A 12-week half-marathon plan on three sessions a week to break 2 hours: one quality session, one easy run, a long run building to 18 km.
If one of these is not true, a longer plan will take you further than a short one followed halfway.
Ill, exhausted or in pain, do not run: a plan absorbs a missed session, it does not absorb an injury. Drop the easy run first — it is the least specific. If it is the quality session or the long run that goes, do not move it to another day of the same week; pick the next week up where the plan is, never where you stopped.
| Pace | min/km | What it feels like |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | 6:30 – 7:00 | The pace most of this plan is run at. If you cannot hold a conversation, it is too fast. |
| Long run | 6:37 | In the firm third of the easy band, never outside it. On a three-hour run, never quicker than this. |
| Half-marathon pace | 5:36 | Half-marathon pace: race day over that distance, or the marker that brackets marathon pace. |
| 5 km pace | 5:13 | A little faster than threshold: 5 km race pace. Strong, never maximal. |
| Interval pace | 4:53 | For the short repetitions. Fast, but never gasping. |
Set the rhythm: one short interval session, one easy run, one long. That is every week's shape.
Short intervals58 min
8 × 400 m at Interval pace, 90 s recovery.
Easy run45 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
Long run11 km
11 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.
Bring in threshold, the pace a half marathon is decided at. Twenty continuous minutes, no more.
Half-marathon pace50 min
20 continuous minutes at Half-marathon pace.
Easy run45 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
Long run13 km
13 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.
Repetitions stretch to 800 m, and the long run grows with them.
Aerobic power67 min
6 × 800 m at 5 km pace, 2 min recovery.
Easy run45 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
Long run14 km
14 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.
A lighter week. Progress is built on the days you run less.
Half-marathon pace45 min
15 continuous minutes at Half-marathon pace.
Easy run40 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
Long run11 km
11 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.
Repetitions move to 1,000 m, at 5 km pace rather than flat out, and the long run finishes at race-day pace.
Aerobic power69 min
5 × 1000 m at 5 km pace, 150 s recovery.
Easy run45 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
Long run15 km
15 km, the last 4 at Half-marathon pace.
Threshold moves into blocks, easier to hold than twenty unbroken minutes. The long run reaches 16 km.
Half-marathon pace56 min
2 × 10 minutes at Half-marathon pace, 3 minutes recovery.
Easy run45 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
Long run16 km
16 km, the last 5 at Half-marathon pace.
Short work returns to keep the speed, with volume pulled back before the specific block.
Short intervals58 min
8 × 400 m at Interval pace, 90 s recovery.
Easy run40 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
Long run13 km
13 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.
Specific block: no more short repetitions. Threshold, in two fifteen-minute blocks, prepares half-marathon pace.
Half-marathon pace68 min
2 × 15 minutes at Half-marathon pace, 4 minutes recovery.
Easy run45 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
Long run17 km
17 km, the last 6 at Half-marathon pace.
The peak, and it is specific: 3 × 3 km at goal pace, then eighteen kilometres with six at that same pace.
Half-marathon pace89 min
3 × 3 km at Half-marathon pace, 3 minutes recovery.
Easy run40 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
Long run18 km
18 km, the last 6 at Half-marathon pace.
Last week of load, already smaller. Threshold goes, goal pace stays: twenty minutes, then 16 km with four at that pace.
Half-marathon pace50 min
20 continuous minutes at Half-marathon pace.
Easy run40 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
Long run16 km
16 km, the last 4 at Half-marathon pace.
Taper. Twenty minutes at goal pace to keep it in the legs, and nothing more.
Half-marathon pace50 min
20 continuous minutes at Half-marathon pace.
Easy run35 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
Long run12 km
12 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.
Race week. You maintain; you no longer build.
Pace reminder47 min
4 × 400 m at Half-marathon pace, 2 min recovery.
Easy run25 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
Half marathon21.0975 km
Race day.
Stibia exports this plan to your watch, on the days you run, with your long session on the day you choose, and the plan ending on your race date.
Create a free accountThis plan is general training material and does not replace medical advice. If it hurts, stop and see someone.