How to Train for a Half Marathon From Beginner to Advanced

What Are They?

AKA ‘recovery run’ or ‘regular run’. Easy runs build aerobic endurance and enhance running efficiency, without causing excessive fatigue.

‘Easy runs are based on ‘feel’’, notes Jack. These are runs done at a comfortable pace (<50-60% of max effort). ‘Don’t get caught up on pace, just keep a conversation pace throughout.’

When Should You Use Them?

Easy runs should be included in your half-marathon training once or twice a week (although experienced runners might do more than this).

What Are They?

These are the most important runs when training for any distance race and will form the key part of your half marathon training. Long runs improve endurance and cardiovascular capacity, gradually increasing distance week by week, up to 12 miles.

Long runs are also the runs during which you should trial your fuelling, clothing, shoes, gels, and pacing for race day.

About halfway through your training, you should add some race-pace training to your long runs ****every other week (i.e., practice running at your goal race pace for certain durations near the end of your long run).

‘This will help replicate what the back end mile will feel towards the end of your half marathon, making it great practice for the feeling of knuckling down and pushing through as you get physically and mentally fatigued.’

When Should You Use Them?

You should include a long run at least once a week during your half marathon running plan. ‘Long runs are the most time-consuming, so I always like to do these on a Sunday,’ says Jack. ‘Following my long run, I always take Monday as a recovery day, doing some active recovery, which usually consists of a ‘shake out’ easy run.’

What Is It?

We won’t sugarcoat anything here: Intervals and tempo runs are hard! But if you’re wanting to run faster (and make it feel easier when you ramp up the pace), speed work is how you get there. By pushing faster than your comfortable pace for short bursts, you’ll eventually be able to sustain a faster pace or longer, bringing down your race time [2].

Speed work isn’t so important for newer half-marathon runners, who focus more on completing the race distance than aiming for a specific time. Still, it is very important for more advanced runners with a particular time goal. That being said, everyone can benefit from adding speed work into their training, as it helps you adapt to the feeling of running faster and the mental challenge of pushing through uncomfortable periods!

Speed work examples:

• Intervals: 8x1 km at any race day pace, resting for 90 seconds between intervals.

• Fartlek: 12 x 1 min fast, 1 min easy

‘When the intervals get tough, something that I find that really helps is to say ‘rhythm, rhythm, rhythm’, in my head, which helps me focus on keeping my stride right, my breathing calm, and to finding a nice rhythm I can settle into,’ explains Jack.

When Should You Do It?

Speed work should be done at least once a week when half-marathon training. Due to its high intensity, which has been shown through machine learning approaches to lead to physical fatigue in the lower limbs and trunk, you should aim to schedule an easy run the day prior to and the day following your speed work to maximize recovery [3].

What Is It?

It’s easy to forget this part of a half-marathon training plan: ‘Strength training is important for preventing injury, building leg strength, and improving running economy.’ This could include heavy resistance, explosive resistance, and plyometric training, which are proven to improve running performance for endurance runners [4].

Jack focuses mainly on single-leg work and exercises with the hex bar, such as deadlifts and squats.

‘You’re never on two feet when running, so single-leg strength is important for stability and power. The hex bar has the weight positioned more centrally and at a higher level than a traditional barbell, reducing strain on the lower back and making it easier to maintain proper form.’

‘The key is not to overcomplicate your strength training: As long as it’s single leg or hex bar exercises, you can’t really go wrong.’

When Should You Do It?

Strength training should be done at least once a week in a 1/2 marathon training plan.

Strength work can be done on a separate day to your runs or on the same day. Still, contrary to the usual rule of strength before cardio, when training for a race, you should always do your run before your strength training to avoid pre-fatiguing your muscles before your run and ensure you can give your best effort during your run.

You don’t need to be a seasoned runner to start half-marathon training, but having a basic level of fitness will make the process much smoother!

‘Half marathon training is tough,’ says Jack*. ‘If you’ve run a 10K before, you’ll be fine. At the very least, you should be comfortable running a 5K, but you might want to consider signing up for a 10K race before committing to a half marathon.’*

This depends on your level of experience and your goal:

• Beginners embarking on their first half marathon should run 3 to 4 times a week

• More advanced runners could run 3, 4, or even 5 times a week

These runs consist of long runs, easy runs, and speed work.

You should always be conscious of giving your body enough time to recover between your more taxing runs (long runs and speed work). Sandwich them between easy runs or recovery days during your half marathon training schedule to allow your body to recover and the muscles to repair.

Having the right shoes is crucial for half-marathon training. So if your trainers are old (meaning they’ve done more than 300 to 500 miles), worn out, or you're experiencing new aches and pains when running, it’s time to invest in some new ones!

Ideally, you should get a new pair of trainers early on in your training so you can wear them in and get used to them before race day. Visiting a running shop and getting your gait analysed is a great way to determine what shoes fit your style of running, helping you stay injury-free.

