Half Marathon Plan: Customising your plan 💥

[roseabi]

Hi all!

Loving all the comments and questions I've been getting from the Plan Posse (yes, that's you 😊) - keep them coming!!

A little housekeeping first. You may have noticed the "Pinned post of posts" I've put up. This is where I would like to keep links to all the HM plan posts together so they're easy to find - hope that makes sense!

BUT TO MAKE SURE YOU SEE ALL MY POSTS THE BEST WAY IS TO FOLLOW ME - go to my profile and hit the 'Follow' button 😊

healthunlocked.com/user/ros...

OK. So in this post I want to cover customisation of your training plan. I hope to encourage everyone to be flexible with their plan, because I feel that we all need our own personal plan that works well for us. I love to have a plan when I'm working up to a running event, it is really good to have something I know I'm going to do on a certain day. But I also have to work it around other things that are going on in my life!

EDIT: I say that a plan must fit in with your life, and this just sometimes may mean that there is a workout you simply cannot do - and that's fine!! But at the same time remember that to train successfully for a half marathon means to invest in it - so a certain amount of sacrifice is inevitable 😊

I'm afraid I have a number of points and links to share in this post, so I'm going to try and keep them to a set of bullet points - I hope you will be able to identify the parts that answer your questions 😊

Here all the points I will cover:

1. USING GOOGLE CALENDAR - OPTIONAL but please don't share your calendar!!!

2. CHOOSE THE NUMBER OF RUNS PER CYCLE YOU REQUIRE - and check out linda9389's and my plans!

3. PERSONAL REQUIREMENTS SUCH AS PARKRUN, SUNDAY LONG RUNS, OR CONTINUING THE PLAN FOR A LONGER PERIOD.

4. REGULAR HALF MARATHON PLAN POSTS FROM ME!

😊😊😊

1. USING GOOGLE CALENDAR - OPTIONAL but please don't share your calendar!!!

I have put this first because it's in the image I have used for this post. It's a screenshot of my Google Calendar with my workouts for December added. I hope you can see the "JOKER" entries in it - more on that later!

I find the Google calendar very handy to use, because I can easily drag and drop entries to move them around. I hope some of you will consider using a calendar for your plan - you just need a Google account (gmail), and there are Google calendar apps available for Android and iOS. This is also true of Google sheets, so you could just stick with those if you prefer.

A word of warning - don't do what I did and share your calendar on here, because you will be giving away your gmail address!! 😊

Another really handy thing with the calendar is that you can populate it by uploading a CSV file (a bit like a spreadsheet, contains the details and dates for your calendar entries). I have made a CSV file of the first cycle (C1) of the plan (starting from Friday, December 7th in this case:

drive.google.com/file/d/1ay...

If you would like to try this out and need help with it, please comment below or pm me. I will make a separate post with all the details later.

2. CHOOSE THE NUMBER OF RUNS PER CYCLE YOU REQUIRE - and check out linda9389's and my plans 😊

As mentioned previously, I have designed this plan with 12 9-day cycles to allow for greater flexibility, and more rests between runs.

I would like at this point to give a BIG SHOUT-OUT TO linda9389!!! 😊😊😊

Linda is going to be starting the plan this Friday, Nov 23rd. She is going to be running the London Landmarks Half Marathon on March 24th, so if she was to be following the basic plan she would be starting on Dec 7th, but she has two weeks abroad planned in January, during which time she doesn't plan to do any running at all, and rightly so!

Linda likes to do 3 runs per week with a day's rest in between, so she has chosen to do the plan with 4 runs per cycle (an average of 3 runs per week). I suspect this will be the most popular way to do the plan.

Below is a link to a "Linda" plan with 4 runs per cycle and rest days between runs. I have also included a week-by-week version of the plan with a couple of weeks off in January (not saying that's the actual dates of Linda's holiday though!). The days off are marked as "Joker" days - this is just the first name I thought of, but I rather like the idea of these extra rest days to be used as wild cards 😊

docs.google.com/spreadsheet...

