Half Marathon Planning Schedule. Going to run one by July 1, 2020

Slider678

Hey All-

I want to train for a half marathon by July. Who is with me? What if we got a group of to train together and go through the prep together.

Does anyone know a great plan to get me there?

Who is in?

Joanna2012B

Hi There,

Congrats, will this be your first Half? I am training for my Half in May. I follow my own plan, I run 3 days a week and cross train on off run days. One run is hill repeats, one is a tempo run and then my long run. I add a km each week to my long run, making sure I have time to taper. It has worked for me in the past!! My plan is much different from some that are out there. I know the Hal Hidgon Half Training plan is quite popular.

Good Luck and Have fun!!

spiriteagle99

Which plan you choose depends on your current fitness level. Hal Higdon has free plans online for all levels. Pfitzinger and Hansons has somewhat more challenging ones. July isn't a good time of year for racing for a lot of us - much too hot. There are no races over 5 miles in my area in the summer.

deannalfisher

i'm used Hal Higdon in the past and they are solid; Galloway plans (run/walk) are a good place to start for your first. I'm doing a marathon in May and will be using Matt Fitzgerald's 80/20 plan (80% at Z1/Z2 running and only 20% in the higher tempo runs - it has worked better for me and less injuries)

janejellyroll

I've done several half marathons using Hal Higdon's training plans and have been very happy with the results. Just started another round this week, actually.

My mom and sister have used Galloway plans and only have good things to say. My mom just PRed in a half this month.

Duck_Puddle

Have you picked a race yet? Depending where you live, it may be difficult to find a race over 5k in July (too hot or too cold/icy).

What is your current running base? There are tons of good plans but which is good for you depends on how much you’re running now.

apullum

I’m completely with the people asking about weather in July. Building endurance with a good training plan will be important, and people have mentioned several options, but you will also need to think carefully about the weather wherever you’re planning to race. In a lot of places, racing in July would be miserable. You may need to consider acclimating to the weather, hydration, proper clothing, etc.

auburngirl06

I’m running my first half on the 25th. I followed Hal Higdon’s novice plan. I finished it about a month ago so I’ve spent the last month just adding distance to my 1 long run each week. I highly recommend Hal Higdon’s plan- has you running minimum 3 days per week with one long run and then a couple cross training days.

corriepelc

I'll be running my 8th half marathon in March. The best thing I can tell you is not to make sure you're cross training with some type of strength building throughout the week, make sure to stretch out well after every run, and start thinking about and try out ways to fuel yourself throughout the race -- use your long training runs to figure out which types of fuel work best for you (such as gels, wafers, etc.) so you're completely ready by race day.

I run at least 7 miles on weekdays (plus cross training with barre workouts for strength and flexibility). Saturdays are my long run mornings, during which I run anywhere between 5 to 14 miles. Before each half, I schedule on my Google calendar about two months of long runs so I hit specific mileage, increasing every week by 2 miles. That seemed to work for me, but you've got plenty of time to play around with some different plans.

H_Ock12

I trained my first marathon with ChiRunning...Danny has books that I had read previously and I was fortunate enough to be in the same city and participate in a training group. I don't know if he has a half plan, but I'm sure the full marathon plan could be adapted.

acbraswell

Congrats to committing to running 13.1!! I ran my first in November and plan to do another this spring, and a 26.2 this fall.

Ditto to some of the advice above. Cross-train so you don't get any muscle imbalances from just running. Running uses the same muscles and can create imbalances and overuse injuries without cross-training and stretching. Look for a yoga for runners class. That helped me a lot! Practice fueling before, during, and after any runs over an hour. You don't need to carb-load for a half-marathon, but make sure you're getting enough carbs for energy during training and before your race. I got a lot out of the Runners World book "Run to Lose." Lots of good advice for how to fuel.

Increase your weekly mileage by no more than 10% each week. Your long run should account for 25-30% of your weekly mileage. Try to have a step-back week every 3-4 weeks to rest your body. With your timeframe, you should be able build up slowly to feel your best.

Best of luck!!

lemurcat2

janejellyroll wrote: »

I've done several half marathons using Hal Higdon's training plans and have been very happy with the results. Just started another round this week, actually.

Me too, and am about to do so again, although I haven't picked a race yet. Higdon is great since he has different (free) plans online for different levels of experience.

RnrgrlRVA75

I’ve trained with our local running club here but in the off season have used the Runcoach app, which customizes a plan for you based on fitness level and time until your race. It seems to work well. I’m running my 4th half, NYC, in March.

angf0679

I'm looking to run a half marathon April 18 (motivation to stay running in winter!) and another on September 12.

I'm also looking for and hoping to run my 2nd full sometime toward end of September or October. It will require travel to do that so that will all depend on my tax refund! If I get a good tax refund, and a good sale on a plane ticket, then I can look at doing one!

pcfteixeira

Hi , i am running the Queen Elizabeth Olympic park half marathon in February the 16th in London and would be great to find and join anyone going !!!!

fitoverfortymom

I've used Half Higdon plans for most of my running and have run 10k to 50k distances.

ErinPolselli

I’m running my first full marathon on May 3rd in Providence (a friend signed me up and Christmas gifted me the race entry by way of a “challenge”). After three minutes of swearing and rejecting the race entry, I realized that this is just the challenge I’ve been waiting for and that I’m going to go for it.

I’ve ran two half’s in the past five years and this is going to be my biggest challenge yet. I’ve downloaded three training programs from basic to elite runner and realized that I fall in the middle of the two. There are a few calculations that I had to detemine for:

• My Pace
• My Tempo Pace (or threshold pace)
• My PMP (planned marathon pace)

Good Luck to you in your first half marathon in July!

ErinPolselli

I also wanted to let you know about a great half marathon in July! You’ll have to look it up online, but it’s from Napa to Sonoma and is part of the “wine country half marathon“ series. The course organizers set up beer and wine throughout the half marathon race and then have a large wine tasting in Sonoma once you finish the race. I read last week that it was just named one of the top seven most scenic half marathons in the US by Forbes!!

The race sells out every year but there still might be time to see what all the buzz is about!

Another great half marathon race is in Bristol, RI and it’s called the, “Independence Rhode Race” that takes place the weekend before the 4th of July.

Good Luck finding a good one!

Christine4695

I recently set a goal to run my first half marathon in October. I have not done any running in years and have a significant amount of weight to lose. I'm starting slowly by doing the c25k for now. Started a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately I've had to stop for a bit as I had surgery on Friday. Hope to get back on the road in a few days. Even if I'm just walking.
Plan to run a couple of 5k's when ready. Then want to start working my way up to 13.1. Eventually I'd like to run an actual marathon. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time.

jhanleybrown

I'm not running much these days but have done 5-6 half marathons and dozens of 10ks.

I also used a Hal Higdon plan on my first couple of half marathons. He has novice through advanced and it's free and they are decent.

lemonwater1

I’ll be running a half in July. I’m running Bryce Canyon Half Marathon in Utah- I ran it last year too. I usually follow Hal Higdons training plans.

Cricketmad88

I'm going for a half marathon in June in UK took up running in September with C25K so this will be my first race as not many around me. I used the other plans out there to get an idea and then created my own so it fits around work/cricket well.

chris_in_cal

Slider678 wrote: »

I want to train for a half marathon by July (2020). Who is with me? What if we got a group of to train together and go through the prep together.

Awesome. To have some structure I signed up for an April 14, 2024 Half Marathon.

I've been on a very easy, very slow, consistent plan for a couple of months now, building to the Half.

With an interim 10k in September.