The long run is the backbone of distance training, and this free planner builds your long-run progression week by week. It starts from the longest run you can already do comfortably, grows it gradually towards your target distance, inserts easier step-back weeks so your body can absorb the training, and tapers at the end so you arrive fresh. Enter your current long run, your target, and the number of weeks, and the tool lays out the whole progression.
The plan grows your long run by about 10 percent per week, which is the classic guideline coaches use to balance progress with injury risk. Every fourth week is a step-back week at about 80 percent of the previous week, giving your legs, tendons, and energy stores time to recover and adapt. Without step-back weeks, fatigue builds silently until it becomes an injury or a bad patch of form. The final two weeks taper down, to 80 percent and then 60 percent of your target, so freshness replaces fatigue before race day.
Here is a worked example. A runner starting at 10 kilometres and targeting 32 kilometres over 12 weeks begins at 10, then 11, then about 12.1 kilometres. Week 4 steps back to about 9.7 kilometres, and the pattern repeats, climbing steadily through the middle weeks. The last two weeks taper to about 25.6 and then 19.2 kilometres. The runner reaches the target in training, practises fuelling and pacing at distance, and still arrives at the race rested rather than worn out.
Your target long run depends on your race. For a half marathon, a longest run of 18 to 20 kilometres is plenty, because race-day excitement and tapering carry you the rest of the way. For a marathon, most coaches want a longest run of 30 to 35 kilometres, done two to three weeks before the race. For a 10K, a long run of 12 to 15 kilometres builds endurance without dominating your week. Set the target for your race, not for someone else’s.
Run your long runs slowly, slower than you think you should. A good guide is 60 to 90 seconds per kilometre slower than your marathon pace, or easy enough that you can talk in full sentences. Runners who race their long runs arrive at the start line tired and often injured, while runners who keep them easy build the aerobic base that makes race pace feel comfortable. Speed has its place in interval sessions, not in the long run.
Practise everything about race day during long runs, because race day is a bad time for surprises. Test the shoes, the food, the drink, and the gels you plan to use, and learn how much you need and when. Find out whether your stomach tolerates a gel every 30 minutes or prefers real food, and whether you need water every 3 kilometres or every 5. A long run that teaches you something is worth more than a long run that merely adds kilometres.
Life will interrupt your plan, and the plan should survive that. If you miss a long run, do not try to make it up by jumping to the next week’s distance, because that sudden jump is exactly how injuries happen. Repeat the missed week or split the difference, and keep the progression gradual. One missed week costs little; one injury costs a season. The planner gives you the shape of the build, and you adjust it to your life.
Watch for warning signs as the distance grows. Soreness that fades in a day or two is normal, but pain that changes how you run, pain in the same spot every run, or exhaustion that lasts for days are signals to back off. Take an extra easy week, or see a physiotherapist, rather than pushing through. Tendons and bones adapt more slowly than fitness improves, and patience in week 8 is what lets you reach week 12 healthy.
This planner gives an educational training estimate, not coaching or medical advice. It cannot know your injury history, health, or running background, so treat its numbers as a guide and adjust by feel. Build gradually, rest when you need to, and seek medical advice if running causes pain that concerns you. The best long-run plan is the one you finish healthy, not the most ambitious one on paper.
Enter your current long run and your target, and let the planner map your route to race day. Print it, stick it on the fridge, and tick off each week as you complete it. Twelve steady weeks of long runs, done easily and consistently, will change what you believe you can do. The race is won in those quiet Sunday miles, one week at a time.
Planificador de Tirada Larga – Herramienta Gratis de Entrenamiento