IN MY OWN PLAN I want to have fewer days running, but I also want to do some "pace" runs (I'll be posting about pacing later in the week), so I have chosen to alternate 3-run and 4-run cycles. I want to get a lot of cross-training in, particularly swimming as I'll be doing another triathlon in September next year. I'm actually really excited about this plan!!

docs.google.com/spreadsheet...

I have added in four "Jokers" over Christmas and New Year, as I'm sure I won't get a chance to work out all the time! This also rather handily allows me to start the plan on a Monday instead of a Friday 😊

3. PERSONAL REQUIREMENTS SUCH AS PARKRUN, SUNDAY LONG RUNS, OR CONTINUING THE PLAN FOR A LONGER PERIOD.

I have added in parkrun as a suggestion for a speed workout, because I know a lot of you like to parkrun regularly. I know that many people also need to do their long run on a Saturday or Sunday to fit it into their lives. It should be possible to organise the plan around such requirements (particularly with the calendar!).

By way of an example, I made a version of a five-run-cycle plan with all the long runs on Sundays:

docs.google.com/spreadsheet...

As you can see, with the 9-day cycles you do not have to do a long run each week, which makes life much easier!

Mountaindreamer asked me about the possibility of following the 12 cycles of the plan and then continuing afterwards for a longer period leading up to a half marathon at a later date. I see no reason why this shouldn't be done, and I will be thinking more about that over the course of this experiment and hope to provide additional resources in due course.

EDIT: Also see a 3 runs per cycle example here:

docs.google.com/spreadsheet...

4. REGULAR HALF MARATHON PLAN POSTS FROM ME!

As stated, I will be following the plan myself, starting on December 3rd.

In the style of Ju-Ju's Magic Number plan, I will post near the start of each new Cycle with an update of my progress, and with details of the next Cycle to come (plus a new CSV to upload to your calendar).

Looking forward to running with you!!

roseabi xx

[roseabi Ultramarathon]

Mentioned in this post: linda9389 and mountaindreamer - thank you so much for your feedback!!!!

[roseabi Ultramarathon]

Hidden , Windoze , Oldfloss , Whatsapp , over61andstilltrying , rolysmate

Let me know if you want me to stop tagging you, guys! 😊

[Oldfloss Administrator in reply to roseabi]

It's great!

[Windoze Half Marathon in reply to roseabi]

Please keep me tagged 😁 im working out the dates and when i will need to start

[over61andstilltrying Half Marathon in reply to roseabi]

Fine by me😊

[Whatsapp Half Marathon in reply to roseabi]

Great stuff. I am on a two week hiatus from running so planning mg HM training over the winter and all of these posts are great information. Thank you

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon]

I would add my support to the idea of using Google calendar. I've never used it before (paper diary for me!) but it's very easy to set up and a great visual. I set up all nine cycles as per the original plan, coloured the runs one colour, the other sessions another.

It's fantastically easy to move things around e.g. I've already reordered cycle 2 so that I can do Parkrun as my speed session. The other cycles will probably also get reordered as I go along.

In each cycle I have opted for long, easy, pace and speed runs. In between I have cross (probably swimming), strength&core, rest/cross (will choose between swim, home exercises or rest as I go), strength and one day of rest. Strength & core and strength are both routines from Abi's previous posts which I will do at home.

This is all very different from my previous approach to running - like many others I have run three times a week, I did C25K, then ju-ju's 10k plan, then increased by a km a week to get to 10 miles. No cross training to speak of. Almost all running at the same pace. But I was reaching the point where I needed to do more than run to keep increasing the distance.

Now it's in Google calendar it all seems very straightforward and ordered, and that's just one of the reasons why I really love the idea of this plan over so many I have looked at :

- it feels as simple and structured as the 5k and 10k plans I followed,

- it includes different speeds and additional strength work,

- it works in terms of distance not time and last, but definitely not least

- it allows you to run the full distance a couple of times before race day if you wish!

Thanks you so much Abi. You must have put so much time into this. I can't wait to get started!

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to linda9389]

Thanks Linda!!!!

[Jay66UK Half Marathon]

Thanks for this. Loads of brilliant input. I haven’t worked out what to do myself but this is really helping me think about how to firm up my planning.

[UpTheStanley Half Marathon]

Warning – long rambling post, of doubtful interest, concerning my engagement with this idea …….

