Build a free periodized running plan for 5K, 10K, half marathon, or marathon. Plans follow a four-phase model: base building for aerobic foundation, development for tempo work, sharpening for race-pace intervals and tune-up races, then a taper into race week.
| Race | Level | Total | Base | Development | Sharpening | Taper |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5K | Beginner | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 5K | Intermediate | 10 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 5K | Advanced | 12 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 10K | Beginner | 10 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 10K | Intermediate | 12 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 10K | Advanced | 14 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Half Marathon | Beginner | 12 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Half Marathon | Intermediate | 14 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Half Marathon | Advanced | 16 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Marathon | Beginner | 16 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Marathon | Intermediate | 18 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 |
| Marathon | Advanced | 20 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
Every plan ends with a race week in addition to the taper weeks shown. Weekly volume starts from your current fitness level and builds with down weeks for recovery; workout paces come from the same VDOT zones as the pace calculator.
The numbers on this page are computed with the same code as the TrainPace calculators, from these published methods. They are training guidance, not medical advice.
Every public page on this site has a Markdown mirror at the same path with a .md suffix (for example /calculator.md), and honors an Accept: text/markdown request header on the HTML URL. The calculations here are also available as callable tools through a free public MCP server — no account or API key.