Hello to all aspiring Half Marathoners!
This is the latest version of a post I have shared each time we have had an organised Half Marathon Group here in the Marathon community.
In the post I go through and explain the terms you will typically see in a training plan, and I have a look at a few plans you can find online for free.
HUHM PLAN. I drew up a 16 week plan myself, for our first HM Group. It is a very gentle plan - the latest version can be found here:
docs.google.com/spreadsheet...
★★ FREE ONLINE HALF MARATHON PLANS
There are loads of half marathon plans available for free on digital media! I did a Google search for plans and have had a browse through them. I've picked a few to discuss on here. I think they're all fine, some of them are more advanced, definitely not for beginners, but the information is very useful for learning about how to train. I'd encourage you just to have a glance at some yourselves just to see what catches your eye, because it's really helpful if you have a plan that's easy for you to understand and follow.
★★ Here's a summary of what plans generally include, and what the main terms mean
★ Runs, and total weekly mileage/kilometerage
Check this to make sure you'll be able to cope with the total distances noted at the beginning of the plan. Also, can you fit in the number of runs per week suggested? And does the plan go all the way to half marathon distance or not? It doesn't matter from the point of view of getting to a race, but if you want to get to HM distance in training, this is an important consideration.
★ Rest/recovery
Some plans are less specific about this than others. Basic plans may just say "rest", and may suggest doing some cross-training. More advanced plans will have "recovery runs" built in, and will probably include cross-training days as well. Recovery is as important as working out, because it allows the body time to relax and rebuild before the next heavy session. Have a think about how much time off from running you really need before you can run at your best again - everyone is different!
★ Pace
Some plans will specify pace in min/mile or min/km, some will talk in terms of effort - you'll see words like 'comfortable' 'steady' 'hard' 'half marathon' '10K' '5K'. You may have to spend some time working out what these will mean for you personally. Beginner plans should emphasise a steady/comfortable pace for the majority of runs, as you should have no expectations of a finishing time for your first half marathon! And the majority of running at any level should be at an easy pace - building endurance and a strong aerobic base. But it is worthwhile to include some faster runs because these will help you in other ways than merely making you go faster!
★ Tempo runs
These are often described as 'comfortably hard', which is pretty much what they do - train you to get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable! They often appear within speed intervals workouts, but they also might be standalone runs of up to an hour. Tempo pace is often specified as a bit slower than your current 10K race pace - or in effort terms it's hard work but you feel you can keep it up for about an hour.
★ Intervals
No doubt you've tried these! Short bursts of fast running, paces are usually described as '90% of maximum effort' or '5K race pace' - with slower recovery runs in between. I've also spotted fartleks in some of the plans I looked at - a more freestyle approach where you speed up and slow down as you feel.
★ Cross-training
Low-impact activities you can do on non-running days to help you recover while still building your strength and stamina - and keeping those muscles moving. Cycling, swimming, and yoga are the most popular. I'm a big fan of strength work too - be it bodyweight (yoga covers this to a certain extent) or lifting, but I've noticed some plans give it a miss!
★ Cut-back weeks
It's a pretty good idea to cut back the mileage every few weeks to give yourself a break - also maybe use the time to think about how you're feeling and address any niggles.
Anyway.
HERE FOLLOWS SOME NOTES I MADE ABOUT A FEW PLANS I LOOKED AT
★ RUNNER’S WORLD VARIOUS
Runner’s World tend to be near the top of any running search, and I’ve used a Runner’s World plan (ultramarathon in my case), so I think they’re worth a look! There is quite a long list of half marathon plans here, I’ve only looked at the first three in any detail.
runnersworld.com/uk/trainin...
★ Runner’s World Beginners plan (12 weeks)
Seems pretty solid, three runs per week with rest or cross training on non-running days. Builds up weekly distance from 9 miles up to 22. It only has one cut-back week, but then the mileage is pretty low anyway. I like that it has a hilly run every week (from week 5 onwards) - if you don’t have hills you can substitute with intervals.
