10 Weeks Half Marathon Training

Endurance

To run a half marathon you will need to consistently improve your endurance. While training for endurance, focus on completing the distance rather than completing it in a certain time. Taking your time and running at a comfortable pace will build your endurance and will condition your body to running a half marathon.

As you start running more miles a week, add speed training to your schedule so your body becomes used to being pushed. Do not attempt to run endurance-length distances to practice speed because you will become fatigued and you could injure yourself. Practice speed running on weekdays because these distances are shorter than your weekend runs and therefore better suited to building speed. Build speed gradually over the 10 weeks of training.

Rest is important because injuring yourself will knock you out of training. When you begin training, rest at least a day in between training session especially if you are not a regular runner. For the first four weeks you should be resting three days per week between training sessions. After week four, however, you can drop this to two days of rest with five days of training per week.

In week one through seven, run three miles every other day except one day per weekend, where you add an extra mile every week. So, week one's schedule would be to run three miles on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and then three miles on Sunday. By week seven you should be running three miles on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and up to 10 miles on Sunday. During week eight, nine and 10, increase your weekday runs to four miles and keep increasing the Sunday run by a mile so that you reach 13 miles by your last week. Wednesdays should be your speed-training day where you try to run the three or four miles slightly faster than on other days. You should aim to reduce each mile by 30 seconds to one minute on your speed runs.