There’s no time like the present: get started on your half-marathon journey today with our eight week training plan.@WomensRunning

8-Week Intermediate Half Marathon Training Plan

You’ll get into half marathon running shape in 2 months with this training plan.

Updated Dec 28, 2024

The Editors of RUNFollow

from Women’s Running

If done correctly, it is possible to โ€œcrash trainโ€ for a half marathon. Whether itโ€™s an injury, an illness, work stress or scheduling that threw you off track, even just four weeks is enough time to prepare for a successful 13.1-miler provided youโ€™re healthy and able to train without further interruptions. But a better approach is to follow this 8-week intermediate half marathon training plan.

The key to crash training is building fitness quickly without taking big risks. The best tools for fast fitness are frequency and intensity. Doing some kind of cardio almost every dayโ€”whether that means running, walking or cross-trainingโ€”will help you make the most of the time you have.

RELATED: Take the โ€œYou vs. the Year 2025โ€ Running Challenge

Getting Started

This 8-week intermediate half marathon training plan is perfect if your half marathon is eight weeks away and youโ€™re fit enough to run 5 miles comfortably.

The plan includes โ€œoptionalโ€ days, when you have a choice to rest, run or cross-train (XT) with non-impact cardio, such as cycling or elliptical training. Youโ€™ll get fitter faster if you choose the rest option only when you feel your body needs it.

Each run uses a five-point intensity scale based on ratings of perceived effort (RPE). Heart-rate monitors can be helpful, but going by feel works just as well. Use these guidelines to understand your planโ€™s intensity scale.

RPE 1: Very Easyโ€”a pleasant effort you feel you could keep up almost indefinitely.
RPE 2: Comfortableโ€”youโ€™re not holding yourself back but you can still easily carry on a conversation.
RPE 3: Comfortably Hardโ€”the highest intensity at which you can speak comfortably.
RPE 4: Hardโ€”after a few minutes at this intensity, your breathing is labored.
RPE 5: Very Hardโ€”an effort that you can sustain for a couple of minutes at most

0 of 4 minutes, 46 secondsVolume 90%

Week 1
Monday: REST
Tuesday: FAST FINISH RUN 30 min @ RPE 2 + 5 min @ RPE 3
Wednesday: EASY RUN 35 min @ RPE 2
Thursday: OPTIONAL: WALK, RUN or XT 35 min @ RPE 1-2 or Rest
Friday: INTERVAL RUN/WALK 5 min @ RPE 1 + 5 min @ RPE 2 + 5 x (1 min @ RPE 5/2 min @ RPE 1) + 5 min @ RPE 2 + 5 min @ RPE 1
Saturday: XT 35 min @ RPE 2
Sunday: LONG RUN 5 miles @ RPE 2

Week 2
Monday: REST
Tuesday: FAST FINISH RUN 35 min @ RPE 2 + 5 min @ RPE 3
Wednesday: EASY RUN 40 min @ RPE 2
Thursday: OPTIONAL: WALK, RUN or XT 35 min @ RPE 1-2 or Rest
Friday: INTERVAL RUN/WALK 5 min @ RPE 1 + 5 min @ RPE 2 + 7 x (1 min @ RPE 5/2 min @ RPE 1) + 5 min @ RPE 2 + 5 min @ RPE 1
Saturday: XT 40 min @ RPE 2
Sunday: LONG RUN 6 miles @ RPE 2

Week 3
Monday: REST
Tuesday: FAST FINISH RUN 35 min @ RPE 2 + 10 min @ RPE 3
Wednesday: EASY RUN 45 min @ RPE 2
Thursday: OPTIONAL: WALK, RUN or XT 40 min @ RPE 1-2 or Rest
Friday: INTERVAL RUN/WALK 5 min @ RPE 1 + 5 min @ RPE 2 + 9 x (1 min @ RPE 4/2 min @ RPE 1) + 5 min @ RPE 2 + 5 min @ RPE 1
Saturday: XT 45 min @ RPE 2
Sunday: LONG RUN 7 miles @ RPE 2

Week 4
Monday: REST
Tuesday: FAST FINISH RUN 30 min @ RPE 2 + 5 min @ RPE 3
Wednesday: EASY RUN 35 min @ RPE 2
Thursday: OPTIONAL: WALK, RUN or XT 35 min @ RPE 1-2 or Rest
Friday: INTERVAL RUN/WALK 5 min @ RPE 1 + 5 min @ RPE 2 + 7 x (1 min @ RPE 5/2 min @ RPE 1) + 5 min @ RPE 2 + 5 min @ RPE 1
Saturday: XT 35 min @ RPE 2
Sunday: LONG RUN 6 miles @ RPE 2

