Have a Plan to prepare a half marathon Is essential, as they are a total of 21,097 meters (13.1 miles) with which we must deal with our legs and preparation as an athlete.
For practitioners of a sport that is as widespread as running, the half marathon is a medium-term goal that causes a differential effort for a large part of the population.
Of course, there are many people who dedicate themselves to this sacrificed sport because of the ease with which it can be practiced, because only sneakers and desire to eat the asphalt are necessary to be able to practice it as much as we want. In this article I will explain How to prepare a half marathon With a general training plan for 12 weeks and some final tips.
Origins of the half marathon
Curiously, the half marathon has its antecedents in which it is its mother: a complete marathon of more than 42,000 meters, which was adapted with the passage of time due to the difficulty and qualities so extreme that they needed to finish it.
It is true that there are many stories that speak of the birth of this athletic test, but we will refer next to the most widespread and popular that is known so far. To know its origin we must go back to Classic Greece, more specifically to the city and capital of Athens back in 490 BC. C.
At that time a war between Persians and Greeks was unleashed with a central battle to be developed in the marathon plain (26.2 miles from the Greek capital). The first swore that if they left victorious, they would march towards Athens, they would plunder the city and they would kill all the children who remained in the place.
That is why the Athenian warriors agreed with the women that if they did not know of their victory in 24 hours, they should sacrifice their children and these themselves commit suicide later to avoid further suffering to Persian hands.
Which it was the result? The Greeks won after several hours of fighting the victory. The problem was that they took longer than expected so they had to hurry to bring the news to their women. It was then that General Milcades the Younger would appoint the soldier Filipides to bring the news as quickly as possible to the polis.
It is said that the young warrior after the battle ran from the plain itself to finally reach his destination, where he exited in his last breath the word"níki", which meant"victory"in the ancient Greek word and saving the Life of multitude of women and children of the city to die later after the great effort realized.
There are also other well-known but unofficial versions, such as that of Herodotus himself, according to which he explained that Filipides did not go to Athens, but was sent to Sparta to request military aid to support the Greek crossroads in a total of Two days 240 kilometers.
As we have said, the distance consisted exactly of a total of 42. 195 meters, the footage that separated the marathon plain with Athens, and what was later derived in a lighter test, which we are talking about: the half marathon .
First half marathons
During the last century has been debated which was the oldest half-marathon race conducted in an official way.
The first tests of the history are collected in Lima at the beginning of century XX (1909). It has also been mentioned that in 1956 the Association of Statisticians of Road Races (ARRS) collected a half marathon in Santiago de Chile, but it is said that the honor of being the first of an official character fell in 1968 in Spain precisely In the town of Elche (which was disputed for several years the first place with another of which is said to have taken place during the same time in Luxembourg).
The reason it is said that this was the first half-marathon in the world is because for a race to become official it should appear within an official athletic calendar, something that had never happened until that time in the history of the discipline.
Later it would be about three years later, in 1971 when international bodies agreed to recognize the test as"Half marathon"thanks to the many insistences of the founder of the Elche test, Manuel Jaén Guilló.
Training plan
The following plan that we show you is specifically designed for beginners in this run and have a practice of at least one year.
Over almost two months we will increase our resistance and increase the number of miles in the body for a total of 12 weeks to finish a half marathon in an average time of 1.40 - 2 hours maximum, having a large margin Of improvement depending on the characteristics and the behavior of our organism.
The first and second week we will test the 3 -4 miles a day, to increase during the next one more mile a week to finally reach those longed for more than 21,000 meters.
In addition, it should be noted that something crucial when making the daily exercise table will be breaks: two a week that must be met yes or yes.