If you’re an experienced runner aiming for a PB, you might also get a race-day trainer (such as a carbon-plated shoe) that is lightweight and responsive to help you push the pace–but this isn’t essential. You also shouldn’t run all of your runs in a carbon-plated shoe–test them out a couple of times before race day, but keep your everyday trainer for your training runs.

Race day rule: No new shoes!

During your 1/2 marathon training, you’ll be running (and training) a lot, which means you’ll be burning a lot of calories! To keep your energy levels up and recovery high, you need to fuel your body properly before and after your runs (and during longer runs and race day).

Here is a guide for what to eat for half marathon training:

• Before your runs: Consume easily digested complex carbohydrates and protein two to four hours before long runs, for example, oats, a bagel with peanut butter, a banana, or a cereal bar.

• During long runs (or on race day): Easily digestible, transportable, fast-digesting carb, for example, gels, sweets, pretzels, a sports bar. Note: You should always test what you’re going to eat on race day at least 6 weeks before your race, during your long runs, so you know exactly what you are eating and when on race day–don’t leave it to chance!)

• Post-run: Consume a carb and protein-rich meal to promote muscle recovery and replenish glycogen stores (aim to consume 1.2g of carbohydrate per kg/bw and 0.4g of protein per kg/bw). If you don’t have time for a meal, chocolate milk, fat-free Greek yogurt with berries, or a cereal bar are suitable.

Remember to hydrate, too! Drink at least 500ml of water two hours before running, and if you’re running for an hour or more, aim to drink a minimum of 50ml every 20 minutes, up to 250ml every 20 minutes. Rehydrate after your run, including electrolytes if the run was intense or in hot weather.

On race day, you’ll need to ‘carb load’ (which refers to eating high-carb foods in the 1 to 2 weeks before your run, with the 48 hours before race day being the most important window). Carb loading increases glycogen stores, helping you maintain pace and delay fatigue during the race. It should come from low-fiber, high-carb foods such as whole grains, pasta, potatoes, fruit, and low-fat dairy.

Yes, but you’ll be surprised by how many neglect this during training!

Strength training during marathon training helps:

• Injury Prevention: Strengthening muscles, tendons, and joints helps prevent common running injuries (e.g., shin splints, IT band syndrome, knee pain).

• Running Economy: Stronger legs, core, and glutes = better form, efficiency, and endurance.

• Power & Speed: Helps with hill running, sprints, and overall race performance.

• Better Fatigue Resistance: Strength training can delay muscle fatigue, so you don’t fade in the later miles.

You should mainly focus on unilateral leg exercises (as you only use one leg at a time during running), along with core exercises to help posture and running economy and calve isolation exercises.

This will vary significantly between athletes, but you should aim for about 18 to 19 kilometers (11 to 12 miles).

During half-marathon training plans, you won’t run the full 13.1 miles. This is to avoid burnout, overexertion, or injury. However, by gradually building your distance over your long runs and completing your longest run 2 to 3 weeks before race day, you should have ample time for tapering, leaving you well prepared to tackle the full half-marathon distance

If you want to be able to stick to your plan and stay injury-free, you must warm up before running. A running warm up should include:

• A steady 1km jog is needed to warm the muscles.

• Then, move onto some dynamic stretches (such as leg swings, high knees, butt kicks and hip circles).

• Finally, move through specific running drills (such, strides, or a-skip and b-skip).

After your run, you should also do a cooldown to lower your heart rate and help prevent muscle soreness. This might include:

• A slow 1km jog to bring your breathing back to normal gradually.

• Static stretching, particularly focusing on the lower body (e.g., hamstring stretch, quad stretch, calf stretch, and hip flexor stretch) and the lower back, can reduce muscle stiffness [7].

• Foam roll tight areas (i.e., glutes, calves, and quads) to aid muscle recovery and reduce the chance of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) [8].

• Finally–don’t forget to hydrate and refuel–particularly after long or intense runs!

First off, don’t stress! Missing a day (or even a couple) won’t ruin your training. The key to half-marathon training is consistency, not perfection!

What matters is how you adjust and move forward. Here’s how to handle missing session(s):

• If you miss one or a few days, Skip it, and continue your plan as usual the following day. Don’t play catch-up and try and cram multiple runs into fewer days

• If you miss a week or more: Sometimes unexpected things crop up, whether it’s life commitments, injury, or sickness. If this is the case (and we know it’s frustrating), you may need to adjust your training plan or goals. If you have a coach, speak to them about what’s realistic. If safe to do so, ease back into training with some easy runs before jumping back into your full training plan.

This depends on your experience, age, and gender. If you’re new to half-marathon running, it’s recommended that you don’t even aim for a set time for your first race, and instead just focus on completing the distance.

According to RunRepeat’s The State of Running report, which analysed over 107.9 million race results from 1989 to 2019, the average half-marathon finish time in the US is 2 hours 10 minutes, in the UK it is 2 hours 2 minutes, and in Australia it is 2 hours 4 minutes.

Remember that the course terrain, weather conditions, and general race day experience could all impact your half marathon time, too–but the main achievement is crossing the finish line and completing your half marathon, whatever your finish time!