Your plan in four answers
Set for December 13, 2026, about 7 weeks out.
- Distances
- 5K, 10K, Half marathon, Marathon
- Terrain
- Rolling
- Taper starts
- December 1, 2026
Course
The Dallas Marathon course
Starts downtown and runs out through Turtle Creek, Highland Park, and Lakewood before the marathon takes on the full 9.3-mile loop of White Rock Lake. From there it comes back down historic Swiss Avenue, which is a slight downhill lined with houses decorated for the holidays, through Deep Ellum to a finish at City Hall.
Read the full course notes
Nothing here is steep, but very little of it is flat either.
- Terrain
- Rolling
- Distances
- 5K, 10K, Half marathon, Marathon
- Weather on race day
- Mid-December in Dallas is usually cool and pleasant, in the 40s or 50s, but a north wind can drop it sharply and a warm year in the 60s is not unusual. Wind around White Rock Lake is the exposed part of the course.
What to train for
Steady rolling terrain at goal pace.
This is a course where a lot of small climbs add up rather than any one hill mattering, so long runs on undulating routes at target effort are the right session.
Plan for wind on the lake miles.
Sample week
A sample Dallas Marathon 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: 5 × 1 km at 5K to 10K effort, easy jog between
- Wednesday
- Easy run, 5–6 mi
- Thursday Key session
- Goal-pace run, 7 mi with 4 mi at race pace
- Friday
- Recovery run, 4 mi, or cross-train
- Saturday Key session
- Long run, 10–12 mi easy
- Sunday
- Easy run, 4 mi, then 6 relaxed strides
Your build to race day
Taper
Tapering for the Dallas Marathon
Start the taper ten to fourteen 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. With the race on December 13, 2026, your taper starts around December 1, 2026.
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 BMW Dallas Marathon (Half marathon) on December 13, 2026. I run [distance] a week, [days] days a week, easy pace [pace].
Dallas Marathon training questions
How long should I train for the Dallas Marathon?
Most runners give a half marathon twelve to sixteen 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 Dallas Marathon course hilly?
Rolling. Starts downtown and runs out through Turtle Creek, Highland Park, and Lakewood before the marathon takes on the full 9.3-mile loop of White Rock Lake.
What is the weather usually like at the Dallas Marathon?
Mid-December in Dallas is usually cool and pleasant, in the 40s or 50s, but a north wind can drop it sharply and a warm year in the 60s is not unusual. Wind around White Rock Lake is the exposed part of the course.
When should I start tapering for the Dallas Marathon?
Start the taper ten to fourteen 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. With the race on December 13, 2026, your taper starts around December 1, 2026.
Do I need an account to get a Dallas Marathon 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.