How to Create a Training Plan for a Half Marathon

Disclaimer – I am a fitness enthusiast with experience training for and competing in different athletic events. I am not a medical professional or certified personal trainer. The information in this article is based on my personal experience, and should not be taken as professional counsel. The recommendations in the article are best suited for those who are currently running at least 10-15 miles per week without any injuries or other medical issues. Please see your doctor before beginning any exercise program. Please work with your doctor and/or a trainer if your situation requires or would benefit from professional customized care.

It is an easy web search to find a training plan to prepare for a running race. One might say it’s TOO easy – there may be too many search hits to choose from! Furthermore, many of the plans are for common situations (marathon plan for first-timers, half marathon plan to get a PR, you-can-do-it couch-to-5k), but might not fit YOUR situation. These available plans can be a good guideline, but I would recommend making your own. This is something that I have done for myself. I have created a process over time by learning and experimenting.

I started out by reading articles and listening to podcasts and trying to learn what I could. There are two that stand out in my memory as having been especially helpful. The first is an article (“Focus on Sub-2”, by Dimity McDowell Davis) and accompanying training plan from the August 2010 issue of Runner’s World magazine. The second is a podcast from The Age Grouper (Episode: “Marathon Training 101“, 19 September 2010). These two were very influential in helping me develop my process.

Here’s the process for how I create a training plan:

Instructions

1. First, I create a spreadsheet file (Microsoft Excel or Open Office Spreadsheet).
2. I start by mapping out the months and days of each week, beginning with the current week and ending two weeks after race day.
3. Next, I number the weeks so that I can see how many weeks I have between the current date and race day. I also turn on the cell borders for each calendar day. Then, I add labels for the day of the week. Next, I add a label for each month in a column to the left of the calendar days.
4. This calendar area is the “checkoff” area. I use the cells with the dates in them as checkboxes and color them in each day. Seeing the filled space accumulate is a good visual reminder of how far I’ve come, as well as how close race day is!
5. For each week in the calendar, I turn on the border for six boxes in the same row to the right of the calendar area. I set the border for the far-right box as bold. These boxes are to plan and record the mileage for different days of that week, and the bold-bordered box is for the total milage for the week.
6. Once I’ve created and printed out this spreadsheet, I start planning out the days. Three general rules of thumb apply: 1) Total mileage for the week must be at least double the mileage of the long run for that week. 2) Total mileage increases by 10% (or less) of the previous week’s total mileage. 3) If the long run increases, it can only be one mile more than the previous week’s long run. It does not have to increase every week.
7. Starting with race weekend, I use a pencil to write the total number of miles that I plan to do for that week. For a half marathon, the longest run will be race day: 13.1 miles plus a warmup, so I plan it as 14 miles. This means that the total mileage for the week should be 28 miles. I then split up the other 14 miles among three other workouts. This would work as 7-4-3, or as 5-4-3-2. For the former, I would do the 7 mile run early on in the week, then the 4 mile run, and then an easy 3 mile run shortly before race day. For the latter, I would start with the 5 mile run, then do the 4-mile and 2-mile run on consecutive days, with the 3 mile run as an easy run just before the race.
8. The week before race week should be both easy and a reduction in miles (8-9 miles). I still want to keep my total mileage up, but this is one place where it can cut back a lot. If 9 is my long run, I could have 22 miles as my total. Then I would split up 13 miles between three other runs for the week. One scheme that would work for this is 6-4-3; another is 4-4-3-2.
9. The two weeks after race week should look very similar to the week before race week. These weeks will be very easy and have a big reduction in mileage. I will plan in a long run of 5 or 6 miles and keep the other days between 2-4 miles. If I want to build back after that, I can see how my body is doing. I can gauge whether I am ready to build, or if I should keep the next few weeks easy.
10. Two weeks back from race week should include the hardest and longest miles. I will want to be running at least as many miles as I plan to do for race week. This means my long run will be 14 miles, with a week’s total of at least 28 miles. I could use the 7-4-3 scheme again here.
11. Stepping back three weeks from race week, I reduce the long run and the total mileage according to the rules of thumb above. My long run will go down to 13, and my total mileage would go down to 26. One scheme that would work for the 13 miles not part of the long run would be 7-4-2.
12. Repeat this process twice more, for weeks with long runs of 12 and 11.
13. Now, I go back to the week on the calendar that corresponds with the current week. There, I fill in my current training: runs I have done or am planning to do this week. I also fill in numbers for the previous week, if it helps me get a clearer picture of my training.
14. Next, I fill in the numbers for the coming week. My long run increases by a mile and my total mileage increases by 10%. Then I fill in the numbers for the other workouts.
15. I repeat this process for the next three weeks, then put in a “step-back” week. For this week, I will take my total mileage down by two miles and take my long run distance down by two miles. I fill in the rest of the workouts accordingly.
16. The week after my “step-back” week, I increase the long run by a mile. I increase the total miles by 10% and fill in the rest of the workouts.
17. I repeat the process of increasing for three weeks and then taking a step-back week until race day. If I get to a point where the increase needed is too big, I know that I need more time before race day. If the increases result in a 14 mile long run a couple of months ahead of race day, I will repeat a few weeks where the scheduled long run is 7-9 miles (and not increase).
18. I print out the calendar and post it where I can see it and update it frequently. As the days go by, I use pen to mark off the days. I also use pen write in the miles that I complete (on top of the planned ones written in pencil). Planning the mileage in pencil allows me to differentiate what is planned vs what has been done. It also allows me to erase and adjust what I’m planning to do if needed.

In Short…

• The long run should be ½ or less of total mileage for the week. Don’t add more than 1 mile on the long run.
• Add no more than 10% of last week’s total milage to the next week’s total mileage. (However, if your week’s total would round up easily, go ahead and add the next digit. Example: Week’s total = 19 miles. Since 10% of 19 is 1.9, you can round up to 2 and set the next total milage at 21. It is OK to only go up to 20, though.)
• Do 2-3 build weeks, then one “step-back” week, then increase again from there the following week and repeat.
• Make sure you get to a long run of at least 11 miles (ideally 14) two weeks out from race weekend. Make the long run the weekend before race day really easy and comparatively short (8-9 miles).

Summary

While it may be easy to find many options for race training plans, none of them might be a good fit. Following a simple set of steps to create your own training plan can be a viable option. By making your own training plan, you can tailor it to your specific situation.