A half-marathon is a dream goal for many runners with different experiences. Any runner can run a half-marathon. The main thing is to choose the right training plan and follow the recommendations.
In this article, you can find all the necessary advice to prepare for a half-marathon and a plan for your running level.
What is a Half-Marathon?
A half-marathon is the next stage after 5k and 10k events. It is 13.1 miles or 21 kilometers (half of a marathon).
Often half-marathons are held on weekends. Sometimes the race may include other distances, like 5k, 10k, and other races, which start at different times.
Who Can Run a Half-Marathon Race?
Contrary to misconceptions, any runner can prepare for a half-marathon regardless of experience. Of course, the half marathon preparation will be easier for runners who have completed 5ks and 10ks.
Still, it is a great challenge for beginners. It is long enough to test your endurance but not so far as to cause significant damage or injuries.
Benefits of Running a Half-Marathon
- You find motivation
Running without understanding why you are doing it is harder than training for some goal. Competing in a half-marathon can be that goal that motivates you!
- You will maintain a healthy weight, have great fitness, and keep a healthy diet
While preparing for a half-marathon, your weight and nutrition influence your endurance and speed – so it pushes you to be healthier. At the same, the more you train, the more fit you will be.
- You grow personally
Nothing pushes us more mentally than achieving a goal – you grow as a person as you push yourself to achieve your goal of running a half marathon.
- You explore new places
You can find new running events in new cities or even countries – what can be better than doing your favorite sport in an unknown place? Explore the world as you progress doing the sport you love.
How Long to Train for a Half-Marathon?
Usually, half-marathon training plans are divided into 14 weeks. This is optimal for beginners and intermediate runners. But we will also give recommendations for advanced runners whose preparation time can be shorter.
Why Should I Follow a Training Plan?
A training plan helps to structure your training to be more effective in improving your speed and endurance. In addition, it will help you to improve individual aspects for race day, which, in turn, will help you to achieve better results at the finish line.
Before we get to the free half marathon training plan, we’ll mention some tips and advice to help you make your workouts and running on a race day more effective.
Training for Half-Marathon: Main Tips
- Include speed workouts in your half marathon training schedule
It is OK not to have a time goal. Still, speed workouts are essential to building a normal cardiovascular system.
- Cross-training and strength workouts must be a part of your running schedule
It may seem that the main thing you should do is run and run a lot. Of course, running is the main thing, but not the only thing that makes you a successful athlete. Cross-training and strength workouts help to reduce injury and improve run efficiency. Thus, you must include them in your plan.
- Divide the distance into short parts
It is great if you’ve run shorter races before, as it helps to split the distance into, for example, 5ks. This, in turn, helps your brain to adapt more quickly. Give your brain a mantra or some reload after running each 5k. And, if this is your first race, splitting will also help.
- Set three goals in your brain on race day
As much as you try to control all that can happen in the race, the psychological tension grows and interrupts you. It is better to set three goals: the dream goal (to win the race, for example), a realistic one (a time goal based on your workout results), and a feeling goal (to finish, feeling positive, or finish with a smile on your face).
What About Nutrition?
It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine that the performance of, and recovery from, sporting activities are enhanced by well-chosen nutrition strategies.
The main recommendations you should pay attention to while you train for a half-marathon are the following:
- A proper diet is vital throughout the entire training process, not just the day before the race. Assuming your diet has been healthy and balanced, you should follow your daily diet’s normal rhythm the day before your event. Use your many weeks of training to figure out what works best for your body.
- Pay attention to the quality of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates on your plate.
- Avoid fatty, greasy food and alcohol before the race. Be sure that your food provides enough fiber. Despite popular belief, you should avoid carb-loading the day before your long-distance race.
Half Marathon Gear
- Shoes. Nothing unexpectable – your running shoes should be comfortable and good quality. Don’t wear the new shoes you bought a week before the race. If you want to buy some new shoes – buy them in advance and break them in to prevent injuries. Visit a good shop where specialists can help you choose the best shoes for your running style.
