Marathon Excellence Breeze – 18 Weeks
John Davis
About the plan
An 18-week low-mileage plan (peaking at about 45 miles / 72 km per week) aimed at beginner marathoners who are still learning to train and race the distance. It requires little training time and uses less taxing sessions than the higher-volume Excellence plans, making it a great choice for anyone running a first marathon, injury-prone runners and athletes with less than two years of experience. Adapted from John Davis' Marathon Excellence methodology.
The plan in numbers
- Duration
- 18 weeks
- Runs per week
- 6
- Weekly volume
- 32 mi · 29 min → 51 mi · 4 min
- Longest run
- 19 mi
Week 1 starts at 32 mi · 29 min and volume builds to 51 mi · 4 min in week 13, the heaviest of the plan.
A typical week has 6 runs, and the longest session reaches 19 mi (Marathon, week 15).
Race day (26 mi) falls on Sunday of week 18; the week holds 29 mi · 28 min of running before it.
Key workouts
The quality sessions that come up most in this plan:
- Threshold15 sessions across 13 weeks
- Repetition13 sessions across 13 weeks
- Marathon13 sessions across 12 weeks
- Long6 sessions across 6 weeks
Who it's for
Beginner level. To start safely you should already be running about 32 mi · 29 min per week and be comfortable with a 11 mi session — that is what week 1 asks for.
Week 1 — workout preview
32 mi · 29 min this week
5 mi
4.3 mi · 4 min
3.1 mi · 25 min
4.3 mi
4.3 mi
11 mi
Week 13 — the heaviest of the plan
51 mi · 4 min this week
5 mi
5 mi · 4 min
12 mi
5 mi
6.2 mi
18 mi
Plan Structure
18 weeks · 109 workouts · 17 rest days
See the full plan
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