Have you been running consistently for a while but never challenged yourself to a half marathon? Or perhaps you’ve done a race already, but you’ve spotted another coming up soon and are hoping to PR. This 6 week half marathon training schedule is designed to add some structure to your running routine so you can successfully finish your 13.1 race!
(Whether that means checking a half off your bucket list or improving on your previous time.)
This training schedule was produced in partnership with Multisport Mastery, known for quality endurance sport coaching. If you’re looking for individualized help as an intermediate or advanced athlete, definitely give them a shout.
Here’s everything you need to know about this 6 week half marathon training schedule:
You can feel free to scroll to the bottom of this post to view and print the plan, but I’d encourage you to read over these important tips before starting it:
Who is this training plan for?
This plan is designed for recreational runners who are looking to build upon an established base and train for a half marathon in 6 weeks. It’s ideal for the following athletes:
- Runners looking to do their first half marathon, but who have been consistently running for 6 months
- Runners looking to improve upon their previous half marathon time, but are training in a condensed time frame
This 6 week half marathon training schedule is not designed for beginners to the sport of running, as there is a considerable amount of speedwork included. Instead, here are some of our recommended training plan for beginners:
- 20 week half marathon training schedule – ideal for beginners who are starting with no or very little running experience
- 12 week half marathon training plan – ideal for beginners who can run (or run/walk) 3-4 miles comfortably, but haven’t ventured much beyond that
- 8 week half marathon training schedule – ideal for beginner or intermediate runners who can run 3-4 miles comfortably, and are looking for a plan that includes a little speedwork
What level of fitness do I need to start?
Athletes should be regularly running a minimum of 20 miles per week with a recent long run of 90 minutes (or 8 to 10 miles) at the start of this program.
*Disclaimer: I am not a physician; check with your doctor prior to starting any new exercise program.
What is the time commitment for this plan?
The plan is designed to help you get from a solid running base to half-marathon-ready in just 6 weeks.
It includes 5 run workouts each week with an optional cross-training day on Mondays. Mid-week runs range from 20 minutes to approximately an hour. Weekly long runs range from 10 miles to 12 miles.
Your Weekly Schedule
Your week is broken down as follows:
- Monday – Rest or cross training
- Tuesday – Track speed workouts
- Wednesday – Easy short runs
- Thursday – “Strength Runs” – Tempo or Pace Runs
- Friday – Rest
- Saturday – Long Runs
- Sunday – Easy short runs
Workout Descriptions:
Here are the descriptions you’ll see on the schedule so you know how to complete each workout:
CROSS TRAINING workouts – For the purposes of this training plan, the optional cross-training workout on Mondays can be a low-intensity/low-impact exercise such as gentle yoga, easy cycling, or swimming. This helps promote recovery and also works different muscle groups to balance out your training.
EZ Runs – Just like it sounds, these runs should be comfortably paced. Though it can be tempting to want to run these at a faster speed, you want to hold back and maintain a slower, easy pace. Run them about 60-90 seconds slower than your goal half marathon pace. These runs will help promote recovery and training adaptations.
PACE runs – When you see a PACE run on your plan, you should start with 10-15 minutes of easy running to warm up. Then, complete the time listed on the plan for “PACE” at your goal half marathon pace. Finish with 10-15 minutes of easy running to cool down.
TEMPO runs – When you see a TEMPO run on your plan, you should start with 10-15 minutes of easy running to warm up. Then, complete the time listed on the plan for “TEMPO” at a pace that’s approximately 30 seconds faster than your goal half marathon pace. Finish with 10-15 minutes of easy running to cool down.
TRACK workouts – Each track workout on Tuesday includes the number of intervals and the distance (in meters), along with the rest interval. You’ll want to start and end each track workout with 10-15 minutes of easy running, similar to your pace/tempo runs.
