life, which means the next build starts from something you already know works.
One-time purchase, lifetime access. Delivered instantly through Final Surge.