Week 5
Monday: REST
Tuesday: TEMPO RUN 5 min @ RPE 1 + 10 min @ RPE 2 + 15 min @ RPE 3 + 10 min @ RPE 2 + 5 min @ RPE 1
Wednesday: EASY RUN 45 min @ RPE 2
Thursday: OPTIONAL: WALK, RUN or XT 45 min @ RPE 1-2 or Rest
Friday: INTERVAL RUN/WALK 5 min @ RPE 1 + 5 min @ RPE 2 + 6 x (2 min @ RPE 4/2 min @ RPE 1) + 5 min @ RPE 2 + 5 min @ RPE 1
Saturday: XT 45 min @ RPE 2
Sunday: LONG RUN WITH FAST FINISH 7 miles @ RPE 2 + 1 mile @ RPE 3

Week 6
Monday: REST
Tuesday: TEMPO RUN 5 min @ RPE 1 + 10 min @ RPE 2 + 20 min @ RPE 3 + 10 min @ RPE 2 + 5 min @ RPE 1
Wednesday: EASY RUN 50 min @ RPE 2
Thursday: OPTIONAL: WALK, RUN or XT 50 min @ RPE 1-2 or Rest
Friday: INTERVAL RUN/WALK 5 min @ RPE 1 + 5 min @ RPE 2 + 5 x (3 min @ RPE 4/2 min @ RPE 1) + 5 min @ RPE 2 + 5 min @ RPE 1
Saturday: XT 50 min @ RPE 2
Sunday: LONG RUN WITH FAST FINISH 7.5 miles @ RPE 2 + 1.5 mile @ RPE 3

Week 7
Monday: REST
Tuesday: TEMPO RUN 5 min @ RPE 1 + 10 min @ RPE 2 + 25 min @ RPE 3 + 10 min @ RPE 2 + 5 min @ RPE 1
Wednesday: EASY RUN 55 min @ RPE 2
Thursday: OPTIONAL: WALK, RUN or XT 50 min @ RPE 1-2 or Rest
Friday: INTERVAL RUN/WALK 5 min @ RPE 1 + 5 min @ RPE 2 + 4 x (4 min @ RPE 4/2 min @ RPE 1) + 5 min @ RPE 2 + 5 min @ RPE 1
Saturday: XT 55 min @ RPE 2
Sunday: LONG RUN WITH FAST FINISH 9 miles @ RPE 2 + 2 mile @ RPE 3

Week 8
Monday: REST
Tuesday: TEMPO RUN 5 min @ RPE 1 + 10 min @ RPE 2 + 20 min @ RPE 3 + 10 min @ RPE 2 + 5 min @ RPE 1
Wednesday: EASY RUN 45 min @ RPE 2
Thursday: INTERVAL RUN/WALK 5 min @ RPE 1 + 5 min @ RPE 2 + 4 x (2 min @ RPE 4/2 min @ RPE 1) + 5 min @ RPE 2 + 5 min @ RPE 1
Friday: XT 35 min @ RPE 2
Saturday: REST
Sunday: HALF MARATHON

Oatmeal Is Still the Worldโ€™s Best Recovery Food @WomensRunning

Women’s Running

@WomensRunning

Sure, it’s old fashioned. But it’s also nutritional rocket fuel, and athletes are making it taste great. Here’s how.

February 28, 2023 Wes Judd

In a world of green juice and chia seed pudding, this age-old dish is the original, and perhaps most powerful, superfood, especially for athletes competing at the highest levels.

โ€œIโ€™ve asked a lot of elite endurance athletes about their breakfast foods, particularly before races, and oatmeal comes up again and again and again,โ€ says Matt Fitzgerald, endurance coach, nutritionist, and author of The Endurance Diet.

Youโ€™re most likely to see oatmeal served with a ton of fixinโ€™s, but even a bowl of plain oats holds its own as a nutritional panacea. Oatmeal is a whole grain (unless you buy oat branโ€”just part of the seedโ€”as opposed to rolled oats) filled with key vitamins and minerals, a low-glycemic carb that provides lasting energy for your workout and helps fuel recovery without causing a sugar crash, and high in fiber to aid your digestive and metabolic systems.

But a bowl of oats is also a big blank canvas, ready to be combined with a truckload of other high-quality, nutritious ingredients that make it even better training food. โ€œThatโ€™s one of oatmealโ€™s great virtues. You can take it in so many directions,โ€ says Fitzgerald.

Even energy bar companies use it. Picky Bars have Picky Oats, a lineup of better-for-the-athlete instant oatmeal chock-full of real ingredients to support performance, rather than added sugars or fake health foods. โ€œI literally believe that besides energy bars, oatmeal is the next most pervasive food for athletes,โ€ says Jesse Thomas, former professional triathlete and Picky Bars CEO.

