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Half marathon training plan for beginners
Just entered a half marathon? Great work! It's a fantastic distance - long enough to be a real challenge to train for, but without the tiredness that full marathon training can bring with it. Now you've committed to it, that's half the work done, right? Alas, there's a few other things to get out of the way, like, well, training. But before you lace up your trainers and head out on your first training run, there's a few other things you need to know...
Running may be a simple sport, but if you want to get it right come race day, there's a fair amount to consider when it comes to running your first ever half marathon. Firstly, you need to develop the endurance to run the 13.1 miles - slowly, sensibly building up without overdoing it and getting injured in the process. Then there's working not just on your physical strength, but your mental strength too, so that you can give yourself the best chance of hitting your time goals.
It's also a good idea to really think about recovery, rather than just considering it as 'not running' - plus mastering your nutrition, both before and during those longer runs. And finally, of course, there are the race-day logistics themselves - working out which kit is most comfortable, and, most importantly, trying to remember that the whole experience should be fun.
Given all these things to think about, it's understandable that many beginners may be a bit daunted or come to the distance feeling a little anxious. ‘They’re nervous because many of them have never done 13.1, not even in training,’ says Jenny Hadfield, co-author of Running for Mortals. Luckily, the payoff outweighs the challenges. ‘Many beginners actually find running a half to be life-changing,’ she says. ‘They never imagined they could go that far.’
So to try and make sure you have that life-changing moment, here are some tips to follow:
Follow a plan and give yourself 12 weeks
The half marathon distance really deserves respect, and a good few months of training. Our half marathon plan for beginners - which you can see below - is 12 weeks long. So it's not something a beginner should jump into at a moment's notice. 'This is one test you can’t cram for,’ says Janet Hamilton, a running coach and exercise physiologist. ‘For this distance, you have got to put in the work.’
Do your easy runs at a slow pace
Running slowly when your goal is to run faster does feel a little counter-intuitive, but while it’s tempting to think that all your runs need to be hard, improvement actually comes from a different approach. And doing everything too hard could lead to burn out and/or injury. ‘From our research, it’s clear that elite athletes train around 80 per cent of the time at what we’d call low intensity, and they spend just 20 per cent of their time training hard,’ says Dr Stephen Seiler of the University of Agder, Norway, one of the world’s foremost exercise physiologists.
While you might not want to copy other things elite runners do, this is a universally accepted rule of thumb: do the majority (that 80%) of your runs at a comfortable, conversational pace, and aim to finish each run feeling like you could run another mile.
The biggest mistake first-timers make is running too many miles, too fast, too soon – and that’s a recipe for injury and loss of motivation. Running fast fatigues the body, which therefore heightens injury risk and requires longer recovery times. ‘If at the end of your run, you’re gasping for air, or in pain, then you’re going too fast,’ says Hamilton. Basically, the slower you go on your easy runs, the better. If you run with a friend, use it as an opportunity to have a good chat - talking will naturally moderate your effort to an easy pace!
Hit the hills
Hill work builds leg and lung power. Start by incorporating hills that take 60 seconds to run up, says Hamilton. As you train and those 60-second hills become easier - and take less time - you can then challenge yourself with steeper and/or longer hills.
On the plan below, when it comes to hill sessions, try and plan a hilly route where you can incorporate climbs of different gradients. You can of course just run up and down one hill, but that can get boring very quickly!
Build your endurance with long runs
If you’re a beginner taking on your first half marathon, it’s crucial to gradually build up your endurance with a weekly long run. Our half marathon training plan for beginners starts with a four-mile long run on week one and builds up to 10 miles on weeks nine and 10. The aim is to familiarise your body with running for longer periods of time, and though it sounds counter-intuitive again, this will help improve your shorter, faster efforts, too. This means that you’ll be able to complete a few more reps of your future hill sessions or maintain a slightly faster pace on your shorter runs. But remember that progress is rarely linear - you might have a week where you are tired from work or other factors, and need to slow down those runs again - that's absolutely fine.
Listen to your body
When you push your body further or indeed faster than you have before, you are likely to get some muscle soreness, particularly in the calves, quads and hamstrings. Expect to take two days to recover from hard workouts. If you’re still sore on the third day, rest again. If the soreness persists beyond four or five days, it may be checking with a physio, if you can. The key thing, though, is to learn to listen to your body. As you become more used to running, you learn to distinguish between stiffness that will ease off, and pains that should be rested - and also, when you are just feeling sluggish and lazy or unmotivated vs really needing to rest.
Cross-train if you want to
Our half marathon training plan for beginners includes optional cross-training or rest days. This means it’s up to you whether you put your feet up and chill, or hit the local swimming pool for some easy laps instead. Incorporating cross-training into your running plans will help you to optimise your training, and can also reduce your injury risk.
Invest in a good pair of running shoes
Perhaps it goes without saying, but in order to run 13.1 miles, you need to be wearing something that a) fits well and b) is comfortable for your feet. So we recommend investing in a decent pair – something with enough cushioning to protect you from unforgiving pavement, but firm enough to provide adequate push-off mile after mile – to help protect your body from the impact with the ground.
We've tested a whole host of running shoes – from Nike shoes to vegan trainers, beginner-friendly running shoes to trail running shoes – so you can be sure to find something right for you and the terrain where you run.
Plan early for race day
It’s not unusual to be worried about race day - it feels like sitting an exam. But you can quiet the butterflies in your stomach by focusing on the minutiae of race-day logistics: carefully following both your nutrition and hydration plans, making it on time and properly equipped to the starting area and meeting up with friends. It's also really important on race day to remember all the hard work you've done to get there - and congratulate yourself on that.
When the gun goes off, try to control the urge to run fast from the off and instead start comparatively slowly, aiming for a negative split – running the first half slower than the second. This conservative pacing will allow you to finish feeling strong and in control, whereas starting too fast risks a rather unpleasant second half of the race!
Our beginner half marathon training schedule:
This plan, developed by Runner's World experts, is for those who can do a long run of at least six miles, and want to tackle their first half marathon.
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