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All easy. Walk breaks are completely fine and are not cheating — plenty of new runners build faster by walking the last half-mile than by grinding it out.
Rolling route. Easy for 3.5mi, then Steady for the final mile.
1mi easy warm-up. 2 × (800m at Tempo / 400m easy jog). 0.5mi easy cool-down.
Conversational the whole way. If you cannot speak in full sentences, slow down. This should feel almost too slow.
Conversational the whole way. If you cannot speak in full sentences, slow down. This should feel almost too slow.
All easy, the slowest pace of your week. The only goal is time on your feet.
1.5mi easy warm-up to a moderate hill about 200m long. 6 × 45 seconds hard uphill at Interval effort, walking or jogging back down to recover. 1mi easy cool-down. Your race course is flat, so treat this as strength work rather than course preparation — hills build leg strength and running economy with far less impact than flat speedwork.
0.75mi easy warm-up. Then 4 × (400m at Interval effort / 400m easy jog) — keep jogging through the recovery rather than standing still. 0.25mi easy cool-down.
Conversational the whole way. If you cannot speak in full sentences, slow down. This should feel almost too slow.
All easy, the slowest pace of your week. The only goal is time on your feet.
0.75mi easy warm-up. 4 × 400m alternating 200m just over Tempo and 200m just under it, with 90 seconds easy jog between. 0.75mi easy cool-down. This teaches you to recover while still running.
Conversational the whole way. If you cannot speak in full sentences, slow down. This should feel almost too slow.
Conversational the whole way. If you cannot speak in full sentences, slow down. This should feel almost too slow.
All easy on rolling terrain. Walk the steepest climbs if you need to — that is a tactic, not a failure.
1mi easy warm-up. 4 × 400m at Interval (90s recovery), then 4 × 200m at Rep effort (90s recovery). 1mi easy cool-down.
1mi easy warm-up. 2 × 1mi alternating every quarter-mile between just over and just under Tempo, 2 minutes easy jog between. 0.2mi easy cool-down.
Conversational the whole way. If you cannot speak in full sentences, slow down. This should feel almost too slow.
First 5mi easy, last 1.5mi at Steady. Finishing faster than you started teaches your legs to work when they are already tired.
1mi easy warm-up. 2mi continuous at Tempo. 1mi easy cool-down. Your first real threshold block — hold the pace, do not race it. If you are gasping by the end of the first mile, you started too fast.
Conversational the whole way. If you cannot speak in full sentences, slow down. This should feel almost too slow.
Conversational the whole way. If you cannot speak in full sentences, slow down. This should feel almost too slow.
All easy, the slowest pace of your week. The only goal is time on your feet. Start practising fuel today: a gel or chews at mile 4, with water. Your gut needs training as much as your legs.
1mi easy warm-up. 3mi continuous at Tempo, the longest threshold block so far. 0.5mi easy cool-down.
1mi easy warm-up. 4 × 1km at Interval effort, 90 seconds easy jog between. 0.5mi easy cool-down.
Conversational the whole way. If you cannot speak in full sentences, slow down. This should feel almost too slow.
All easy. Down week around the time trial.
1.25mi easy warm-up plus 4 × 20-second strides. Then 5K (3.1mi) as hard as you can hold, on a flat route or a track. 0.5mi walk or jog cool-down. This one run sets every pace for the remaining nine weeks. Run it evenly — the classic error is sprinting the first mile and crawling the third. Aim to finish with nothing left, not to blow up at halfway.
Conversational the whole way. If you cannot speak in full sentences, slow down. This should feel almost too slow.
Very easy — your legs will be sore from the time trial. Slower than you think you need.
All easy, the slowest pace of your week. The only goal is time on your feet. Fuel at miles 3 and 6.
2mi easy warm-up to your hill. 8 × 45 seconds hard uphill at Interval effort, jogging down between. 1.5mi easy cool-down. Your race course is flat, so treat this as strength work rather than course preparation — hills build leg strength and running economy with far less impact than flat speedwork.
0.75mi easy warm-up. 2.5mi continuous at Tempo. 0.55mi easy cool-down.
Conversational the whole way. If you cannot speak in full sentences, slow down. This should feel almost too slow.
Rolling route. 7mi easy, then 2.5mi at Steady. Fuel at miles 3 and 6. Course-specific: save any rise on your route for the last third of the run. Your race climbs about 50 feet up Bellevue Avenue between miles 11 and 12, which is exactly when you will be most tired, and then drops away to the finish.
1mi easy warm-up. 2mi at Tempo, 3 minutes easy jog, then 1mi at Tempo. 0.5mi easy cool-down. The break lets you hold a better pace across more threshold work than one block would.
Conversational the whole way. If you cannot speak in full sentences, slow down. This should feel almost too slow.
Conversational the whole way. If you cannot speak in full sentences, slow down. This should feel almost too slow.
All easy on rolling terrain. Walk the steepest climbs if you need to — that is a tactic, not a failure. Fuel at miles 3, 6 and 9. Wind practice: if it is windy, run this one on the most exposed route you have and do not hide from it. Miles 5 to 9 of your race are open coastline and wind is what runners complain about, not the hills. Into a headwind your pace will drop 20–40 sec/mile at the same effort — that is correct, not a bad day.
1.5mi easy warm-up. 3 × 1 mile at Tempo, 3 minutes easy jog between. 1mi easy cool-down. Longer reps than anything so far — settle into each one rather than attacking it.
2mi easy warm-up. 3 × (800m at Tempo / 400m easy jog). 1.25mi easy cool-down.
Conversational the whole way. If you cannot speak in full sentences, slow down. This should feel almost too slow.