Itโ€™s easy to make. All you have to do is boil a ratio of 1/2 cup rolled oats to one cup liquidโ€”either water or a milk of your choiceโ€”and top it with whatever you need that day. (For steel-cut oats, change the ratio to 1/4 cup oats to one cup liquid.) Hereโ€™s how six athletes do it.

RELATED: Healthy Delicious Baked Oatmeal

Oatmeal Is Still the Worldโ€™s Best Performance Breakfast @WomensRunning

Women’s Running

@WomensRunning

Sure, it’s old fashioned. But it’s also nutritional rocket fuel, and athletes are making it taste great. Here’s how.

February 28, 2023 Wes Judd

In a world of green juice and chia seed pudding, this age-old dish is the original, and perhaps most powerful, superfood, especially for athletes competing at the highest levels.

โ€œIโ€™ve asked a lot of elite endurance athletes about their breakfast foods, particularly before races, and oatmeal comes up again and again and again,โ€ says Matt Fitzgerald, endurance coach, nutritionist, and author of The Endurance Diet.

Youโ€™re most likely to see oatmeal served with a ton of fixinโ€™s, but even a bowl of plain oats holds its own as a nutritional panacea. Oatmeal is a whole grain (unless you buy oat branโ€”just part of the seedโ€”as opposed to rolled oats) filled with key vitamins and minerals, a low-glycemic carb that provides lasting energy for your workout and helps fuel recovery without causing a sugar crash, and high in fiber to aid your digestive and metabolic systems.

But a bowl of oats is also a big blank canvas, ready to be combined with a truckload of other high-quality, nutritious ingredients that make it even better training food. โ€œThatโ€™s one of oatmealโ€™s great virtues. You can take it in so many directions,โ€ says Fitzgerald.

Even energy bar companies use it. Picky Bars have Picky Oats, a lineup of better-for-the-athlete instant oatmeal chock-full of real ingredients to support performance, rather than added sugars or fake health foods. โ€œI literally believe that besides energy bars, oatmeal is the next most pervasive food for athletes,โ€ says Jesse Thomas, former professional triathlete and Picky Bars CEO.

Itโ€™s easy to make. All you have to do is boil a ratio of 1/2 cup rolled oats to one cup liquidโ€”either water or a milk of your choiceโ€”and top it with whatever you need that day. (For steel-cut oats, change the ratio to 1/4 cup oats to one cup liquid.) Hereโ€™s how six athletes do it.

RELATED: Healthy Delicious Baked Oatmeal

Oatmeal Is Still the Worldโ€™s Best Performance Breakfast @WomensRunning #plantbased

Women’s Running

@WomensRunning

Sure, it’s old fashioned. But it’s also nutritional rocket fuel, and athletes are making it taste great. Here’s how.

February 28, 2023 Wes Judd

In a world of green juice and chia seed pudding, this age-old dish is the original, and perhaps most powerful, superfood, especially for athletes competing at the highest levels.

โ€œIโ€™ve asked a lot of elite endurance athletes about their breakfast foods, particularly before races, and oatmeal comes up again and again and again,โ€ says Matt Fitzgerald, endurance coach, nutritionist, and author of The Endurance Diet.

Youโ€™re most likely to see oatmeal served with a ton of fixinโ€™s, but even a bowl of plain oats holds its own as a nutritional panacea. Oatmeal is a whole grain (unless you buy oat branโ€”just part of the seedโ€”as opposed to rolled oats) filled with key vitamins and minerals, a low-glycemic carb that provides lasting energy for your workout and helps fuel recovery without causing a sugar crash, and high in fiber to aid your digestive and metabolic systems.

But a bowl of oats is also a big blank canvas, ready to be combined with a truckload of other high-quality, nutritious ingredients that make it even better training food. โ€œThatโ€™s one of oatmealโ€™s great virtues. You can take it in so many directions,โ€ says Fitzgerald.

Even energy bar companies use it. Picky Bars have Picky Oats, a lineup of better-for-the-athlete instant oatmeal chock-full of real ingredients to support performance, rather than added sugars or fake health foods. โ€œI literally believe that besides energy bars, oatmeal is the next most pervasive food for athletes,โ€ says Jesse Thomas, former professional triathlete and Picky Bars CEO.

Itโ€™s easy to make. All you have to do is boil a ratio of 1/2 cup rolled oats to one cup liquidโ€”either water or a milk of your choiceโ€”and top it with whatever you need that day. (For steel-cut oats, change the ratio to 1/4 cup oats to one cup liquid.) Hereโ€™s how six athletes do it.

RELATED: Healthy Delicious Baked Oatmeal