An 8-week half-marathon plan on four sessions a week to break 2 hours when the base is already there: every pace stated, long run 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 | 6:47 – 7:18 | The pace most of this plan is run at. If you cannot hold a conversation, it is too fast. |
| Long run | 6:54 | In the firm third of the easy band, never outside it. However long it is, a long run is never run quicker than this. |
| Half-marathon pace | 5:36 | Half-marathon pace: race day if that is your distance, otherwise the marker just above race-day pace. |
| Threshold pace | 5:24 | The pace you could hold for about an hour in a race. |
| 5 km pace | 5:08 | 5 km race pace: strong, never maximal. |
Straight into it: aerobic power in week one, because the base is assumed. The midweek easy run closes with a few strides, no watch and no target pace.
Easy run40 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
Aerobic power61 min
5 × 800 m at 5 km pace, 2 min recovery.
Easy run49 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk. Finish with 4 strides.
Long run13 km
13 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.
Threshold enters, in two ten-minute blocks. It comes back longer in week 5: it is what prepares race-day pace.
Easy run45 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
Threshold blocks56 min
2 × 10 minutes at Threshold pace, 3 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.
Repetitions stretch to 1,000 m at 5 km pace — strong, never all-out — and the long run finishes at race-day pace.
Easy run45 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
Aerobic power68 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.
The only lighter week in the plan. It is not optional.
Easy run35 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
Half-marathon pace50 min
20 continuous minutes at Half-marathon pace.
Easy run40 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.
Specific block: no more short repetitions. Threshold, in two fifteen-minute blocks, prepares half-marathon pace.
Easy run45 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
Threshold blocks68 min
2 × 15 minutes at Threshold pace, 4 min recovery.
Easy run40 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 × 2 km at goal pace, then eighteen kilometres with six at that same pace.
Easy run45 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
Half-marathon pace73 min
3 × 2 km at Half-marathon pace, 3 min recovery.
Easy run40 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
Long run18 km
18 km, the last 6 at Half-marathon pace.
Taper, one week only. Fifteen minutes at goal pace, nothing more.
Easy run30 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
Half-marathon pace45 min
15 continuous minutes at Half-marathon pace.
Easy run30 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
Long run10 km
10 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.
Race week. You maintain; you no longer build.
Easy run30 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
Half-marathon pace45 min
3 × 3 minutes at Half-marathon pace, 2 min recovery.
Easy run20 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.