Your plan in four answers
Set for December 6, 2026, about 6 weeks out.
- Distances
- Marathon
- Terrain
- Rolling
- Taper starts
- November 18, 2026
Course
The CIM course
Folsom to the state capitol in Sacramento, net downhill and famous as a Boston qualifier. The downhill is not smooth: the first half is a series of rolling drops that beat up your legs if you take them too fast.
- Terrain
- Rolling
- Distances
- Marathon
- Weather on race day
- Early December in Sacramento is cold at the start and usually ideal by the finish. Fog is common.
What to train for
Downhill-specific work.
The net drop only helps if your quads survive the rollers in the first half, so train descents and start conservatively.
Sample week
A sample CIM 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 mile at 5K to 10K effort, easy jog between
- Wednesday
- Easy run, 6–7 mi
- Thursday Key session
- Goal-pace run, 10 mi with 6 mi at race pace
- Friday
- Recovery run, 4 mi, or cross-train
- Saturday Key session
- Long run, 16–18 mi, the last 4 mi at race pace
- Sunday
- Easy run, 4 mi, then 6 relaxed strides
Your build to race day
Taper
Tapering for the CIM
Start the taper two to three weeks 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 6, 2026, your taper starts around November 18, 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 California International Marathon on December 6, 2026. I run [distance] a week, [days] days a week, easy pace [pace].
CIM training questions
How long should I train for the CIM?
Most runners give a marathon sixteen to twenty 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 CIM course hilly?
Rolling. Folsom to the state capitol in Sacramento, net downhill and famous as a Boston qualifier.
What is the weather usually like at the CIM?
Early December in Sacramento is cold at the start and usually ideal by the finish. Fog is common.
When should I start tapering for the CIM?
Start the taper two to three weeks 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 6, 2026, your taper starts around November 18, 2026.
Do I need an account to get a CIM 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.