Contents
Half Marathon Training Plan for Intermediate Runners
A 12-week intermediate half marathon training plan with tempo runs, intervals, and progressive long runs. Designed for runners looking to improve their half marathon time.
Half Marathon Training Plan for Intermediate Runners
A 12-week schedule for evaluating race-specific training against your preparation and goals. A personal record is not guaranteed.
Plan Overview
Goal: Improve your half marathon time through balanced training that builds endurance, speed, and race-specific fitness
Who This Plan Is For:
- Runners currently averaging 25-35 miles per week
- Those who have completed at least one half marathon
- Runners comfortable with tempo runs and intervals
- Athletes with 1+ year of consistent running
Prerequisites:
- Running 4-5 days per week consistently
- Recent half marathon or 10K time for pace calculations
- Able to comfortably run 10 miles
- No current injuries
Weekly Structure:
- 5 running days per week
- Weekly running totals separate miles, metric repetitions and timed recovery; record actual distance rather than treating timed work as fixed mileage
- Usually two faster sessions; some weeks also include a faster long-run finish. Review the combined demands and recovery before choosing this schedule
- 1 long run (up to 14 miles)
Effort and Session Accounting
Easy means a comfortable effort at which conversation remains manageable, not a particular heart-rate zone or a fixed percentage of this schedule. Moderate, tempo and half-marathon effort are different intended efforts within a plan; none is established by assigning an arbitrary zone number or an aspirational finish time. Review the suitability of the faster sessions before choosing this template. If the intended effort is unclear or inappropriate, resolve it with suitable training support rather than guessing a target pace.
Distance and time are separate instructions. A row listing minutes is completed by time, with actual distance recorded afterward. Do not add miles to reach the old estimate. A mixed row such as “2 miles + 21 minutes” contains both components: the miles are easy preparation/cool-down and the minutes contain the specified repetitions and recoveries. Weekly totals sum those components separately; they do not convert time into invented mileage. Optional cross-training is recorded separately from running.
For distance-based runs with strides, the listed distance is the entire outing, including easy running, pickups and easy recovery. Strides are optional familiar accelerations, not all-out sprints. Begin with easy running, recover by walking or easy jogging until ready for another comfortable repetition, and finish easily. Omit remaining pickups if appropriate preparation/recovery will not fit the outing; do not add them after completing the stated distance merely to tick a count. Record any actual change.
Metric repetitions remain in meters so you can use track markings directly. 1 mile = 1609.344 meters. For example, 4 miles + 6600 meters is approximately 8.10 miles, not 7.5 miles. Timed jogging adds actual distance that must be recorded; it cannot be converted without a measured pace/distance. The distance column below is the full fixed-distance component, with any timed component stated separately.
Recovery is between repetitions only unless a row explicitly describes repeated work-plus-recovery pairs. The final repetition is followed by the stated cool-down. Multi-block sessions specify the transition between blocks. No extra repetitions are added merely to reach an old mileage estimate.
Week-by-Week Schedule
Week 1: Establish Baseline
Weekly Running Total: 30 miles + 24 minutes.
| Day | Workout | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Rest | - |
| Tuesday | Easy run + 6 strides | 5 miles |
| Wednesday | Tempo: 2 mile warmup, 3 miles tempo, 2 mile cooldown | 7 miles |
| Thursday | Easy run | 5 miles |
| Friday | Rest or cross-train | - |
| Saturday | Fartlek: 2 miles easy, 6 × (2 min hard + 2 min easy), 2 miles easy | 4 miles + 24 min |
| Sunday | Long run (easy) | 9 miles |
Focus: Review whether the opening workload and intended efforts fit your recent training. Completing a workout does not measure your physiological thresholds.
Week 2: Building Rhythm
Weekly Running Total: 32 miles + 6600 meters.
| Day | Workout | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Rest | - |
| Tuesday | Easy run + 6 strides | 5 miles |
| Wednesday | Intervals: 2 miles easy, 5 × 1000 m at interval effort with 400 m jog between reps (4 recoveries), 2 miles easy | 4 miles + 6600 m |
| Thursday | Easy run | 5 miles |
| Friday | Rest or cross-train | - |
| Saturday | Tempo: 2 mile warmup, 4 miles tempo, 2 mile cooldown | 8 miles |
| Sunday | Long run (easy) | 10 miles |
Focus: Keep the intended interval effort and recovery consistent. The repetition distance alone does not establish a VO2max stimulus.
Week 3: Increasing Load
Weekly Running Total: 39 miles + 9 minutes.
| Day | Workout | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Rest | - |
| Tuesday | Easy run + 8 strides | 6 miles |
| Wednesday | HM-specific: 2 miles easy, 4 × 1 mile at HM effort with 2 min jog between reps (3 recoveries), 2 miles easy | 8 miles + 6 min |
| Thursday | Easy run | 5 miles |
| Friday | Rest or cross-train | - |
| Saturday | Threshold: 2 miles easy, 2 × 2.5 miles tempo with 3 min jog between reps, 2 miles easy | 9 miles + 3 min |
| Sunday | Long run (easy) | 11 miles |
Focus: Record how the planned HM effort feels across the repetitions, including the effect of recovery breaks.
