As promised, here is an early heads-up about my forthcoming (cue trumpet fanfare!!)...
10K to Half Marathon Training Plan!!!
I don't want to bombard you with too much information in one go, so expect more posts about this over the next couple of weeks. I will be giving more detail about how this plan was derived, and how best to personalise it 😊
Here is a summary of points to note at this stage - feel free to post questions below:
★ I have chosen to introduce this plan as an experiment, so I will be starting it myself on Monday, December 3rd with the aim of an actual HM event on Sunday, March 24th.
★ I will post regular updates on my progress. I invite you to either join along with me, or just follow to see how I get on! You do not have to end it on an actual race - that is optional!
★ This plan is designed as a set of TWELVE 9-Day Cycles. This is to provide a gentle ride for beginners from 10K to Half Marathon, with the option of having two non-running days between runs.
★ There are, however, options for more experienced runners to increase their challenge.
★ The total 12 cycles amount to roughly 15 and a half weeks.
★ There are options to run3 times, 4 times, or 5 times per cycle. These choices amount on average to 2 times, 3 times, or 4 times per week respectively.
★ The plan includes plenty of cross training, and also a strength and a speed session each cycle.
★ Follow the link below to a Google Sheet containing details about the plan. This shows the 9-day cycles laid out with all the different options. You will also see an example of what the plan looks like week by week, ending with a Half Marathon on a Sunday (since most of them are on Sundays):
Ooh this is so exciting! 🤗 Thanks so much for doing this roseabi! I will peruse at my leisure later on when I have more time. Looks like I will need to do a bit of tweaking to fit my club runs in (and the odd Park Run of course!) but this will definitely be useful to me.
The HM I am interested in is on 3rd March so I wouldn't be able to fit the whole plan in if I started it in December but I can use it to formulate my own plan.
Aha! This plan is built to be flexible - I certainly intend to move a lot of things around 😊
Something I will be suggesting in my next post is the use of a Google (or other online) calendar with the plan, as it is very easy to move entries around by drag and drop. If you have a Google account have a look at my calendar (I've only input the first three weeks so far):
I have got a Google account but when I followed your link it just opened a blank calendar. Never mind, I will wait for your post next week, no rush! Thanks again 😊 x
Thanks for having a look - would you mind giving this a quick go for me? It's not quite as I hoped because the nice colours don't translate across - but at least a Google sign in is not needed. You need to arrow along to December (top left of the page).
Wonderful roseabi! Now all we need is the HM to full Mara plan and you’ll have the full set 😉 Seriously though, thank you all the work you and all the admins are putting in here and throughout all the challenges. It is greatly appreciated by all of us.
Sounds really good roseabi - I have an HM on 24/3 also so I thought this would be perfect.. then I realised I have one on 3/2 also and my plan for that starts tomorrow! So thanks for the prompt!! 😁
Wow this looks great! So flexible and so detailed all at the same time.
My HM is also on 24/3, but we're away for two weeks in January (with lots of travelling and touring and it will be very hot, without access to gyms) and I'm not sure how much running I will be able to do during that time. I will have a play with the calendar and see how I could make it fit in. Even if I had to start a bit early, it would be really good to be 'part of your team' for the last 6 weeks of the plan at least.
Thanks for all the effort you have already put into this, not to mention the commitment going forwards.
By all means start a bit early. I have actually added into my plan four extra rest days to take Christmas and New Year into account - I've called them 'jokers' because it was the first thing I thought of 😊
My personal basic plan (pre adjustments to fit around commitments) is here:
How did you transfer it into Google calendar - did you do it manually or is there a way to dump the spreadsheet in there directly (I clicked on your link above and it took me to set up my own calendar - which it kindly populated with all sorts of things which it got by reading all my emails! it's a scary world we live in - dead clever tho )
I did it manually. I suspect it would be possible to import a spreadsheet programmatically, but that's a bit beyond me unfortunately! It is possible to import other calendars though, so I may see about setting that up. The calendar looks to be a useful tool - the drag and drop feature is similar to what the old MyAsics plans had, and I found that very handy 😊
I have made a file to import the plan into the calendar, and it works fine. It has to have the correct dates in it though, else there's a lot of moving around to do! Also, once imported it cannot be un-imported if you see what I mean 😊
It'd be easier if the CSV file has as much of the correct information in it as possible, so I think maybe I'll make 3-day, 4-day, and 5-day versions. But it would be best of all if people could edit the file themselves (requires a spreadsheet programme such as MS Excel).