I’ve got no intention (hah!!) of running an official HM, but want to get up to the distance in preparation for next year’s Great South (so it seems shorter on the day …. ), so I had a go at attempting to fit the 9 day cycle into my 7 day week, which is fairly structured with Parkrun or hockey on Saturdays, therefore rest days on Friday and Sunday, and visits to the gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays, leaving Mondays and Wednesdays sort of free for longer runs outdoors. The first thing to work out was how many runs to include in a 9 day cycle – average two and a half a week, so 10 in 4 weeks = 28 days, 3 cycles = 27 days so let’s call it 3 runs per cycle.

OK, copy the spreadsheet into Excel so I know what I’m doing, search and replace “Rest/Pace/Easy” with “Rest” and “Rest/Cross” with “Cross” in accordance with the notes for a 3-run cycle. Make a blank copy of the 7-day version of the schedule, populate it with known fixed events (hockey matches, Santa Run, Christmas etc), then drag each of the first 9 days across from the original to the blank, matching as best we can. So Hockey becomes Cross – Hockey, the "Rests" go to Fridays and Sundays, “Strength” to the gym days, “Speed - Tempo” usually covers Parkruns, and what’s left goes where it can. Repeat for the next 9 days, and the next, and the next ……..

It kind of worked for the first 10 cycles, with a bit of extra flex needed around Christmas and New Year , and then came up against a ski-ing holiday at the point where the programme started to taper down towards the HM race. So I stopped there and started looking to see if fiddling with the cycle boundaries could make it flow any better, at which point I realised that what I really wanted (and had almost got to by accident) was a predictable weekly or fortnightly programme. Which with a little more work now looks like this:

Sunday: Rest

Monday: Slow and Easy Run

Tuesday: Gym (Strength)

Wednesday: W1 – Long Run; W2 – Whatever

Thursday: W1 – Gym (Strength); W2 – Gym (Treadmill Intervals)

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Hockey (if selected) or Parkrun

The Wednesday “Long Run” alternates between a long slow long run and a shorter long run at race pace. “Whatever” might be a slow and easy, or something completely different, or nothing at all – the aim being to be right for a hard treadmill session the following day.

The real value of the exercise was to make me think through how to fit the various things I wanted to do (including chasing the 3 monthly incremental goals I set myself in the November Quest on the Bridge forum) into my semi-fixed weekly routine. Which I think/hope I may have achieved …… so thanks for the prompt, although as it turns out I won’t be trying to follow Abi’s programme in the way originally envisaged . Will I be able to follow my own version? – we’ll have to see!

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to UpTheStanley]

So basically you think the plan is too complicated and it doesn't work? 😊😊😊

[UpTheStanley Half Marathon in reply to roseabi]

That wasn't what I was trying to say, at all. In it's basic form it is perfectly simple and straightforward. But once you lose the logical sequence of exercises in the original, by moving them around to fit a lifestyle where, after all, things do tend to happen every seven days, you will inevitably get left with some of the "harder" things scheduled next to one another. And in trying to solve this, I found that something very like a fortnightly pattern appeared - so it made sense to me to accept that, and simplify to suit.

What might work more easily is to fit the 9 events of your cycle into a fortnightly period, keeping the sequence intact but leaving extra gaps. Which would obviously not work for you, as you have a limited time to complete the programme before your race, and would not be as intensive (unless you filled the gaps), but then that might suit some people. I'll have a look at that in more detail - it might just turn out to be what I've actually done already!

Most of all, though, please don't think I'm knocking what you're trying to do - it's great to see what needs to be in a training programme to achieve your goal set out so clearly in this level of detail.

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to UpTheStanley]

Oh no, I didn't mean that I thought you were knocking it - but I think I am correct in summarising that you don't think it works!

The point of a nine day cycle is to allow longer gaps between runs - purely runs. And although I talk a lot about moving things around to fit in with life, the trouble with any training schedule is that it may well require a certain amount of sacrifice of other activities in order to work. I have just edited my post to point this out - a half marathon is a serious undertaking that requires a certain level of investment 😊

I should point out that the plan was not designed around me doing a half marathon on a particular date. The reason for having 12 cycles is that this allows enough time to build up to the half marathon distance, which is the most basic aim of the programme.

