Are you searching for a new 24 week half marathon training plan? If so, I am glad you have made it here to RunDreamAchieve. I always tell athletes that the longer your build up the better your chances for success. The reason being is you are not rushing your fitness. Remember, it takes between 3 to 4 weeks for the body to adapt to any stress load you are placing on it. So, you can’t be in a rush when it comes to racing fitness.
I would recommend focusing on running easy for a minimum of 4 weeks before moving into your half marathon race build up. I have created 24 week half marathon training plans here at RDA to help runners make the next leap in their training. It also helps to not guess what types of workouts you need to be doing. The better bet is to know exactly what workouts you need to be doing on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.
The half marathon is 13.1 miles or 21.1 kilometers. How do you become more efficient at racing this distance? The world’s top middle to long distance runners spend about 40 percent of their weekly volume training at high intensities. So, of course, they make racing look easy. They simply have spent a higher percentage of their weekly volume training at closer to their maximum heart rate.
Can I Train for a Marathon in 24 Weeks?
Much like a 24 week half marathon training plan training for a marathon in 6 months is optimal. Again, the longer the build up the higher your chances of success. The longer half marathon and marathon races demand that we focus a longer period of time on them to get it right. Yes, you can most certainly train for a marathon or half-marathon in 24 weeks.
6 months is plenty of time to train adequately for these races. Furthermore, a proper focus on both speed and building your endurance will ensure that improve your body’s lactate tolerance. Of course, if you spend too much time running aerobically you are only going to build endurance.
So, you still need to work on your speed development. The more time spent at your anaerobic threshold and vo2 max will help half marathon race pace to feel easier. Longer tempo runs will help you run more efficiently and economically throughout the half marathon distance.
CHECK OUT OUR RUNNING COURSESInvest in Yourself
Make sure to subscribe to the RunDreamAchieve YouTube channel. I create new training and racing videos there weekly to help runners such as yourself get new personal bests. Remember, the goal here is train smarter, not necessarily harder. I have known many hard working runners over the years who still didn’t meet their time goals.
So, you have to spend a higher percentage of your weekly mileage training at or below goal half marathon race pace. There are still far too many runners running too easy too often. Yes, running easy is important for half marathon success. That being said, you also have to train faster than your goal half marathon race pace to sustain pace longer than your competition.
Are you seeking to break the sub 2 hour half marathon? If so, I have created a running course specifically for that goal to be achieved. Would you rather just invest in a 24 week half marathon training plan and use a new strategy to prepare? No problem. I have also created training plans to help set you up for success as well.
Closing Thoughts
There are many variables that go into training for a half marathon properly. You have to train sufficiently at, close to or far below goal half marathon race pace. Remember, you want to sustain pace longer than your competition. In addition, get better equipped to handle and clear lactic acid faster than it is building up. The faster we run the higher lactic acid accumulates. So, training at faster paces than goal pace will help you to better handle higher amounts of lactic acid build up.
Are you ready to take your training and racing to the next level? If so, check out the resources available to you here at RunDreamAchieve. Keep me posted on your progress. You can reach me at nathanpennington [at] protonmail [dot] com. Feel free to visit the about page if you would like to know more about my training and racing history. I look forward to hearing about your new personal bests over your chosen race distances.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR TRAINING PLANS