Brilliant. I have to confess to being Little Miss Impatient - I couldn't work out an easy way to import, other than breaking them all up and dating them all, so I put them in manually (I don't recommend anyone else do that, esp if you have set up a basic file that others can use1). I was keen to see how soon I would have to start to allow for two weeks off, and to work out how to also do my 50 Nov miles. Anyway, it's all in now and looks very pretty too and I'm at my happiest when I have a well organised plan Thanks so much
I tailored the basic plan before putting it into my calendar. I like to run every other day -I'm looking for 3-4 runs a week. So I put day 3 of each cycle as a rest day and day 5 as an easy/pace run.
But I've only ever run with a rest day (or two) between runs so I also swapped days 3 and 4 around. This way I have one day break between every run (except between the speed and long runs, when I have two rest days). Does that sound OK? If I can work out how to upload my spreadsheet to google docs I will do so, but I really need to get to work!
That sounds perfect - exactly how the plan should work! The only reason I have organised the cycles with days 3 and 4 that way is to accommodate those who want two days of non-running between runs (3 runs per cycle). And on that note, the first two weeks of the plan are designed to be quite gentle, with the long runs under 10K - but by all means increase their length as needed 😊
EDIT I am going to add optional extra lengths to most of the long runs.
I have mocked up your plan in Drive. I included a week-by-week version of it with the two-week "joker" break, but happy to remove that bit if you prefer.
That is it exactly! I've put myself down for the strength and core exercises which you gave me the link for a couple of weeks ago on the day 4 rest day, but other than that it is exactly what I put in my calendar. Sorry to be jumping the gun slightly but this is too good to miss, and from 3rd December it has the advantage that others will be following the same structure too. Team spirit and all that lovely morale boosting stuff
It's actually really helpful that you're jumping the gun, you are my beta tester! In truth I don't know how well it will work with everyone together - we all have different goals and "jokers"! Things could get messy, but we'll just have to see how it goes 😊
In ju-ju's 10k plan, people are often at diff stages but it still works. The community thing is very powerful. Just spotted your comment about adding optional extra length to all runs. I like that idea too - I'd quite like to start slightly long so that I don't get panicked by the increases when I get back from two weeks off - I mean two weeks cross training
Good thinking! I haven't looked at that sort of detail yet - took me so long to get it into google calendar (but now it's in there, moving it abut will be very easy)! I'll take a look at that sort of stuff later tonight.
Looking good! I will need to have a play around as I need a fortnightly cycle rather than 9 day one - so that I can fit in my run club nights and Park Run every other week - but I can use your plan as a guide! Thank you 😊
I don't know about your club runs, but you should be able to fit parkrun into the plan. I intend to use the odd parkrun as a speed or pace run - just need to shift things around 😊
It has occurred to me to make some template plans that, for example, fit parkrun into the schedule, so I can have a look at that.
Yes I'm thinking of doing one Park Run a fortnight as I want to run every other day. Will see how my club nights can fit in - they will be my long runs at first until my long runs are too long and then I will need to go solo! Just playing with ideas at the moment 😊
This looks really good Roseabi, easy to understand and follow I imagine. I'm not ready yet either, but it's good to know it's there...😊 Thank you for your hard work. x
This will be really useful for many coming off of the routine of c25k and the juju plan! So easy to get lost in the 10k to HM wilderness without a steer. As many will be progressing at same rate to race in March time a good community of HMClubbers will be possible who can support eachother. Great work!
Thanks for this. I’m working my way back to 10k by the end of the month and I was then looking to slowly build to HM. I will try to figure out whether I can fit into your plan and, if so, you’ll have another guinnea pig.
Very comprhensvie plan roseabi . I am started a HM plan on Dec 3rd too, and it would be nice to do one along with others on here. Although I would need to modify to fit in with my own timetable, so, Just a quick question. Why is it a 9 day cycle? I will only be able to fit my long run in on Sunday mornings - maybe Saturdays occasionally - but not midweek. Is the 9 day cycle specific to the training?
I see you are doing this for the Hastings HM. After the Beachy Head marathon too, you must love the hills!!
The 9-day cycle allows for more rest time between runs for people who feel they need that. But the plan is very customisable, particularly if people don't mind occasionally running two days in a row. I too prefer to do my long run on a particular day, so I will be moving things around to allow for that. And I need to do my cross-training during the week, because there's no way I'm braving the swimming pool at the weekend! 😊
I will be posting soon about customising the plan.
I gather quite a lot of HHM is downhill - that's what I'm banking on anyway... 😂
Thank you. I already had something planned in terms of mileage, but I will compare it with yours as I think I may have too much. Also I don't have any variety in my runs i.e. intervals, tempo etc. which you have specified so that would be good to incorporate.
Yes I understand the uphill is the first part and mostly down hill after. I have just developed an aversion to hills either way. Maybe I need to incorporate some hill training too; face-your-fears and all-that!!
Well, my philosophy for this plan is: If you live in a hilly area, tough luck - run hills! If you're doing a hilly half marathon - run hills! Otherwise... 😉
I used to hate hills - but nowadays I appreciate them for two reasons.
