The workload in this twenty-week integrated training and nutrition plan is about as heavy as any runner preparing for a marathon can sensibly take on without training twice a day. It includes either seven runs or, optionally, six runs and one cross-training per week in most weeks. You should already be running more or less daily and be able to comfortably go at least 8 miles before you start the program.
The most challenging week of the program is Week 18, which includes a marathon Simulator (26.2 km at marathon race pace) and a total of approximately eight hours of running. Weeks 4, 7, 10, 13, and 16 are reduced-volume recovery weeks. There is a two-week taper starting at Week 19.
