These are Hal Higdon’s three half marathon training plans, novice through advanced, each laid out as a 12 week spreadsheet you can save and tick off. All three build to race day in week 12 and all three assume you can already run a few miles without stopping.
Higdon’s approach is deliberately unfussy. The long run does the work, the weekday runs keep the volume up, and one day a week is genuine rest because that’s when the adaptation happens. Nothing in the novice plan asks you to run fast, and even the advanced plan spends most of its miles at a conversational pace.
Pick the plan that matches what you can run today. If 4 miles is currently a long run for you, start at novice. The gap between novice and advanced here is large: novice tops out at a 10 mile long run with no speed work at all, while advanced runs intervals, hills and tempo runs on top of two hour weekend efforts.
Table of Contents
Which Plan Should You Run?
| Novice | Intermediate | Advanced | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Days running | 3 | 5 | 6 |
| Rest days | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Cross-training | Saturdays, 30-60 min | Mondays, 30-60 min | None scheduled |
| Longest long run | 10 miles (week 11) | 12 miles (week 11) | 2 hours (weeks 10-11) |
| Speed work | None | Pace runs | Intervals, hills, tempo, pace |
| Tune-up races | 5-K week 6, 10-K week 9 | 5-K week 6, 10-K week 9 | 5-K week 3, 10-K week 6, 15-K week 9 |
The tune-up races are worth taking seriously rather than skipping. They’re the only hard efforts in the novice and intermediate plans, and they tell you what your goal pace should actually be before you commit to one on race day.
Novice Program Spreadsheet
Three runs a week (Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday), cross-training on Saturday, rest Monday and Friday. Weekday runs go from 3 to 5 miles, the Sunday long run climbs from 4 to 10. No pace work anywhere, which is the point. Higdon’s full write-up.
Intermediate Program Spreadsheet
Cross-training moves to Monday, you run Tuesday through Thursday and again Saturday and Sunday, and Friday is the rest day. Wednesday runs build from 4 to 8 miles and Saturday becomes a pace run. The long run peaks at 12 miles in week 11 before the taper. Higdon’s full write-up.
Advanced Program Spreadsheet
Six running days. Tuesdays alternate hill repeats and 400s for the first six weeks, then switch to 800s and 1600s, Thursdays are tempo runs building from 30 to 60 minutes, Saturdays are pace runs, and the Sunday long run is measured in time rather than miles: 90 minutes, then 1:45, then 2 hours. Three of those long runs finish as 3/1 efforts. Higdon’s full write-up.
Reading the Schedules
The cells are terse. Here’s what each term means, per Higdon’s own definitions:
- m run – miles, run at a comfortable pace you could hold a conversation at. For the long run he suggests 30 to 90+ seconds per mile slower than your goal half pace.
- m pace – a pace run, done at the pace you’re aiming for on race day. Training for a 2:00 half means 9:09 per mile, so that’s what a pace run is.
- cross – cross-training. Any aerobic work that uses slightly different muscles: swimming, cycling, even walking. You don’t have to pick the same one every week.
- tempo – a continuous run that builds to near 10-K pace in the middle. A 40 minute version is roughly 10-20 minutes easy, 20-30 minutes gradually accelerating, then 5-10 minutes easy, with the peak about two thirds of the way in.
- x hill – hill repeats on a hill 200 to 400 meters long, jogging or walking an equal distance back down between efforts.
- x 400 / x 800 / x 1600 – track intervals at the pace noted, usually 5-K or 10-K pace.
- (3/1) – run the first three quarters of the distance comfortably, then accelerate to near race pace for the last quarter. You should finish refreshed.
- Rest – actually rest. Higdon’s argument is that muscles regenerate in the 24 to 72 hours between hard efforts, so the rest day is what makes the hard days possible.
Half Marathon Training FAQs
Why does the long run never reach 13.1 miles?
Because it doesn’t need to. Novice tops out at 10 miles and intermediate at 12, and race day adrenaline plus the taper covers the rest. On the advanced plan the long runs are timed rather than measured, and Higdon points out you may well cover more than 13.1 in a two hour run anyway.
Can I lift while running these?
Yes. Higdon suggests Tuesdays and Thursdays on the intermediate plan, and running before lifting rather than after. Keep the lifting submaximal while you’re in the back half of the plan, since the long runs are already taking your recovery budget.
What if I miss a week?
Repeat the week you missed rather than jumping ahead to stay on the calendar. The long run progression is what the whole plan is built on, and skipping a rung is how people arrive at week 11 unable to finish it. If the race date won’t move and you’ve lost more than two weeks, drop down a level instead.
Do I have to run the tune-up races?
You don’t, but they’re useful. If you can’t find one, run the distance hard on your own on that day. The point is a measured effort that sets your expectations, and guessing your goal pace is how people go out too fast in the first mile.
Which plan if I’ve run a half before but not recently?
Intermediate, assuming you can currently cover 4 miles comfortably. It adds a fifth running day and pace work without the interval and tempo load of the advanced plan. You can always move up at week 6 if it’s feeling easy; moving down mid-plan is harder on the ego and on the schedule.
Updates
- Added a plan comparison table, a glossary for the schedule notation, and FAQs, all sourced from Hal Higdon’s own write-ups. Converted three legacy htmlembed spreadsheet embeds to the current preview format and brought their titles up to standard. Repointed the Hal Higdon link, which had been redirecting, and added a direct link to each plan’s page on his site.
