Brighton Marathon. I can’t wait. So many of the team and Hastings Runners taking part. This plan is designed to have you fighting fit for race day and hopefully be able to come in around that 4 hour mark.

My pace predictor sheet has you dead on 4 hours right now so it feels like a good target, albeit if you still finish and don’t hit that time, I still think we can class this plan as a success.

From a running perspective most weeks will be 3 runs. But when you add in the circuits, S&C and cross training you are doing 6 sessions per week, so you are still working hard. This isn’t a soft easy plan, it’s just smart, to reduce that constant pounding of the pavement that comes with running lots of miles.

The 3 runs are made up of 1 speed session, 1 easy run and 1 long run.

If you can make Tuesday evening on a regular basis that will really help. Wednesday with Hastings Runners, another bonus. And then perhaps Friday or Sunday for the long run.

Speaking of the long run. I have a lady called Manami who is chasing 4 hours at London. She is lovely. There might be the chance you two could pair up for those key marathon sessions and I’ve aligned your plans so that might be possible. We can see what happens.

I’ll put together a running specific S&C session which we can tweak over the first few weeks to get the right weights/reps. Start off light just to be safe.

You can always switch out the elliptical for the bike if you prefer. But I like this plan, it’s consistent, progressive and gives you every chance of getting to race day in great shape.