Week 4: Cutback Week
Weekly Running Total: 21 miles + 38 minutes.
| Day | Workout | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Rest | - |
| Tuesday | Easy run + 6 strides | 5 miles |
| Wednesday | Fartlek: 10 min easy, 6 × (1 min moderate + 2 min easy), 10 min easy | 38 min total |
| Thursday | Easy run | 4 miles |
| Friday | Rest | - |
| Saturday | Easy run | 4 miles |
| Sunday | Long run (easy) | 8 miles |
Focus: This week reduces the listed running. Review your response before continuing; feeling stronger next week is not guaranteed.
Week 5: Building Race Fitness
Weekly Running Total: 35 miles + 6000 meters + 7.5 minutes.
| Day | Workout | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Rest | - |
| Tuesday | Easy run + 8 strides | 6 miles |
| Wednesday | Intervals: 2 miles easy, 6 × 1000 m at interval effort with 90 sec jog between reps (5 recoveries), 2 miles easy | 4 miles + 6000 m + 7.5 min |
| Thursday | Easy run | 5 miles |
| Friday | Rest or cross-train | - |
| Saturday | HM simulation: 2 mile warmup, 5 miles at HM pace, 2 mile cooldown | 9 miles |
| Sunday | Long run (easy) | 11 miles |
Focus: Record execution of the 5-mile HM segment. This is practice, not a validated half-marathon readiness test.
Week 6: Peak Quality Week
Weekly Running Total: 37 miles + 10400 meters.
| Day | Workout | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Rest | - |
| Tuesday | Easy run + 8 strides | 6 miles |
| Wednesday | Ladder: 2 miles easy, 800–1200–1600–1200–800 m at interval effort; jog the distance of each preceding rep between reps only (800 + 1200 + 1600 + 1200 m), 2 miles easy | 4 miles + 10400 m |
| Thursday | Easy run | 6 miles |
| Friday | Rest or cross-train | - |
| Saturday | Progressive tempo: 2 mile warmup, 5 miles (moderate to tempo), 2 mile cooldown | 9 miles |
| Sunday | Long run: 10 miles easy + 2 miles at aerobic pace | 12 miles |
Focus: Review the combined ladder, progressive tempo and long-run demands. Completing them does not establish race readiness.
Week 7: Sustained Efforts
Weekly Running Total: 41 miles + 3 minutes.
| Day | Workout | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Rest | - |
| Tuesday | Easy run + 6 strides | 6 miles |
| Wednesday | HM-specific: 2 miles easy, 2 × 2.5 miles at HM effort with 3 min jog between reps, 2 miles easy | 9 miles + 3 min |
| Thursday | Easy run | 5 miles |
| Friday | Rest or cross-train | - |
| Saturday | Tempo: 2 mile warmup, 4 miles tempo, 2 mile cooldown | 8 miles |
| Sunday | Long run (easy) | 13 miles |
Focus: The two HM-effort segments include recovery between them. Completing five miles of work does not prove you can hold that effort for a half marathon.
Week 8: Cutback Week #2
Weekly Running Total: 22 miles + 44 minutes.
| Day | Workout | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Rest | - |
| Tuesday | Easy run + 6 strides | 5 miles |
| Wednesday | Fartlek: 10 min easy, 8 × (1 min moderate + 2 min easy), 10 min easy | 44 min total |
| Thursday | Easy run | 4 miles |
| Friday | Rest | - |
| Saturday | Easy run | 4 miles |
| Sunday | Long run (easy) | 9 miles |
Focus: Review your response to the preceding weeks before continuing into the final block.
Week 9: Race-Specific Block
Weekly Running Total: 40 miles + 3600 meters + 8 minutes.
| Day | Workout | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Rest | - |
| Tuesday | Easy run + 8 strides | 6 miles |
| Wednesday | Combo: 2 miles easy; 3 × 1200 m at interval effort with 2 min jog between reps; 2 min easy transition; 2 × 1 mile at HM effort with 2 min jog between reps; 2 miles easy | 6 miles + 3600 m + 8 min |
| Thursday | Easy run | 5 miles |
| Friday | Rest or cross-train | - |
| Saturday | Tempo: 2 mile warmup, 5 miles tempo, 2 mile cooldown | 9 miles |
| Sunday | Long run: 11 miles easy + 3 miles at HM pace | 14 miles |
Focus: This is the longest listed run, with a faster finish. Assess that added demand against your preparation and recovery.
Week 10: Final Hard Week
Weekly Running Total: 38 miles.
| Day | Workout | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Rest | - |
| Tuesday | Easy run + 8 strides | 6 miles |
| Wednesday | HM-specific: 2 mile warmup, 6 miles at HM pace, 2 mile cooldown | 10 miles |
| Thursday | Easy run | 5 miles |
| Friday | Rest | - |
| Saturday | Easy run + 6 strides | 5 miles |
| Sunday | Long run (easy) | 12 miles |
Focus: Record effort and execution across the six-mile HM segment; use the whole training history when reviewing race plans.
