Trail half marathons are becoming an increasingly popular alternative to big city events. With scenic routes, challenging courses and a tarmac-free experience of the countryside, it’s easy to see why.
Whether you’re an experienced runner, or are looking for your first trail running experience, it’s never a bad idea to follow a training plan. We’ve asked international athlete and running coach, Sarah McCormack, to come up with a 10-week training plan to properly prepare you for your event.
Although the accepted half marathon distance is 13.1 miles (22.1km), trail half marathons can often be anything from 12-15 miles in length. And that’s before getting lost! The distance and challenging nature of the terrain means that most runners will take two hours or more to complete their race. So it’s wise to think about and practice a fuelling strategy before the big day. Check out our top tips for preparing for your event below.
We hope Sarah’s plan helps you to run strongly and enjoy your event!
In this guide…
- Before you start
- 10-week trail half marathon training program
- Training plan guidelines
- Strength Training
- Top tips for your first half marathon
- Some great trail half marathons to try
BEFORE YOU START
If you’re new to running or haven’t had a check over for a while, it’s best to speak to a doctor before starting any exercise programme.
Sarah’s training plan is based on someone who is already running five or six days a week, accumulating an average weekly mileage of 30-40 miles. The plan can easily be modified to five days or running per week by skipping the Saturday easy run.
Sudden jumps in mileage, speedwork or elevation are a recipe for sore legs and injury. If week one would be too much of a stretch for you from where you currently are, consider:
- Substitute the Saturday easy run and/or one of the hard sessions for rest days.
- Substitute one of the hard sessions for an easy run for a few weeks. Then gradually increase the speedwork over a number of weeks (particularly if you currently only do one hard session per week). If you drop one of the hard sessions, be sure to alternate the type of workout (don’t miss all the hill or fartlek sessions).
- If you haven’t entered your event, consider whether you could enter a race later in the year to give you more time to build up.
It’s critical to establish a training pattern that works for you. A training pattern defines the days of the week that you tend to do certain types of run.
In the plan we have hard sessions on Tuesday and Friday, and then the long run on Sunday. However, there’s no reason you couldn’t move the sessions around to make the plan fit in better with your lifestyle. One word of caution here though – make sure you include adequate rest/easy days between your harder runs!
SARAH MCCORMACK’S 10-WEEK TRAIL HALF MARATHON TRAINING PROGRAM
Be sure to read the training plan guidelines in conjunction with this program, as it explains the sessions in more depth.
| Week | Mon | Tues | Weds | Thurs | Fri | Sat | Sun |
1 | Rest | Hill reps: 5 x 1 min hard uphill, followed by 5 x 30s hard uphill. Jog back to starting point after each rep | 4 miles - easy | 5 miles - easy | Steady tempo: 15 mins of steady running @ 2-hour race pace | Rest or 4 miles - easy | 8 mile long run |
| 2 | Rest | Hill reps: 6 x 2 min hard uphill, with a jog back to your starting point after each rep | 5 miles - easy | 5 miles - easy | Rest | Rest or 4 miles - easy | 9 mile long run |
| 3 | Rest | Hill reps: 6 x 3 min hard uphill, with a jog back to your starting point after each rep | 5 miles - easy | 4 miles - easy | Steady tempo: 20 mins of steady running @ 2-hour race pace | Rest or 3 miles - easy | 10 mile long run |
| 4 | Rest | Steady tempo: 25 mins of steady running @ 2-hour race pace | 4 miles - easy | 4 miles - easy | Fartlek: 4 x (5 min fast tempo/2 min easy jog). Aim 1h race pace (90 % effort) for your 5 min reps | Rest or 3 miles - easy | 12 mile long run |
| 5 | Rest | Flat surges: 6 x (20s fast/3 min easy jog) | 5 miles - easy | 5 miles - easy | Progression run: 10 mins of running @ 2h race pace (75-80 % effort) followed immediately by 10 mins at 1h race pace (90-95 % effort) | Rest or 5 miles - easy | 11 mile long run with pickup: 8 mile easy, 2 mile at 1.5 hour race pace (80 % effort), 1 mile easy |
| 6 | Rest | Hill fartlek (25 mins): Using an undulating route, run all uphills at a hard intensity, and all flats & descents at easy recovery pace, for 25 mins | 4 miles - easy | 3 miles - easy | Fartlek: 5 x (5 min fast tempo/2 min easy jog). Aim 1h race pace (90 % effort) for your 5 min reps | Rest or 4 miles - easy | 14 mile long run |
| 7 | Rest | Steady tempo: 30 mins of steady running @ 2-hour race pace | 5 miles - easy | 4 miles - easy | Rest | Rest or 3 miles - easy | 15 mile long run |
| 8 | Rest | Progression run: 15 mins of running @ 2h race pace (75-80 % effort) followed immediately by 15 mins at 1h race pace (90-95 % effort) | 5 miles - easy | 4 miles - easy | Fartlek: 3 x (10 min fast tempo/3 min easy jog). Aim 1h race pace (90 % effort) for your 10 min reps | Rest or 4 miles - easy | 12 mile long run |
| 9 | Rest | Fartlek: 2 x 4 min hard uphill with an easy jog back down recovery. After both hill reps, do a 20 min undulating trail tempo @ 1.5h race pace (80-90 % effort) | 4 miles - easy | 4 miles - easy | Fartlek: 8min-6min-4min-4min fast tempo with 2 min recovery jog between each. Aim 1h race pace (90 % effort) for your reps | Rest or 4 miles - easy | 8 mile long run |
| 10 | Rest | Fartlek: 5min-3min-3min-1min-1min with 3 min recovery jog between reps. Start out at 1.5h race pace for your 5 min rep, then aim 1h race pace for your 3 min reps, and 30-min race pace for your 1 min reps. Finish with plenty left in the tank | 4 miles - easy | Rest | 3 miles with 4 x 10s relaxed strides | Race | Rest |