Can you skip week 13 in favour of a marathon phase week?

Hello Marius

Thank you for your training plan - far more specific and therefore motivating than any others I have found.

I'm following the 3:00 plan but missed week 10 due to a skiing vacation. This leaves me in week 11 - the half marathon race test week.

My dilemma is: do I continue as normal and run the half marathon or do I continue from week 10 and skip week 13 of the taper which said could be missed if you have less than 100 days from the beginning? (My reckoning is that the week 10 training will provide greater benefits than the 'easier' week 13)

I am running the London Marathon this April and it will be my first marathon.

Many thanks

Andy"

Answer Hi Andy and thanks for your question.

In your case, this close to a marathon, count backwards from the marathon. Otherwise you''ll end up with too many hard sessions too close to it.

So if you missed a week and have 4 weeks left for example, start from week 12 and then do 12+13+14+15. Do NOT push in a marathon week in these weeks. The tapering period should not be mixed up with marathon work specific work, more than needed.

I wish you all the best,
Marius