Personalized plan
Built from your history, your goal and the days you can actually run.
Half Marathon Training Plan
A half marathon training plan is a progressive schedule — usually 10 to 16 weeks — that builds your long run toward 21.1 km (13.1 miles) while developing the pace to hold it. Rutz is an AI running coach app for iPhone that builds your half marathon plan backwards from race day and rewrites each week from what you actually ran.
How to train for a half marathon
The half marathon is an endurance race run at a pace that still bites. Your week is built on three pillars: a long run that grows steadily, one quality session at tempo or threshold effort, and easy kilometres that add up.
Your long run should peak around 18-20 km two to three weeks before the race. You don't need to cover the full distance in training — arriving fresh matters more than proving a point.
Around 80% of your running should be easy. It feels too slow. It is exactly right. The runners who get hurt in half marathon blocks are almost always the ones running their easy days too hard.
Why Rutz
Why train for your half marathon with Rutz?
Your plan. Your week. Written for the runner you are today.
Guidance after every run
A coach's read on each session, plus a chat when you have a question.
Load you can absorb
A built-in guard caps how fast your weekly load can climb, so you build without boiling over.
Tracking and insights
Pace, heart rate, efficiency and trends — turned into plain language, not another dashboard.
Four steps
How to get started
01
Join the waitlist
Rutz is in private beta on iPhone. Save your spot and we'll email you when it's your turn.
02
Set your goal
Tell us the race, the date and how many days you can run. First 5K or a marathon PB — both count.
03
Start training
Sign in with Intervals.icu. Your history loads, your first week lands, and every run after it gets a coach's read.
04
Show up ready
Each week is written from the last one. You get fitter, the plan gets sharper, race day gets closer.
Key sessions
The workouts that matter for a half marathon
Every session in your plan has a job. These four do the heavy lifting at this distance.
Long run to 18-20 km
The backbone of the block. It grows by a kilometre or two a week, with a step back every third or fourth week.
Goal-pace blocks
Two or three blocks of 3-5 km at half marathon pace inside a longer run. Teaches your legs exactly what race day feels like.
Threshold tempo
25 to 40 minutes at the effort you could hold for an hour. Half marathon pace sits just under it, so raising it raises everything.
Fuelled long run
A long run where you practise race-day gels and drinks. Anything past 75 minutes needs fuel, and your stomach needs the rehearsal.
New to the terminology? Every workout type is explained in the running workouts glossary.
Timelines
How many weeks do you need?
How long you need depends on where you're starting. Rutz works backwards from your race date — these are the timelines that fit most runners.
10weeks
10 week half marathon training plan
For runners already comfortable at 10K with a long run near 12 km. A focused build with little margin — consistency is everything.
12weeks
12 week half marathon training plan
The standard. Base, build, peak and taper, with recovery weeks that let the training sink in.
16weeks
16 week half marathon training plan
First half marathon, or a big time goal. A longer base phase and extra slack for illness, travel and the weeks life wins.
Half marathon training tips
Pacing
Start 5-10 seconds per km slower than goal pace for the first 3 km. Nobody ever regretted a patient first 5K.
Nutrition
Past 75 minutes you need fuel. Practise gels or chews on your long runs so race day holds no surprises.
Strength
Single-leg strength and calf work twice a week. It's what keeps your form together at kilometre 18.
Taper
Cut volume, keep a little intensity in the final 10 days. You can't gain fitness in race week — only lose freshness.
Gear
Nothing new on race day. Shoes, socks, shorts — all tested on a long run first.
Recovery
Take an easier week every third or fourth week. Adaptation happens when the load drops.
Work out your target pace with the pace calculator or browse every finish time on the half marathon pace chart.
Looking for an app to run this plan for you? See how Rutz works as a half marathon training app and why an adaptive training plan holds up when a week goes wrong.
Half marathon training: your questions, answered
How long is a half marathon?
A half marathon is 21.0975 kilometres, or 13.1 miles.
How long does it take to train for a half marathon?
Most runners need 10 to 16 weeks. If you can already run 10K comfortably, 10 to 12 weeks is enough. If you are newer to running, give yourself 16.
Can a beginner run a half marathon?
Yes, with enough runway. Build to a comfortable 5K first, then follow a 16-week plan that grows your long run by about a kilometre a week with regular recovery weeks.
What is a good half marathon time?
Two hours is the classic recreational milestone, which is 5:41 per km or 9:09 per mile. Many first-timers finish between 2:00 and 2:30. Under 1:45 takes structured training; under 1:30 is seriously quick.
Do I need to run 21 km before race day?
No. A longest run of 18 to 20 km is plenty. Race-day adrenaline, a taper and the crowd carry you through the last few kilometres.
I only have 8 weeks. What should I do?
If your long run is already around 12 km, an 8-week build can work — aim to finish strong rather than chase a time. If you're starting lower, pick a later race or target a 10K now and the half next.
What should I do if I miss a week of training?
Don't try to make it up. Pick up with an easier week, then carry on. Rutz does this automatically: it rewrites the coming week from what you actually did, instead of pushing you back onto a schedule you've fallen behind.
How do I move up from a half marathon to a marathon?
Recover for two to three weeks, keep your long run ticking over at 16-18 km, then start a 16 to 20 week marathon build. The aerobic base you built for the half is the foundation.
Your next start line starts here
Rutz is in private beta on iPhone. Join the waitlist and we'll email you when it's your turn.
Join the waitlist