You’ll notice a few different connotations listed specific to these runs. These include:
- R = Rest interval
- PACE = goal half marathon pace
- TEMPO = 30 seconds faster than goal half marathon pace
- Descend = start easy and get faster each rep
For example, 3×1 mile at PACE; R: 90 sec would look like this:
- Warm up 10-15 min easy running
- Run a mile at goal half marathon pace
- Rest 90 seconds (can be active rest; i.e. walking)
- Run a mile at goal half marathon pace
- Rest 90 seconds (can be active rest; i.e. walking)
- Run a mile at goal half marathon pace
- Rest 90 seconds (can be active rest; i.e. walking)
- Cool down 10-15 min easy running
Long Run Breakdown – The image of the plan below includes the total long run mileage. You can do this mileage as-is, or you can follow the plan as our coaches wrote it with the following pacing strategies:
- Week 1: 2 miles EZ/2 miles PACE/2 miles EZ/2 miles PACE/2 miles EZ (10 miles)
- Week 2: 3 miles EZ/2 miles PACE/1 mile EZ/2 miles PACE/3 miles EZ (11 miles)
- Week 3: 10 miles all EZ
- Week 4: 4 miles EZ/ 3 miles PACE/1 mile EZ/3 miles PACE/1 mile EZ (12 miles)
- Week 5: 10 miles Negative Split (run the second half faster than the first half)
- Week 6: No long run – race prep the day before your event with: 4X (3:30 EZ/30 sec build/30 sec fast)
Training Plan Modifications
Depending on where you are in your running journey, you may find it necessary to slightly modify this plan to fit your needs.
If you are an athlete who runs regularly but perhaps needs a slightly lower intensity plan to get half-marathon ready in 6 weeks, here are a few modifications you might consider:
- Mondays include an optional cross training day, but some athletes may want to utilize this as a full rest day.
- The long runs include pace-based work. For athletes who have not done as much speed training, you can choose not to utilize this pace-based training. Instead, just complete the total miles as listed at an EZ pace.
- If you need an additional adjustment to make this plan do-able, you can choose to substitute some of the track workouts or tempo workouts for EZ runs around 45-60 minutes.
Warm Ups, Cool Downs, and Stretching:
Remember, all of your Tuesday track workouts and Thursday tempo/pace workouts start with a 10-15 minute easy warm-up run, followed by the Main Set as indicated in the schedule, and conclude with a 10-15 minute easy cool-down run.
Be sure to stretch after your runs. If you struggle with tight muscles on a regular basis, consider adding foam rolling.
There you have it! All the key info you need to know to rock a half marathon in less than two months!
6 Week Half Marathon Training Schedule
This plan was produced in partnership with Multisport Mastery, who specializes in individualized performance plans for multisport athletes of all abilities. Whether your goal is to run a marathon, compete in a triathlon, ride in a week-long cycling event or finish an Ironman, Multisport Mastery offers customized coaching to bring out the best in each athlete no matter who you are or where you want to go.
Share with me: Are you currently training for a half marathon – and if so, which race? If you used this 6 week half marathon training schedule, how did it work for you?
- What To Eat the Night Before a Race, According to a Dietitian - April 5, 2025
- 15 Bedtime Self-Care Ideas to Help You Unwind - March 31, 2025
- 25 Healthy Snacks for Runners (Store-Bought and Homemade) - March 31, 2025
Super cool of you to post a free 1/2 marathon training program.
Seems like so many training programs for sale out there and I really wish there was more importance placed on getting people to the finish line and less importance on getting people to the finish line with the lightest weighing wallet possible. (sorry, ending rant)
Thanks again for posting this!
Thank YOU for taking the time to leave such a nice comment! I love being able to share free training plans on here exactly for the reason you mentioned – just getting people to the finish line 🙂
This is great! For the Track workouts, what does the 800 & 400 distance mean meters or yards? THX!
Meters. 🙂 Typically a track is built to be 400 meters for 1 lap, so it’s pretty easy to keep track of that way!
Just used this plan with some modifications (mostly making some of the workouts a little more difficult – adding more reps, and going a little faster sometimes) and it worked out really well! I ran a half marathon, took off two weeks, then used this plan. My goal finish time was 1:45, finished in 1:43:18, compared to my finish time 8 weeks earlier at 1:50:43. Great short-time period plan!
Way to go Nick!! Glad to hear you were able to make this plan work for you with a few modifications, and congrats on the fast finish! 🙂
This is a really useful plan, thank you very much for making it available for free. I used it for my first half marathon which I finished on Sunday in London in 1:34:46. I’d competed in a few 5ks & 10ks previously but never ran that distance. I had initially just wanted to finish under 1:45 but stepped it up mid-way through when I was finding the pace on some of the runs a bit easy. The plan is really easy to follow and manageable, I highly recommend it. Thanks again!
