Finally sharing my half marathon training plan! I’ve been running pretty consistently since high school and have run a handful of half marathons. I trained for a half marathon at home back in the Spring and wanted to do it again this fall. I’m planning on running mine on Halloween! My mom passed away on Halloween so I’m trying to give myself something to work towards/ do something productive that day. Very excited about it but also I know it will be a lot of hard work, sweat, and making sure I’m staying healthy.

I’ve compiled my running plan for the upcoming weeks! I’m not a professional or anything, this is just what I personally am doing. Take all of the advice I give with the knowledge that I’m just a regular person who runs for leisure!

A Few Pieces of Advice:

Before starting to train, make sure you’re ready to fuel your body more. If you want to safely add mileage- you need more food to fuel it!

Another piece of advice- Cross training is SO important. I’d love to run 6 days a week and do nothing else but you need strong muscles to get those miles faster. Doing strength training workouts will help you a ton. I aim for 2-3 a week, between 15-30 minutes. On the running plan, you’ll see some days where I do a short run and a cross training workout. Those days are just as important as a long mileage run!

Should I Follow This Plan Exactly?

Nope! This plan is just a general guide. Even I won’t follow it exactly. My body will get sore, I’ll need more rest days, I won’t have the time one morning, the weather will be nasty, etc. This is just a general plan and is meant to give you idea of what I do to train for a half marathon.

My Half Running Plan:

I decided with only about 7 weeks to train to run this half. I’ve run a bunch before like I said so I feel confident that I’ll be able to build to that distance. But I’ve also been consistently running 4-6 miles a few days a week. Remember: our journeys won’t be the same and that’s okay! Start wherever you’re at.

Advice for Beginner Runners:

This plan has runners starting out running 3 miles. For some, that’s not a big deal. But I know when I was first starting to run, it would’ve been too much to start off with 3.

My advice is to figure out what distance you’re at and slowly build up to 3. For example, if you’re at 1 mile- run 1 mile 3 days a week and then on the weekend try to really push yourself to get to 1 1/2 or 2. Then the next week add a little more distance on. Once you’re at 3, then you can loosely follow this half marathon training plan!

Good luck to everyone training for a half! For anyone who is on the fence- it’s tough but the personal accomplishment of finishing 13.1 is such a high. If you fuel right, take breaks, slowly build distance, and believe in yourself- you can do it!

Print the Running Plan Here: