Running Plan Review Advanced Marathoning Multiple Marathoning, 6-Week
By Advanced Marathoning (4th ed.) — Pete Pfitzinger and Scott Douglas Requires purchase Visit plan website
Plan at a Glance
Pete Pfitzinger ran two Olympic marathons before turning to coaching. This is one of five schedules in the book for racing a second marathon soon after the first, covering a six-week gap.
You'll start the week after your race at about 21 miles across four running days, then 35, then 51, peaking near 57 miles in week 4. From there the plan tapers for two weeks into race day. Two weeks of recovery, two of training, two of taper.
The book is unusually specific about which sessions matter here. It names the tune-up race with 15 days to go and the long run with 14 days. It also names the VO2max sessions with 23 and 19 days, and the medium-long runs with 25 and 21 days out. Those six sessions are the plan. The rest is easy running placed around them.
The chapter is written for runners who typically build to 60 or 70 miles a week, and it assumes you actually raced a marathon in the days before week 1. There is one long run in the whole schedule, reaching 16 to 17 miles in week 4. Strength work is programmed in the book but never scheduled, so you'll place those sessions yourself.
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Six weeks is barely time to recover, let alone train, and the schedule does not pretend otherwise. Your load more than doubles in the first fortnight and peaks in week 4, which is a steep ramp by any measure. You get two genuine training weeks out of six.
You are told exactly which sessions carry the plan, which is rare. Six are named: the tune-up race 15 days out, the long run at 14 days, VO2max sessions at 23 and 19 days, and medium-long runs at 25 and 21 days. Everything else on the calendar is easy running placed around those six. You will not find that candour in the longer schedules. If your week falls apart, you already know what to protect, and that is worth more here than anywhere else in the family.
Use this only if you raced recently, trains at 60 to 70 miles a week, and has a second marathon already entered. If you have any choice about the date, the 8 or 10-week versions give you room this one does not. If your first race left you sore past the opening week, skip the second marathon rather than the recovery.
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Structure
Does the plan build you up smartly?
The schedule runs flat by weeks-to-next-marathon with no block headers. Two weeks of recovery, two of training and two of taper is the whole structure, and at six weeks there is little room for anything more. One long run appears, in week 4. The compression costs you the phase variety the tier chapters provide.
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Prevention
Does the plan protect you from injury?
This is the steepest ramp in the family. Your weekly load more than doubles inside a fortnight and peaks in week 4, which registers as a clear spike on any acute-to-chronic measure. The mitigation is context: you are returning to a load your legs held a month earlier. Chapter 4 of the book programs strength work that never reaches the calendar.
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Flexibility
What happens when you miss a day?
Threshold work is prescribed in minutes rather than miles, so the dose lands the same at any pace. Uniquely in this family, six sessions are named as the ones that matter, which gives you a real cut-order when a week goes wrong. A decision table also covers missed training. For a schedule this short, that specificity is worth more than it would be anywhere else.
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Readiness
Will the plan deliver race-day fitness?
One long run appears in the whole plan, reaching 16 to 17 miles in week 4. Goal pace shows up only in a race-week dress rehearsal. A single tune-up race sits 15 days out, flagged as the most important session in the schedule. Race specificity rests on the marathon you just finished rather than anything here.
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Variety
Are the workouts varied enough?
Seven run types appear across six weeks, from recovery days through general aerobic runs, threshold, VO2max intervals and one long run. Strides feature on several easy days. Reps hold to 600 metres at 5K effort. The range is narrow because there is no time for anything wider.
Plan Strengths
- You always know which six sessions to protect, because the plan states them outright.
- Two weeks of genuine recovery open the plan, giving your legs repair time before any load returns.
- You reach 57 miles by week 4, which is real training rather than gentle maintenance.
- One tune-up race 15 days out gives you a read on pacing before the second start line.
- Threshold sessions run on the clock, landing the same dose on your legs at any pace.
Weaknesses & gaps
- Your load more than doubles in a fortnight and peaks in week 4, the steepest ramp here.
- Only two of the six weeks are real training, so a disruption removes half your preparation.
- One long run in the whole schedule leaves your legs little distance work before race day.
- Goal pace appears only in a race-week rehearsal, so you never test the number properly.
- Chapter 4 of the book programs strength work that never reaches your calendar.
What this plan does not give you
Time is the gap, and the plan knows it. Two of the six weeks are real training, one long run appears in the whole schedule, and goal pace shows up only as a race-week rehearsal. What partly compensates is that the book names the six sessions that carry the plan, so you can protect the right things when life interferes. Strength work is programmed in chapter 4 of the book but never scheduled, so place two short sessions on your easier days. Pace prescriptions assume the book is nearby: threshold pace resolves through Appendix B's equivalent race times, but the fourth edition dropped the chart converting a goal time into a 5K pace, so interval targets need a recent race. Take the two opening weeks as written. Starting early is the common error, and at this length there is nowhere to absorb the cost.
What the science supports
Training in phases beats holding one load
Six weeks divide into two of recovery, two of training and two of taper. There is no room for more structure than that, and the book does not invent any. What it does instead is name the six sessions that carry the plan, which substitutes explicit priority for phase depth.
Bradbury et al. 2020; Tønnessen et al. 2014; Casado et al. 2022
Long runs are essential for the marathon
One long run appears, reaching 16 to 17 miles in week 4. Across six weeks your marathon endurance barely decays, so refreshing it once is defensible. It does mean your legs meet nothing close to race distance between the two marathons.
Toresdahl et al. 2021; Jones & Kirby 2025; Casado et al. 2019
Race-pace training pays off near your threshold
Goal-pace running appears only in a race-week dress rehearsal. The plan relies wholly on the specificity you carry out of the marathon you just ran, which across six weeks holds up well. You never get a session in which to test a revised goal, so run the second race on the evidence of the first.
Pierce et al. 1990; Hewson & Hopkins 1996; Jones et al. 2021
A taper makes you 2-6% faster on race day
The last two weeks bring volume from about 57 miles to 24 while intensity holds. A VO2max session and a marathon-pace dress rehearsal survive into the final week. Cutting volume while keeping the sharp work is what returns the taper's reliable gain, even on a schedule this short.
Tune-up races may sharpen pacing
One tune-up race sits 15 days out, and the book names it the most important session in the schedule. It adds no fitness this close to a marathon. Its value is a direct read on whether your pacing judgement has recovered along with your legs.
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Frequently asked questions
- Is Advanced Marathoning Multiple Marathoning, 6-Week good for beginners?
- No. Advanced Marathoning Multiple Marathoning, 6-Week is built for advanced-level runners. A true beginner should start with a lower-mileage plan.
- How many days per week does Advanced Marathoning Multiple Marathoning, 6-Week require?
- The plan runs on a schedule of multiple weekly runs. See the at-a-glance strip for the exact count.
- Does Advanced Marathoning Multiple Marathoning, 6-Week include a taper?
- Yes, the plan includes a taper into race week.
- What is the rubric grade for Advanced Marathoning Multiple Marathoning, 6-Week?
- Advanced Marathoning Multiple Marathoning, 6-Week grades D on the Buena Vida rubric.