Marathon Excellence Wind – 18 Weeks
John Davis
About the plan
A 18-week plan adapted from the book "Marathon Excellence for Everyone" by John Davis, aimed at runners looking for a new PR, Boston qualification, or who have two or more years of experience.
The plan in numbers
- Duration
- 18 weeks
- Runs per week
- 6
- Weekly volume
- 40 mi · 35 min → 61 mi · 7 min
- Longest run
- 21 mi
Week 1 starts at 40 mi · 35 min and volume builds to 61 mi · 7 min in week 13, the heaviest of the plan.
A typical week has 6 runs, and the longest session reaches 21 mi (Marathon, week 15).
Race day (26 mi) falls on Sunday of week 18; the week holds 27 mi · 43 min of running before it.
Key workouts
The quality sessions that come up most in this plan:
- Threshold19 sessions across 14 weeks
- Repetition18 sessions across 17 weeks
- Interval15 sessions across 11 weeks
- Marathon10 sessions across 10 weeks
Who it's for
Intermediate level. To start safely you should already be running about 40 mi · 35 min per week and be comfortable with a 12 mi session — that is what week 1 asks for.
Week 1 — workout preview
40 mi · 35 min this week
6.8 mi
5.6 mi · 7 min
2.5 mi · 28 min
5.6 mi
7.5 mi
12 mi
Week 13 — the heaviest of the plan
61 mi · 7 min this week
6.8 mi · 7 min
8.1 mi
11 mi
7.5 mi
8.1 mi
19 mi
Plan Structure
18 weeks · 110 workouts · 16 rest days
See the full plan
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