Week 11: Taper Begins
Weekly Running Total: 32 miles + 6 minutes.
| Day | Workout | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Rest | - |
| Tuesday | Easy run + 6 strides | 5 miles |
| Wednesday | Sharpener: 2 miles easy, 4 × 1 mile at HM effort with 2 min jog between reps (3 recoveries), 2 miles easy | 8 miles + 6 min |
| Thursday | Easy run | 5 miles |
| Friday | Rest | - |
| Saturday | Easy run | 4 miles |
| Sunday | Long run (easy) | 10 miles |
Focus: The schedule retains HM-effort repetitions during the taper. Review their suitability rather than assuming a sharpening effect.
Week 12: Race Week
Weekly Running Total: 12 miles + 2400 meters + 4 minutes before race; 25.1 miles + 2400 meters + 4 minutes including the listed 13.1-mile race. The race distance is rounded for this template.
| Day | Workout | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Rest | - |
| Tuesday | Easy run + 6 strides | 4 miles |
| Wednesday | Tune-up: 2 miles easy, 3 × 800 m at HM effort with 2 min jog between reps (2 recoveries), 1 mile easy | 3 miles + 2400 m + 4 min |
| Thursday | Easy run | 3 miles |
| Friday | Rest | - |
| Saturday | Shakeout + 4 strides | 2 miles |
| Sunday | HALF MARATHON RACE DAY! | 13.1 miles |
Race Execution: Use the pacing strategy guide and race-day decision guide. No mandatory first-mile offset or late surge is part of this schedule.
Interpreting the Workouts
Repetition length, effort and recovery are separate parts of a session. A label such as “interval” or “tempo” does not prove a measured physiological threshold or guarantee a particular adaptation. HM-effort work is practice within a suitable plan, not proof that you can sustain a pace for an entire race.
A progressive or faster-finish long run adds demand beyond an easy outing. This schedule sometimes places faster Saturday work before Sunday's long run; assess that combination against your preparation and response. Completing the arithmetic does not establish that the dose or spacing is suitable for you. Review uncertain sessions with appropriate training support rather than using the intermediate label as clearance.
Nutrition and Race Logistics
Plan familiar meals, food and fluids around your expected duration, tolerance, conditions and available opportunities. A distance label does not establish a universal gel count, breakfast drink amount or supplement requirement. Use the race-week checklist to record your practiced plan and alternatives; it links duration-based sports-nutrition guidance and measured-fluid planning context.
There is no compulsory low-fiber dinner, fixed breakfast interval, automatic drink at every station or immediate recovery quota in this template. If a specific nutrition change is needed, resolve it in the context of your existing plan and appropriate professional advice. Familiar choices are useful, but necessary safety adjustments take priority over a “nothing new” slogan.
Use the race-day guide for morning and in-race decisions. Work backward from actual organizer deadlines for pickup, transport, bag check and corral access, allowing realistic buffers. The event's current instructions take priority over an example arrival time. Preparation should fit you and the event; no automatic warm-up/stride dose is added by this checklist.
- Verify the race date, wave and current official instructions.
- Record pickup, transport, bag and corral deadlines.
- Check weather, conditions and whether the plan still fits.
- Prepare suitable gear and any practiced food/fluid arrangements.
- Keep contact, finish collection and return-transport details available.
- Seek appropriate assistance if unwell; completing the plan is not medical clearance.
Optional Race Split Record
Choose cumulative checkpoints in consistent units with your pacing plan. Delete rows you do not use.
Target Splits:
| Mile | Target | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 3 | ||
| 4 | ||
| 5 | ||
| 6 | ||
| 7 | ||
| 8 | ||
| 9 | ||
| 10 | ||
| 11 | ||
| 12 | ||
| 13 | ||
| Finish |
Progress Tracking
| Week | Mileage | Key Workout 1 | Key Workout 2 | Long Run | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3mi tempo: | Fartlek: | 9 | ||
| 2 | 5x1000m: | 4mi tempo: | 10 | ||
| 3 | 4x1mi HM: | 2x2.5mi: | 11 | ||
| 4 | (recovery) | 8 | |||
| 5 | 6x1000m: | 5mi HM: | 11 | ||
| 6 | Ladder: | Prog tempo: | 12 | ||
| 7 | 2x2.5mi HM: | 4mi tempo: | 13 | ||
| 8 | (recovery) | 9 | |||
| 9 | Combo: | 5mi tempo: | 14 | ||
| 10 | 6mi HM: | 12 | |||
| 11 | 4x1mi: | 10 | |||
| 12 | Tune-up: | RACE | 13.1 |
Current HM PR: [enter or N/A]
Goal Time: [enter or N/A]
Race Result: [enter or N/A]
Post-Race Analysis: [enter or N/A]
Check the fit before choosing a plan. Use the plan-selection worksheet to compare starting workload, available days, session demands and the time before your race. The template label alone does not establish that the schedule is appropriate for you.