Don't get me wrong though, I very much appreciate your feedback. It has been a concern of mine all along that this plan might seem a little complicated, which is why I decided to run it "experimentally" with myself as a guinea pig. I've been really lucky that Linda has been so keen to participate alongside me!! I do have a lot of faith in the plan though, and am very much looking forward to finding out what happens!

[UpTheStanley Half Marathon in reply to roseabi]

OK, let’s just say it doesn’t work for me - with the emphasis on “for me”. Equally, I’m certainly not one who’s going to be sacrificing life for running, even if I am putting more effort into it these days!

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to UpTheStanley]

😊💗

[SaskAlliecat Half Marathon]

Thanks for all our work roseabi! I've been following all your posts closely and have really enjoyed this most recent post that explains the customization a bit more. I'm a few weeks into my current HM plan so will carry on with it this go around, but am quite excited to use this one in the spring/summer when I start to prepare for my 20k trail race in the fall.

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to SaskAlliecat]

Marvellous! I hope you will continue to follow us and give us your thoughts 😊

Have fun with your training!!

[roseabi Ultramarathon]

I have made a couple of edits to this post, to make the point that a certain amount of give and take is required for success with any training plan 😊

I have also added a link to a 3 runs per cycle version of the plan:

docs.google.com/spreadsheet...

[roseabi Ultramarathon]

Hi all - I forgot to update the access to the 5-run plan - apologies. Have now edited the link:

docs.google.com/spreadsheet...

[rolysmate Half Marathon]

tag away dear friend tag away

[LoungeLizaard]

Thanks Abi, I can't even begin to fathom how long you have spent on this already. Like a few other posts mention, habitually, things in our house revolve around a 7day cycle, so I have been looking at your original plan and now Linda's to try and fit it in..... I hadn't considered Google Calendar to drag stuff around.

It does all look very logical and I'll be spending some virtual quality time with you (in google sheets) over the next weeks, while I get my head around it.

The thread is amazing, including reading the alternate views from Stanley et al. There is no one size fits all, but this would seem to go a long long way to getting you there!

Thank you x

[LoungeLizaard in reply to LoungeLizaard]

Reading that back, I'm glad there is some context!!! the middle bit might sound creepy to those uninitiated 🤣🤣🤣😁😜

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to LoungeLizaard]

Lol!

Thank you 😊😊😊

[misswobble Marathon in reply to roseabi]

😁😁😁

[MutleyShuffle Half Marathon]

Like UpTheStanley the 9 day cycle doesn't work for me, but I am using your plan along with a seven day one from Runners World to devise my own plan. I really appreciate the time you have spent on this roseabi, and it is very useful to me. I hope to follow my own plan along with everyone else starting at the beginning of December.

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to MutleyShuffle]

Could you tell me why it doesn't work? - thank you! 😊

[MutleyShuffle Half Marathon in reply to roseabi]

It's because I have so many set running days in my calendar - Sunday long run, two club runs and Park Run. Obviously I can't fit them all in every week and still have rest days in between so I am working on a 14 day cycle and doing the club runs every other week. Actually it's really a 4-week cycle as I'm only planning on doing Park Run once a month as I do my long runs on Sunday.

As UpTheStanley said, I would have to do so much chopping and changing of the plan, it would throw out the sequence (long run/easy/speed/easy etc) so I may as well just devise my own plan. I pretty much have it sorted now, and it is closely based on your plan/Runners World plan. I can post it up here if you like but I feel a bit bashful!😳

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to MutleyShuffle]

Thanks Mutley!

I'm very happy that you're working on your own plan - part of the object of this exercise is to get people thinking about what is best for them, so I hope that means that my work has been somewhat of use to you 😊

I have mentioned previously that my marathon training has got in the way of certain things (parkrun mainly) - that was a choice I was happy to make in order to run my marathons. However, I do think that a 9 day cycle should be workable for the majority of people, and I will have a look at making that clearer on my plan design.

