Your race plan, from 5K to marathon

The principle

Preparing for a race means gradually increasing what your body can handle, then arriving rested on race day. Azetta builds your plan in four phases — base, build, peak, taper — from your distance, your date, your level, your available days and your recent runs. Before anything else, it checks that your target time is realistic.

The Azetta method

Length and phases

With a date, the plan runs from this week to race week (1 to 30 weeks). Without a date, it ends with a timed test.

Your current level and achievable time

Your 10 km time comes from your recent runs (see the article on paces) or from your level, corrected for age (×1.04 at 40, ×1.09 at 50, ×1.16 at 60) and for a BMI of 30 or more (×1.06). The possible gain during the plan is:

with 1%, 0.6% or 0.35% per week (beginner, intermediate, advanced), capped at 15%, 10% or 6%, then reduced with age (×0.9 at 40, ×0.8 at 50, ×0.65 at 60), with few runs (×0.75 for 2 per week, ×0.9 for 3) and in case of a knee injury (×0.9). The predicted time over your distance uses Riegel with an exponent of 1.06, raised for the marathon to 1.08 (intermediate) or 1.10 (beginner), because less-trained runners slow down more over 42 km.

Your target is judged too fast if it is more than 2% below the predicted time; the app then suggests the predicted time, rounded to the minute (5 and 10 km) or to 5 minutes (half marathon and marathon).

Volume

• Start: your recent weekly volume (average of the last 4 weeks) if it reaches 3 km; otherwise 4, 6.5 or 9 km per run depending on level (×0.85 if BMI ≥ 30, ×0.9 at 55 and over).
• Growth: ×1.08 per week (×1.07 from 50, ×1.06 with a knee injury), with a lighter week at 80% every 4 weeks.
• Peak: at most 20 to 80 km per week depending on distance and level (for example 60 km for an intermediate marathon runner), and never more than 10, 13 or 16 km per run.
• Taper: 60% of maximum volume (5 and 10 km); 75% then 55% (half marathon); 80%, 65% then 50% (marathon).

The long run

It makes up 50% of the week with 2 runs, 40% with 3, 34% with 4, 30% with 5. It grows by at most 2.5 km per week, and stays below a cap: the smaller of a value by distance and level (32 km for an intermediate marathon runner) and 3 hours at long-run pace.

Quality sessions

• Base: a tempo run (12% of the week) from 3 runs, except for beginners.
• Build and peak: intervals (8% of the week, from 3 to 12 repetitions) and tempo alternating, two quality sessions with 4 or more runs (except beginners and over-55s).
• Peak for the half marathon and marathon: a tempo run at target race pace.
• The two days before the race: at most an easy run of 3 to 5 km.

Finally, a safety check applies to every plan, including those suggested by the AI coach or changed by you: no two hard sessions in a row, at most 3 per week, a long run that grows by 3 km at most, a volume that doesn't exceed the busiest week by more than 10% (+500 m).

Why this choice

• A gradual increase in volume (less than 10% per week) with lighter weeks is the basic rule for limiting overuse injuries.
• Tapering — reducing volume while keeping some intensity — improves performance on race day.
• Studies of recreational runners show that the standard Riegel formula underestimates their marathon times: hence a higher exponent for beginners.

Limits

• The possible gains are cautious population estimates, not a promise.
• The plan knows neither your race's elevation nor its weather.
• Pain or illness requires adapting the plan: it doesn't detect this on its own.

References

1. Riegel PS. Athletic records and human endurance. American Scientist, 1981;69(3):285-290.
2. Vickers AJ, Vertosick EA. An empirical study of race times in recreational endurance runners. BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2016;8:26.
3. Bosquet L, Montpetit J, Arvisais D, Mujika I. Effects of tapering on performance: a meta-analysis. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2007;39(8):1358-1365.