Half marathon plan, 8 weeks on 3 sessions — under 2:30

8 weeks3 sessions a weekTarget 2 h 30171 km of training, race day aside

An 8-week half-marathon plan on three sessions a week to finish under 2:30: one quality session, one easy run, a long run to 15 km.

This plan is for you if…

Already running three times a week, pain-free, for at least six weeks.
Comfortable with 1 h 05 of running and a 9 km long run.
A 10 km under 1:10 within the last three months.
This is the shortest plan in the catalogue: eight weeks on three sessions carry a running habit to the finish of a half marathon, they do not create the habit. If in doubt, take the twelve-week plan.
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 8 weeks, session by session

The long run is 52 % 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

Base23 km

Straight into it: 800 m repetitions in week one, because the running habit is assumed. The midweek easy run closes with a few strides, no watch and no target pace.

1
Aerobic power61 min
4 × 800 m at 5 km pace, 150 s recovery.
2
Easy run49 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk. Finish with 4 strides.
3
Long run9 km
9 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.

Week 2

Base21 km

Continuous threshold, fifteen minutes. The long run reaches 10 km.

1
Threshold45 min
15 continuous minutes at Threshold pace.
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 3

Build25 km

Repetitions stretch to 1,000 m at 5 km pace — strong, never all-out. The long run stays entirely easy: on three sessions, the week carrying the fastest session carries only one that costs.

1
Aerobic power66 min
4 × 1000 m at 5 km pace, 150 s recovery.
2
Easy run45 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
3
Long run11 km
11 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.

Week 4

Build19 km

The only lighter week in the plan. It is not optional.

1
Threshold42 min
12 continuous minutes at Threshold pace.
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 5

Specific25 km

Specific block: no more short repetitions. Threshold prepares half-marathon pace. This week and the next each carry two sessions that cost out of three — the price of a specific block held in two weeks, and the reason the easy run between them has to stay genuinely easy.

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 run13 km
13 km, the last 4 at Half-marathon pace.

Week 6

Specific30 km

The peak, and it is specific: 3 × 2 km at goal pace, then 15 km, which is 2 hours on the feet. That is the most 8 weeks allow: the last 30 minutes on race day will be new ground, and one more reason to start carefully.

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 run15 km
15 km, the last 6 at Half-marathon pace.

Week 7

Taper20 km

Taper, one week only. Fifteen minutes at goal pace, 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 8

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.