Half marathon plan, 12 weeks on 3 sessions — under 2:30

12 weeks3 sessions a weekTarget 2 h 30258 km of training, race day aside

A 12-week half-marathon plan on three sessions a week to finish under 2:30: one quality session, one easy run, a long run building to 16 km.

This plan is for you if…

Already running three times a week for at least a month, pain-free.
Able to run for an hour without stopping, however slowly.
A 10 km under 1:10 within the last six months.
Three to four and a half hours a week for training, long run included.
Able to spread the three sessions across the week, never on back-to-back days.

If one of these is not true, a longer plan will take you further than a short one followed halfway.

If you have to skip a session

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.

Your paces for 2 h 30

Pace	min/km	What it feels like
Easy	8:28 – 9:08	The pace most of this plan is run at. If you cannot hold a conversation, it is too fast.
Long run	8:37	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	7:00	Half-marathon pace: race day if that is your distance, otherwise the marker just above race-day pace.
Threshold pace	6:39	The pace you could hold for about an hour in a race.
5 km pace	6:26	5 km race pace: strong, never maximal.

All 12 weeks, session by session

The long run is 55 % of the heaviest week, against 30 to 35 % in a plan built on five or six runs. On few sessions that is arithmetic: what protects you is not the share but the duration, and no long run in this plan reaches three hours.

Week 1

Base18 km

Set the rhythm: two easy runs and a long one, nothing hard. The habit comes before any speed is added. One easy run closes with strides, no watch and no target pace.

1
Easy run44 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk. Finish with 4 strides.
2
Easy run40 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
3
Long run8 km
8 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.

Week 2

Base20 km

Meet threshold, briefly: fifteen minutes is enough to learn the pace.

1
Threshold45 min
15 continuous minutes at Threshold pace.
2
Easy run45 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
3
Long run9 km
9 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.

Week 3

Base24 km

The plan's first repetitions: 5 × 800 m, and the long run reaching 10 km.

1
Aerobic power68 min
5 × 800 m at 5 km pace, 150 s recovery.
2
Easy run45 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
3
Long run10 km
10 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.

Week 4

Base18 km

A lighter week. Progress is built on the days you run less.

1
Threshold42 min
12 continuous minutes at Threshold pace.
2
Easy run40 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
3
Long run8 km
8 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.

Week 5

Build23 km

Threshold moves into blocks, easier to hold. The long run finishes at race-day pace.

1
Threshold blocks52 min
2 × 8 minutes at Threshold pace, 3 min recovery.
2
Easy run45 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
3
Long run11 km
11 km, the last 3 at Half-marathon pace.

Week 6

Build24 km

Twenty minutes at goal pace: the first real rehearsal of race day.

1
Half-marathon pace50 min
20 continuous minutes at Half-marathon pace.
2
Easy run45 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
3
Long run13 km
13 km, the last 4 at Half-marathon pace.

Week 7

Build20 km

A down week before the specific block: the fast work stays, shorter, and the volume comes down.

1
Aerobic power53 min
3 × 800 m at 5 km pace, 150 s recovery.
2
Easy run40 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
3
Long run9 km
9 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.

Week 8

Specific26 km

Specific block: no more short repetitions. Threshold prepares half-marathon pace.

1
Threshold blocks56 min
2 × 10 minutes at Threshold pace, 3 min recovery.
2
Easy run40 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
3
Long run14 km
14 km, the last 4 at Half-marathon pace.

Week 9

Specific31 km

The peak, and it is specific: 3 × 2 km at goal pace, then 16 km — over two hours on the feet.

1
Half-marathon pace81 min
3 × 2 km at Half-marathon pace, 3 min recovery.
2
Easy run40 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
3
Long run16 km
16 km, the last 6 at Half-marathon pace.

Week 10

Specific26 km

Last week of load, already smaller. Threshold goes, goal pace stays — and grows, twenty-five minutes against week 6's twenty. That is what a taper does: the volume comes down, the intensity holds.

1
Half-marathon pace55 min
25 continuous minutes at Half-marathon pace.
2
Easy run40 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
3
Long run14 km
14 km, the last 3 at Half-marathon pace.

Week 11

Taper20 km

Taper. Fifteen minutes at goal pace to keep it in the legs, and nothing more.

1
Half-marathon pace45 min
15 continuous minutes at Half-marathon pace.
2
Easy run35 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
3
Long run10 km
10 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.

Week 12

Race8 km

Race week. You maintain; you no longer build.

1
Half-marathon pace45 min
3 × 3 minutes at Half-marathon pace, 2 min recovery.
2
Easy run25 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
3
Half marathon21.0975 km
Race day.

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This plan is general training material and does not replace medical advice. If it hurts, stop and see someone.