They definitely add to me endurance level in far shorter time than running on the flat, and - the thrill of finally conqouring a new one is like another "graduation" and keeps things from going stale
I was looking at Hastings Half as my first HM but I've heard from so many people that it's a really challenging course (ie huge hills!) I think I'm going to follow Whatsapp to the Eastbourne HM. I might offer to marshal at Hastings tho so I might be there cheering you on!
Roseabi - I just noticed that you say you too will be starting the plan in Dec. What is the advantage of that for a superfit runner like yourself? Doing the shorter runs as speed sessions rather than building up endurance? Sorry if this is a dumb question but for myself I've reached a level of fitness at which I can run a HM at the drop of a hat with no issues/aches next day so I'm only training/running to top-up my fitness until next season. Are you saying it's worth taking maybe a few weeks off, letting the fitness slide while the body repairs and then rebuilding to gain improvement?
It is true that I too can go out - after answering this question even! - and run a half marathon without any worries. And yes, it may well be worth taking time off as you suggest. I have actually done a little bit of that recently because I've been recovering from my marathon. I took just under two weeks off running completely, and then ran only the one 5K last week, and another just yesterday - and I feel pretty good having done so! I do intend to keep running less, and doing more cross training, for the foreseeable future.
But the main reason I'm doing the plan is simply to follow the process. As I said in my post, this is an experiment, and I want to participate so I can feel first hand how it works.
You may have noticed that I have added options to allow the long run to increase up to 24K, and to run some of the workouts at "race pace". These I consider "advanced" features, and they are aimed at people like me who have already run a half marathon and may be thinking about keeping up a certain standard 😉
The overall aim of this plan is to introduce beginners to a serious training plan for an endurance sport, but there is also more than a nod towards the needs of the more mature runner, who may find it helpful to take this more sedate route to running longer distances. I will be putting up a post about this in the next couple of weeks, so look out for that 😊
Ok yes, I see. Great to know you'll be progressing at same rate along with everyone else. I think I'd quite like to take a month "off" too if I thought it would help my poor bones recover; and then do your Bridge to HM (BTHM ?) for relearning how to run a bit faster and with a bit more panache!
Thanks so much for this Roseabi. I've signed up for my first ever half marathon on 31 March 2019, having completed B210K in August 2018. Since then I've been consolidating and generally finding my feet (no pun intended) as a runner.
All being well I'll follow your plan using the 3 runs a week schedule and complete the half marathon a week after you do. Luckily I've got access to a gym and shower facilities at work so I'll be able to complete the cross and/or strength elements before I start work on the relevant day.
Thank you so much for this Abi, really looking forward to joining in and sharing the journey with all my VRBs!
Warning! Idiot level question coming.... what constitutes strength training? I do quite a lot of yoga and some of the sessions I follow are labelled “strength” as opposed to “flexibility”, “balance” or “combination”, would that be suitable? Or did you have something else in mind?
Any and all questions are extremely welcome, so please keep them coming 😊
Yes, your yoga strength sessions will help you, and it would be an excellent idea to use those in the plan.
But also, please have a look at my most recent post, where I have linked to a strength circuits programme I have put together, which includes many of the best exercises for runners.
Well that's great Roseabi. I'll take a look. It's great to know that if that's the goal I go for I can do do it with all this super supportive team around me .
Thankx Roseabi had a quick look through could you please make some suggestions for cross training cannot afford to go to gym have a kettle bell though could you give some indication of what you think will be most beneficial
There are many online or dvd workouts to find - yoga, pilates, barre (I like Suzanne Bowen Fitness barre workouts). I have this kettlebell dvd I quite like (the woman's a bit annoying 😊) for example:
Particularly the one about "Speed, parkrun, & strength". I have made a strength workout for the HM plan which is designed to be done at home and only needs a sofa and a chair 😊
Hi. Ok so I've got my head round the plan 😎 I've just come off the back of an 8 week 10k improver plan so my long runs were already 12k so I've slotted in and picking up on the week where the long run is 14k (completed this morning 🤗)
My question is I think I may peak 2-3 weeks early for my hm (Just working out the dates on my fingers and toes....)
Any advice for how to maybe consolidate a few weeks before without burning my self out 🤣😂😂
Up to now I have been lurking re this plan, but I'm in. Thanks so much for doing this RoseAbi!!
Have created my own version of the 7-day plan, allowing for the fact I have one less week, as my (first ever) HM is on 17th March.. and I usually play golf (my fave form of cross training!) on Tuesdays and Fridays.
All set and ready to go... although the fact that I have not been running much at all recently means this first week will probably be the hardest!
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and I'm at my happiest when I have a well organised plan 
First Half marathon training plan
3rd and Slowest Half Marathon Yeah!
