12-Week Half Marathon Training Schedule

The 13.1-mile half-marathon is an endurance challenge that requires dedication to well-designed training. It will take three months of steadily increasing your runs to prepare. You will need to dedicate four to five days per week to your training.

Are you preparing for your first half marathon? Start with a beginner runner 12-week half-marathon training schedule. But if you have run at least one half-marathon—or completed a 5K or 10K and can run four miles comfortably—this 12-week training schedule for advanced beginners is appropriate.

Daily Workouts

This 12-week half-marathon training schedule is built so harder days are followed by an easier day or a rest day. You can switch days to accommodate your schedule. If you prefer to work out on a Monday or Friday, swap a rest day for a run day. If you'd like to track your pace for any of your training runs, try our calculator.

Mondays and Fridays

Mondays and Fridays are usually rest days. Don't ignore rest days—they're important to your recovery and injury prevention efforts. Your muscles build and repair themselves at rest. You won't gain strength and you will increase your injury risk if you don't take some rest days.

Tuesdays and Saturdays

After you warm up, run at a comfortable pace for the designated mileage.

Wednesdays

Do a cross-training (CT) activity (such as biking or swimming) at an easy to moderate-effort for 45 to 50 minutes. Strength training is also recommended as part of a balanced exercise program, and you may include that on your CT day.

Thursdays

In the fourth week, you'll start to do race-pace runs. After a 1-mile warm-up (WU), run for the indicated distance at your half-marathon race pace. Then run a 1-mile cooldown (CD) at your easy, conversational pace. If you're unsure what your half marathon pace is, run at a speed you think you could hold for 13.1 miles.

You can also try interval training workouts on these days: For example, eight to 10 repeats of 400m at a 10K pace with two minutes rest between each rep, then the remaining mileage at a 5K pace.

Saturdays

This is your long run day. Warm up at an easy pace, then run at an easy, conversational pace. It is good to practice wearing your race gear, getting appropriate hydration, and replenishing with energy snacks as you will during the race. As you reach longer miles, it will become important to use blister-prevention strategies such as lubricating your feet or using cornstarch to keep them dry.

Sundays

Sundays are active recovery days. Run at an easy (EZ), comfortable pace to help loosen your muscles.

Advanced Beginner Training Schedule

Follow the guidance for each week as closely as possible so you increase mileage at a steady pace. The final two weeks of the schedule include tapering so you have time to recover fully before your race.

Half-Marathon Training Tips

At a half-marathon distance, you will need to plan for proper refueling and hydration for your long run. This will be provided on the race course, but do it yourself during training.

Drink throughout your run (four to six ounces every 20 minutes) and experiment with energy gels or bars and sports drinks so you know what will work during the race. For long training runs, you may need to plan a route that includes access to water and sports drinks or carry it with you on a hydration belt or with a hydration pack.

If your half-marathon race includes hills, include them in your training routes. You can use a treadmill when training, but it's best to only use it for one to two of your shorter weekly workouts. Aim to do your long day (Saturday) on the road so you are used to those conditions.

After the Half-Marathon

Your next step would be improving your finish time with an intermediate half-marathon schedule. Speed is built with interval workouts and tempo runs in addition to your steady-state and long runs each week.