A Beginner Half Marathon Training Guide

Once you join your very first half marathon and share the excellent news, you is perhaps inundated with race suggestions and tips from well-meaning pals, relations, and random “health execs” on social media. Instantly, you’re questioning each coaching choice you’ve made.

However this doesn’t need to be the case. To get simple, expert-backed recommendation and clear up any confusion, observe this in-depth beginner’s information to half marathon coaching. 

Beneath, you’ll discover run coach-approved newbie half marathon tips about easy methods to construction your coaching program—together with runs and different health modalities—easy methods to correctly gasoline and hydrate, and easy methods to get your self throughout the end line on race day. Belief, you’ll head into your half marathon feeling assured and able to tackling these 13.1 miles.

Half marathon coaching construction

Your half-marathon coaching plan must be custom-made to suit your way of life and targets. Usually, although, you’ll need to run three to 5 days every week—for 3 to 4 months—to arrange on your race. Right here’s the total breakdown.

Brief, simple runs

About 80 p.c of your runs must be simple runs; you’re simply getting out the door and operating at a doable effort stage, which builds your cardio base, says Mireille Siné, MPH, a USATF Degree 1 operating coach and the founding father of Coached by Mireille.

Meaning two to 3 occasions every week, you need to be operating at a tempo mild sufficient that you would be able to maintain a dialog with a buddy or sing aloud to your Taylor Swift playlist. What’s “simple” for one particular person could also be exhausting for an additional, so use this speak take a look at to set your velocity.

You may additionally take a look at your coronary heart charge to observe your depth, says KC Centenari, a Tonal energy coach and Nike Working coach. Throughout these sluggish runs, your coronary heart charge ought to stay between 60 to 70 p.c of your most coronary heart charge—often called zone 2 cardio training.

For first-timers, Siné and Centenari counsel operating for time (e.g., 40 minutes) fairly than distance (e.g., three miles). This takes off among the strain and may really feel extra achievable than reaching a sure distance, particularly in case your tempo is on the sluggish facet. In case you are inclined to get caught up in your tempo and mileage, go away your smart watch at residence, set a timer in your cellphone on your objective period, and hit the pavement, Centenari suggests.

Lengthy runs

Every week, you’ll additionally energy by way of one long term, which is usually double the time or distance as your quick, simple runs, Siné says.

For instance, you’d goal to finish one 90-minute run in case you did just a few 45-minute jogs all through the week. In case you’re simply beginning half marathon coaching, although, it’s okay to begin with a 60-minute long term and construct as much as that doubled period because the weeks progress, she notes.

A few of your lengthy runs will likely be simple, with the objective of merely spending time in your toes and constructing your endurance. However you’ll additionally need to incorporate velocity work into a few of these stamina-building exercises, difficult your physique at completely different paces, Siné says.

Velocity work

Even in case you don’t have a time objective in thoughts for the half marathon, you’ll need to embody velocity work in your coaching, whether or not that be fast track workouts or longer, tempo runs through which you alternate between jogging, operating, or sprinting, Siné says. Sprinkle this coaching into your plan about as soon as every week, Centenari suggests.

Velocity work helps you follow sustaining correct kind—and, in flip, shifting effectively—as your physique begins to fatigue, which is inevitable throughout long-distance runs.

“While you’re doing these velocity exercises, you are working towards good running form, you are working towards response time, you are working towards pacing, and also you’re additionally attending to be taught what your physique looks like…at 5K tempo or [a] half marathon tempo,” Siné says.

Choosing up the tempo can also be useful coaching on your coronary heart. Exposing your physique to larger effort ranges—you’re respiratory a bit more durable, it’s more difficult to speak, your coronary heart charge is larger—can construct up your tolerance so that you’re in a position to choose up the tempo when the end line is in sight, in response to Centenari.

“Folks counter-intuitively assume they need to run quick on a regular basis to be quick,” she says. “However it’s actually these small increments of publicity. And over time, your physique will adapt.”

