Your plan in four answers
Beach to Beacon has not announced its next date, so we have estimated August. Change the date below once you know it.
- Distances
- 10K
- Terrain
- Rolling
Course
The Beach to Beacon course
Founded by Joan Benoit Samuelson and run along the Maine coast, finishing at the Portland Head Light. Rolling coastal roads with a strong elite field for a race of its size.
- Terrain
- Rolling
- Distances
- 10K
- Weather on race day
- August in coastal Maine is usually mild in the morning, one of the better summer race climates in the country.
What to train for
Rolling terrain over a 10K rewards runners who can change gear repeatedly.
Train hill repeats and short surges rather than steady pace work alone.
Sample week
A sample Beach to Beacon training week
A week from the middle of the build, about six weeks out. Your plan sets the real distances and paces from your own fitness and adjusts them every week as you train.
- Monday
- Rest, or 20 minutes of mobility
- Tuesday Key session
- Intervals: 6 × 800 m at 5K to 10K effort, easy jog between
- Wednesday
- Easy run, 5 mi
- Thursday Key session
- Tempo run on a rolling route, 5 mi with 2 mi comfortably hard
- Friday
- Recovery run, 3 mi, or cross-train
- Saturday Key session
- Long run, 7–8 mi easy
- Sunday
- Easy run, 3 mi, then 6 relaxed strides
Taper
Tapering for the Beach to Beacon
Start the taper seven to ten days before race day. Cut your weekly volume by about a third, then by half in race week, and keep a few short efforts at race pace so your legs stay sharp. The course rolls, so keep one short session on undulating ground in the first taper week.
Also in Claude
Ask Claude for this plan
Add AthleteSpace to Claude once, then paste this prompt and put in your own numbers.
Build me a training plan for the TD Beach to Beacon 10K in August. I run [distance] a week, [days] days a week, easy pace [pace].
Beach to Beacon training questions
How long should I train for the Beach to Beacon?
Most runners give a 10k ten to twelve weeks of focused training on top of an existing base. The plan above counts back from your actual race date, so if you have less time than that it builds the best plan the remaining weeks allow rather than pretending you have longer.
Is the Beach to Beacon course hilly?
Rolling. Founded by Joan Benoit Samuelson and run along the Maine coast, finishing at the Portland Head Light.
What is the weather usually like at the Beach to Beacon?
August in coastal Maine is usually mild in the morning, one of the better summer race climates in the country.
When should I start tapering for the Beach to Beacon?
Start the taper seven to ten days before race day. Cut your weekly volume by about a third, then by half in race week, and keep a few short efforts at race pace so your legs stay sharp. The course rolls, so keep one short session on undulating ground in the first taper week.
Do I need an account to get a Beach to Beacon training plan?
No. The plan above builds in your browser with no account, no email, and no card. Make a free account only if you want to keep it, log your runs against it, and have the coach keep adapting it as your training goes.