FCM 202742.2K
FCM 2027 marathon plan: 42.2K
A coach-led plan for the full marathon at the Freshworks Chennai Marathon. It is built from your own runs, set by your race date, kept mostly easy, and it tapers before race day.
The race
11 weeks to race day. Counted from today’s date in India.
Freshworks Chennai Marathon 2027
- Date
- Place
- Chennai
- Organiser
- Chennai Runners
AKURA is not the organiser of this race. AKURA coaches your training; you enter the race itself on the official race site.
This signs you up for AKURA’s training, not for the race. Race entry is with the organisers.
Who this plan is for
The full marathon is the longest race at FCM, and the plan asks for steady, regular running every week. It suits you if:
You already run regularly
You have been running for more than three months, so you are past the beginner stage in your runner intake.
You can keep your running days every week
You set your running days in the app’s weekly schedule, and each week is built around them. If your days leave too little rest, the plan turns an easy day into a rest day.
Newer to running? Pick the 21.1K or the 10K
If you have been running for less than three months, AKURA starts you on a beginner ramp: building your aerobic base before any intensity work. If you have never run regularly, you start with run/walk. That is the right start for you, but it is not a marathon build. At FCM, choose the 21.1K or the 10K instead (if you have never run regularly, start with the 10K), and make the full marathon a later goal.
How the plan is built
The plan moves through five phases. Which phase you start in depends on how many weeks are left when you join. Your first week is easy running with strides; after that, most weeks have one long run, one or two faster sessions, and easy running on the other days.
Base
Mostly easy running, plus threshold and hills. Hills build strength and running economy with less impact than flat speedwork.
Build
Threshold sessions and steady marathon-pace work start to carry the faster days. The long run keeps growing at an easy, talking effort.
Peak
Threshold and marathon-pace work stay on the faster days. Short, fast repeats are not part of the marathon peak.
Sharpen
Marathon-pace work comes first, with threshold next to it, so race effort feels familiar.
Taper
Training comes down before race day. One short, sharp threshold touch keeps you fresh without adding fatigue.
If the plan places you at the beginner level, you stay in base and build longer, with one faster session a week and no interval work.
Session types
Each day of the plan is set in one of the six AKURA training zones.
Heart rate is the governor, pace is the target.
The 80/20 split
Easy: about 80%Hard: about 20%
About 80% of your training is easy (Active recovery, Foundation, Endurance) and about 20% is hard (Threshold, Power, Speed). The easy running is where your aerobic base grows: you can do a lot of it without breaking down. The small hard share lifts your threshold and your top end. More hard running than that mostly adds fatigue.
| Zone | In this plan |
|---|---|
| ARActive recovery | Very easy running when your body needs to recover. |
| FFoundation | Most of your easy days. This is where your aerobic base grows. |
| ENEndurance | Your long run, and the steady marathon-pace work in the build, peak and sharpen phases. |
| THThreshold | Tempo-style threshold sessions in every phase, and hills in the base phase. |
| PPower | Little or none. The marathon plan puts its hard work into Threshold and Endurance. |
| SPSpeed | Little or none, for the same reason. |
Common marathon mistakes
Running every long run too fast
The long run belongs in Endurance, at a talking effort. If your heart rate climbs past that, slow down, even if the pace looks easy.
Treating marathon pace as tempo
Marathon-pace work is steady and controlled (Endurance). Threshold is comfortably hard. Mixing them up turns a steady day into a hard one.
Chasing pace in the heat
Most FCM training happens in warm, humid months. Heat raises your heart rate at the same pace, so on a hot morning let heart rate set the effort, not the watch pace.
Cramming missed weeks before the taper
If you miss a week, do not double up later. Pick the plan up where it is today, and let the taper do its job.
Trying something new on race day
Shoes, drinks, gels and breakfast should all be tested on long runs first. Race morning is not the time to find out.
What happens after you join
Every runner goes through the same four steps in the app. Nothing is made up along the way.
Finish your runner intake
How long you have been running, any injuries, and your race: the distance and the date.
Add your runs
Connect COROS, Suunto or Health Connect on Android, or upload your run files. The plan starts from what you actually run.
Pass the setup check
Until your intake is finished and your runs are in, AKURA shows no plan, no paces and no scores. We would rather wait than guess.
Get your coach-led plan
Your weeks are set from your race date and your own training, and they adjust as you train. A coach can see your plan and change any session.
If you sign up on the FCM training page, your details go to the AKURA coaching team, who may contact you about the programme. Your plan itself still comes through these four steps.
Your coach
Coach Kura — Head Coach, AKURA