4 super-speedy half-marathon workouts
These short but suffer-inducing sessions will have you charging to a PB with speed to spare
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Most of us would much rather bask in the sunshine with family and friends than hit the pavement for lactic-inducing, leg-burning repeats. However, to crush those speed goals, we need to squeeze in some tougher workouts. Luckily, these challenging sessions can be tweaked to fit your needs and abilities, and deliver a powerful punch without eating up all your popsicle-munching, beach volleyball-playing time.
When it comes to threshold pace, imagine the speed you’d hold for an hour-long race, or a bit faster than your half-marathon pace. If these training sessions seem too daunting or you are short on time, feel free to adjust by lengthening your recovery time and running fewer repeats.
Quick and punchy intervals
Option A
Warm up with 10 minutes of easy running.
Run 3-5 repeats of 4 x 1K at threshold pace, with 2 minutes of easy running between intervals for recovery.
Cool down with 10 minutes of easy running.
Option B
Warm up with 10 minutes of easy running.
Run 2 x 3K at threshold pace with 2 minutes of recovery between intervals.
Cool down with 10 minutes of easy running.
Speed progression
Warm up with a super easy 5-minute jog (your progression run begins at a very slow pace, so you can skip the warmup on this one, if you prefer).
Run a 10K progression run, starting with an easy pace and finishing at threshold pace. There are no hard-and-fast rules for this workout, so feel free to tweak it according to how you’re feeling and how hard you want to run. Just make sure you’re gradually getting faster as you run—you can judge this by either pace or effort.
Cool down with 10 minutes of very easy running.
Strong and steady
Slide this workout in when you want to do something challenging, but don’t want to completely drain the tank.
Warm up with 5-10 minutes of very easy running.
Run 8K steady state at marathon pace. This can be done by time or by effort, just aim to keep it consistent throughout. (If it’s a warm day, you may run more slowly than your ideal pace, and that’s OK.)
Cool down with 5-10 minutes of very easy running.
Follow any of these harder sessions with a very easy running day or a rest day, and make sure to hydrate before, during and after your workout, especially in warmer weather.
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