Hey Eamon! So glad to hear this plan worked out for your first half marathon. Sounds like you had an awesome finish time for your first 13.1. Way to go!!!
what does this mean?,if my Gold is 3.00 Hr average Pace 8.30/KM , but Can’t understand Long Run Breakdown (EZ/2 ,PACE/3 ), 4X (3:30 EZ/30 sec build/30 sec fast) ,Thank you very much for your time and assistance in this matter.
I’m working on improving my English.
No problem! Just a heads up, all the numbers on this plan (except for the track workouts) are in miles, so you’ll need to adjust that to kilometers if you are used to using those to measure distance. So if you’re goal for a half marathon is about 3 hours, I’m going to convert that to mileage pace for the purpose of making this easier – so your goal race pace would be around a 13:30 mile.
Based on this goal pace:
When you see runs on the plan that say “EZ” those would be run around a 14:30 mile/mile.
When you see runs on the plan that say “PACE” those would be run at your goal pace of 13:30/mile.
When you see runs on the plan that say “TEMPO” those would be run at a little faster pace around 13:00/mile.
Here is an example of what the long run breakdown workouts would look like based on your pace:
Week 2: 3 miles EZ/2 miles PACE/1 mile EZ/2 miles PACE/3 miles EZ –> For you, this would mean 3 miles at 14:30/mile, 2 miles at 13:30/mile, 1 mile at 14:30/mile, 2 miles at 13:30/mile, 3 miles at 14:30/mile
For the last week’s workout, it’s a race prep workout listed as 4X (3:30 EZ/30 sec build/30 sec fast). That would look like this:
Warm up with easy jog
3:30 minutes run at EZ pace – for you, 14:30/mile
30 seconds accelerating
30 seconds in a steady sprint
Then repeat those three (EZ, accelerating, sprint) 4X.
Hope that helps!
I like to weight train as well. Would you recommend training legs with weight during this program?
You can weight train during this program if you’d like. My advice would be to do two weight training sessions a week, and you’ll need to double up your workouts – it probably makes the most sense to do strength and your easy runs on Tuesdays and Sundays. If you can, stagger it to a morning/night workout rather than back to back.
What modifications to the plan would you suggest if the race would be 16 miles long?
Hi Mike! It would depend on your current fitness level and pace (standard disclaimer, this shouldn’t be construed as individual advice). 🙂 But one option would be to add an extra 5 minutes to all the easy runs and tempo/pace runs. I’d leave the track work as is. And then for the long runs, I might structure them along the lines of this – really just changing week 2/4 to increase the total mileage so you end up closer to your race distance:
Week 1: 2 miles EZ/2 miles PACE/2 miles EZ/2 miles PACE/2 miles EZ (10 miles)
Week 2: 3 miles EZ/2 miles PACE/1 mile EZ/2 miles PACE/4 miles EZ (12 miles)*
Week 3: 10 miles all EZ
Week 4: 4 miles EZ/ 3 miles PACE/1 mile EZ/3 miles PACE/3 miles EZ (14 miles)*
Week 5: 10 miles Negative Split (run the second half faster than the first half)
Week 6: No long run – race prep the day before your event with: 4X (3:30 EZ/30 sec build/30 sec fast)
Good morning, I’m in the last week of the plan which I live by the way. The last run before the race on week 6 has lost me. Is anyone able to explain this one for me?
Hi Jason – sure thing. That last workout before the race would look like this: 3 min 30 sec of easy running, 30 sec of building speed, and 30 sec fast. Repeat 4 times. Depending on fitness level, you can walk for 30 sec in between each if desired. 🙂
Hi I wold like to known on track workout the intervals like 8 X 400 or 6 X 800 the measurement units in that case are meters ?
Thanks for the help,
Regards !
Hi David! Yes, the measurement is in meters 🙂 One lap around a standard track in he US is 400 meters. So 8×400 would be 8 laps around the track (done with the appropriate rest interval in between). Hope that helps!
Hi Chrissy…..This looks like a superb 6wk plan…I’ve got my 1st half marathon in Oct, so following your plan all the way in. Some questions though:
1) None of your long runs actually cover the full 13.1 miles….is that ok?
2) For Wk 5 on the long runs, it calls out a negative split…is that the first half at EZ pace & last half at PACE (race pace), or should the first half be between “EZ” & “PACE”?