Week 1:
- Monday: Rest
- Tuesday: 3 miles
- Wednesday: 3 miles
- Thursday: 3 miles
- Friday: Rest
- Saturday: 3 miles
- Sunday: 4 miles
Week 2:
- Monday: Rest
- Tuesday: 3 miles
- Wednesday: 4 miles
- Thursday: 3 miles
- Friday: Rest
- Saturday: 3 miles
- Sunday: 4 miles
Week 3:
- Monday: Rest
- Tuesday: 3 miles
- Wednesday: 4 miles
- Thursday: 3 miles
- Friday: Rest
- Saturday: 3 miles
- Sunday: 5 miles
Week 4:
- Monday: Rest
- Tuesday: 3 miles
- Wednesday: 5 miles
- Thursday: 3 miles
- Friday: Rest
- Saturday: 4 miles
- Sunday: 6 miles
Week 5:
- Monday: Rest
- Tuesday: 4 miles
- Wednesday: 5 miles
- Thursday: 4 miles
- Friday: Rest
- Saturday: 3 miles
- Sunday: 7 miles
Week 6:
- Monday: Rest
- Tuesday: 4 miles
- Wednesday: 4 miles
- Thursday: 4 miles
- Friday: Rest
- Saturday: 4 miles
- Sunday: 8 miles
Week 7:
- Monday: Rest
- Tuesday: 4 miles
- Wednesday: 6 miles
- Thursday: 4 miles
- Friday: Rest
- Saturday: 4 miles
- Sunday: 9 miles
Week 8:
- Monday: Rest
- Tuesday: 4 miles
- Wednesday: 6 miles
- Thursday: 4 miles
- Friday: Rest
- Saturday: 4 miles
- Sunday: 10 miles
Week 9:
- Monday: Rest
- Tuesday: 4 miles
- Wednesday: 6 miles
- Thursday: 4 miles
- Friday: Rest
- Saturday: 3 miles
- Sunday: 11 miles
Week 10:
- Monday: Rest
- Tuesday: 4 miles
- Wednesday: 5 miles
- Thursday: 4 miles
- Friday: Rest
- Saturday: 3 miles
- Sunday: 12 miles
Week 11:
- Monday: Rest
- Tuesday: 4 miles
- Wednesday: 5 miles
- Thursday: 4 miles
- Friday: Rest
- Saturday: 3 miles
- Sunday: 6 miles
Week 12:
- Monday: Rest
- Tuesday: 3 miles
- Wednesday: 5 miles
- Thursday: 3 miles
- Friday: Rest
- Saturday: 2 miles
- Sunday: 13.1 miles
Tips
1- Consult with an expert
Be it doctor, nutritionist or fitness coach. It is important to consult with an expert before putting on a physical exercise with such requirements. We give you the advice and we facilitate a planning, but it is vital to deal with these issues with the closest expert that we find, since there are many factors that can affect the performance of our body such as age, height, Weight, etc...
2- Shooting
As can be clearly seen in the exercise chart, shooting is the cornerstone of our preparation. The progressive intensification in training will be the most important, where it will start with just 3 miles to finally end up with the desired 13.1.
3-Days of rest
As we mentioned above, it is very important to fully respect the two days of rest, and if it is decided by some unforeseen alteration, it is desirable that it always fall during the week so that our body can recover the forces lost during the previous days. This is called by the experts as the"invisible training", and without having to do anything (just rest), our body will improve and increase its performance during the following workouts.
4- Rest during training
If we do not see ourselves with enough strength to continue with our training we should stop, breathe and walk for a few minutes. Our body has limits, and especially at the beginning of our training, since during the first few weeks we will be sufficiently physically prepared. This way it is advisable not to force the body too much so that you can gradually improve.
5- Hydration
By submitting to a background sport, our body will tend to expel fluid in an easier way than we would normally, which is why we should drink at least two liters of water added to the corresponding hydration during physical exercise . It is also convenient to alternate the water with isotonic drinks that provide us with the minerals necessary to continue the race.
According to Vannesa Buitrago, a personal nutritionist for medicadite,"the consumption of sugar and glucose water (which is distributed in any race) brings energy immediately and can increase our resilience."
6- Planning
It is essential to follow the weekly exercise table day by day, as it will be one of the great keys to success. A progressive, daily and disciplined work will become over time the key to achieve the desired results and be able to reach the goal without suffering more from the account.
7- Food
It is true that it is not necessary to take a strict diet or to the letter, but to carry out a correct and varied intake of food, taking away from fats and other harmful edibles will give us a plus when it comes to loading so many meters on our feet.
Here it would be convenient to feed abundant lipids, carbohydrates, proteins and different types of vitamins and minerals.
8- Dress Properly
Last but not least, we find the subject of clothing. According to the popular runner Darío Barrio you must show suitable footwear that is comfortable to carry out the test and the training, going to a specialized store that"can tell you if you are supinador or pronador not to suffer injuries"while we use technical clothing.
Records in the discipline
Since the test was announced, as well as its popularity, its competition has been maximum, where they have been pulverizing records and records over the years. Here we leave you as a curiosity the best brands in history in both the men's and women's box.
- Men's Table
- Zersenay Tadese / Eritrea / 58:23
- Samuel Wanjiru / Kenya / 58:35
- Samuel Wanjiru / Kenya / 58: 53
- Haile Gebrselassie / Ethiopia / 58:55
- Samuel Wanjiru / Kenya / 59:16
- Women's Table
- Florence Jebet Kiplagat / Kenya / 1h 05:09
- Mary Jepkkosgei Keitany / Kenya / 1h 05:50
- Lornah Kiplagat / The Netherlands / 1h 05:50
- Elana Meyer / South Africa / 1h 06:44
- Elana Meyer / South Africa / 1h 07:29