Our 16 Week Half Marathon Training Plan For Beginners is a great plan to build up a strong base and find success on your first half marathon.
The training schedule is best suited for relatively new runners, or people who lead active lives but lack running experience.
You should ideally be able to run 3 miles / 5 km continuously – regardless of pace – before commencing this half marathon training program. That said, it can be used as a run/walk plan too.
Our 4 month half marathon training plan also comes with a free downloadable PDF.
16 Week Half Marathon Training Plan: Essential Info
Who is it for?:
Runners with a little experience, active people with no running experience. People looking to work hard to guarantee a good half marathon finish.
How Long?:
16 weeks // 4 Months.
This allows for a very gradual, controlled increase in your mileage – which minimises the risk of injury or overtraining issues.
The half marathon training schedule doesn’t have a speed or pace focus at all – the objective is to get the required mileage in. It includes 3 mid-week runs, to be performed at a comfortable pace, and one long-slow run each weekend to build your max mileage. The plan includes one cross-training day per week and two rest days.
Not convinced this is the plan for you?
Check out our other half marathon training plans!
How Many Days Per Week?:
The beginners training plan features 5 days of training per week; 4 days of running and 1 day of cross training.
Run / Walk
Struggling to continuously run the distances in the plan?
No problem!
Adopt a structured run/walk approach, and you’ll be fine.
Try this; run for 2 minutes, walk for 1 minute. Repeat.
If this is too much, increase the ratio so you’re walking more frequently.
As you body adjusts, you should find it easier to run more often than walk!
16 Week Half Marathon Training Plan: Training Breakdown
Training Runs
These are your classic training runs; do them in the mornings or after work, at a comfortable, sustainable pace.
These runs help add mileage to your training week and get your body used to running far!
Cross Training
Each week includes a cross training day; although these aren’t mandatory, I highly recommend them.
Why?
Cross training improves your cardiovascular health and strengthens some of the muscles weakened through running. This will help ensure you successfully reach your half marathon goal within 16 weeks.
Recommended cross-training exercises include bodyweight exercises, light gym work, swimming, yoga, pilates, and cycling!
Long Runs
You should be factoring in one long, slow run every weekend. These runs are all about increasing your endurance gradually.
Remember to take it easy during them, don’t push things, and don’t worry about walking breaks – it’s all about building up that time on your feet.
Download The Training Plan Here
Enter your email, and I’ll send you this free training plan now, in PDF and Google Sheets formats (completely customizable), in both miles and kilometers.
After entering your email, you’ll be prompted to create an account on the Grow platform we use to control access to the plans. It’s completely free – make sure to complete the process to gain access to the plan!
Previous visitor or not seeing where to sign up?
Head over to our half marathon training plan database for full access to all plans.
Check Out The Premium Version of The 16 Week Half Marathon Training Plan . . .
We’ve teamed with TrainingPeaks to offer a premium version of the 16 Week Half Marathon Training Plan:
Access the plan via the TrainingPeaks website and app, track your workouts in real-time against the plan, and get performance data analysis on your progress.
Check out the premium 16 week half marathon training plan here!
The most comprehensive plan you will find
I had run a couple of half marathons and was in reasonable shape coming into the plan and it was a good rise in intensity throughout. You need to want to do an event like this – I was getting up at 3am to get my long run in before kids weekend sport etc and this was hard. When you combine the plan with the online community through the Marathon Handbook FB page and website, you get complete support. Have used this plan with great success and now looking at upping the pace in the marathon space… GREAT JOB!
The Perfect Plan!
Easy to follow plan. I recently ran my 5th Half Marathon. I managed to do a sub 1.45 beating my previous best by 4 minutes. I shall be following the marathon plan later in the year as I prepare for my first 42k!
Remember that speed is not important for this training plan – more important is your ability to keep running the distances necessary.
The information is helpful.
10 / 10 - Got my through my race!
Great plan
This plan hit so well!
Well, I have been marathoning for almost 15 years and wanted to test something new out. I tried this plan because it looked completely different than any training method before. It didn’t make sense how the running peaked, and I got to the start line exhausted and sick, clearly under rested. The marathon had actually gone pretty smoothly until mile 17, when my ankle rolled and my ACL ripped. Had to quit the race and was upset with this training plan. However, free IS free. 6/10. Would not recommend
Proven Training Plans by a UESCA-certified Running Coach
Every one of our training plans has been developed by Thomas Watson, a UESCA-certified running coach.
Thomas is also a podium-finishing ultra-marathon runner, and has dozens of marathons under his belt.
Each training plan has been road-tested by hundred of runners, refined and improved – and are free to download and customise to suit your needs!