- If the race allows you to wear a hydration pack, spend some time choosing a waist belt, vest, or handheld water bottle. Or you can stick to the drink stations along the way.
- Watch. It is not necessary; it depends only on your preferences. Still, it can help you keep track of your pace if you have a specific goal.
- Clothes. Your running outfit must be comfortable and suit your size. Check on the weather on the day of the race to dress appropriately. Visit the race website for more recommendations.
How to Choose a Half-Marathon Training Plan?
- Your plan should be appropriate to your fitness level and race goals. Keep it simple – if you are a beginner, you should pick the plan for beginners. If you have experience, choose the plan for intermediate or advanced runners.
- Your plan should be compatible with your schedule. Consider your lifestyle and count how many training days you can have per week. Use this information to help you choose your plan. It is possible to train for a half-marathon having 4 running workouts per week. But you should be sure that you have 4 days.
- Suitable duration. As we have written above, the preparation time can be from 4 to 16 weeks. Of course, if you are a beginner, you cannot prepare for a month. In this case, you need a longer plan to develop speed and endurance. So, choose a plan based on your experience.
- The training strategy of the plan must meet yours. Each plan has its own goal. For example, lower mileage but more speed, or lots of cross-training, etc. Choose the plan that matches your needs and running goals.
- Your plan should cause excitement. The plan should motivate you. Choose one that makes you want to train when you read it.
It is time to talk about concrete training plans. Choose the optimal one from the pair we prepared. Depending on your running experience, you can choose the best half-marathon training plan and immediately start working.
Half-Marathon Training Plan for Beginners
This training plan will work great if you are a beginner or intermediate runner. If you are a novice runner, add two weeks of light workouts, running 3 miles at an easy pace, and continue using the schedule.
How to Work with a Plan?
On Sundays, you will have strength workouts or cross-training. Strength workouts may include exercises like squats, calf raises with weight, RDLs, and so on. Cross-training may include hiking, cycling, swimming, the elliptical (or arc-trainer), pool running, skiing, etc.
The training rules with such a plan are the following:
- Mondays and Fridays will be rest days.
- Sundays and Wednesdays will be cross-training or strength workouts.
- Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday are running days. Tuesdays do comfortable-paced runs, Thursdays do tempo runs, and Saturdays do long runs.
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | |
| 1 | Strength/CT | Rest | 4 mi | Strength/CT | 3 mi in easy pace | Rest | 6 mi Run |
| 2 | Strength/CT | Rest | 4 mi | Strength/CT | 3 mi in moderate pace | Rest | 6 mi Run |
| 3 | Strength/CT | Rest | 5 mi | Strength/CT | 4 mi in easy pace | Rest | 7 mi Run |
| 4 | Strength/CT | Rest | 5 mi | Strength/CT | 4 mi in moderate pace | Rest | 7 mi Run |
| 5 | Strength/CT | Rest | 4 mi | Strength/CT | 3 mi in moderate pace | Rest | 8 mi Run |
| 6 | Strength/CT | Rest | 4 mi | Strength/CT | 3 mi in fast pace | Rest | 8 mi Run |
| 7 | Strength/CT | Rest | 5 mi | Strength/CT | 4 mi in easy pace | Rest | 9 mi Run |
| 8 | Strength/CT | Rest | 5 mi | Strength/CT | 4 mi in moderate pace | Rest | 9 mi Run |
| 9 | Strength/CT | Rest | 6 mi | Strength/CT | 3 mi in moderate pace | Rest | 10 mi Run |
| 10 | Strength/CT | Rest | 6 mi | Strength/CT | 4 mi in fast pace | Rest | 10 mi Run |
| 11 | Strength/CT | Rest | 4 mi | Strength/CT | 3 mi in easy pace | Rest | Rest |
Half-Marathon Training Plan for Intermediate and Advanced Runner
If you have above-average experience, the previous training plan won’t suit you. Thus, we offer you the Ryan Hall Marathon Training Plan.
