Half Marathon Training

So this is how you could progress to run from 3 Miles to a Half Marathon in 12 Weeks!

Now its important to be able to progress steadily and not too soon after giving birth, I would recommend leaving it until your baby is about 6 moths old if you are a novice. This is due to your energy levels, availability to train and allowing your body time to get back to its pre pregnancy state.

If you cant run 3 miles then why not try the couch to 5 k? Its an audio you listen to and it tells you exactly when to run and when to rest, once you have completed that then lets look at achieving more!

This training plan is based on 12 weeks, training 3 x per week. I would recommend strengthening exercises too, particularly your lower body so be sure to check those out in the community!

An average week will go as follows, the three runs can be done on whichever day you want but ensure you leave 24-48 hours between each run, particularly on the longer run so more before and after your progressive run.

Week Example

Run 1- Interval Pace Progress Run- 3 Minutes at Goal Pace (70-80% MHR* ) , then 90 Seconds at 50-60% MHR* x 6

Run 2- Fartlek Run 2 Miles

Run 3- Progressive Run 3.5 Miles

Mileage total- Avg. 8.5 Miles

*Maximum Heart Rate

Before you Begin

You need your starting point to know where to begin on the plan and to set your goal pace for the end run/ race, obviously this will change but an idea of your ideal pace will help.

A good aim would be 9-11 minute miles that would be a half marathon in sub 2hrs-2hrs 30ish. I would start by timing 2-3 miles, doing the best you can and gage from their your goal pace for the race.

Strava is a brilliant tool to record your runs so you can see your splits ( each mile time) so I would really recommend this and possibly a fitness tracker too.

Warm Up

The warm up is really important, start with a walk and gradually build up to the pace of the run from 8-15 minutes, stretching about 12 minutes your legs and back for 10-20 second holds on the stretches.

The Cooldown is the reverse but holding your leg stretches for 20-30 seconds,

The Runs

Fartlek Run

A fartlek run is using speed play or using a different route including more hills for example to make it harder in places and then easier when you want, I would really recommend changing your route all the time for this run ( Footpath/ Map my run are great apps) and try and progress to more hilly environments so you can handle them in an ctual race. So just to clarify you up the intensity when you want and lower it when you want, using speed or terrain. Just don’t go too hard too soon!

Interval

The interval training looks at set times of work and rest/ recovery. Here we are looking at upping your speed over time by working at higher intensity's. This is a good way to include a shorter run but increase your aerobic capability at the same time.

So in week one for instance you would aim at reaching 70-80% of what you have/ goal pace for 4 minutes, then take it down to60- 70% 90 seconds. So this can be walking or even stopping completely for some of it if you need to.

Progressive run

As you can see the goal at the end of the week is to progress mileage each week, slow steady progress to minimise risk of injury.

Rest

Rest days are vital, please try and leave the rest days as they are so you recover. Use these days for recovery walks or some yoga to keep your body in good health.

Week 1-