Half Marathon

[Ronnie1234]

Any training plans for sub 2 half marathon please ... will be running 3 times a week generally?
Also should I strength train in same days as run or different days?
Add in any cardio workouts?

Ran my first half in March 2.01.36

If you want to finished the marathon race well, you should do some workouts.

Core exercises will help you maintain good form until the end of your race, so try and fit these into your weekly training plan:

1. Bicycle.


2. Advanced plank.


3. Reverse plank with leg lifts.


4. Marching bridge.


5. Side plank with leg raises.

BUPA HM plan

You want one long weekend run (at 10 min ish miles, if you want a 2hr half), one faster run of 5-6 miles midweek (at 8 to 8:30 pace or thereabouts) and one shorter speed or hill session as well. An extra recovery run if you can fit it in.

That gives you three "off" days which would ideally be a strength session (bodyweight exercises or hardcore yoga are fine) and/or a bit of cross training.

A 2hr half is easy for you if you only need to knock a couple of minutes off your PB. Just make sure you're doing the longer stuff plus speed work. You'll need to be doing 9min miles (ish) on the day and that should feel comfortable, hence doing tempo stuff in training that's quicker than that.

There are loads of plans if you google, but you just need a good running routine. I’ve ran a 1 hr 35 minute HM without following any plans other than regular running, 3 times a week is not that much, but as long as you make sure one is a long run and you build it up to about 16 or 17km in advance of the race, you will be fine. You don’t need to do speed work to run sub 2hr, but do need to run consistently to build a good aerobic base. If doing speed work, do strength work after it, a few days before your long run so you are recovered for that. Best of luck!

Just one thing to add to the above. I was running 5 or 6 times a week totalling around 50km to run the time I did above, I don’t think I would have done it on 3 runs a week. I’d suggest considering adding an additional easy run to increase aerobic capacity.

@Ronnie1234 If you own a Garmin dev9ce the you can sync one of the half marathon plans with a time goal. I think coach Amy has a 3 runs a week option.

I've been following

run-for-good.com/three-days-half-marathon/

As best I can

However some training sessions are quite intense I'm happy with that! But I also notice lots of instagrammers & coaches promoting run slower to run faster on race day - thoughts on that please? Surely even running slower to run faster you have to incorporate some faster runs?!

I can only run at my pace, no faster and no slower, I stay exactly the same all the time! I'm doing the Great North Run for the first time in a couple of weeks and haven't done any special training, just one run per week of between 10 and 15 miles. My advice is not to get hung up too much on coaching and training tips, just do what feels enough to you. Good luck!

Your easy pace is the running slow bit.

From what I can see from your plan, you an easy run, a tempo run or intervals session which is meant to help you build up speed and a long easy run where you run slow for longer to build up your aerobic base. This is pretty much the same as most training plans for a beginner.

Do you know what your training pace should be for the different types of run? You don't have to run each session fast as each run they will have a different purpose.

For example, if you are aiming for a 2 hour half marathon, then your goal pace for the half marathon averages at 9:09 min/mile or 5:41 min/km,

Your easy/recovery pace is: 10:24 min to 1124 min/mile
Your interval pace for speed work is: 07:59 min/mile
Your repetition pace for short strides and sprints is 07:27 min/mile.

The figures are from runsmartproject.com/calculator/ which works out what pace you should be running at. Do you have a running watch to help you stick to the pace? Of course you can use Strava but it can be distracting to get it out to check pace ever few minutes.

That plan is quite intense with an interval session and tempo session, as well as a long run that includes some fast running. It refers to cross training and the detail notes easy running as cross training, which it is not. That plan is not for a beginner runner, you don’t need to train that intensely to run sub 2 hours in a HM.

Easy runs build your aerobic base while keeping the risk of injury low. A HM needs big aerobic capacity so by doing lots of easy runs you build your engine and with time, you will find you can run faster and longer while your heart rate stays in the aerobic zone.

All those intense sessions are hard on the body.
I would keep the long run easy and also one of the other runs easy and then maybe do the interval session. You should also do a strength session at least once a week as this also will help reduce injury risk - strong muscles will help you maintain good running form when tired.

@xsquared thank you I will take a look at the calculator - there is no way i'm close to 8min mileing on sprints though!

I ran 10 miles about 5 weeks ago & pace was 9.08 min mile so am using that as base guide for half training sessions

@Shopgirl1 yes some weeks do seem intense I agree! Like tempo Tuesday now intervals tomorrow & then long run is +30 THMP - so thinking the long run on weekend I need to do slower than that! Yes I strength train twice a week also sometimes three times a week for 30 mins each time approx

I think at this stage, you should be doing only one of tempo or interval session on a weekly basis as speed work and alternate between the two.

I've mentioned this before but if you have a Garmin device, it's worth having a look at their half marathon plans. Go with coach Amy as hers is pretty much: Easy run, speed session and long run on a week to week basis.

For a relatively steady runner, you're running your training runs too fast. Your race pace on the day should be much quicker than your training runs, but yours are about the same - ie you run a 2hr half, but 10 miles at 9min miles in training. As pps said, you need to be doing shorter, faster, speed work and taking your long runs more steadily if you want to progress.
It also worries me that you say "there is no way i'm close to 8min mileing on sprints though!" And yet your long runs are at 9 min mile pace.

For comparison, I do my long marathon training runs at 9 min mile pace. But my tempo runs are around 7 min miles and my sprints faster than that.
I also run a half in just over 1:30 - so around half an hour quicker than you (sub 7:30 min miles - so a minute and a half quicker than my long run training pace)

Agree with the pp who said if you're doing 3 runs a week, have one long steady run (over 10 min miles for you); one easy shorter run (9-10 min miles, 4 miles to 6 miles in length) and one "session" where you do either speed or hills, but up the intensity.

At the moment your brain is writing cheques your body can't cash. If you keep doing all long runs at race pace you're heading for injury.