Thanks again - it's wonderful to be getting so much input!! xx

[MutleyShuffle Half Marathon in reply to roseabi]

Yes your work has been VERY useful to me roseabi, thanks so much! 😊

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to MutleyShuffle]

😊😊😊

[MatildasPb Half Marathon]

Import to Google calendar works a treat - Thanks roseabi

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to MatildasPb]

Thank you!!

[mountaindreamer Half Marathon]

Thanks roseabi - this must have taken you ages already! ❤️❤️

I’ve been out indoor climbing tonight, so will start looking at my own plan customisation tomorrow.

As it sounds like it’s ok to continue the plan and stay HM ready for a later date, the only question I have at this point is whether it would be best to start the plan using the long run as 6-10k, or whether I can start with it at 15k, as that’s my current longest run (and how far I plan to run again tomorrow)?

I want to include the mix of strength work (will try to look for the core work exercises mentioned by Linda too...) / different paced runs / cross training (which I probably already do), in the hope that my “long run” race pace will increase. But do you think increasing the initial long run distance will have any negative impact?

I’m also thinking of trying to progressively introduce some hills into my runs (if the pacemaker can cope!) so I will try to think how best to plan that in too...

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to mountaindreamer]

This is the core stuff Linda mentioned:

theguardian.com/lifeandstyl...

There is also a lot of core work in my sample circuit.

If you've not already been doing strength training go easy at first and build up.

Climbing must be a pretty good total-body strength workout! Have you been doing it long?

I'd say increase your distance in waves over the 12 cycles (and beyond) e.g.

C1: 15k, C2: 16K, C3: 17K, C4: 10K, C5: 18K, C6:5K race or parkrun, C7: 19K, C8: 20K, C9 10K race, C10: 21.1K 😊, C11: 10K, C12: 22K, C13: 23K etc.

Dial it back every few cycles - I suggested going back to 10K, but as you'll not be doing the long run every week it probably isn't necessary to reduce it that much - see how you feel though!

If you have hills definitely include them in some of your runs - a great workout! I have left them out of this plan, but I will be talking about them in one of my next posts...

[mountaindreamer Half Marathon in reply to roseabi]

Thanks roseabi - that’s really helpful.

I’ve been climbing for years, and do some core stuff etc for my daily exercises set by my Sports Therapist for my dodgy spine, as well as at the gym for general workouts. (My usual “strength training” tends to be a lot of upper back weights and full pull-ups for the climbing though, so your suggested workouts will help balance that out a bit better for running!)

I need to go through later to workout my own initial plan, but was wondering whether it’s worth mentioning to others concerned about a 9 day cycle messing up their 7 day week plans, that for those of use who ran 3 times a week, and wanted at least 1 rest day between runs, I don’t think it needs to make much difference apart from the need to write a plan out, as we can move days around within those 9 days.

ie...

1. In a Monday to Sunday 7 day week, I usually ran 3 times:

Monday (long run) / Wed or Thurs / Sat (Parkrun)

2. In a 9 day cycle, C1 initially Monday to Tuesday, I am therefore planning to run 4 times: Monday / Wed or Thur / Sat / Monday

For the following C2 cycle (Wed to Thursday) I can run 4 times again:

Wed or Thurs / Sat / Mon / Wed

For the C3 cycle (Friday to Saturday) I can run:

Sat / Mon / Wed or Thurs / Sat

For C4 (Sunday to Monday) I can run:

Mon / Wed or Thurs / Sat / Mon

etc...

So moving different run types around for each 9 day cycle means I’m never stopped from doing a Saturday Parkrun, and I can basically stick to my same weekly running days.

Sorry if that’s obvious to people, but it wasn’t to me until I started thinking about actual running days in the cycles.

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to mountaindreamer]

So you're a climber as well as a dreamer - fabulous! 😊

Yes, that's just how it can work 😊😊😊

[mountaindreamer Half Marathon in reply to roseabi]

Yes - this year was more about dreaming, due to both elderly parents getting very sick and passing away. I’d no one else to visit my poorly Dad each day, so have barely been near the mountains for 12 months...that’s about to change now...❤️

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to mountaindreamer]

❤️❤️❤️

[ju-ju- Marathon]

Good stuff this is looking superb...