Mon
Rest
Rest
4-Day Colorado Marathon Training Plan
Fort Collins, COMay 2, 2027
Four runs per week for 18 weeks: two easy runs, one midweek aerobic run, and one long run. The schedule stays fixed; the guidance below shows how to choose terrain, rehearse conditions, and prepare for the Colorado Marathon course.
You board a bus in downtown Fort Collins between 4:00 and 4:45 in the morning and get driven up into Poudre Canyon to a start line at Steven's Gulch, 6,111 feet above sea level, to run back down. The first 16 miles of the Colorado Marathon descend along the Cache la Poudre River, through a tunnel at mile 2.5, before the road spills out at Laporte and flattens for the run into downtown.
- Race day
- May 2, 2027
- 18-week window
- Around December 27, 2026
- Course
- Downhill · Point to Point
- Peak week
- 40 miles
- Longest run
- 20 miles
Your complete Colorado Marathon schedule
The 18-week window opens around December 27, 2026. Weeks one through 17 keep the normal Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday rhythm. Only race week moves so the marathon lands on its actual weekday. If the window has passed, do not skip ahead or cram missed mileage into the time left.
Open any week to see all seven days. Week 1 is open to start.
1Week 1Foundation · 15 mi
Tue
Easy
3 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
30 min easy cross-training or mobility
Thu
Easy
3 mi relaxed aerobic run
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
3 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
6 mi long run, conversational effort
2Week 2Foundation · 17 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
3 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
30 min easy cross-training or mobility
Thu
Easy
4 mi relaxed aerobic run
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
3 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
7 mi long run, conversational effort
3Week 3Recovery week · 15 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
3 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
Rest or 20 min gentle mobility
Thu
Easy
3 mi relaxed aerobic run
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
3 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
6 mi long run, conversational effort
4Week 4Build · 19 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
3 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
30–40 min easy cross-training
Thu
Easy
5 mi relaxed aerobic run
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
3 mi easy run + 4 relaxed strides
Sun
Long run
8 mi long run, conversational effort
5Week 5Build · 22 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
4 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
30–40 min easy cross-training
Thu
Easy
5 mi relaxed aerobic run
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
3 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
10 mi long run; practice fluids
6Week 6Recovery week · 18 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
3 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
Rest or 25 min gentle cross-training
Thu
Easy
4 mi relaxed aerobic run
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
3 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
8 mi long run, conversational effort
7Week 7Build · 25 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
4 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
30–40 min easy cross-training
Thu
Quality
6 mi steady run; final 1 mi at planned marathon effort
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
3 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
12 mi long run; practice fuel and fluids
8Week 8Recovery week · 23 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
4 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
30 min easy cross-training or mobility
Thu
Easy
5 mi relaxed aerobic run
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
4 mi easy run + 4 relaxed strides
Sun
Long run
10 mi long run, conversational effort
9Week 9Build · 29 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
4 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
30–40 min easy cross-training
Thu
Quality
7 mi steady run; middle 2 mi at planned marathon effort
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
4 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
14 mi long run; use race-day fuel timing
10Week 10Recovery week · 24 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
4 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
Rest or 25 min gentle cross-training
Thu
Easy
5 mi relaxed aerobic run
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
4 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
11 mi long run, conversational effort
11Week 11Build · 32 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
5 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
30–40 min easy cross-training
Thu
Quality
7 mi steady run; final 2 mi at planned marathon effort
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
4 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
16 mi long run; rehearse fuel, fluids, and kit
12Week 12Recovery week · 26 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
4 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
Rest or 25 min gentle cross-training
Thu
Easy
6 mi relaxed aerobic run
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
4 mi easy run + 4 relaxed strides
Sun
Long run
12 mi long run, conversational effort
13Week 13Peak week · 36 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
5 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
30 min easy cross-training or mobility
Thu
Quality
8 mi steady run; middle 3 mi at planned marathon effort
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
5 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
18 mi long run; full race-day fueling rehearsal
14Week 14Recovery week · 29 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
5 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
Rest or 25 min gentle cross-training
Thu
Easy
6 mi relaxed aerobic run
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
4 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
14 mi long run, conversational effort
15Week 15Peak week · 40 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
6 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
30 min easy cross-training or mobility
Thu
Quality
9 mi steady run; middle 4 mi at planned marathon effort
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
5 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
20 mi long run; complete race-day rehearsal
16Week 16Taper · 26 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
4 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
25 min easy cross-training or mobility
Thu
Quality
6 mi relaxed run; 2 mi at planned marathon effort
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
4 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
12 mi long run, controlled effort
17Week 17Taper · 18 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
3 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
Rest or 20 min gentle mobility
Thu
Easy
4 mi relaxed run + 4 short strides
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
3 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
8 mi long run, conversational effort
18Week 18Taper · 8 mi + race
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
3 mi easy run
Wed
Rest
Rest or 15 min gentle mobility
Thu
Easy
3 mi easy run + 4 short strides
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
2 mi shakeout, or rest
Sun
Race
Marathon — 26.2 mi
This free plan is complete, fixed, and ready to use.
It begins at 15 miles per week, peaks at 40, and asks you to manage schedule changes and missed training yourself.
A Stride plan ranks from your running, then dates to race day.
Current mileage, recent longest run, marathon experience, goal, and available days decide which plans rank first.
