How to prepare for half marathon in 6 weeks
10 min read
Summary
Is 6 weeks enough to train for a half-marathon?
🔢 What are the main phases of half-marathon preparation?
🔎 Easy runs, fast intervals, long runs, half-marathon pace: what are the essential workouts of a half-marathon plan?
🤔 What qualities can be developed during a 6-week half-marathon training?
🏋🏻♀️ Muscle strengthening, hydration and nutrition strategy: the extras of a half-marathon training
What are the risks of a too short training plan?
🤕 Lack of training load progression = increased risk of injury
📉 Not enough specific half-marathon pace = less performance
👎 Poor recovery management: one of the major mistakes to avoid
In what cases can I undergo a 6-week half-marathon training?
🏃🏽♀️ If you already have a good weekly volume and no performance goal
🏃🏻♂️ If you are a seasoned runner and not aiming for significant progress on this distance
How to go from 10 km/6.21 miles to half-marathon in 6 weeks?
Receive advice from our passionate coaches!
6 weeks is just half of the shortest half-marathon program offered by Campus. So, can you consider running 21.0975 kilometers at a good intensity and a good heart rate after a 6-week half-marathon training? If yes, what can you expect on race day? We answer your questions.
Is 6 weeks enough to train for a half-marathon?
Regardless of the distance you're preparing for, building your training plan always follows the principles of progression, variety, and specificity. It includes key stages. We will see if it's possible to include all these elements in just 6 weeks.
🔢 What are the main phases of half-marathon preparation?
If you’re used to reading articles from the Campus Blog, you already know that preparation includes three major phases: general development, specific development, and tapering.
The goal of the general development phase is to build the strongest possible foundations and thus raise your running potential. During this phase, we place great emphasis on base endurance — all workouts in a comfortable breathing zone — and take the opportunity to develop non-specific qualities for the half-marathon such as Maximal aerobic speed (MAS). This phase is essential for all runners, especially for beginners.
Next is the specific development phase where we specifically work on the half-marathon pace. The higher your level and your time goal, the more important this second phase is.
Finally, you must adhere to a tapering phase to reduce your fatigue levels and arrive as fresh as possible — both physically and mentally — on race day.
🔎 Easy runs, fast intervals, long runs, half-marathon pace: what are the essential workouts of a half-marathon plan?
In a preparation, you want to find the right balance between easy kilometers and more intense workouts. During your half-marathon training, kilometers run in a comfortable breathing zone represent between 70 and 80% of your total weekly volume. This includes easy runs, warm-ups, active recovery or cool-down phases during workouts, and the kilometers of your long runs run in base endurance — that is, below 75% of your Maximum Heart Rate. The goal is to acquire a good weekly volume while generating as little fatigue as possible so you can give 100% during each quality workout.
You will find several types of quality workouts during your half-marathon plan. Fast intervals help you unlock your speed and improve your aerobic potential. Long runs and 30' Threshold and 60' Threshold runs develop your endurance and resistance. You will also be required to perform pace variation workouts. Next, half-marathon pace workouts aim to improve your race economy.
🤔 What qualities can be developed during a 6-week half-marathon training?
6 weeks is the minimum time needed to generate physiological adaptations and develop a quality, such as your maximum oxygen consumption (VO2 max). Therefore, you easily understand that a 6-week half-marathon training (excluding the last 10 days of tapering) does not allow you to develop a quality and progress in the medium and long term.
In reality, this duration is clearly not suitable if you are looking to optimize your potential and reach a new level. It is simply too short to aim for sustainable progress.
🏋🏻♀️ Muscle strengthening, hydration and nutrition strategy: the extras of a half-marathon training
To prepare your half-marathon under the best possible conditions, running alone is not enough. Invisible training is just as important. Its three essential pillars are sleep, nutrition, and stress management. Other habits will also benefit your running practice.
Strength conditioning and stretching, even in small doses, help prevent potential physical issues. Campus has incorporated strength conditioning adapted to your goals, resources, and situation into its training plans. Perfect, right? 🎉
As part of your half training, you should also think about your hydration and your nutrition during the race. Indeed, when the effort time exceeds 1 hour 15 or 1 hour 20, it is essential to replenish your carbohydrate stores during the race to maintain your energy level until the finish line. However, we all do not have the same capacity to digest carbohydrates during exercise. Fortunately, this can be learned. This is called gut training or stomach training. The longer your training duration, the more time you will have to develop this capability.