3) Most plans I’ve seen encourage you to rest on the 2 days before the race, but yours recommends running the day before….is there a specific reason for that? (I’m guessing there is!). Thanks.
Woohoo! Way to go signing up for your first half! Here’s the answers to your questions:
1) That’s OK 🙂 You’ll find more beginner and intermediate plans don’t necessarily cover the full distance and generally go up to 12 miles. If you can do 12, you can do 13.1!
2) This can be adjusted based on how you feel, but I would recommend starting at EZ and gradually working your miles down to PACE by the second half.
3) This is a personal preference thing between athletes/coaches – some of my plans have rest days the two days before and others use this little speed workout. The purpose is just to do a little shakeout and stimulate the neuromuscular system. But you can also skip this if you would rather have complete rest leading up to the race.
Hope that helps! Good luck and keep me posted on how it goes!
👍
Thank you, Chrissy! Seven weeks ago, I downloaded this plan to run my first half marathon at 40. I stuck to it, felt the progress, and today I finished 35/168 and 6/20 of women 40-45! I had no experience or training; I was a “fun runner” who could get through a 10K with effort. Your plan did it all. I highly recommend it to readers, and I have recommended it to friends who want to join me for the next half!
This makes me so happy!!! I’m so glad to hear that it went well for you and that you were able to successfully complete your first half. Way to go Emily!!! 🙂
Thanks Chrissy! I just finished my first half yesterday. I was shooting for a 2 hour finish and crossed at 2:03 (there was a hill at mile 10 that kicked my butt!). Starting it over again as I signed up for another one mid October. Thanks again for the great program!
Woohoo – way to go on your first half! Oh man, I know it’s tough when you’re SO close to that goal you had in mind. I have a feeling you’ll hit it at your October race!! 🙂
This plan looks awesome! Would moving the long runs to Friday and taking a rest day on Saturday be a huge issue?
Hi Gaby! No issues with that, though the tempo/pace runs on Thurs are meant to be a bit challenging – so it might be worth it to shift the whole schedule a bit if you can – i.e. Mon track, Tues easy, Weds tempo, Thurs rest, Fri long, Sat rest, Sun easy. But if you can’t do that, it’s still not a big deal to just shift the one day. 🙂
Thanks so much for posting this!! I am running a half in about 7 weeks, so this is perfect!! I have run a 5k, and have gone on longer runs that have amounted to about 13 miles, but I have not yet participated in a race!
I have 2 questions:
1. I am getting a minor oral surgery 2 weeks before my race; they generally suggest limiting heavy exercise 1-2 days after to promote healing; any tips on how to incorporate that?
2. What is your tip for eating before running? E.g. what to eat / within what time frame?
Thank you so much!!!!
Hi Jamie,
So sorry for the delay here – was traveling for a week and am catching up on comments now. As far as your questions:
1) I’d defer to your oral surgeon here – they are more of an expert in this area than I am. I would follow their advice and just skip the runs during however long they recommend resting. As you get back into training, I might take it easy on the days listed and do more of an easy short run rather than any pace work or speed work for the first 1-2 runs after.
2) For eating before runs – it depends on how long the runs are. It’s most important for training runs over an hour, and for race day. In these cases, aim to eat an easily digestible meal with mostly carbs and some protein about 1-3 hours before the event. Some options that work for most people: bagel with cream cheese; peanut butter and banana sandwich; cereal with milk and fruit; a higher carb bar (like some of the Clif bars); quinoa or rice with poached eggs.
Does that help? Let me know if you have any follow up questions. And good luck!!! 🙂
Hi Chrissy – It’s Aid again…just finished my first half this weekend. The pace time I was training for was a 2hr finish (9:09/mile, 5:39/km)…..and I hit it right on the nose! Finished within 2 sec of 2 hrs flat, so I’m delighted & expected to be a lot farther away. I followed your plan all the way in from a starting point where I was taking around 26mins for a 5km only 8 weeks ago….so your plan rocks!! Only change I made was on the long runs where I added 1 extra mile at PACE in the middle of each run (I.e 12 milers became 13milers etc.) and I took 2 full rest days / wk, is. Mon & Fri (I.e. no x-training etc). Awesome plan Chrissy….Thank you so much for sharing this!
