Your plan in four answers
Set for December 27, 2026, about 9 weeks out.
- Distances
- Marathon, Half marathon, 5K
- Terrain
- Flat
- Taper starts
- December 9, 2026
Course
The CCTX Marathon course
All races start and finish at the Hilliard Center on North Shoreline Boulevard, right on the Corpus Christi bayfront, with the marathon, half and half relay on Sunday at 7:00 a.m. and the 5K the day before. The course runs through Uptown and Downtown Corpus Christi and along Corpus Christi Bay, through the city parks on Ocean Drive, with views of the New Harbor Bridge along the way.
Read the full course notes
The organisers describe it as a fast, flat course with no major hills, built for personal bests. The marathon is listed as a Boston qualifier (certification due by race day), runners must be 16 or older, and the cutoff is 6.5 hours for the marathon, half and relay.
- Terrain
- Flat
- Distances
- Marathon, Half marathon, 5K
- Weather on race day
- Late December in Corpus Christi is usually mild and humid, around 50–60 °F at the 7:00 a.m. start with afternoon highs near 70 °F, and it can be cloudy. Much of the course runs along the open bayfront, so check the wind forecast, run by effort if it is breezy, and drink regularly even on a cool morning because the humidity is high.
What to train for
A flat bayfront marathon rewards steady pacing and the strength to stay efficient for 26.2 miles without hills to break up the effort.
Build to 18 to 20 mile long runs with the last 6 to 8 at goal pace, and add a weekly 5 to 8 mile tempo at half marathon to marathon effort.
Run some long runs on exposed, flat routes on breezy days so you learn to hold effort rather than chase pace into a headwind. Race day falls two days after Christmas, so plan your taper week around holiday travel and meals.
Sample week
A sample CCTX 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 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 CCTX Marathon
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 is flat, so pacing decides the day: rehearse your goal pace in short segments during race week. With the race on December 27, 2026, your taper starts around December 9, 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 CCTX Marathon on December 27, 2026. I run [distance] a week, [days] days a week, easy pace [pace].
CCTX Marathon training questions
How long should I train for the CCTX Marathon?
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 CCTX Marathon course hilly?
Flat. All races start and finish at the Hilliard Center on North Shoreline Boulevard, right on the Corpus Christi bayfront, with the marathon, half and half relay on Sunday at 7:00 a.m. and the 5K the day before.
What is the weather usually like at the CCTX Marathon?
Late December in Corpus Christi is usually mild and humid, around 50–60 °F at the 7:00 a.m. start with afternoon highs near 70 °F, and it can be cloudy. Much of the course runs along the open bayfront, so check the wind forecast, run by effort if it is breezy, and drink regularly even on a cool morning because the humidity is high.
When should I start tapering for the CCTX Marathon?
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 is flat, so pacing decides the day: rehearse your goal pace in short segments during race week. With the race on December 27, 2026, your taper starts around December 9, 2026.
Do I need an account to get a CCTX 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.