I love coaching new runners.
I get to answer all kinds of questions, research things to customize workouts, watch them make progress and share in their joy {ok and their pain because the struggle is real}.
BUT I know that not everyone is interested in a coach and really just wants to figure out what half marathon training plan (or other distance!) will do the trick. There are a million free training programs out there, but honestly I don’t put a whole lot of stock in most of them because they aren’t customized.
So what? Trust me I can read your mind, I know you’re thinking, who cares aren’t all miles the same?!
A customized plan takes in to account:
- Your personality
- Your schedule
- Your tendency to get injured
- Your life
- Your likes and dislikes
- Your past performance
- Your realistic and supersized goals
A running coach is going to help drill down in to each area for you, but if you want to attempt this process on your own, I certainly understand that!! It’s one of many reasons I began reading so many running books and trying to figure out what worked best for my body.
Following are my best tips for designing a training plan that will work for you.
CREATE YOUR OWN TRAINING PLAN
*I make no guarantees of a half marathon training plan created through your own making. It’s a bit like going to the salad bar, you go in the with best intentions of loading up on greens and suddenly you’ve got a little side of potatoes and a couple different dressings all running together.
Everything looks so tasty and you want to make sure you don’t miss out on anything, so you pile the plate high and let it all marinate together until the last few bites start to taste a bit off and you finish the meal thinking “I wish I’d stuck to my plan”.
Yup…honor your initial goals and intentions, ignore all the hype from every new workout that comes along while you are following said plan.
Basic Plan Builders
- Pick a goal race and register!
- Work backwards up to 24 weeks for a first marathon, 16 for a half, 12 for a 10K
- Understand your why for when it gets tough
- Set a general weekly plan (i.e. Monday is rest day, Tuesday speed work, Wed Strength)
- Consider the terrain of your race and ensure you are adding in trails or hills
- Make your hardest week 2-3 weeks prior to the race (highest mileage or most goal pace miles)
- Take in to account any travel or family obligations that may require moving around key workouts
- Each week should generally consist of time for a long run, a speed workout, time for pre-hab, cross training and then the other runs will depend on the below ideas.
Review Your History
It’s great to know where your fitness it right now, but what has your training historically looked like? Answering a few key questions, might help you better understand the needs of your body.
Are you someone who frequently gets injured?
– You might need to start off with less speed work
– You might need to shorten 1 or 2 runs to make time for pre-hab hip, glute and IT band work
What was your past performance?
Is your current goal wildly optimistic compared to past performance? Calculate the paces needed for your goal time and start trying to hit that for even a few minutes in your speed workouts. Gauge how you feel and adjust your goal.
What things have kept you from sticking to past plans?
Knowing the answer to this will help you set up things that prevent those excuses from coming up again and ensure the plan is one you’ll enjoy. That’s right you should ENJOY training.
What’s Your Fitness Personality?
Now you know how your body functions, but what about your brain? That’s right it’s a key player in hitting your race day goals.
Do you hate speed workouts?
I do. So I had to find ways that didn’t involve the words 400 meter repeats to improve speed. Fartleks, tempo runs, that use effort as a gauge are far more effective for me. Maybe for you the key is to always do speed workouts with a group, so you join the weekly Wednesday group run and set that day as your speed.
Do you love variety or prefer consistency?
Repeating the same workout will allow you to quickly see progress, but if it bores you to tears then you won’t do it. Find ways to switch up the number of repeats or the distance each week, maybe alternate between hill repeats and sprints each week.
Do you need a group?
Can you hold yourself accountable to get in daily workouts simply because you thrive on a goal or do you need a partner? If you need a buddy then it’s time to recruit a great friend for the journey or find a local club to join a few times a week.
If these ladies lived near me I’d be hooked to running buddies like nobodies business because they are all phenomenal! Top Row: Katy, Heather, Sarah, Julie. Bottom Row: Presley, Me, Dani, Larisa, Anne.
What’s Your Lifestyle?
A great chat with friends this weekend reminded me how easy it is to get sucked in to the idea of a race, when the reality is it doesn’t fit our lifestyle. Are you taking extra classes to finish an MBA? Focused on enjoying tons of time skiing this winter? Figure out if it’s really the right time for a big race goal.
Do you have a busy family life? Job? Want more time to socialize?
You might do better on a plan with only 3 weekly runs that are all high intensity.
Have more free time?
Then dive in to increasing your weekly mileage which is what the pro’s have shown works well to increase endurance and speed.
Feel stressed already by life?
Maybe the Low Heart Rate plan will work for you since it doesn’t stress the body the same way many traditional plans do.
How to design your own #running plan for a goal race Click To Tweet
Free Plans
I love the Another Mother Runner Training Plans
Runners World also offers plans
Part 1 of Road to a PR Series: How to Choose Your Goal Race Pace
Have you ever worked with a coach?
Do you love or hate following plans?
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Awesome! I actually took 1 training plan and adapted it to fit my needs. I'm also going with how my body feels to try and not injure myself. Hoping that will all help me complete my first marathon. 🙂
I love following plans! I like to see it all spelled out. I’m a planner by nature so being able to see what’s coming up and when is super helpful for me. I’ve never actually used a running coach (other than Hal Higdon, of course. lol) but, would totally consider it once I’m back to running.
This is so useful, thank you ! Personally I try to build my own training plan based around a rough template, but often I don’t take important factors (like injury) into account. I should! I’m pinning this post for future reference 🙂
Yes, I have worked with a Coach…YOU!! And highly recommend it!!
And yes, I LOVE ….super fluffly heart LOVE to follow a plan!!
Creating a training plan is so much more than just throwing together miles. SO much more! One size does not fit all, and those plans must also be flexible once put into action.
My fitness personality prefers variety over repeating the same type of workouts, so I definitely need that variety in my training plan – which is why I usually write my own. I also tweak my plan often – you can’t predict where your training will be 12 or 16 weeks from now!
I signed up for my first 15k this spring. The most frequent advice I see is not to increase running by more than 10% weekly. But…I don’t know what that means! 10% of what? Mileage? Time? What if you’re starting at zero miles? How do you increase from there?
Ha this is a great question! It depends a bit on how long you’ve been training, but ideally say you’re at 10 miles this week, you wouldn’t want to jump to 13 next week. So the general rule is mileage, which keeps you focused on only adding a mile or two each week initially.
From 0, I’d say really go check out the couch to 5k https://www.runtothefinish.com/beginner-running-tips
I loved everything about this post. I think with most people, they set goals that are too low for themselves because they don’t know how hard they can really push themselves yet. Then, after a while, they change their goals to something higher.
That’s the hardest part, in my opinion, is setting goals that are high yet realistic. When you do this you either sell yourself a little too short or too big. Finding that middle ground makes training and establishing your routine much easier.