16-Week Half Marathon Training Schedule

If you’ve ever found it difficult to stick to an intensive training plan for a race, don’t worry, you’re not alone.

For nearly all runners who have jobs to go to and families to take care of — which of course means nearly all runners — it can be next to impossible to adhere to a training plan that requires you to run multiple days each week, many weeks and months in a row.

That’s why we’ve developed this 16-week training plan specifically for intermediate level runners and people whose schedules don’t allow for running five days a week — a variation on our 12-week training plan for beginners, with an additional day off during the week.

If you’re still finding it difficult to stay committed to a training plan, try Runna. Runna has dynamic training plans with encouragement and feedback from coaches to keep you prepared for your upcoming half marathon. Use code HALFMARATHON for 2-weeks of free training.

For Experienced Runners

It’s important to note that the training plan outlined above is not designed with beginning runners in mind — this is for runners who’ve already run a half marathon or several in the past, and who are already running consistently each week so they’ve built up their leg, lower body and cardiovascular strength to handle the number of miles they’ll be running throughout the training.

If you are looking to run your first half marathon, please consider our 12-week training plan for beginning runners, which provides a more intensive training regimen.

Staying Injury-Free to Race Day

Note also that this training program is spread out over 16 weeks rather than 12 weeks, to give your muscles more time to get ready. Because you’ll be running fewer days each week with this training plan, we recommend giving yourself more time to get ready for the race, to allow both your body and your mind to prepare for running 13.1 miles.

Consider cross-training on the days you don’t run — anything from strength training to walking a few miles, which will provide the cardiovascular benefits without the pounding impact that running can cause. In addition to cross-training, we recommend guided strength training plans that are designed to prevent injuries throughout training.

For high-quality evidence-based exercise plans, we recommend downloading an app like Exakt Health. Missing a day or two of training won’t impact your progress, but inconsistency of training leads to a higher chance of overuse running injuries.

Time Your Long Runs With Your Race

The schedule above places the weekly long run on Saturday, followed by a usually much shorter quick run on Sunday. Feel free to swap these if the race you’ve signed up for falls on a Sunday; I’ve always found that it’s best to do your long runs on the day you’ll actually be running your race, to allow your body to get used to the rhythm of the short run/long run each week.

(Also feel free to move around the mid-week runs as your schedule demands — just make sure you get in two runs of 30 to 60 minutes each in the middle of the week before your long run each weekend.)

As Always, Consult the Experts

Remember that there are a number of ways to structure a half marathon training plan. Running coaches Hal Higdon and Jeff Galloway, who is well-known for his Run-Walk-Run approach to training, offer a number of training plans on their own websites that are excellent guides to getting ready for any race.

More training plans: 8 Weeks • 9 Weeks • 10 Weeks • 12 Weeks • 14 Weeks • 18 Weeks • 20 Weeks

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