Woohoo!!! Way to go hitting your time goal – that’s amazing. I’m so glad to hear this plan worked for you and love the modifications you added to make it work for you. 🙂
How would you modify this if you wanted to complete a half in 4 weeks? 🙂
Hi Mel — That would probably depend on a lot of factors, like your fitness level and injury history. If you’re already running long distances and doing speed work regularly, you could start from Week 3 of this plan. OR, you could check out Plan B (run only) in this 4 week plan here: https://www.snackinginsneakers.com/4-week-half-marathon-training-plan/
(standard disclosure haha – not to be construed as individual advice; for informational purposes only)
Thank you for this! I ran my second half-marathon this weekend and mostly followed your plan (I cut some of the shorter runs because I also weight train 2x per week and didn’t want to over-do it). I ran it in 2:15, which for me was a really good time. I’m planning a third half for late February and will be using this plan again. Thank you so much!!
Way to go Danielle!! Sounds like you had a great race – congrats! 🙂
thanks Chrissy for sharing this plan!
I read it somewhere that for folks over 40 yo, we should limit to no more than 3 runs a week to allow our body to recover. So can I follow this plan by cutting the easy runs on Wed and Sundays?
Another Q: do you recommend practice runs on morning or in the afternoon? I normally do my long runs in the morning but speed works in the evening. Would that work? Should I do the run-before-race-day Friday evening as my race is early Sat.
Hi Jason! Standard disclosure, it’s hard to give generalized advice without knowing your personal running and injury history, so don’t take anything as individualized advice but rather general info 🙂
I personally disagree with a blanket statement that says those over 40 shouldn’t run more than 3x/week – I think it’s more about the overall quality of the runs and ensuring that you definitely don’t have too much speedwork in relation to easy runs. If you’re really worried about injury and not recovering as much, I’d honestly leave the two easy runs in there and cut one of the speedwork days instead (so 4 days – two easy, one long, one speed – either track OR tempo).
Of course, that’s my opinion though, so take it with a grain of salt and do what you feel works best for your body.
As far as timing for most weeks of the plan – either morning or evening works, that’s up to you and your schedule.
For the day before the race, though, I’d try to do that workout in the morning Friday if possible (or Thursday evening).
thanks a lot Chrissy for the detailed answers!
I followed your plan except the two easy runs. I also increased week 3 and 4 long runs to 12 and 14 miles.
Did my first race and got a few seconds away from breaking 1:50, which is more than 5 min improvement over my training run PR. thanks again for sharing this great plan!
Awesome!! Glad to hear you found a way to make it work for you! Great job.
I commented on the 12 week marathon plan about how it helped me PR by 25 minutes in Chicago, and you directed me to this training plan for a half marathon. It worked well! I ended up getting an 8+ minute PR and finally finishing in sub-2 hours! Thanks again! I really enjoy your plans and love that you also have triathlon on this page! I’m starting my venture into triathlon now with my first Olympic distance in May, and I have my first HIM in October 2020! I have only done a couple of sprint triathlons in 2013, so I’m starting from scratch 🙂 Looking forward to being able to tap into the resources on this page as I know I have personally tested them and had them work well for me! THANK YOU!!!
This is awesome – I’m so glad to hear you’ve been seeing success with these plans!! Can’t wait to see how your first Oly goes!!
Hey Chrissy
I know this is long winded but I hope others can learn from my experience.
I’m a long time, long distance runner but the last 1/2 marathon I’d done was my first when I was 15. I’m 38 and had been doing 7 – 10km runs at a reasonable pace on a regular basis when lot’s of my friends decided to do the Busselton Half Marathon in Western Australia.
I got motivated and decided to look for a half marathon of my own and found one that was scheduled in just seven weeks.
I found your plan and it gave me confidence that someone thought that this was possible in such a short time frame.
I had been eating Paleo for about a year and a half and wasn’t sure how my energy systems would handle the distance.
I set a goal for 2 hours and quickly realised that this was going to be too easy. Thankfully your simple instructions to run 30 – 60 seconds slower or faster than your intended time per km were easily adjusted as I realised my capacity and improved.
I increased the length of the easy runs to about 55 minutes or 6 Miles and did one of the longer runs as a test for the actual distance (more to get over the psychological barrier than anything).
I managed the long runs with an isotonic energy gel at the start, 7km and 14km points. This still had me feeling pretty exhausted and I had to consider whether my diet was holding me back.
By week 4 I had revised my time to 1 hour and 45 minutes and in week 6 I had a 12 Mile run that had me running at 1 hour 39 minute pace. Basically your program had me running faster and faster.
