Half Marathon Training Plan for Beginners: 12 Weeks in km (with 16- and 8-Week Versions)

A half marathon is 21.1 km, long enough to need real preparation and short enough that a healthy beginner can get there in three months. This plan is written in kilometres, built for Indian conditions (early starts, heat and humidity), and leaves room for the strength work that keeps runners on the road.

Before you start: can you run 5 km?

The 12-week plan assumes you can run about 5 km, or 30 minutes, without walking, three times a week. If you can't yet, start with a walk-run program first. The NHS Couch to 5K plan takes 9 weeks, with three runs a week and rest days in between. Then come back to this plan. Starting a half marathon build from zero is how beginners get injured.

The 12-week half marathon training plan for beginners, in km

Run four days a week: two easy weekday runs, one shorter run, and a long run at the weekend. Every fourth week is lighter so your body can absorb the work. Do two strength sessions a week on non-running days or after your harder weekday run.

Each run starts with 5 to 10 minutes of easy jogging and ends with a few minutes of walking. Monday and Friday are rest days or walks. Strength sessions go on Monday or Friday, or in the evening after Thursday's run. If you miss a week through illness or work, repeat the previous week rather than jumping ahead.

Easy, comfortably hard and race effort: pacing by feel and heart rate

Beginners run their easy runs too fast. Most of this plan should feel easy, and pace on a watch is a poor guide when Indian mornings range from cool to hot and sticky. Pace by effort first. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes effort on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is sitting and 10 is maximal; moderate effort is about 5 or 6 and vigorous starts at 7 or 8. The CDC's talk test is simpler still: at moderate effort you can talk but not sing, and at vigorous effort you can't say more than a few words without pausing for breath.

If you use a heart-rate watch, start by estimating your maximum heart rate. A 2001 analysis of 351 studies and 18,712 people by Tanaka and colleagues found that 208 minus 0.7 times your age predicts it well, and that the old 220 minus age formula underestimates it in older adults. For a 30-year-old that's 208 minus 21, about 187 beats a minute. It's an estimate and individuals vary by a lot, so use heart rate to catch easy runs that are drifting too hard, not as a target to chase. Run 20 minutes at talk-test pace and note the number your watch settles at: that's your own easy ceiling. On hot, humid mornings, slow down to keep the same effort.

The long run: how far, how fast

The Sunday long run is the most important session in a half marathon plan. It rises from 6 km to a peak of 16 km in week 10, two weeks before the race. You don't need to run the full 21.1 km in training: the taper and race-day adrenaline cover the last few kilometres. Run long runs at easy effort, walk through water stops if you need to, and finish feeling you could have done a little more.

• Start early. In most Indian cities, for much of the year, that means starting around sunrise.
• Practise race morning. From week 7, eat your race breakfast before long runs and wear your race shoes and kit.
• Practise fuelling. Long runs over about 75 minutes are where you rehearse what you'll eat and drink on race day (see below).
• Walk breaks are fine. A planned 1-minute walk every 2 or 3 km is a sound strategy, in training and on race day.

How to change the plan to 16 weeks or 8 weeks

Half marathon training plan for beginners: 16 weeks

Choose 16 weeks if you can run 5 km but it still feels hard, if you're over 40 or returning after a long break, or if your race falls in a hot month. Add four base weeks before week 1: run three times a week at easy effort, building from about 3 + 3 + 4 km to 4 + 4 + 5 km, with a strength session twice a week. Then follow the 12-week plan. The extra time also lets you repeat a week if life gets in the way.

Half marathon training plan for beginners: 8 weeks

Eight weeks is only enough if you're already running three or four times a week, about 20 km a week, with a long run of 8 to 10 km. If that's you, start at week 5 of the plan above. If it isn't, pick a later race. Squeezing twelve weeks of build into eight means bigger jumps in weekly distance, which is the pattern linked with injury.

Strength sessions in a half marathon plan

Two short strength sessions a week make the running easier and help keep you healthy. A 2018 systematic review of 24 studies found strength training generally improved running economy, the energy cost of holding a pace, by 2 to 8%, and suggested two to three sessions a week. Do two sessions a week in weeks 1 to 9, one in weeks 10 and 11, and one short, light session early in race week, or none.

The exercises, sets and progressions are in our guide to strength training for runners: squats, split squats, single-leg hinges, calf raises, glute bridges, step-ups, side planks and hops. If you'd rather have a coach take you through them on video, Personal Home Training needs only a mat and a little space.

Fuelling and hydration for a half marathon in Indian heat

A half marathon will take you well over an hour, so fuel matters, and in Indian conditions fluid matters even more. Practise everything in training first; race day is not the day to try a new gel.

