Week Plan: Beginner Half Marathon

Beginner Half Marathon
16 Week Plan
Running Programme
Contents: Beginner 16 Week Half-Marathon Running Programme
A Half-Marathon is a rewarding challenge, with many beginners finding

the experience life changing as they experience the realization they can
run for that duration. However, long distance events deserve respect and
3 Go Slow
appropriate training should be undertaken to prevent injury and ensure the
completion is possible.
3 Hills And Race Pace Efforts
This guide will be suited to individuals that are looking to run a sub 2hr
4 Weekly Mileage 30min half-marathon with limited previous training. The training phase is
much more achievable for an individual with limited training experience,
allowing for a slower increase in overall mileage which ultimately reduces
4 Rest
the risk of injury.
4 Taper
5 Week 1
5 Week 2
6 Week 3
6 Week 4
7 Week 5
7 Week 6 9 Week 9
8 Week 7 9 Week 10
8 Week 8 10 Week 11
10 Week 12
11 Week 13
11 Week 14
12 Week 15
12 Week 16
1 2
Go Slow Weekly Mileage
Mileage is progressively increased from week to week, with the longest of the runs
The majority of the training sessions will be undertaken at a comfortable conversational increasing towards a half-marathon distance to build the necessary resilience in order to
pace. Beginners typically believe faster and harder training will result in the necessary complete the event. The weekly mileage is increased by no more than 10% every week,
adaptations to complete a half-marathon, however, this is a recipe for overtraining and in line with scientific research principles that suggest greater increases in volume will
injury. If you feel out of breathe and are gasping for air throughout 80% of your training concurrently increase the risk of injury.
sessions, you’re going too fast. Going slow allows adequate Type I muscle fiber recruitment
which are responsible for oxidative metabolism, fancy words for saying going slow allows Also, weekly mileage is increased slowly as the small muscles within the foot need
the use of oxygen during exercise. adequate time to adapt to the increased mechanical loading. Furthermore, mid-line stability
is controlled via neuromuscular co-ordination that is developed over time, therefore
repeated exposure with progressive overload is necessary to induce such a neuromuscular
Hills And Race

adaptation.
The longest distance prescribed is just shy of a half-marathon (2-3miles) as on race day,
Pace Efforts
you will be able to complete that distance and it is not necessary to complete that duration
during training.
Hills are necessary to build muscular strength and have been shown to improve running
economy, which results in the more efficient use of oxygen whilst running. Try and plan
routes that are hilly in nature as opposed to running up and down the same hill, mainly for
motivational purposes.
Rest
Rest is imperative to prevent injury and allow for the necessary adaptations to occur. It is
Race Pace efforts are necessary to familiarise the body to the expected demands that will
actually during recovery and rest days that physiological adaptations occur. As the longest
be placed on it on race day. They also provide a potent training stimulus that will catalyze
run will be completed on a Sunday, a rest day from running either side is advised as
physiological adaptations such as; mitochondrial biogenesis, angiogenesis and increased
although the pace won’t be too difficult to maintain, the mileage will cause muscle damage
oxidative enzymes. However, training too hard too often will result in non-functional
that will need repairing.
overreaching and burnout, which will ruin any chance of completing a half-marathon.
Taper
Weekly Mileage tops out two weeks prior to the event to allow sufficient recovery and
fueling during the build up to the event. Tapering typically involves the reduction in overall
training volume, whilst training intensity is either maintained or increased, therefore the
hard sessions should still be completed with maximal intent.
3 4
WEEK 1 WEEK 3
Beginner Half Marathon Beginner Half Marathon
16 Week 16 Week
DAY SESSION RPE TOTAL MILES APPROX TIME DAY SESSION RPE TOTAL MILES APPROX TIME
Monday REST/STR Monday REST/STR
Tuesday 2 MILE EASY 6 2 25 MINS Tuesday 3 MILE EASY 6 3 35 MINS
Wednesday REST/STR Wednesday REST/STR
Thursday 1 MILE EASY 6 3 12 MINS Thursday 2 MILE EASY 6 5 25 MINS
Friday REST/STR Friday REST/STR
Saturday REST/STR Saturday REST/STR
Sunday 3 MILE RUN - EASY LONG 5 6 40 MINS Sunday 5 MILE RUN - EASY LONG 5 10 60 MINS
WEEK 2 WEEK 4
16 Week 16 Week
Thursday 2 MILE EASY 6 4 25 MINS Thursday 3 MILE EASY 6 6 35 MINS
Friday REST/STR Friday REST/STR
5 6
WEEK 5 WEEK 7
16 Week 16 Week
Thursday 3 MILE (MIDDLE 1.5 @ HMP) 7 6 33 MINS Thursday 4 MILE (MIDDLE 2 @ HMP) 7 7 44 MINS
Friday 2 MILE EASY 6 8 25 MINS Friday 2 MILE EASY 6 9 25 MINS
WEEK 6 WEEK 8
16 Week 16 Week
Thursday 4 MILE (MIDDLE 2 @ HMP) 7 7 44 MINS Thursday 5 MILE (MIDDLE 3 @ HMP) 7 8 <55 MINS
Saturday REST/STR Saturday REST
7 8
WEEK 9 WEEK 11
16 Week 16 Week
Thursday 5 MILE (MIDDLE 3 @ HMP) 7 8 <55 MINS Thursday 6 MILE (MIDDLE 4 @ HMP) 7 9 65 MINS
Saturday REST Saturday REST
WEEK 10 WEEK 12
16 Week 16 Week
Monday REST/STR Monday REST
Wednesday REST/STR Wednesday REST
Thursday 6 MILE (MIDDLE 4 @ HMP) 7 8 65 MINS Thursday 5 MILE (MIDDLE 3 > HMP) 8 8 <55 MINS
9 10
WEEK 13 WEEK 15
16 Week 16 Week
Monday REST Monday REST
Thursday 6 MILE (MIDDLE 4 > HMP) 8 9 <65 MINS Thursday 6 MILE (MIDDLE 4 > HMP) 8 9 <65 MINS
WEEK 14 WEEK 16
16 Week 16 Week
Monday REST Monday REST
Tuesday 3 MILE EASY 6 3 35 MINS Tuesday 3 MILE RUN - EASY MIDDLE 6 3 35 MINS
Wednesday REST/STR Wednesday REST
Thursday 7 MILE (MIDDLE 5 > HMP) 8 10 80 MINS Thursday 5 MILE (MIDDLE 3 > HMP) 8 5 <55 MINS
Friday 3 MILE EASY 6 13 35 MINS Friday REST
Sunday 8 MILE RUN - EASY LONG 5 21 90 MINS Sunday RACE DAY 6 <150 MINS
11 12

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Beginner Half Marathon

A Half-Marathon is a rewarding challenge, with many beginners finding

Hills And Race

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