Tallinn Marathon · 13.09.26 Plan vol. 01

Road to Tallinn

An 18-week build from base to start line. Polarized, fuel-rehearsed, taper-honest — engineered for a 3:35 to 3:40 finish in Estonia's old town.

Current PB
3:49marathon
Target
3:35–3:405:05–5:12/km
Distance
42.195km
Race Day
Sep 1309:00 EET
18 weeks 4 blocks Polarized build Race-day rehearsed Strava-honest taper
Vol. 01 — Athlete: Nikita
Athlete
Nikita
33 yrs · running since 2019 · third marathon
VO₂ max
46
Weight
60kg
Height
165cm
Resting HR
51bpm
01 · The language

Legend & key terms.

Everything in this plan reduces to seven workout types and five heart-rate zones. Memorise the colours — the rest is just kilometres.

Abbreviations
wu
Warm-up — easy Z1 jog
cd
Cool-down — easy Z1 jog
MP
Marathon pace — ~5:15/km goal
Z1–Z5
Heart-rate zones (see next page)
@
At the specified pace or effort
RPE
Rate of perceived exertion (1–10)
Workout types
Easy run
Z1–Z2 conversational. The base.
Tempo / Threshold
Z3–Z4 sustained. Comfortably hard.
VO₂ intervals
Z5. Short, sharp, full recoveries.
Long run
The most important session of the week.
Marathon pace
Race rehearsal. 5:15/km on tired legs.
Strides
Short fast pickups, full walk recovery.
Strength
Heavy compound + plyos. See p. 7.
02 · Effort

Training zones.

Calibrated to a 185 bpm HR max and 51 bpm resting. Pace ranges are the floor — heart rate and breathing always win.

Zone
Name
%HRR
BPM
Pace
Use
1
Easy
55–70%
125–145
6:20–6:45/km
Recovery, daily aerobic
2
Aerobic
70–80%
145–158
5:45–6:15/km
Long runs
3
Marathon
80–87%
158–167
5:10–5:25/km
MP work, sustained tempo
4
Threshold
87–92%
167–174
4:50–5:05/km
Cruise intervals, tempo
5
VO₂
92–98%
174–182
4:25–4:45/km
3–5 min intervals
HRmax 185 bpm RHR 51 bpm HRR 134 bpm Method Karvonen
03 · The shape

18 weeks. Four blocks.
One start line.

Volume rises through summer, sharpens with race-pace specificity, then peels back into a clean three-week taper. Down weeks every fourth week.

01
Block 1
Re-base
Weeks 1–3 · May 11 → May 31
28–34 km / week
02
Block 2
Pyramidal Build
Weeks 4–9 · Jun 1 → Jul 12
40–54 km / week
03
Block 3
Polarized Race-Specific
Weeks 10–15 · Jul 13 → Aug 23
42–60 km / week
04
Block 4
Taper
Weeks 16–18 · Aug 24 → Sep 13
48 → 20 km
60 45 30 15 PEAK · 60 KM W1 W6 W11 W16 W18
04 · The work

Eighteen weeks.

Every workout, every day. Color-coded by intensity. Filter by block.

05 · Off the road

Strength protocol.

Two sessions a week, never on hard run days. Heavy on Wednesdays, plyometric on Saturdays. Drop the lifting from race-week Wednesday onward.

Tap any exercise for form cues — and drop in your own GIF or clip
Session A · Wednesday

Heavy compound.

  • Back squat or goblet squat?4 × 5 · RPE 7–8
  • Romanian deadlift?3 × 6
  • Single-leg calf raise?3 × 8 each
  • Plank + side plank?2 × 45s each
  • Skips, A-skips, pogo hops?10 min
Session B · Saturday

Plyometric & accessory.

  • Box jumps or pogo hops?3 × 6
  • Bulgarian split squat?3 × 8 each leg
  • Hip thrust?3 × 8
  • Single-leg deadlift?3 × 8 each
  • Dead bug + bird dog?2 × 10 each
Race week: cut strength entirely from Wednesday onward.
06 · The fuel

Nutrition & race-day fueling.

Train the gut like a muscle. Every long run from week 8 is a fueling rehearsal — by race day, 90 g/h should feel routine.

5–7g/kg
Carbs · daily baseline

Regular training days. 300–420 g for a 60 kg runner. Real food forward — oats, rice, potatoes, pasta, fruit.

7–10g/kg
Carbs · hard / long days

Long-run days and double-quality weeks. Front-load the morning, refill within 60 min post-run.

30–60g/h
Fueling on long runs (from W8)

Gels, chews, or carb drink. Begin at km 8 of the long run, repeat every 30–40 min.

10–12g/kg
Carb load · Fri Sep 11 →

600–720 g/day for 36–48 h pre-race. Low fibre. White bread, white rice, pasta, juice, candy.

90–100g/h
Race day fueling

Only if your gut has practised it. A gel every 20–25 min from km 6 onward. Sip electrolytes between.

∞
Hydration

Drink to thirst. Don't overdrink — hyponatremia is real. Take what's offered at every aid station, sip and toss.

07 · Race day

Pacing strategy.

3:35–3:40 A-goal · 5:05 – 5:12 / km · negative split
km 0 – 5
5:15 – 5:20 / km
Hold back. The first kilometre is for ego — bury it. Crowd-controlled patience.
km 5 – 30
5:08 – 5:12 / km
Lock in. "The boring middle." Heart-rate steady in upper Z3. Fuel on schedule.
km 30 – 37
5:08 – 5:15 / km
It gets hard. Hold pace by any means. Shorten stride, quicken cadence, breathe.
km 37 – 42
whatever it takes
Empty the tank. Run on RPE, not HR. The clock and the finish — nothing else.

The first half should feel almost too easy. By 30 km, heart rate drifts and stops being honest — switch to RPE. You have trained 18 weeks for the last 12 km. Spend it.

08 · The rules

Adjustments & non-negotiables.

A plan is a hypothesis. These are the rules for when life argues back.

01

Miss a session? Skip it.Don't double up the next day. Don't "make up" mileage. The week's shape matters more than the week's total.

02

Long run feels off? Stop.Time on feet beats pace, always. Walk the last kilometres if you have to. Then sleep and eat.

03

Sick? Neck-check.Above the neck — easy run is fine. Fever, chest, body aches — full rest. No exceptions.

04

Two pairs of shoes.Rotate daily trainers. Buy and break in race shoes by week 10. Never race in something you haven't run 50 km in.

05

Sleep 7–8 hours.Non-negotiable. The training works while you sleep, not while you run. Naps are training.

06

Optional tune-up.A half-marathon in week 12 or 13, run at threshold effort (not all-out). Counts as the week's quality day.