Right now many of us are gearing up for fall half marathons (I’m doing the ZOOMA Cape Cod Half Marathon and the Cape Cod Half Marathon), or at least thinking about it! There are a lot of different training plans that you can access online for the half marathon distance. There are two novice plans, an intermediate plan, and an advanced plan.
Hal Higdon
Hal Higdon, a well-know runner and writer, has crafted some really solid half marathon training programs that are available for free online. You can print out the schedule of runs and description of workouts, or you can also download the app to your iPhone for $9.99. The app provides extra training advice and insights that are not available with the online plan.
Another Mother Runner
The ladies at Another Mother Runner have put together a great selection of half marathon training plans with the help of running coach, Christine Hinton. You can choose from the Half Marathon Run/Walk Plan (15 weeks), the Half Marathon Finish It Plan (15 weeks), or the Half Marathon Own It Plan (13 weeks). All plans are $29.95 and can be purchased online HERE.
Couch to Half Marathon
The Couch to 5k program is my favorite running program for beginners, and I was excited to find out that there is a Couch to Half Marathon program. The Couch to 5k program runs for 9 weeks, whereas the Couch to Half Marathon covers 14 weeks. Each week has 4 workouts to complete that include: easy runs, run/walk, walks, tempo runs, strength training and cross training.
Cool Running
The Cool Running website has a selection of half marathon plans for varying experience levels available for free. You can choose from beginner, intermediate, advanced, and competitive plans. Workouts consist of long runs, fartlek, speed work, and tune-up races. You can find the different training plans HERE.
Run Less Run Faster
I used this plan for ZOOMA Cape Cod (modified a bit, but very successful for a PR half). Based on the book, Run Less Run Faster, the plan consists of 3 training days each week: a speed day, a tempo day and a long run. Theoretically, since you have 4 days of rest, you can handle 3 workouts a week.
The plan is definitely not for the beginning runner, but it’s a great plan for those of us that don’t have a lot of time to devote to training workouts. If you work a lot or are a busy parent that has experience running, this plan could be a great fit for you. Be prepared to work hard on those 3 days though! 😉 I used the plan available in the Run Less Run Faster app (it’s definitely worth the $2.99). You input your most recent race time, and it calculates the paces for your workouts for you– a feature I love!
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