Marathon Excellence Hurricane – 18 Weeks
John Davis
About the plan
An 18-week plan adapted from the book "Marathon Excellence for Everyone" by John Davis. It is the most extreme program in the Marathon Excellence series, recommended for runners with five or more years of experience, an excellent ability to absorb very high volume, and who compete at the regional, national or international level.
The plan in numbers
- Duration
- 18 weeks
- Runs per week
- 11
- Weekly volume
- 69 mi · 38 min → 104 mi · 58 min
- Longest run
- 24 mi
Week 1 starts at 69 mi · 38 min and volume builds to 104 mi · 58 min in week 10, the heaviest of the plan.
A typical week has 11 runs, and the longest session reaches 24 mi (Marathon, week 10).
Over the final 8 weeks volume drops from 104 mi · 58 min to 43 mi · 44 min so you arrive at the race rested.
Race day (26 mi) falls on Sunday of week 18; the week holds 43 mi · 44 min of running before it.
Key workouts
The quality sessions that come up most in this plan:
- Threshold30 sessions across 17 weeks
- Repetition21 sessions across 16 weeks
- Marathon15 sessions across 10 weeks
- Interval13 sessions across 9 weeks
Who it's for
Elite level. To start safely you should already be running about 69 mi · 38 min per week and be comfortable with a 16 mi session — that is what week 1 asks for.
Week 1 — workout preview
69 mi · 38 min this week
5 mi · 38 min
8.7 mi
4.3 mi
12 mi
8.7 mi
4.3 mi
6.2 mi
4.3 mi
16 mi
Week 10 — the heaviest of the plan
104 mi · 58 min this week
8.1 mi
5.6 mi
7.5 mi
6.2 mi
18 mi · 18 min
8.7 mi
6.2 mi
6.2 mi · 40 min
6.2 mi
24 mi
4.3 mi
3.1 mi
Plan Structure
18 weeks · 121 workouts · 5 rest days
See the full plan
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