Hal Higdon's Half Marathon Training

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Hal Higdon is a Contributing Editor for Runner’s World and is the magazine’s longest lasting writer, having contributed an article to RW’s second issue in 1966. He also is the author of more than three dozen books, including Marathon: The Utimate Training Guide and the recently published Hal Higdon’s Half Marathon Training. In 2003, the American Society of Journalists and Authors awarded Hal its Career Achievement Award, the highest honor given to writer members. Motivation remains key to the marathon: the motivation to begin; the motivation to continue; the motivation never to quit.” Initial Ramp (First To 16). This is the ramp from the first run to the first 16 mile or longer run. The important message here is that to prepare for Boston–and the aftermath of Boston–you must condition your legs by training on hills, not only many of your long runs, but also hill repeats, both up and down hills. You must also lift weights to strengthen your legs: specifically the quadriceps muscles, but also the calf and hamstring muscles. To fail in this regard is to invite injury and to insure an inferior performance. This Boston Bound Training Program takes this message seriously. In Intermediate 1, the plan starts with 17 miles across five runs in the first week. It slowly builds to 30 miles in the peak week (11). Mondays are reserved for cross training, and Saturdays include some race pace work. Some Saturdays are rest days, assuming you run a 5k or 10k tune up race. The mid-week runs are significantly longer than the Novice programs, with the longest Wednesday run at 8 miles.

Walking: Walking is an excellent exercise that a lot of runners overlook in their training. I don’t specify walking breaks, but feel free to walk during your running workouts any time you feel tired. Be aware that I also offer a separate half marathon training program for those who plan to walk all the way. It is quite possible to use one of these plans as an initial basis and then tweak it to your particular needs. There are trivial tweaks, such as doing the Long Run on a different day, to major changes. Changes such as swapping out runs that are not key workouts for cross training or rest can be done quite easily. However, the more extensive the change, the more experience you need to understand the implications. I've added some notes on each plan where I believe modifications are advisable.While he does have a more advanced plan for experienced runners, the more popular Hal Higdon half marathon training plans are those geared towards beginners. They don’t require a lot of mileage to start. They’re also not complicated or intimidating. Overview of Hal Higdon Half Marathon Training Plans Enthusiast: This is a runner who has trained hard for marathons in the past and is looking for ways of optimizing their performance. But remember, training for a half marathon isn’t just about physical fitness. It’s also about mental toughness, perseverance, and dedication. You’ll undoubtedly encounter challenges along the way, but with determination and a positive mindset, you can overcome them all.

Like or hate speed work: Some plans include a lot more speed work than others, and different runners either enjoy or hate doing speed work. Also some runners find themselves easily injured by speed work, and need to avoid it.Unlike other authors who tend to focus on marathons or shorter distances, Hal’s book is geared very directly at half marathons. His book starts with the history of half marathons, and it then it proceeds to some things that beginning runners will need to know. Some of the plans have different number of days assigned to different activities as the plan progresses, in which case I've used a rough approximation.