The best way to progress

Most weeks, you’ll need to improve the time you spend in your toes or your distance by about 10 p.c, Siné says. The primary week, you would possibly run for a complete of 4 hours. Week two, you is perhaps as much as 4 and a half hours. Week three, you would be operating about 5 hours. Week 4 could also be a restoration week, conserving the period the identical or letting it drop barely to permit your physique to adapt to the work you’ve been placing in, Siné explains. Rinse and repeat.

On the peak of your half-marathon coaching, you’ll hit 10 to 12 miles every week, then you definately’ll drop it down barely through the tapering section (extra on this under), Centenari says.

The best way to choose the suitable coaching plan

There are a whole lot of half marathon coaching plans out there on-line, however there’s no single “greatest” program. As an alternative, think about your objective for the race, your schedule, your train historical past, and your earlier accidents, Centenari says.

Don’t select a coaching plan that requires 5 days of operating in case you can realistically squeeze in solely three. In case you merely need to end the race, you in all probability don’t need to select a plan that’s designed that can assist you hit a sure time objective. You’ll additionally need to select a coaching plan that’s simple so that you can perceive and avoids pointless jargon; there shouldn’t be a number of guesswork, Siné says.

“You are simply in search of a program that, in your intestine, feels manageable and doable—that is my largest piece of recommendation, particularly whenever you’re first beginning,” Centenari says.

The best way to add cross-training to your routine

Working shouldn’t be the solely health factor of your half-marathon coaching program. One to 2 occasions every week, you’ll need to interact in strength training. This resistance work can assist cut back the chance of harm, because it minimizes muscle imbalances that may develop from operating, improves bone energy, and may improve the energy of ligaments and tendons, in response to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).

Working is a unilateral motion—you by no means have each toes on the bottom on the identical time. So within the health club, you need to be testing your muscle mass with a mixture of single-leg workout routines that construct stability, Centenari says. Her favorites: lunges and single-leg Romanian deadlifts. You may also strive leaping lunges, single-leg field jumps, and skaters to construct energy that may assist propel you to the end.

Lateral actions (i.e., workout routines happening within the frontal aircraft of movement) are additionally key. Although operating is basically a ahead motion sample, you might must shortly soar out to the facet to keep away from a pothole or pedestrian on the sidewalk. Plus, side-to-side workout routines strengthen the muscle mass in your hips and knees that present stability when you run, Centenari says. Attempt lateral lunges, facet shuffles, and lateral step-ups.

Leg exercises are just one piece of the puzzle. You must also prioritize upper-body exercises—your arm swing helps reduce torso rotation, per a July 2014 analysis article in the Journal of Experimental Biology—and core work; the group of muscle mass all through your trunk ensures correct operating posture, permitting you to maneuver and breathe effectively, Siné says.

In Siné’s expertise, runners who’ve engaged in energy coaching are inclined to have extra energy, endurance, and psychological energy on race day in comparison with those that prevented it.

Power coaching apart, make the time for mobility work—workout routines through which you actively management and entry a joint’s full vary of movement—to additional reduce your threat of harm, Centenari suggests.

For instance, analysis means that restricted vary of movement throughout hip abduction (learn: shifting your leg away from the midline of your physique) is linked with a larger chance of future lower-body accidents, in response to an October 2013 analysis article within the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy. Attempt strikes just like the 90-90 hip stretch, cat-cow pose, and managed articular rotations (CARs).

Prioritizing your psychological well being is equally as vital. Siné recommends setting apart time to journal all through your coaching journey and routinely asking your self: Am I bodily hurting wherever? What can I do to enhance subsequent week? How do I really feel mentally and emotionally?

“I feel it is just like the feather in your hat for a coaching cycle,” she provides.

