Half Marathon - 14 week beginners schedule

Week Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun
1 Rest Walk 30mins brisk Rest Walk 30mins brisk Rest Walk 10mins, run 20mins easy, walk 10min = 40mins Rest
2 Rest (Run 10mins easy, walk 10mins) x 2 = 40mins Rest Walk 10mins, run 15mins easy, walk 10mins = 35mins Rest Walk 5mins brisk, run 25mins easy, walk 5mins brisk, walk 5mins easy =
40mins		 Rest
3 Rest Run 30mins easy Rest Run 5mins easy, (run 3mins brisk, run 3mins easy or walk) x 3, run 5mins
easy		 Rest Run 40mins easy Rest
4 Rest Run 35mins easy Rest Run 5mins easy, (run 4mins fast, run 3mins easy or walk) x 4, run 5mins
easy		 Rest Run 45mins easy Rest
5 Rest Run 40mins easy Rest Run 30mins easy Rest Run 50mins easy Rest
6 Rest Run 45mins easy Rest Run 30mins easy Rest Run 55mins easy Rest
7 Rest Run 40mins easy Rest Run 5mins easy, (run 2mins fast, run 2mins easy) x 6, run 5mins easy Rest Run 65mins easy Rest
8 Rest Run 40mins easy Rest Run 5mins easy, run 20mins tempo (quicker than normal – but not really
hard), run 5mins easy		 Rest Run 75mins easy Rest
9 Rest Run 45mins easy Rest Run 5mins easy (run 6mins tempo, run 3mins easy) x 4, run 5mins easy Rest Run 1hour 30mins easy (walk every 30mins if you need to) Rest
10 Rest Run 30mins easy Rest Run 30mins easy Rest Run a 10k this weekend or run 30mins tempo Rest
11  Rest Run 45mins easy Rest Run 10mins easy (run 3mins steady, run 1min faster, jog 2mins) x 4, run
10mins easy		 Rest Run 1hour 50mins easy (take walk break if you need to) Rest
12 Rest Run 50mins easy Rest Run 10mins easy, (run 2mins fast, run 2mins very easy) x 8, run 10mins
easy		 Rest 90mins easy Rest
13 Rest Run 20mins easy Rest Run 10mins easy, run 25mins at you half marathon pace, run 10mins
easy		 Rest Run 50mins easy Rest
14 Run 30mins easy Rest Run 20mins easy Rest Run 10mins easy Rest Race day – good luck! 
               
Alternative exercise or cross training is there to use slightly different muscle groups to running, give variety and build all round strength and fitness. It can be swimming, cycling or walking, or a game of squash, tennis or 5 a side. Or it can be an exercise, yoga or pilates class. Tempo Runs Tempo runs (sometimes called threshold runs) are runs where after a 10-15 minute warm up you run at a sustained pace for anything from 20 min up to an hour with a 10-15 min slower jog at the end. You are running hard, possibly just below your normal 10k pace, but not flat out. And the distance and effort should be such that you do not finish feeling exhausted. As with interval runs, it is such an individual area, to recommend individually. Pace Runs Pace runs are training runs, run at approximately your estimated race pace. That is if you are aiming for a 3 hour 30 marathon averaging approx 8 min miles.(5 min km) then your pace runs are run at 8 min miles. They help build pace judgement and even paced running. The long training run is there to build endurance, not speed, and running your long run at a faster pace than you are ready for could lead to you taking longer to recover each week and upset the steady gradual improvement all schedules are designed to bring.