Half Marathon in 8 Weeks – Advanced
Magic Training
About the plan
An 8-week plan for advanced runners who already have a base and need a short, specific block for the half marathon. There are four runs a week, written in kilometers: intervals on Monday, a recovery run on Wednesday, threshold on Thursday and the long run on Sunday. Weekly volume stays between 29 and 38 miles (46 and 61 km) — below what most advanced half marathon plans require, because the idea here is to fit a real routine without giving up quality. Intervals range from 800 m to 2000 m, threshold reaches three 3 km blocks, and week 5 brings a 10 km race-pace time trial. The long run goes from 10 to 14 miles (16 to 22 km). Week 4 is a recovery week, week 7 sharpens, and week 8 ends at the 13.1 miles (21 km). Paces come from your times in the Magic Calculator; update your reference time in your profile before starting so threshold, interval and race paces are calibrated.
The plan in numbers
- Duration
- 8 weeks
- Runs per week
- 4
- Weekly volume
- 29 mi → 38 mi
- Longest run
- 14 mi
Week 1 starts at 29 mi and volume builds to 38 mi in week 6, the heaviest of the plan.
A typical week has 4 runs, and the longest session reaches 14 mi (Long, week 6).
Over the final 2 weeks volume drops from 38 mi to 9.2 mi so you arrive at the race rested.
Race day (18 mi) falls on Sunday of week 8; the week holds 9.2 mi of running before it.
There are 2 tune-up races on the way to the goal race.
Key workouts
The quality sessions that come up most in this plan:
- Interval7 sessions across 7 weeks
- Long7 sessions across 7 weeks
- Threshold6 sessions across 6 weeks
- Repetition1 session across 1 week
Who it's for
Advanced level. To start safely you should already be running about 29 mi per week and be comfortable with a 9.9 mi session — that is what week 1 asks for.
Week 1 — workout preview
29 mi this week
7.6 mi
5 mi
6.8 mi
9.9 mi
Week 6 — the heaviest of the plan
38 mi this week
8.3 mi
5.6 mi
10 mi
14 mi
Plan Structure
8 weeks · 32 workouts · 24 rest days
See the full plan
Create your account to unlock every week, sync with your watch and get personalized paces.