“You are simply in search of a program that, in your intestine, feels manageable and doable—that is my largest piece of recommendation, particularly whenever you’re first beginning.” KC Centenari, Tonal energy coach and Nike Working coach

The best way to gasoline and hydrate

Fueling correctly contributes simply as a lot to your half marathon success as operating itself. One of many largest errors Centenari sees runners make is just not consuming sufficient, particularly carbs and protein.

“Whether or not you are energy coaching or operating, you’re breaking down muscle fiber. And that is okay— that is the essence of figuring out,” she explains. “However with a purpose to construct it again up and get stronger, it’s important to be getting sufficient protein.”

The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) recommends exercising people eat 1.4 to 2 grams of protein per kilogram of physique weight every day to construct and keep muscle mass.

You additionally must load up on carbohydrates, that are damaged down quickly to offer your physique power throughout high-intensity train and replenish muscle glycogen shops after strenuous train. With out replenishing these shops, your efficiency might take a success, in response to a January 2018 knowledgeable panel report the journal Nutrition Today.

Purpose to get 5 to 7 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of physique weight per day on moderate-intensity days and think about upping it to eight to 12 grams per kilogram of physique weight per day as you lean into these high-intensity days, per the journal.

Earlier than your run

One to 4 hours forward of your run, eat a carbohydrate-rich meal for power to hold you thru your exercise. If it’s essential to head out on your run inside the subsequent hour, attempt to eat 30 grams of carbs earlier than you hit the highway, per Utah State University. Keep away from consuming an excessive amount of protein, which may result in intestine misery throughout your exercise, in response to Utah State University.

Throughout tour run

All through your runs, you’ll need to eat a carb-rich snack that’s about 100 to 200 energy each 25 to half-hour, in response to the specialists. Sooner is all the time higher than later.

“As quickly as you begin feeling like possibly you are under-fueled throughout a race, you are behind,” Centenari says. Along with declines in bodily efficiency, “the worst factor that may occur is we get to some extent within the race the place we’re ravenous and we’re depleting our power shops even quicker,” Siné says. “We are able to get actual foggy within the mind and tire simply.”

Vitality gels, chews, and bars are a favourite mid-workout snack amongst runners, however they’ll upset your abdomen, so experiment with completely different choices to seek out the perfect one for you, Centenari says. You may also flip to carb-heavy snacks like graham crackers, gummy bears, or selfmade power balls in case you desire a pantry method.

As you pound the pavement, bear in mind to remain on high of your hydration, taking just a few sips of your beverage—notably one wealthy in electrolytes—each mile marker and each time you eat, Siné says.

After your run

Inside the first 30 to 45 minutes after your exercise, eat a meal with a mix of protein and carbs to kickstart the restoration course of. Protein will rebuild broken-down muscle, whereas carbs will replenish your glycogen shops, Siné says. In case you’re tight on time, a protein bar or protein shake will do the trick, she provides.

The best way to taper

Though it’s tempting to coach your hardest till the final minute, tapering—dialing again your operating quantity—is crucial to performing your greatest come race day.

About two weeks earlier than the half marathon, you’ll hit the height of your coaching quantity; you’re spending essentially the most time in your toes or hitting your highest mileage. Then, you’ll spend the ultimate few weeks main as much as the marathon slowly slicing again on time or distance whereas sustaining depth, Siné says. One week out, you’ll do about 60 p.c of your peak workload. Race week, you’re right down to 40 to 50 p.c of that peak.

“Tapering doesn’t suggest you are simply not figuring out, you are not placing in any effort in your velocity exercises,” she explains. “You are simply operating much less in quantity, however you continue to need to maintain the physique sharp till racing.”

With this downtime, your physique and thoughts can adapt to all of the work you’ve put in.

“That taper week goes to permit your physique and your mind to take a bit of little bit of a step again, a bit of little bit of a breather, in order that by the point race day comes, you’re feeling prepared,” Centenari says. “It is one other ego drop. It’s important to go into that week and inform your self, ‘Okay, what are all the different issues that I can work on right here in addition to operating?’ That entails sleep, your meals, conserving stress ranges in your life low.”

