Greg McMillan has a master's in exercise physiology and built his free online pace calculator from that research. His Run Faster Races Series is four books, one for each race distance, published in 2022 and 2023. All 44 plans from it that we review are on this page, 11 each for the 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon, from run-walk Novice plans up to Advanced.
Each plan is graded on the same 31 measures we use for every plan, Buena Vida's own included, with the research behind each measure linked. The ladder is strict. A C is a decent plan with gaps worth knowing about, and a D is either bare bones or has issues that you might want to avoid. A B clears the bar every Buena Vida plan has to clear before it's published. Open any plan to see what it does well, where it falls short, and who it suits.
- Plans reviewed
- 44
- Goals
- 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, Marathon
- Length
- 12 weeks
- Run days
- 3–7 a week
- Peak mileage
- 11–77 miles a week
5K plans
A gentle run-walk build to a first 5K.
BeginnerRequires purchaseFrom finishing a 5K to racing one.
BeginnerRequires purchaseBalanced speed and endurance, sharpened near VO2max.
IntermediateRequires purchasePushing a distance runner into real 5K speed.
IntermediateRequires purchaseWhere your natural speed finally counts most.
IntermediateRequires purchaseBigger weeks behind a sharper 5K.
IntermediateRequires purchaseDeep mileage, turned toward 5K sharpness.
IntermediateRequires purchaseEnough aerobic base to hold your speed late.
IntermediateRequires purchaseDeep base, sharpened by hard VO2max reps.
AdvancedRequires purchaseMax mileage for a distance runner's worst race.
AdvancedRequires purchaseThe speedster's best race, sharpened at VO2max.
AdvancedRequires purchase10K plans
Run-walk your way to a first 10K.
BeginnerRequires purchaseFrom finishing a 10K to racing one.
BeginnerRequires purchase10K goal pace, rehearsed right at threshold.
IntermediateRequires purchaseDeep endurance, sharpened into real 10K turnover.
IntermediateRequires purchaseMake your speed last the whole 10K.
IntermediateRequires purchaseThe full 10K attack, minus the wasted miles.
IntermediateRequires purchaseA distance runner's best-matched 10K build.
IntermediateRequires purchaseWhere your speed and engine finally match.
IntermediateRequires purchaseNear-daily miles, two sharp sessions, one fast 10K.
AdvancedRequires purchaseThe heaviest 10K build for a mileage lover.
AdvancedRequires purchaseTop mileage that pays a fast runner back.
AdvancedRequires purchaseHalf Marathon plans
Run-walk to a healthy first half.
BeginnerRequires purchaseOne weekly workout, from finishing to racing.
BeginnerRequires purchaseFor runners good at both speed and distance.
IntermediateRequires purchaseRace pace that feels like easy miles.
IntermediateRequires purchaseYour speed, plus the endurance to hold it.
IntermediateRequires purchaseNear-daily miles, holding pace to the finish.
IntermediateRequires purchaseDeep endurance, turned into race pace.
IntermediateRequires purchaseReal half-marathon endurance for a fast runner.
IntermediateRequires purchaseThree hard efforts a week, easy days between.
AdvancedRequires purchaseSeventy-mile weeks with goal pace to match.
AdvancedRequires purchaseBig easy weeks so your speed holds the half.
AdvancedRequires purchaseMarathon plans
Run-walk your way to a first marathon.
BeginnerRequires purchaseFrom finishing the marathon to actually running it.
BeginnerRequires purchaseGoal pace and fuel, rehearsed for the wall.
IntermediateRequires purchaseA distance runner's marathon, paced right.
IntermediateRequires purchaseEndurance and fuel for a speedster's marathon.
IntermediateRequires purchaseNear-daily running, weeks that stack into durable legs.
IntermediateRequires purchaseAerobic strength, converted into a genuine marathon pace.
IntermediateRequires purchaseWhere a fast runner's endurance finally meets the distance.
IntermediateRequires purchaseLong runs that push the wall past the finish.
AdvancedRequires purchaseThe deepest aerobic base, drilled to hold goal pace.
AdvancedRequires purchaseA sprinter's restraint tested at maximal marathon volume.
AdvancedRequires purchaseTraining with Greg McMillan
McMillan starts from a question most plans skip: what kind of runner are you? He sorts runners into Speedsters, who lean toward speed, Endurance Monsters, who lean toward distance, and Combo runners, who sit in between. From the intermediate level up, every plan comes in all three versions. Combo is the default, and it's the one he suggests if you're not sure.
The plans are written for a full life, the kind most of the runners he coaches lead. Workouts are efforts, and your paces come from his calculator and a recent race. Easy days are ranges of minutes, and most weeks give you 2 days that can be a run, cross-training or rest. The books let you take the low end of a range when you're tired, move or skip a key workout on a bad day, and ease off every 4th week. Tune-up races partway through check your goal. Every plan runs 12 weeks, so each one is a race block rather than a long build, and the level matters. The Novice plans ask for 3 days a week with walking built in. The Advanced plans ask for 5 to 7 days a week and a 2-hour long run before week 1.
Of the 44, 42 earn a C. The intermediate Combo marathon plan earns a B, and the Novice 5K a D. Variety and race readiness are the strengths: the hard sessions are varied and well spaced, and the work at goal pace grows toward race day. Flexibility is the weak spot, at 3 of 5 in every plan, because the schedules say what to run but little about what to protect when a week goes wrong. Strength, which the books sample and McMillan offers in full online, never reaches the calendar. And several plans bring new kinds of workouts into their bigger weeks, often around week 5, where sharp jumps in weekly running raise the risk of injury.
These plans suit a runner who already trains, has a recent race time, and wants a plan matched to how they run. Choose the level by what you run now, not by the race you want. The Advanced Combo marathon plan opens above 60 miles a week, and a 12-week plan has no room to build a base first.
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