Picture the runner who signed up for a marathon on a Tuesday and started a 16-week plan on Wednesday. Half-marathon never raced. Weekly mileage in the teens. Training PR for the long run: 15km. They've already paid the entry fee. They've already told their group chat. The first 8 weeks go well. Then a knee. Then a calf. Then the wall at km 30 on race day, walking from km 33 onwards.
That's the pattern this guide is built to prevent.
Inside this one
- 25-page pocket field guide — read in one sitting, reference for 16-20 weeks
- Prerequisites checklist so you know if you're actually ready
- Programme shape: base, build, peak, taper — weekly structure included
- In-race fuelling framework — carbohydrate ranges, pre-race meals, what to practise
- Race-day pacing protocol — why conservative first 10km saves your second half
- Master Bibliography — every claim traces to peer-reviewed citations
The standard it is held to
Every factual claim in this volume names its source, and every claim carries a confidence grade — settled, strong, emerging or contested. Where the evidence is thin, the text says so. How it’s made, in full → · What we’ve got wrong →