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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!!

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.

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 !!!!

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!

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.

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.