Good plans change emphasis over time, from general fitness towards the specific demands of your goal, and then ease off so you arrive at race day fresh. This is called periodisation.
Phases
A plan moves from general to specific:
- Base: mostly easy running, building frequency and distance. Add strides, and possibly short threshold work.
- Build: threshold and interval sessions develop the qualities the goal needs. Distance keeps rising, with recovery weeks.
- Peak: the most race-specific work, such as goal-pace sessions and the longest long runs. Distance plateaus.
- Taper: distance drops so the athlete arrives fresh, and some intensity is kept to stay sharp.
Short plans compress or skip phases. A 4–6 week plan is mostly a build, with a short taper if there's a race. Pick what the goal needs:
- 5K–10K: I and T work matter most, plus some R for economy.
- Half marathon: T work and long runs matter most.
- Marathon: long runs, M-pace work and T work matter most. Distance matters more than speed.
- General fitness: consistent easy running, with strides and a little T. No taper needed.
Tapering
A meta-analysis by Bosquet et al. (2007) found the largest performance benefit from a taper that:
- lasts about 2 weeks;
- cuts training volume by 41–60%, done progressively;
- keeps intensity (do not drop the hard sessions, just shorten them);
- keeps frequency (similar number of run days).
Mujika & Padilla (2003) reached similar conclusions. Shorter races need shorter tapers: about a week for 5K–10K and about 2 weeks for a half marathon or marathon.
Time trials for pace goals
For a goal like "run 10 km at 4:40/km", the plan ends with a time trial over the goal distance. It should be run on fresh legs, after a short taper, with a warm-up beforehand.
How Trainer applies it
- Race and pace goals end with a race or time trial over the goal distance in the final week. For race goals, it's on race day.
- Final week: at most 70% of the plan's peak training week, with the race itself not counted.
- Half marathon or longer: the week before the final week must also be at most 85% of the peak.
Sources
- Bosquet L, Montpetit J, Arvisais D, Mujika I. Effects of tapering on performance: a meta-analysis. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007;39(8):1358–1365.
- Mujika I, Padilla S. Scientific bases for precompetition tapering strategies. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003;35(7):1182–1187.
- Daniels J. Daniels' Running Formula. 3rd ed. Human Kinetics; 2014.
- Pfitzinger P, Douglas S. Advanced Marathoning. 2nd ed. Human Kinetics; 2009.