Half Marathon On 3 Days Training Per Week

ive ran a half marathon off no mileage per week and finished in 1:21 if thats any help.

Not really, but thanks for the input.

The mileage build up would really depend on how many miles you are running currently. I have run a 27 minute pr in the marathon running 3 days a week. It isn't ideal, but if it keeps you healthy and it works then do it.

I literally started at 18 mpw and built up to 40 miles a week. If your mileage is about the same then here would be a typical first week and a week you may want to repeat 3 times before your race. You could run a marathon off of this as well. If you are only concerned with a half then maybe cut the long run by 25 percent.

Tuesday 5

Thursday 5

Sunday 8

This would be the first week. Of course if you haven't been running at all you may have to build up to this. Maybe go 3, 3, 5 and just keep adding a mile to each run.

By the end (12 to 18 weeks later) you may want to do:

Tuesday 10

Thursday 10

Sunday 20

If this is your first half marathon you would be doing great just to run these miles at a very easy pace.

Good luck!

Out of curiosity, do you have a reason for not running the other 4 days of the week? Basic physiology will eplain why it is important to run everyday (or at least almost everyday). In fact there is a great thread unfolding at run-insight about this.

A three day training schedule, I am sure, makes it possible to finish a half. However, don't expect it to yield better results than running everyday. Check out that thread on run-insight. I think it is called, "Is it really that important to run everyday?" Good luck.

Thanks.

27 minute pr on 3 days a week? That's awesome.

Plenty of people have done that. It is a perfect thing to do if running your fastest is not the goal. Or if you are unusually prone to injury.

I was reading the power running site and got the idea from there. The philosophy there is that easy runs are wasted runs. It's better to run hard for 3 days and take the other days off. I'll check out the run insight thread. Thanks for the heads up.

TopDog wrote:

I was reading the power running site and got the idea from there. The philosophy there is that easy runs are wasted runs. It's better to run hard for 3 days and take the other days off.

The philosophy there has been tested and disproved for decades.

There are plenty of people who run only 3 days a week. And then there are those who run 6-7 days a week. Guess which group the fastest runners come from?

If you are only going to run 3 days a week do this:

Tuesday: 20 miles steady.

Thursday: 20 miles (5 easy, 5 up tempo, 5 easy, 5 hard)

Saturday: 20-25 miles easy.

Gibbon wrote:

TopDog wrote:

I was reading the power running site and got the idea from there. The philosophy there is that easy runs are wasted runs. It's better to run hard for 3 days and take the other days off.

The philosophy there has been tested and disproved for decades.

There are plenty of people who run only 3 days a week. And then there are those who run 6-7 days a week. Guess which group the fastest runners come from?

Just got back from looking at that site. He has studies there that shows no improvements from the ones who ran more. Not saying he's right, just saying there are studies to back up what he preaches.

Kenny Moore's program wasn't a million miles off this philosophy as his easy days were just 20 minute jogs. He did a 9 day cycle something like this:

20-30 mile long run followed by 2 days of 20 minute jogs

6 x mile followed by 2 days of 20 minute jogs

shorter reps (300s or 400s) followed by two days of 20 minute jogs

I think it's important to at least do something on your easy days to keep the body loose and the lungs flowing.

Maybe just do an easy jog on the other 4 days of the week?

Blue Eyes wrote:

Just got back from looking at that site. He has studies there that shows no improvements from the ones who ran more. Not saying he's right, just saying there are studies to back up what he preaches.

Okay, seriously, go try it and tell me how well it works. Anyone can present a study to show anything. He took a bunch of novice runners with a very minor range in mileage and then claimed it made no difference.

Take a hundred guys running 100 mpw and a hundred guys running 20 mpw, and see how their half times stack up.

You could follow 3 days/week of running like that if you wish to Gallowwalk the half-marathon. Isn't that about right for his training programs?

Doug,

This topic came up over at the Runners World forums a while back and generated quite a bit of discussion. Here's the link:

http://forums.runnersworld.com/thread.jspa?forumID=4&threadID=179070&messageID=2290578#2290578

It makes for an interesting read. If you are also interested in running a marathon on 3 days per week of run training, you might also do a search for posts by the poster "jwd113" - he has run multiple marathons (including pr's if my memory is correct) on just 3 days per week of running.

Regards,

Mon: 45 minutes hard, right around HM pace most of the time

Wed: 1h 45 minutes steady, not slow but not very, very fast

Sat: 1 mile hard, 1 mile easy for 12 miles again around HM pace with the easy at 7:00 pace

Go to Jeff Galloway's site. He now has a 1/2 marathon plan, but I believe it involves 2-3 days x 30 minutes then one really long day.

This from a guy who trained with Batchelor and Shorter.

There really isn't any reason you can't race a decent half with no run longer than 13 miles or more than three runs a week. One hill workout for strength, one longish tempo at goal pace and a long run will actually set you up pretty good.

I don't know what kind of physical shape you are in, but I generally think a half marathon is a very doable distance for a reasonably fit person off of 3 days of running per week and 25 mpw. I ran my half marathon PR off of 4 days per week with a few tempo runs and one longer run.

Honestly, I think you'd be torturing yourself in attempting the same overall mileage in 3 days as you would typically do in 6 or 7 days.

Monday or Tuesday - 7 miles on hilly terrain

Wednesday or Thursday - 6 miles at good tempo (close to your target race pace)

Saturday or Sunday - longer run (10-18 miles).

I usually explain to non-runners that finishing a half marathon requires 1/4th the training and effort of finishing a marathon.

Pretty much what I just said :)