The best way to put together for race day

When race day lastly arrives, maintain your routine so simple as doable. Eat a protein- and carb-rich breakfast just a few hours prematurely, keep away from any meals you’ve by no means tried earlier than a run, and keep on high of your water consumption. Additionally be sure your watch, headphones, and different devices are charged, the specialists counsel.

When you ought to keep away from intense bodily exercise, don’t begin the race out chilly. Attempt to go for a light-weight 10- to 15-minute jog and do some acquainted drills (e.g., A skips, B skips, strides) earlier than moving into your corral and beginning the race, which provides your physique an opportunity to loosen up and your thoughts to chill out, Siné suggests.

The best way to recuperate after your race

After you cross the half marathon end line, prioritize a cool-down routine; stroll or jog for 10 to twenty minutes and circulation by way of your favourite stretches or mobility practices, Siné suggests.

“In case you can assist it, do not attempt to instantly sit down—it is actually jarring on the physique to go from the sustained exercise, a lot velocity and energy going into it, to only a whole cease,” she says.

You’ll additionally need to drink an electrolyte-rich beverage to revive your ranges after sweating all through the race and eat a protein-heavy meal with some carbohydrates to begin the restoration course of. Simply know that your starvation cues could also be delayed, and you might not really feel like consuming a lot. If that’s the case, go for one thing easy like a protein shake and crackers, Siné says.

Over the following few weeks, Centenari recommends taking a step again from the world of operating, which has possible consumed your life for the final three to 4 months. Discover different types of motion—whether or not that’s powerlifting, yoga, or Pilates.

“After the race, there’s one thing known as marathon blues, which identical to, ‘Properly, I put all this work in, what do I do subsequent?’” she says. “I all the time inform individuals it is actually vital to only remind your self there’s extra to life in order that by the point you need to begin coaching for one thing else, you’re feeling refreshed and able to go.”

Finest coaching plans

To kick off your seek for a half marathon coaching program, try the next plans and see what meshes greatest along with your way of life and targets. In case you can’t discover a good match, attain out to an authorized run coach who can work with you to develop a customized program.

FAQ

1. Can a newbie run a half marathon with out prior expertise?

It’s completely doable to run a half marathon with out a lot operating expertise. Ideally, you’ll need to have spent a month or so operating half-hour a day a few occasions every week to construct a base stage of endurance, Siné says. It will make it much less bodily and mentally overwhelming to transition right into a half-marathon coaching program.

You’ll additionally need to check out a 5K earlier than signing up, Centenari provides.

“I really assume, as a coach, that when you get a 5K beneath your toes with a correct coaching plan, that you just transfer slowly and actually consider constructing quantity, you would plan to run a half marathon,” she says.

Taking part within the occasion can even offer you a style of the race expertise and assist you determine in case you really take pleasure in long-distance operating earlier than committing to 13.1 miles.

2. How lengthy does it take to coach for a half marathon as a newbie?

Precisely how lengthy it takes to coach for a half marathon as a first-timer all relies on how lengthy you’ve been operating. In case you started pounding the pavement inside the final 12 months, you’ll need to dedicate no less than three months to coaching on your half marathon, in response to the specialists.

However in case you’re comparatively new to operating or haven’t been too constant along with your routine, think about a four-month plan, Siné suggests. This extra month upfront can be utilized for constructing your base stage of health, she says.

3. What ought to learners deal with throughout half-marathon coaching?

Identical to all runners competing within the race, half marathon learners ought to focus their coaching on a mixture of simple runs, lengthy runs, and velocity work, with resistance coaching sprinkled in. However they’ll additionally must follow getting sufficient gasoline to help these runs.

Most significantly, first-timers ought to take it simple on themselves; nothing is ideal the primary time round.