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Racing your way up the distances from 5k to marathon distance is not altogether a bad idea. To prepare for the 2012 Olympics, Kara Goucher raced a 10K in March and a half marathon in June before toeing the line for the full 26.2-mile race in London. And she wasn’t alone in her tactic: Elite marathon runners commonly race at ascending distances over the course of a season.
Even if you’re not prepping to medal at an international event, it’s easy to see why this technique makes sense: A good way to get in shape for a 10K is to train to complete a 5K. The routine you develop in the process will be your springboard to the next level. Your 10K training then creates a nice base for half-marathon training, which in turn is the perfect platform to tackle a marathon.
This 16 week program will take you from a 5k to marathon distance by way 10k, 13.1 along the way. You can choose to stop at whatever distance you wish, but if you…