How to use this plan for Colorado Marathon
The mileage builds your engine. Your long-run route, pacing, fueling, and clothing rehearsals make that fitness specific to this race.
How to train for the Colorado Marathon
Train the Colorado Marathon for two things the flat road will never teach you: eccentric quad durability and thin air. A runner who trains on level ground and then descends for 16 straight miles will feel fine through mile 12 and find their quads have stopped answering by mile 19. Downhill running damages muscle rather than tiring it, and that damage is trainable, but only by doing it.
Put sustained downhill running into your long runs starting at least eight weeks out, and run it at goal effort with a quick, light cadence instead of braking with a long stride. Look for a descent you can hold for 15 to 20 minutes, repeat it, and build to a long run where the first half drops and the second half is flat. That last combination is the actual race and almost nobody rehearses it.
Altitude is the second half of the problem. The start sits above 6,000 feet and even the finish is close to a mile up, so if you live at sea level plan your arrival deliberately and run the early miles by breathing rather than by watch. The organizers put it plainly and they are right: run the downhill easy and relaxed. The clock is already generous, so spend restraint early and pace hard after Laporte.
Stride reads the descent and the altitude when it matches you to one of 14 marathon plans built on the most proven training methodologies in the sport, then maps every week from today to that 4 a.m. bus.
Keep the plan honest. This free schedule contains no speedwork. Apply the course guidance through route choice and race rehearsal without turning easy days into extra workouts. If your goal calls for marathon-pace work, compare it with First Marathon Plus.
Match the terrain
Use some of your Colorado Marathon long runs to practice controlled descending on tired legs. Add downhill exposure gradually; the goal is durable quads, not turning every easy run into a hard one.
Rehearse race morning
Race morning in the canyon typically starts near 42F under clear skies with humidity around 62 percent, and the day rises toward an average high of 66F. That is a cold wait at 6,111 feet followed by a genuinely warm finish in town, and mountain air is dry enough to hide how much you are sweating. Practice drinking on schedule rather than by thirst, and bring throwaway layers for the bus.
Prepare for the hard part
Miles 17 to 24 on the flat past Laporte, where the descent stops helping and quads that spent two hours braking have to produce pace on level ground.
Check the starting line before you commit.
Beginner-friendly does not mean couch-to-marathon. Week one asks for four runs, 15 total miles, and a six-mile long run.
- Fifteen miles in week one is close to the volume you already handle.
- You can protect four run days most weeks, including a weekend long run.
- Your priority is a steady first-marathon build without speedwork.
- You can start around December 27, 2026 without forcing the early weeks.
Colorado Marathon course facts
- Course
- Point to Point · Downhill · Road/Pavement
- Elevation gain / loss
- 206 ft gain, 1,336 ft loss
- Net elevation drop
- About 1,130 ft lower at the finish than the start
- Highest / lowest point
- 6,117 ft / 4,969 ft
- Marathon finishers
- 1,162 in 2026 (mid-size field)
- Boston qualifier
- Certified Boston qualifying course
- Finishers running a qualifying time
- 6.3% in 2026
- Race day high / low
- 66°F / 39°F on average
Start-line temperature is not listed for this race. The course finishes thousands of feet below where it starts, so the weather recorded in the finish city does not describe the start line.
Colorado Marathon questions, answered.
When should I start this 18-week Colorado Marathon plan?
The 2027 Colorado Marathon is scheduled for May 2, 2027, so the 18-week window opens around December 27, 2026. Weeks one through 17 keep the normal weekly rhythm and Sunday long run; only the final race week shifts to the event's actual weekday. If that date has already passed, do not compress 18 weeks of mileage into a shorter window.
How should I adapt the four-day plan for the Colorado Marathon course?
Use some of your Colorado Marathon long runs to practice controlled descending on tired legs. Add downhill exposure gradually; the goal is durable quads, not turning every easy run into a hard one. Train the Colorado Marathon for two things the flat road will never teach you: eccentric quad durability and thin air. A runner who trains on level ground and then descends for 16 straight miles will feel fine through mile 12 and find their quads have stopped answering by mile 19. Downhill running damages muscle rather than tiring it, and that damage is trainable, but only by doing it.
Is four days a week enough to train for the Colorado Marathon?
Four run days can be enough when 15 miles in week one is not a sudden jump and you can protect the long run most weeks. This schedule builds to a 40-mile peak and a 20-mile long run. A runner chasing an aggressive time or already supporting more volume may fit a higher-mileage plan better.
How much does the Colorado Marathon drop?
It starts at 6,111 feet at Steven's Gulch and finishes in downtown Fort Collins just under 5,000 feet, for a net drop of roughly 1,100 feet. Nearly all of it comes in the first 16 miles through Poudre Canyon. After Laporte the course flattens and stays flat to the finish.
Is the Colorado Marathon hard on your quads?
Yes, and that is the main way people lose time here. Sixteen miles of continuous descent loads the quadriceps eccentrically, which causes muscle damage rather than ordinary fatigue. Runners who have not trained downhill often feel strong to mile 15 and then cannot generate pace on the flat run into Fort Collins.
The same four-day schedule, shaped around the course ahead.
Choose your race for its current date, course profile, typical race-morning conditions, and specific long-run guidance.