Race Shape › Running
RunningRunning training plans
Race Shape running plans set every pace from a recent race or time trial using Jack Daniels' VDOT model, correct those paces for the altitude you train at, and build volume no more than 10% a week with a lighter week roughly every fourth. They cover everything from a first 5 km to Comrades.
Easy running makes up most of every plan, measured by the minute rather than the session, so the hard days can be run properly. The long run is capped by share of the week, by an absolute distance for the race, and by the time you say you have.
Where a goal is unrealistic, the plan says so. A goal time is really a fitness level, and the goal-time pages below show what each one requires and how long it takes to get there from where you are.
Build my running plan — freeWhat you need to get started
| A recent race or time trial | A 5 km or 10 km run hard in the last couple of months sets every pace. None? The plan prescribes by effort and says so. |
|---|---|
| Your honest weekly distance | What you actually run now, not what you would like to — the ramp starts from here. |
| Your longest recent run | So the long run starts somewhere your legs have been. |
| The days and time you have | Which days, and how long on a weekday and at the weekend. Every session is fitted to them. |
| Where you train | The town, so paces are corrected for its altitude. |
Building a plan takes about four minutes and is free, and the first week is yours to train on. The whole block is paid for once, from R150.
Plans by distance
- Beginner 5k plan
- 8-week 5k plan
- 12-week 5k plan
- Beginner 10k plan
- 8-week 10k plan
- 12-week 10k plan
- Beginner half marathon plan
- 12-week half marathon plan
- 16-week half marathon plan
- Beginner marathon plan
- 8-week marathon plan
- 12-week marathon plan
- 16-week marathon plan
- 20-week marathon plan
- 16-week 50 km ultra plan
- 24-week 50 km ultra plan
Plans by goal time
- Sub-30 5k training plan
- Sub-25 5k training plan
- Sub-22 5k training plan
- Sub-20 5k training plan
- Sub-18 5k training plan
- Sub-1 hour 10k training plan
- Sub-50 10k training plan
- Sub-45 10k training plan
- Sub-40 10k training plan
- Sub-2:30 half marathon training plan
- Sub-2:15 half marathon training plan
- Sub-2 hour half marathon training plan
- Sub-1:45 half marathon training plan
- Sub-1:30 half marathon training plan
- Sub-5 hour marathon training plan
- Sub-4:30 marathon training plan
- Sub-4 hour marathon training plan
- Sub-3:30 marathon training plan
- Sub-3:15 marathon training plan
- Sub-3 hour marathon training plan
South African races
- Comrades Marathon
- Two Oceans Ultra Marathon
- Two Oceans Half Marathon
- Sanlam Cape Town Marathon
- Soweto Marathon
- Om Die Dam Ultra Marathon
- Loskop Ultra Marathon
- Knysna Forest Half Marathon
- Sanlam Cape Town Gun Run Half
- Kaapsehoop Marathon
By town
- Johannesburg — 1 753 m
- Pretoria — 1 339 m
- Cape Town — 25 m
- Durban — 8 m
- Gqeberha — 60 m
- Bloemfontein — 1 395 m
- Nelspruit — 660 m
- Pietermaritzburg — 596 m
- Polokwane — 1 310 m
- Potchefstroom — 1 350 m
- Kimberley — 1 197 m
- George — 200 m