My Half Marathon Training Plan

Hello everyone and Happy MAY!!! This is my favorite month as my birthday is on the 16th, so of course that means the whole month of May is awesome! Even though, I’m not too excited about turning 29! It’s like whoa, I’m getting older here! I am finishing up my 30 Things To Do Before I Turn 30 List, and will update you when its complete! I only have 2 weeks so I need to get on the ball!!

So I’ve had lots of people ask me what training plan I am using for my half marathon training. I know that there are a number of training plans available, so I wanted to discuss a few here for anyone looking to start or switch training programs.

Hal Higdon’s Half Marathon Training:

This is the training plan that I am currently using. When I first tried to train for the half marathon before getting sick, this is the one I used, so I came back to it. I enjoy this one because I felt like the mileage was extremely doable, and as a beginner, I didn’t feel like we would be moving so fast  in terms of the miles. Here is what the plan looks like:

I enjoy it as its only 12 weeks long, you have rest days incorporated, and Hal Higdon is extremely well known in the runners world, having written 36 books about running, I think I’ll trust his judgement! His training plans, which include all race miles, can be found at http://www.halhigdon.com/.

Jeff Galloway Half Marathon Training:

Here is another plan that I would be very interested in doing. Jeff Galloway is an US Olympian, who has ran for over 50 years, 30 of them without injury! That alone tells me this man knows what he is talking about. What makes Jeff’s training plans so well knows is that he teaches the “Run, Walk, Run” training method. The Galloway Run Walk Run Method. Galloway designed this method in 1973 to help beginners start running. Strategic walk breaks allow each runner to control fatigue, virtually eliminating significant running injuries. Numerous surveys show that veterans tend to improve their finish times when they shift to Run Walk Run. Now, for some runners, and this is just what I see on blogs, FB and such so I’m not saying its true, some runners seem to think this is a faux pas! If you are training to run a race, you train to RUN, not walk. BUT, again, seeing as Jeff is an Olympian, and no injury, I think there is alot of value to his method, and admitting enough, I would love to see the difference in time, endurance, ect when I am trained to take a “walk break” as I call it. He is also very big on the “Magic Mile”. He is also the one who has training plans for the RunDisney races. More information can be found at http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/half-marathon-training/.

Nike+ Coach Half Marathon Training:

There is a new feature on the Nike + Running app that I use call Nike+ Coach. I thought this would be perfect as I record my races on Nike+ to check this out. It included rest days, introduced me to fartlek runs and tempo runs, and it was nice to have it all on my app. I can’t give the greatest review because as I was starting with a shorter week training than it recommended (I was already in week 4 of training when I plugged in my info) I did feel like this training had me running alot more miles than Hal Higdon’s training did (first week of a normal 12 week training had me running 14 miles vs. 12 miles) and by week 3, you were already running 6 mile long runs. Also, this training has you actually running 13 miles in week 10 before taper week, while Hal believes to not train the entire distance, and that your motivation and such will take you the entire way. So again, that’s just my personal opinion on it!

 

Check out the new summer hair! I am totally in love! 

I was totally meant to be a blond!

What training plan are you using for your races? Which one is your favorite?