1. 1

   The days before

   Eat normal, carbohydrate-rich meals: rice, roti, idli, poha, fruit. The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) notes that a high-carbohydrate diet of 8 to 12 g per kg of body weight a day maximises the body's glycogen stores. For a half marathon, we suggest simply eating a little more carbohydrate for a day or two and saving a full carb-load for longer races.

2. 2

   Race morning

   The ISSN suggests 1 to 4 g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight in the hours before endurance exercise. For a 6 AM start, that means a small, familiar breakfast 2 to 3 hours before, such as toast with banana or poha, and a glass or two of water.

3. 3

   During the race

   For hard efforts lasting more than an hour, the ISSN recommends about 30 to 60 g of carbohydrate an hour, taken every 10 to 15 minutes, for example as a 6 to 8% sports drink. Gels, bananas and dates also work if you've practised with them. Check labels for the grams.

4. 4

   Drinking

   The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) advises drinking enough to avoid losing more than 2% of body weight through sweat, and to start already hydrated. Sweat rates vary hugely, so weigh yourself before and after a long run: each kilogram lost is roughly a litre of sweat. Drinks with electrolytes and carbohydrate can help more than water alone on long, hot runs. Don't drink so much that you weigh more after the run than before.

On a 60 kg runner, 2% of body weight is 1.2 kg. If you regularly lose more than that on long runs, drink a little more at each water station, and use a sports drink rather than plain water for part of it.

For heat in training: run at first light, choose shaded routes, slow down on humid days, and move a key session to an indoor treadmill if the morning is unusually hot. Run your first few long runs in the heat at a gentler effort while your body adjusts.

Race week: what to do day by day

A 2007 meta-analysis of 27 studies on tapering found that a two-week taper, cutting training volume by about 41 to 60% while keeping intensity and the number of sessions the same, gave the biggest performance gains. Weeks 11 and 12 of the plan do exactly that. In race week, the work is done: your job is to arrive rested.

Half marathon cut-offs and entry rules at Indian races

Check two things on the official race site before you register: whether first-timers can enter, and the time limit. At India's two biggest half marathons, beginners can't simply sign up.

• Tata Mumbai Marathon (17 January 2027): entry to the half marathon is only against a timing certificate from an earlier race, run on or after 17 July 2025. Under the general entry route, the qualifying times are set by age and sex, from under 2 hours 35 minutes (men aged 18 to 29) to under 3 hours 50 minutes (women aged 70 and over). Finishers who complete the half within 3 hours 30 minutes of their start time can download a timing certificate.
• Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon (held 18 October 2026): entry to the half marathon category was also only against a timing certificate, with limited charity places as an exception.

So most beginners run their first half marathon at a smaller city race that accepts first-timers, then use that timing certificate to enter the bigger events. Finishing within 3 hours 30 minutes means averaging about 9 minutes 57 seconds per km, including walk breaks and water stops, which this plan prepares you for. Cut-offs and rules change every year, so read the current race information page before paying.

Half marathons and marathons in your city

Local races, their usual months, course profiles and cut-offs, and how to adapt this plan to each city's weather are covered in these city guides:

• Marathons in Bengaluru
• Marathons in Gurugram
• Marathons in Hyderabad
• Marathons in Pune
• Marathons in Mumbai
• Marathons in Delhi
• Marathons in Noida
• Marathons in Chennai
• Marathons in Thane
• Marathons in Navi Mumbai
• Marathons in Ahmedabad
• Marathons in Chandigarh–Mohali
• Marathons in Jaipur
• Marathons in Kolkata
• Marathons in Kochi
• Marathons in Lucknow
• Marathons in Agra
• Marathons in Vadodara
• Marathons in Nashik
• Marathons in Indore
• Marathons in Visakhapatnam
• Marathons in Coimbatore
• Marathons in Mangaluru
• Marathons in Kozhikode
• Marathons in Thiruvananthapuram
• Marathons in Goa
• Marathons in Guwahati
• Marathons in Amritsar
• Marathons in Dehradun
• Marathons in Jodhpur
• Marathons in Udaipur

What to do after your first half marathon

Take a week of walking and very easy running, then return to three or four easy runs a week. Restart strength training with lighter weights. A sensible next goal is a faster half rather than jumping straight to a full marathon. Keep an eye on fuelling between races too: our protein intake calculator and TDEE calculator give you sensible daily targets.

If you train at a gym, Personal Gym Training puts a certified coach on video with you for your strength sessions, from ₹799 a session or ₹7,070 for a 4-week plan of 12. See all prices on our pricing page.