Half Marathon Training Plan
Gearing Up For The Half Marathon!
Are you ready to run the half marathon this year? If you’re up for this fun challenge, take note of the pointers discussed in this article before you kick off your half marathon training plan! Running a half marathon will give you a definite fitness boost, a surge of motivation and a wonderful feeling of accomplishment. However, to actually participate in a half marathon, you will need to follow a half marathon training guide! Covering 13.1 miles in one go without any prior training is obviously not possible. Your body needs to be slowly conditioned through a half marathon training plan so that it can successfully cope with the vigorous exercise and stress that it will experience on the day of the race!
Half Marathon Training Plan- Pre-Training!
Before you commence your actual half marathon training plan, there are a few things that you must take care of by performing a pre-training workout!
- Use combinations of running and walking during your workouts to enhance your stamina and to reduce the risk of succumbing to a running injury.
- Your body should be used to running. If you can manage to run at a stretch for 30 minutes then your body is ready for the half marathon training plan! If not, then you still need to work on building up your body’s running capacity.
Half Marathon Training Plan- The Training!
Once you have fulfilled the pre-training criteria, you can begin to follow your half marathon training guide. Follow a 10 week training regime and increase the distance covered with each passing week! This half marathon training plan assumes that you can pull off a weekly mileage of 8-10 miles and that you have been running for at least 2 months. A sample format for week 1 of the half marathon training plan is as follows: cover 3 miles on Monday, take Tuesday off as a rest day, cover 3 miles on Wednesday, cover 3 miles on Thursday, take Friday off as a rest day, cover 4 miles on Saturday and take Sunday off as a rest day!
With every passing week, remember to increase the mileage covered by 10% of that covered in the previous week. By following this half marathon training guide, you should be ready and pumped up right in time for the race!
Conclusion
Apart from following a half marathon training plan, there are other things that need to be taken care of to ensure that you do not get injured during the training regime or the race itself! First things first, invest in a good pair of running shoes! While following the half marathon training guide do remember to stay hydrated by having 6 to 8 oz of water every 20 minutes. Stay strong by consuming carbohydrates (65% of total calories consumed), proteins (10% of total calories consumed) and unsaturated fats (20-25% of total calories consumed). Use your rest days to ice down any muscle soreness, and to give your body a chance to recuperate!