What are the risks of a too short training plan?
As you will notice, there are many more risks than benefits in opting for a short training plan.
🤕 Lack of training load progression = increased risk of injury
The number one enemy of runners is injury. Injury is often due to poor quantification of mechanical stress. You try to do too much, too quickly compared to your adaptation capacities and, unfortunately, you get injured. The best way to avoid this scenario is to ensure a very gradual increase in your training load. Gradually increase the volume and intensity of your workouts, and if possible, not both at the same time.
The longer your training plan, the more it promotes good progression. If you want to reach a good volume in just 6 weeks, you will inevitably skip some steps. With an increased risk of getting injured.
📉 Not enough specific half-marathon pace = less performance
If you want to improve at a given pace, there's no secret: you need to train to run at that pace in increasingly longer intervals.
The more you run at your half-marathon pace, the more you will improve your race economy at that pace, that is, the amount of oxygen your body uses when you run at a given speed. It's an important performance factor. Indeed, a better race economy allows you to go faster while exerting the same effort. Another benefit of specific half-marathon workouts is that they give you more confidence in your ability to complete your half-marathon as well as great motivation. However, mental strength is often (wrongly) underestimated. Again, the longer the duration of your training, the more time you will have to perform specific workouts.
👎 Poor recovery management: one of the major mistakes to avoid
In 6 weeks, you really don't have room for error. It's more penalizing to miss two or three workouts in a 6-week plan than in a 12-week plan. Unforeseen events in daily life can disrupt a training plan. In these situations, you must be able to adapt and listen to yourself, even if it means easing off the training. With a half-marathon training reduced to 6 weeks, you might be prompted not to listen to yourself enough. However, workouts done while significantly fatigued or under stress are much less effective, or even counterproductive.
Pressed by lack of time, you might also be tempted to train hard until the last days of your preparation and thus shorten the tapering phase. This is precisely one of the major mistakes to avoid. ❌
In what cases can I undergo a 6-week half-marathon training?
We've seen that a 6-week half-marathon training is far from optimal. However, this short duration is still feasible for certain specific profiles.
🏃🏽♀️ If you already have a good weekly volume and no performance goal
You are used to training regularly, with a good number of kilometers per week, even outside the preparation period. Running 1 hour 30 minutes during long runs is not a problem for you. This means that you already have a good aerobic base and that your body is sufficiently strong to complete the 21.1 kilometers/13,1 miles without trouble. If your first ambition is to have a good time on your half, without a performance goal, a 6-week half-marathon training may suffice.
🏃🏻♂️ If you are a seasoned runner and not aiming for significant progress on this distance
Second scenario. You have been running for years. Long formats, like the half or the marathon, hold no secrets for you anymore. You have carried out good general preparation to prepare for other competitions. This half-marathon is not a primary goal in your season. So, you can dive straight into the subject and dedicate 6 weeks of training directly to the specific preparation and tapering phase (and thus skip the general development phase). Keep in mind that a 6-week half-marathon training remains very short to aim for a performance that matches your potential.
How to go from 10 km/6.21 miles to half-marathon in 6 weeks?
You just ran a 10-kilometer/6.21 miles race and, in the meantime, decide to sign up for your first half-marathon 6 weeks later? Sorry to dampen your enthusiasm, but this timeframe is too short. First, we advise against chaining two trainings without taking at least a few days off. You exerted a significant effort during your race. It's important to recharge your batteries. Next, in less than 6 weeks, you won't have time to prepare your half-marathon properly. The number one risk is increasing your training load too quickly and arriving fatigued on race day.
On the other hand, a much better strategy is to schedule your half-marathon far from your 10-kilometer race, opt for a preparation program of at least 12 or 16 weeks, and include a 10-kilometer race 6 weeks before your target race. This way, you can run these 10 kilometers at 100% of your abilities, or at your half pace for two-thirds of the race. It will be an excellent preparatory race for your half-marathon!
We will never say that it's impossible to prepare for a half-marathon in 6 weeks. But according to us, except for a few very specific runner profiles, the effort is not worth it. Even if you are not aiming for your personal record, the risk is too high to have a bad race experience or worse, to get injured during your preparation.
Progressing in running is a slow process. It takes time to generate physiological adaptations. Perhaps that's what makes this sport beautiful — both demanding, but so satisfying when you reach your goals. In just 6 weeks, you can't build anything solid. Get into the habit of thinking long-term, planning your goals well in advance, and you will definitely reap the benefits.