With the Corona virus upon us all events were cancelled but I decided to maintain my training program and run the proposed track on the same weekend.
For the final three days before my run I decided to carb load (85 – 90% of energy coming from carbs) contrary to my paleo diet and the rising number of paleo friendly, anti-carb articles out there. Mixed experience with some serious gut issues, feeling generally like a pig and unsure whether I was doing the right thing).
Race Day
Up at 3am to scoff a banana sandwich (white bread) and sports drink. Slept for another 2 hours. Drove in with my wife/support team to the track. Had a gel and warmed up over 1 mile and stretched.
Began my run and quickly relaxed into a 4:20 per km pace despite not having other runners to chase down (gotta love having a Garmin watch with a virtual partner).
Had deposited 125ml water bottles at 3.5km positions throughout the race and consumed energy gels at 7 and 14km points. With the carb loading I didn’t experience any energy walls and felt like I could have kept running at the end.
Smashed the course in 1:35:10 or 4:31 per km.
Things I learnt
You’re never too old to give this a go
Don’t be afraid to adjust your goal as you go
If you’re on Paleo I’d suggest eating a few more carbs the day before your long runs just to provide some more accessible energy. You can still ensure they are coming from whole foods but don’t be too restrictive. I live by the 80/20 rule (behave 80% of the time and misbehave the other 20. This way life remains enjoyable, healthy and realistic).
Next goal
Pretty keen to do a marathon now so will be looking for a decent training plan to get me to go under the 3 hr 45 min mark.
Hope my story helps someone else looking to get inspired and achieve their goals
This is awesome! Thank you so much for sharing your experience leading up to your race day. I’m so excited that you hit 1:35:10!! That’s incredible. Also love all the tips that you shared so others can learn from your experience.
I wish you the best as you look for a marathon to do (once races are actually taking place again, haha)! I’ve actually got a sub-4 marathon training plan that will be up on the site in the next week or two, so it might be something to look at. You could modify the pacing a bit to fit your goal of hitting sub 3:45.
I’m sure the replies already give enough information, but this training plan (and the 4 week one) give results. I did the 4 week plan to prepare for a half marathon in March which got canceled due to the whole virus situation. I signed up for one in April, that was supposed to go today but canceled due to the virus mess as well… I did this 6 week plan to prepare, and ran it anyway when the race told us it would be a “virtual run” and to submit your times to the results board.
I was feeling good about my progress as I was pacing around my PR (1:43:49, 7:56 a mile)… But over the last half of the training, my pace continued to decrease, to the point where I was running closer to 7 minutes a mile than 8! I was excited to see if I’d beat my PR today, but gave myself a conservative goal to finish in under 2 hours… With no water stations I knew it would be tough if I got dehydrated.
As it turns out, I ran not only the fastest half marathon I’ve ever done, but the fastest race PERIOD. Of any distance. I finished in 1:31:21, pacing at 6:58 a mile, and my splits would have given me PRs in a 5K, 10K, and 10 mile. I’m still in shock at how fast I ran, like I’m waiting for my watch to say “Sorry, kidding, you actually finished in 2 hours!”
Up next? I’m planning to do a duathlon in May, and I have a half marathon picked out for June… And a marathon? Yes, I’m signed up for one in October. Hopefully I can keep up the progress I’ve made!
