Notice: We have upgraded our website and will be relaunching our plans very soon, but in the meantime we are aware that the formatting isn’t great, apologies for the next week or two.
The Caffeine Bullet Happy to Finish marathon training plan runs for 16-weeks and has been devised to ensure that you peak on marathon day. It’s meant for anyone who is aiming just to get to the finish without a particular time in mind. If you are new to running, then you should consult your doctor before undertaking this plan and it’s also worth having your running style checked to ensure that you are wearing the correct trainers.
If you would like to understand more about the science behind our training plans, please see Training Runs Explained.
Bookmark our training plan so you can follow it throughout your training and let us know how you get on #caffeinebullettime.
Below this plan you can sign up for our free weekly training bulletin, we’ve interviewed the world’s leading academics and experts in training, physiology, nutrition, fatigue, sleep and motivation to guide you through your training.
Use our training pace calculator below to give you a good starting point to figure out how fast you should be running during this training plan.
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Week |
Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Rest | 20 mins: run 3 mins, walk 1 | 30 mins: run 3 mins, walk 2 | Rest | 40 mins: run 3 mins, walk 1 | Rest | 80 mins: run 3 mins, walk 2 |
| Week 2 | Rest | 30 mins: run 3 mins, walk 1 | 40 mins: run 3 mins, walk 2 | Rest | 45 mins: run 3 mins, walk 1 | Rest | 1 hr 40: run 3 mins, walk 2 |
| Week 3 | Rest | 40 mins: run 3 mins, walk 1 | 45 mins: run 3 mins, walk 2 | Rest | 50 mins: run 3 mins, walk 1 | Rest | 1 hr 50: run 4 mins, walk 2 |
| Week 4 | Rest | 40 mins: run 3 mins, walk 1 | 50 mins: run 3 mins, walk 2 | Rest | 55 mins: run 3 mins, walk 1 | Rest | 2hrs: run 4 mins, walk 2 |
| Week 5 | Rest | 1M jog, then 8 x 400m at 5K speed with 200m jog recoveries, 1M jog | Rest | 7M easy | Rest | 3M parkrun or fartlek | 11M run/walk |
| Week 6 | Rest | 45 mins: run 3 mins, walk 1 | 60 mins: run 3 mins, walk 2 | Rest | 60 mins: run 3 mins, walk 1 | Rest | 90 mins: run 4 mins, walk 1 |
| Week 7 | Rest | 45 mins: run 3 mins, walk 1 | 65 mins: run 3 mins, walk 2 | Rest | 65 mins: run 3 mins, walk 1 | Rest | 2 hrs 20: run 4 mins, walk 1 |
| Week 8 | Rest | 45 mins: run 3 mins, walk 1 | 70 mins: run 3 mins, walk 2 | Rest | 65 mins: run 3 mins, walk 1 | Rest | 3 hours: run 4 mins, walk 1 |
| Week 9 | Rest | 45 mins: run 4 mins, walk 1 | 75 mins: run 4 mins, walk 2 | Rest | 65 mins: run 4 mins, walk 1 | Rest | 90 mins: run 5 mins, walk 1 |
| Week 10 | Rest | 45 mins: run 4 mins, walk 1 | 80 mins: run 3 mins, walk 2 | Rest | 65 mins: run 4 mins, walk 1 | Rest | 3:30: run 5 mins, walk 1 |
| Week 11 | Rest | 45 mins: run 4 mins, walk 1 | 85 mins: run 4 mins, walk 1 | Rest | 65 mins: run 4 mins, walk 1 | Rest | 90 mins: run 5 mins, walk 1 |
| Week 12 | Rest | 45 mins: run 4 mins, walk 1 | 90 mins: run 4 mins, walk 2 | Rest | 65 mins: run 4 mins, walk 1 | Rest | 3:30: run 5 mins, walk 1 |
| Week 13 | Rest | 45 mins: run 4 mins, walk 1 | 75 mins: run 4 mins, walk 1 | Rest | 45 mins: run 4 mins, walk 1 | Rest | 4 hrs: run 5 mins, walk 1 |
| Week 14 | Rest | 45 mins: run 4 mins, walk 1 | 60 mins: run 5 mins, walk 1 | Rest | 45 mins: run 4 mins, walk 1 | Rest | 2 hrs: run 5 mins, walk 1 |
| Week 15 | Rest | 30 mins: run 4 mins, walk 1 | 45 mins: run 4 mins, walk 1 | Rest | 30 mins: run 4 mins, walk 1 | Rest | 70 mins: run 5 mins, walk 1 |
| Race Week | Rest | 20 mins: run 4 mins, walk 1 | 30 mins: run 5 mins, walk 1 | Rest | 20 mins: run 4 mins, walk 1 | Rest | The race: run 5 mins, walk 1 |