Hal Higdon's Advanced 1/2 Marathon Training Plan

Once runners have finished their first 5-K and 10-K races, they often ask themselves, what's the next challenge? The same for experienced runners, looking to some variation in their training and racing.

For many, that next challenge is often the marathon, the lure of being able to finish 26 miles 385 yards. But that can be a big (and intimidating) jump and pose a commitment that not everybody wants to make.

Halfway between the 10-K and the marathon is the (friendlier and more accessible) half-marathon: 13.1 miles. The "half" offers a good staging area for novice runners--and advanced runners like the distance too, because they can race the half more often with less stress during the race and less time recovering after the race.

To succeed in the half-marathon, you need not only speed, but the endurance to hold that speed over a longer period of time. The following workouts will help you improve your times for the half.

Long Repeats: For success at shorter distances, interval training featuring 200 and 400 repetitions works quite well. To race longer, you need to train longer. Running repetitions between 800 and 1600 meters will improve your endurance. Run the repetitions near your 5-K and 10-K race pace respectively. Jog or walk 400-800 meters between each repeat. You may want to do your long repetitions on the road, rather than on the track.

Pace Training: Learning to pace yourself properly is even more important in the half-marathon than it is in the 5-K or 10-K. If you've gone out too fast in one of those races, you sometimes can gut it out over the last mile without losing too much time. In the half, you'll have a longer time to pay for your sins. Do some of your training at race pace. Saturday is a good day for this, before your Sunday long runs.

Tempo Runs: This is a continuous run with a build-up in the middle to near half-marathon race pace. The difference between the Tempo Runs done while training for 5-K or 10-K races is that you don't run quite as fast in the middle, but you hold your speed longer. A Tempo Run of 45-60 minutes would begin with 10-20 minutes easy running, build to 20-30 minutes near half-marathon pace, then 5-10 minutes cooling down. The pace build-up should be gradual, not sudden, with peak speed coming about two-thirds into the workout.

Week	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun
1	3 miles	4 x 800	rest or easy run	45 min Tempo	rest	4 miles race pace	90 min run
2	3 miles	3 x 1600	rest or easy run	50 min Tempo	rest	5 miles race pace	90-110 run
3	3 miles	5 x 800	rest or easy run	30 min Tempo	rest or easy run	rest	9 miles
4	3 miles	4 x 1600	rest or easy run	55 min Tempo	rest	5 miles race pace	90 min run
5	3 miles	6 x 800	rest or easy run	60 min Tempo	rest	3 miles race pace	60 min run
6	2 miles	6 x 400	rest or easy run	30 min Tempo	rest or easy run	rest	13.1 m Race

Consult with your physician before starting any exercise program.

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