Ryan Hall is a retired professional runner and former All-American for Stanford University. He holds the best-ever American times in the Half Marathon and Marathon and represented the United States in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.
He offers a 10-week training plan. The rules are as follows:
- Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are easy days.
- On Tuesdays, you will do interval running or fartleks, depending on the week.
- Thursdays will be half-marathon workouts.
- Saturdays will be for progression runs.
- Sundays are rest days.
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | |
| 1 | 45 min | Intervals Warm-up, Run 1 min, Jog 1 min, Rest, Repeat 10x, Cool down | 45 min | Warm up, Run 5 mi at half marathon pace, Run 1 mile at 10k pace, Cool down | 45 min (or CT) | 8 Mi | Rest |
| 2 | 55 min | Intervals Run ½ mile, Rest 2 min, Repeat 5x, Cool down | 55 min | Warm up, Run 2 mi at half marathon pace, Rest 2 minutes, Repeat 1x, Cool down | 55 min (or CT) | 9 Mi | Rest |
| 3 | 60 min | Fartlek Run Warm up, Run hard 5 minutes, Run easy 5 min, Run hard 4 min, Run easy 4 min, Run hard 3 min, Run easy 3 min, Run hard 2 min, Run easy 2 min, Run hard 1 min, Run easy 1 min, Cool down Hard segments = 5k pace | 60 min | Warm up, Run 6 mi at half marathon pace, Run 1 mile at 10K pace, Cool down | 60 min (or CT) | 10 Mi | Rest |
| 4 | 45 min | Intervals Run ½ mile, Rest 2 minutes, Repeat 6x, Cool down | 45 min | Warm up, Run 2 mi at half marathon pace, Rest 2 minutes, Repeat 2x, Cool down | 45 min (or CT) | 9 Mi | Rest |
| 5 | 55 min | Fartlek Run Warm up, Run 1 min, Jog 1 min, Rest, Repeat 12x, Cool down | 55 min | Warm up, Run 7 mi at half marathon pace, Run 1 mile at 10k pace, Cool down | 55 min (or CT) | 9 Mi | Rest |
| 6 | 60 min | Intervals Warm up, Run ½ mile, Rest 2 min, Repeat 7x, Cool down | 60 min | Warm up, Run 2 mi at half marathon pace, Fully rest, Repeat 3x, Cool down | 60 min (or CT) | 11 Mi | Rest |
| 7 | 45 min | Fartlek Run Warm up, Run hard 5 min, Run easy 5 min, Run hard 4 min, Run easy 4 min, Run hard 3 min, Run easy 3 min, Run hard 2 min, Run easy 2 min, Run hard 1 min, Run easy 1 min, Cool down Hard segments = 5K pace | 45 min | Warm up, Run 8 mi at half marathon pace, Run 1 mile at 10k pace, Cool down | 45 min (or CT) | 12 Mi | Rest |
| 8 | 55 min | Intervals Run ½ mile, Rest 2 min, Repeat 8x, Cool down | 55 min | Warm up, Run 2 mi at half marathon pace, Fully rest, Repeat 3x, Cool down | 55 min (or CT) | 13 Mi | Rest |
| 9 | 45 min | Intervals Run ½ mile, Rest 2 min, Repeat 10x, Cool down | 45 min | Warm up, Run 5 mi at half marathon pace, Run 1 mile at 10k pace, Cool down | 45 min (or CT) | 60 minutes | Rest |
| 10 | 45 min | Intervals Warm up, Run ½ mile, Rest 2 min, Repeat 4x, Run ¼ mile, Rest 2 min, Repeat 2x, Cool down | 30 min | Pre-Race Workout Warm up, Run 2 mi at marathon pace, Fully rest, Cool down | 45 min (or CT) | Easy Run 20 min | Race Day |
Wrap Up
A well-chosen training schedule for the half marathon is the key to successfully preparing and running this race. You can choose our plans following our main tips and start preparing immediately. If you have any additional questions or information, please write them in the comments.
