LEARN YOUR OWN TRAINING
RUNNING
This one is different from the certification pages: there is no official exam to point at, just a craft I am practising. These are the planning principles I use to rebuild a marathon base and train toward the cross-Egypt runs — together with the free calculators on this site that do the arithmetic for each step.
HOW I PLAN A BLOCK
- 1
Set a real race date
Everything else follows from this. A marathon or half marathon six months out turns "get fit" into a weekly kilometre budget, and the study tools on this site take that number as their input.
- 2
Build the base before the speed
Most weeks should be easy kilometres at conversational pace. The 80/20 split — roughly 80% easy volume, 20% quality — is the pattern most marathon plans converge on. Speed added to a base that does not exist produces injuries, not PRs.
- 3
Ramp volume gently
A common rule is no more than about 10% more per week, with a lighter recovery week every third or fourth week. The mileage builder on this site turns a current and target weekly volume into that ramp for you.
- 4
Learn your paces, not your feelings
Easy, marathon, tempo and interval paces are ranges, and knowing yours stops every run from drifting into the same medium-hard effort. The training-paces calculator derives those ranges from a goal race pace or a recent result.
- 5
Fuel and hydrate on the long runs
Gels every 30–45 minutes on runs over an hour, and fluid to replace what you lose — the sweat-rate calculator gives a per-hour figure from one weighted test. Practice race-day fueling in training, never on race day for the first time.
- 6
Track what actually happened
The records page exists because honest numbers are the training log: distances, times, races. Projected or invented results teach nothing. A log you trust is the only evidence base for adjusting the plan.
THE TOOLS THIS PAGE USES
- Weekly Mileage Builder →
Turns current and target weekly volume into a ramp with recovery weeks.
- Training Paces →
Recovery, easy, marathon, tempo and interval ranges from a goal pace.
- VDOT & VO₂max →
A fitness score from a race result to re-set the pace ranges with.
- Sweat Rate →
Per-hour fluid loss from one weighed session; the number your hydration plan is built on.
- Fueling Planner →
Gel timing for a goal marathon finish time.
- Splits Calculator →
Even per-kilometre splits from a target finish time.
- Pace Chart →
The full reference table of paces and equivalent race times.
General training information from my own experience, not coaching or medical advice. Build up gradually, scale what hurts, and talk to a doctor before starting intense training. My current status and goals are on the approach page and real logged results on the records page.
QUICK ANSWERS
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
How much should weekly running volume increase?
A common rule of thumb is no more than about 10% more per week, with a lighter recovery week every third or fourth week. The mileage builder on this site turns a current and target weekly volume into that ramp.
What split of easy and hard running should a marathon build use?
Most marathon plans converge on roughly 80% of weekly kilometres at easy, conversational pace and 20% as quality work such as tempo and intervals. Speed added before a base exists tends to produce injuries, not faster races.