Hi Tony – what an awesome race review! I’m so glad to hear you hit your fastest race ever – that’s amazing! 6:58 a mile is amazing pacing. Can’t wait to hear how the rest of your race adventures go, including your marathon. 🙂
Hello Chrissy, thanks for putting great content in here. I found it recently as I decided to do a half marathon (SDCCU OC Running Festival in So Cal) and only had 7 weeks to train. My last and only half marathon was 10yrs ago, and I did 2h10mins. I wanted to do less than 2 hrs on this one. I resumed my running journey recently by doing a few runs a week of ~4miles while listening to drum & bass tracks at 175bpm and that pumped me up. I found your 6week plan and it seemed doable and logical so I got on it right away. I have to confess, I tried sticking to the plan as much as I could, but was able to squeeze only 2 long runs (the first and the last). I did follow the rest of the midweek program pretty close. Im happy to report that this time I did the half marthon in 1h58min (meet my goal of <2hrs!). On race day I started strong and faster than I should have (8:30 min/mile). At mile 8 legs started to feel tired going uphill and at mile 11.5 I was dragging myself holding on to a pace <10min/mile. Happy to report that I recovered nicely and went back on repeating the 6-week rotation again (on week 3 now). I have my eyes set on a full marathon next year likely in May. I wanted to get your input in what should I do next…1) keep on improving my condition training for half, and then switch to a full marathon 16/20 weeks program early next year, or 2) get on a longer marathon program starting now. Thoughts? Thanks in advance,
Jose David
Hi Jose! Glad to hear you met your sub-2 goal for your last half. It’s tough to give individual training advice without knowing a full running history, injury history, etc. 🙂 In general, though, if it were me, I’d probably finish this six week rotation, then take Dec/Jan to work on base building – comfortable aerobic runs with some longer mileage on the weekends. That base building can be helpful for improving running efficiency and endurance – key for the marathon. Then I’d probably jump into a marathon training program for Feb/Mar/Apr/May. I’d aim to be up to around 10 miles comfortably at my goal long run pace when I started that plan.
Here’s a sample 16 week plan that might be helpful; it’s a beginner-focused one but if you wanted something more challenging could add in a tempo/hill run to the week. – https://www.snackinginsneakers.com/16-week-marathon-training-schedule/
Hello Chrissy, thanks for your input. For the base building you recommend is there a plan/structure that I can follow?
Thanks!
Hi! I don’t have anything posted on here as far as structure, and can’t really give individual training advice without a full run/injury history. 🙂 But as a *general* example, a base building schedule might look something like this:
M – EZ 5 miles
T – Strength or X-train
W – EZ 6-7 miles (or occasionally mixing in 4-5 miles of hills for variety if desired)
Th – AM EZ 5 miles / PM strength
F – Rest
Sat – EZ long run, 7-12 miles, progressing each week w/ drop down every 3-4 weeks (or, if already comfortable at 12, doing some alternating weeks of 10-12 / 10-12 / 7-8). Comfy pace that can be sustained on whole run.
Sun – EZ 2-3 mi or X-train or Rest
Hi Chrissy, I am training for half marathon on Jan 9. I completed week 1 successfully and just completed week 2 of the 6-week plan that you published. I did a 15.5 Km (9.5 miles) long run on week 1. This week I could do a 13.1 km (8+ miles) at the same effort as week 1. I noticed that the altitude gain was 65m which was higher than week 1 and ran a little late than the long run in week 1 with more traffic on the road. I was able to maintain the pace as recommended by you for all the other runs.
Do you recommend flat running for the long runs or is it ok to reduce the miles a bit with some altitude gain? Do you have any additional suggestions.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to publish the plan. It was very useful.
Hi Sundar! It’s hard to give personalized advice, as I don’t know much about your running history or the race or your goals. 🙂 That said, in general, I do recommend that people stick with the long run distances leading up to the race, even if that means dropping the pace. If a race has rolling terrain, then it’s good to get some practice on mileage that has some rolling hills as well. (That said, if a long run is a mile or two shorter, it probably won’t make or break being able to finish).
Thanks Chrissy for responding. I continued with the same terrain, same as what will most likely be the half marathon route. I continued with 10 mile and 11 mile runs on the same route getting closer to the target every long run (for me, I started a week early and I had 7 weeks). Today, I completed 20.15 Km, in 2 hrs and 3 minutes and 30 sec (so far, I have completed around 45 km this week with one last easy run remaining this week). Two more weeks to go. Hopefully, I will be able to make it in less than 2 hrs 5 mins.
Thanks for the plan and looking forward to the race.
Also, wishing you and your family a Very Happy and Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year!
Thank you and same to you! 🙂
Sounds like a good plan for the rest of your training – good luck! Keep me posted on how it goes!
I’m here to thank you for this HM Plan!! I started running again in October 2021, gradually increasing the mileage. When the race was confirmed (it was suspended due to the pandemic) I had to quickly get into the training pace for the 21km and in six weeks I got a better time than my last half marathon in 2016. I was able to do the race in 2 hours and 10 minutes, after several years running without regularity. The next half marthon is scheduled for April 10th and the goal is now to reduce the race time to less than 2 hours. Thank you very much!
Woohoo! Way to go Claudio. So glad this worked for you. Fingers crossed for the sub-2 PR in your next race!