The one thing I don’t think you should worry about is the stipulation that you need to be running 15-20 miles per week for at least 4 weeks before starting the plan, doesn’t make much sense since the plan starts with a 9 mile week. I’d say that if you were regularly running a 10k and a couple of shorter runs per week you’d be golden. Perhaps Runner’s World are getting kms and miles mixed up?
They talk about “half marathon pace” in this plan, but as a beginner you wouldn’t need to know what this is I think.
★ Runner’s World sub-2 hr plan (for those who have already done a half marathon) (10 weeks)
This is more advanced, with 4 runs per week, and requiring knowledge of your current 10k and half marathon race paces. They’ve included some bodyweight core strength exercises which is useful. This one necessarily specifies pace (in min/mile). There are some mile repeat sessions at around 5 min/km, and some tempo runs at about 5:30 min/km. These types of runs are fabulous for getting you fit, but they are of course pretty hard work!
★ Runner’s World Hilly Half plan (12 weeks)
I’ve included this one because it has some great strength moves with dumbbells. There are also strides in this plan, which are excellent workouts, and there are some useful ideas about hill running.
But this is definitely an advanced plan! It has 5 runs per week, so it’s for experienced and dedicated half marathoners 
The plans in this list get more specific and difficult after those. Have a browse through them for ideas and for future reference.
★ NIKE RUN CLUB (14 weeks)
nike.com/gb/running/half-ma...
★ NRC 14 Week Half Marathon Plan
Pace chart, 5 runs per week, lots of track sessions, fartleks that are not fartleks, active use of the word ‘recovery’ with many options available for this aspect - the other two plans talk only in terms of ‘rest’. LOTS of information - this is definitely the geekiest plan! You can adjust your speeds as you go along. I admit I like the look of this plan, because it has a lot of information in it, but I don’t think it's really for beginners.
★ There is also a NRC app which has guided runs - I have not used it myself, but I know it is very popular with many of our virtual running buddies!
★ SIMPLYHEALTH GREAT RUN PLANS
greatrun.org/training-simpl...
This is an example of a set of plans that are attached to a popular running event - in this case the Great Runs series.
I've included this because they have a RUN-WALK OPTION.
★ Beginner and Improver Plans (12 weeks)
These are different from the other plans in that they have time-based runs. Three or four runs per week, including an intervals session, and the longest run in the Improver Plan is 80 minutes. They are gentle plans with a strong emphasis on recovery - talking about incorporating a physio visit, and massage - and starting off with gait analysis! This is no doubt partly because they are sponsored by a private healthcare company, but I am impressed with the ideas because the Great Runs do tend to attract a lot of novice runners who need to be extra careful about their recovery work.
★ BUPA
bupa.co.uk/health-informati...
I like the simplicity of this webpage, and I very much like the perceived effort scale they have provided.
This is a good example of a plan that uses a lot of runs by time instead of distance, which are generally felt to provide a more gentle ride. I like the way they've mixed up timed and distance long runs, which I think is helpful for a beginner given that there are four runs per week in the plan (that's quite a lot of running).
This plan is aimed at runners who have only previously got to 5 km, and I am not keen on this because the kilometerage goes up a bit drastically at first! Fine if you are already running 10 km comfortably though. You may want to consider altering the first few runs though!
They also provide an advanced plan which has much more detailed cross-training, and a lot more running!
★★Here are some more that came up in my Google search - have a look at these and see what you think! Do they look similar? Anything missing? Anything different? How would they fit in with your week?
NB you will notice that the following plans have intermediate and advanced options!
★ London Landmarks Half Marathon (beginner, intermediate, and advanced)
llhm.co.uk/half-marathon-tr...
★ Hal Higdon (beginner, intermediate, and advanced)
halhigdon.com/training-prog...
★ Coach Mag (sub-2 hours)
coachmag.co.uk/half-maratho...
★ Runners Need (intermediate)
runnersneed.com/expert-advi...
★ Hansons (beginner and advanced)
hansons-running.com/pages/t...
If you've made it all the way to the end of this, bless you 😄 And feel free to ask any questions!
roseabi xxx
February 22nd, 2021
Half Marathon Training Plan
