Hal Higdon Marathon Intermediate 1
Hal Higdon
About the plan
The next step up from Hal Higdon's Novice program, for runners who have already finished a marathon or have been running regularly for at least a year and want a bit more structure without giving up the simplicity of the method. There are five runs a week: three easy runs midweek, a Saturday workout that alternates between an easy run and a run at marathon pace, and the Sunday long run, which grows from 8 to 20 miles (13 to 32 km) in three-week cycles with a cutback week. Week nine brings a half marathon as a tune-up race in place of the long run. Monday is a rest day or light cross-training (bike, swimming, walking), as Higdon recommends. Weekly volume runs from 22 to 44 miles (36 to 71 km), and the plan closes with a three-week taper into race day. The jumps in volume after each cutback week are part of the program's original design.
The plan in numbers
- Duration
- 18 weeks
- Runs per week
- 5
- Weekly volume
- 24 mi → 44 mi
- Longest run
- 20 mi
Week 1 starts at 24 mi and volume builds to 44 mi in week 11, the heaviest of the plan.
A typical week has 5 runs, and the longest session reaches 20 mi (Long, week 15).
Over the final 7 weeks volume drops from 44 mi to 11 mi so you arrive at the race rested.
Race day (26 mi) falls on Sunday of week 18; the week holds 11 mi of running before it.
There is 1 tune-up race on the way to the goal race.
Key workouts
The quality sessions that come up most in this plan:
- Long16 sessions across 16 weeks
- Marathon10 sessions across 10 weeks
Who it's for
Intermediate level. To start safely you should already be running about 24 mi per week and be comfortable with a 8.1 mi session — that is what week 1 asks for.
Week 1 — workout preview
24 mi this week
3.1 mi
5 mi
3.1 mi
5 mi
8.1 mi
Week 11 — the heaviest of the plan
44 mi this week
5 mi
8.1 mi
5 mi
8.1 mi
18 mi
Plan Structure
18 weeks · 89 workouts · 37 rest days
See the full plan
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