8-Week Half Marathon Training Schedule for Not-So-Serious Runners
Here’s the thing though. 99% of organized races take place on the weekend. And once warmer weather hits, I’m just honestly not willing to give up a weekend to run a half marathon. Summers are short in New England, and I like to cram as much spontaneity and fun into them as possible. Of course it’d be a totally different story if I had a bunch of friends who loved running and we all picked some fun destination race to do, but I actually prefer running alone (it’s “me” time)…and most of my friends think I’m out of my mind for voluntarily running anything over 3 miles haha.
So what’s a not-so-serious runner looking to run a half marathon that doesn’t conflict with her summer calendar to do? It brings me great pleasure to announce the running of the 1st Annual Official Non-Official Nicole Half Marathon. It’s going to take place on a Wednesday. I’m going to run it alone. I’m going to buy myself a finisher’s medal on Amazon. I’ll probably wear a JammyPack. It’s going to be perfect.
From this morning’s run around Castle Island.
The 8-Week Half Marathon Training Plan
When I trained for my first half, I did so over 12 weeks, and the plan I used had me running way too many miles each week. Too long, too much (for me personally)—and the result was that I started to get sick of running. I was on the verge of hating it. I never want to get to the point where I dislike running—it’s my favorite form of alone time!
Because I run regularly, I feel comfortable jumping right into regular 5 and 6-mile runs, so this time I’m just preparing over a span of 8 weeks. No crazy mileage counts each week. One long run, one moderate run, a speed workout and a couple quick jogs a week. No more.
For the speed workouts, I’ll probably mix it up between treadmill workouts (I just bought a 30-day trial to Boston Sports Club) and going to Barry’s Bootcamp. I do, however, have a serious chronic disease that doesn’t allow me to self motivate on a treadmill past .001 miles, so it’ll probably be less of the former, way more of the latter.
From Friday’s run around the Charles River.
I think this training schedule will strike the perfect balance of challenging me while still keeping my runs enjoyable. I just wrapped up week one this morning with a 6-miler around Southie and so far, so good! I’m actually really excited to start working towards this. Sorry I’m not sorry I’d rather drink beers on a beach with my friends than pay $75 to run 13.1 miles with a bunch of strangers—bring it on 1st Annual Nicole Half!
Before I end this post I should add that if you chose to follow this 8-week plan just keep in mind that I’m by no means a running expert—I put this together based on my experience training for my first half.
Are you running any races this spring?
