my half marathon training routine

I’m running my third (?!) half marathon this April. Ever since taking a running class – one of those one-credit, just-for-fun classes – I’ve fallen in love with running. If you told me this in high school or even freshman year of college, I would have said you were crazy. I’ve found that I’m really into the sense of accomplishment you get after running and just how easy it is to move and get started.

As I train for the Rock the Parkway half marathon this spring, I wanted to make a difference. I’m aiming to raise at least $200 as I’ll be running 200 miles from February to April to be prepared for the half.

Join me in supporting Children’s Mercy, a nonprofit hospital, as part of the Burns & McDonnell Rock the Parkway on April 13! With your help, we can make a difference in the lives of patients and their families at Children’s Mercy. The link is here to donate – thank you!

My previous experiences

Previously when training for my other two half marathons, I roughly followed the Hal Higdon Novice 1 training plan. I say roughly because I didn’t keep up with it very well and let myself taper off my training when I needed it most, getting closer to the race. It didn’t affect me much for my first half (I did much better than I expected), but it definitely did for my second half. All I wanted to do for my first half was just finish, but I wanted to beat my time for my second half. I ended up missing it by about 3 minutes. I did just about everything you could do wrong in my training for both of those half marathons!

The technique that I used to train for my first two half marathons was the Jeff Galloway method. The method uses a run-walk technique, i.e. run for 3 minutes, walk for 45 seconds (and other combinations). This is very popular for making it easier to run longer distances as well as run faster. I really liked it; however, I found myself relying on the walking times even when I was able to start running again. For my third half marathon, I want to run the whole thing as much as possible.

Training plan schedule 

I’m using the Hal Higdon plan again, but this time I’m using the Novice 2 program. This program has more days of running and takes the long run up to 12 miles the week before the race instead of 10 miles. I’m on week 5 and I’ve been loving it so far. My class schedule is also a lot freer this semester and that makes a big difference for me. I prefer running in the late morning/afternoon and I’m able to do that easily. My advice below is based on both Hal Higdon’s plan and my personal experience. I would recommend reading his plan if you want a more in-depth look.

Recovery runs

Tuesday through Thursday’s runs should be at a comfortable pace. They’re recovery runs to shake out your legs but keep up your fitness. Since these runs are short, you could combine weight training on these days. If I have time, I normally try to do ab or arm workouts after these runs. The ‘pace’ runs means you should be running at your ideal race pace for the half marathon.

Long runs

Sometimes I run the long runs on Sundays and cross-train on another day. The schedule is fairly flexible throughout the week if you end up needing to skip a 3-mile or 4-mile day, but the long runs are essential. Not only do they build your physical endurance, but they build your mental endurance as well. You should run these slower than your race pace, at least 30-90 seconds slower. The adrenaline on race day will push you through the course!

Cross-training

For the cross-training days, the biggest thing you need to do is just move! I find myself stiff and sore if I don’t do anything the day after a long run. This includes biking, swimming, walking and even Zumba or rollerblading. I really want to start swimming for my cross-training because it’s so low-impact but still effective. If you have advice for swimming workouts, I’d love to hear.

Hydration

I did say I want to run as much as possible, but that doesn’t mean I’m not ruling out walking completely. I started training my stomach this week with my long runs. In races, they usually have Gatorade and water at the aid stations. Previously when I drank Gatorade during the race, it upset my stomach, but that was because I didn’t train with it at all. I started slowing my pace enough to walk after every mile, long enough to drink a disposable cup’s worth (think a Dixie cup – 3 or 5oz) of Gatorade. I felt much less dehydrated after the run than I normally do, so I’ll keep this up. On my first 10 mile run ever I ended up having to call my friends to pick me up because I was so dehydrated…I won’t make that mistake again!

If you have questions about training for a half marathon, let me know! I would love to help. I’m also using the hashtag #hannahtohalf on my Instagram and post all the time on my stories about my training if you want to follow along.

If you choose to donate to Children’s Mercy for my fundraiser, leave a comment below. I’d love to personally thank you!

xo, Hannah