All easy. Down week — you have just run 11 miles. Take it.
1.25mi easy warm-up. 4 × (400m at Interval effort / 400m easy jog) . 0.55mi easy cool-down.
Conversational the whole way. If you cannot speak in full sentences, slow down. This should feel almost too slow.
Conversational the whole way. If you cannot speak in full sentences, slow down. This should feel almost too slow.
Race distance, four and a half weeks out. Run it easy to steady the whole way — this is a distance rehearsal, not a time trial. Wear what you plan to wear on the day and take your gels at miles 4, 7 and 10 exactly as you will in the race. Course-specific: save any rise on your route for the last third of the run. Your race climbs about 50 feet up Bellevue Avenue between miles 11 and 12, which is exactly when you will be most tired, and then drops away to the finish.
1mi easy warm-up. 3 × 1200m at Tempo, 2 minutes easy jog between. 0.75mi easy cool-down.
1mi easy warm-up. 5 × 800m at Interval effort, 2 minutes easy jog between. 0.5mi easy cool-down.
Conversational the whole way. If you cannot speak in full sentences, slow down. This should feel almost too slow.
The dress rehearsal. 3mi easy, then 6mi at goal half marathon pace, then 3mi easy. Fuel at miles 3, 6 and 9. Run the race-pace block on a flat, exposed route, so it mirrors Newport's middle miles. Wear exactly what you will wear on race day and start at your real race time. If the 6mi block feels sustainable, your goal is right; if it falls apart, slow your target by 15–20 seconds per mile. That is useful information, not a failed session.
1.5mi easy warm-up. 2mi continuous at Tempo. 2mi easy cool-down.
Conversational the whole way. If you cannot speak in full sentences, slow down. This should feel almost too slow.
Conversational the whole way. If you cannot speak in full sentences, slow down. This should feel almost too slow.
All easy, the slowest pace of your week. The only goal is time on your feet. Fuel at miles 3 and 6.
1.5mi easy warm-up. 6 × 30 seconds uphill at Interval effort, jogging down between. 1.5mi easy cool-down. The last dedicated hill session of the plan.
1mi easy warm-up. 3mi continuous at Tempo. 0.5mi easy cool-down.
Conversational the whole way. If you cannot speak in full sentences, slow down. This should feel almost too slow.
Easy, with the last 2mi at goal race pace. The taper has begun, so this will feel easier than it should. That is the design.
1mi easy warm-up. 1.5mi at Steady rolling straight into 1mi at Tempo with no break. 0.3mi easy cool-down.
Conversational the whole way. If you cannot speak in full sentences, slow down. This should feel almost too slow.
Conversational the whole way. If you cannot speak in full sentences, slow down. This should feel almost too slow.
The course climbs in the first half-mile — about 55 feet, the biggest single rise of the day, straight into race adrenaline. This is the trap. Go up it slowly, let people stream past you, and accept that your first mile will be your slowest.
Miles 2 to 4 are flat and sheltered. Settle in and let the effort feel almost boring.
Miles 5 to 9 are Ocean Drive — dead flat, wide open coastline, and the part of this race runners actually complain about. If there is a headwind, run by effort and let the pace go; tuck in behind a group rather than leading into it. Do not try to make up time here.
Miles 11 to 12.3 climb Bellevue Avenue, roughly 50 feet up and away from the coast past the mansions. This is the hard part of your race and it arrives exactly when you are most tired. It is short. Shorten your stride, hold the effort even, and know that it ends.
The last two thirds of a mile runs downhill to the finish at Easton's Beach. That is your gift — whatever you have left, spend it there.
Fuel at miles 4, 7 and 10 exactly as rehearsed. Course aid is roughly every two miles with water, Nuun and GU gels. Nothing new today: not shoes, not gels, not breakfast.
1mi easy warm-up. 4 × half a mile at goal race pace, 90 seconds easy jog between. 1mi easy cool-down. Short, and about rhythm rather than fitness — you are reminding your legs what race pace feels like, not testing them.
All easy, plus 4 × 20-second strides at the end. Loosening the legs, nothing more. Resist any urge to test your fitness.
You can hold a full conversation in complete sentences.
About 80% of every mile you run. If in doubt, you are going too fast.
Comfortable, but you would rather not chat.
The pace a long run drifts into when you feel good.
Comfortably hard. Three to five words at a time.
Roughly the hardest pace you could hold for an hour.
Hard. One or two words, and you want the rep to end.
About your 5K effort. Used in short repeats.
Fast and short, close to a sprint but never straining.
Only ever for 200m or 20-second bursts.
Your five zones are filled in above, in minutes per mile.
Newport costs you roughly a minute over the distance versus a flat course, so these need no hill adjustment — but a headwind on Ocean Drive can cost several times that, which is why race day is run on effort. These are estimates from a single 5K, and a first-timer usually fades a little more than the formula predicts, so treat the slower end of each range as the honest one. Week 14's six miles at goal pace is the real test, and it is early enough to revise.
Leave this blank until the time trial in week 8, the week of 8 February. Running by effort is right for the first seven weeks regardless.
Never put the long run and the workout on back-to-back days. Leave at least one easy or rest day between your two hard runs. This is the rule that protects you from injury, so it is the one to keep when the week gets messy.
Keep the day before your long run light. No heavy lower-body strength and no hard reformer class. This is the quietest way to ruin a long run, and the easiest thing to avoid.
Put your heavier strength session on the same day as your workout run, after the run. Stacking the load onto a day that is already hard is what lets your easy days stay genuinely easy. Anything lighter can go wherever it fits.
Take at least two full rest days, and put Pilates the day after your long run. At low load it works as recovery rather than as another session.