Half Marathon Plan Advanced - L4

"I haven't started the program yet. I've decided to use it for my training for the CPH Half Marathon. I've looked through the program and am really excited to start it.

Thank you for such a well thought out and easy to follow plan. I followed the L4 plan almost to the letter based on pacing for a 1.25-1.26 performance and ran 1.24.53. Previous pb was 1.33.01. I started the training plan thinking I’ll make my goal pace 4.05-4.10 per km but by the second half of the plan was comfortably holding goal pace km’s closer to 4mins per km. By race day I was confident to set off an about this pace and held it - quite comfortably to the end. Training plan was easy to follow and manageable despite having a busy job and two young kids. Already bought your marathon plan for next year. Thanks again- training plan was a bargain.

Ran my last PB over the half marathon distance in June 2023, with an official time of 1:44:35. This year I wanted at least to dip under 1:40 to prepare for a marathon in April 2025. I chose the half marathon advanced plan to also see how my body would react to the extra mileage, considering marathontraining in the beginning of 2025. I wanted to challenge myself and had some extra time in the summer holiday to do some serious training.

Physically I had no problems to run this higher mileage. I had some pain in the achilles in weeks 7 untill 10 of the plan, but this went away and didn't become a serious injury. The strength work didn't take up much time and this was fine, since we all love running more.

I tried to stay as consistent as possible with the sessions, this is key for the great results. I only skipped two sessions over the 12 weeks and tried to run the paces advised for a half marathon time of 90 minutes.

For the shorter interval sessions these paces were achievable. However, for the longer runs in the weekend with tempo blocks, it was impossible to reach these advised paces. These longer runs are definitely the harder runs in the program.

On raceday I was hoping for a sub-90 half marathon, but I had no idea if my body had recovered enough and if I even had this speed in my legs. I was surprised of how well the race went and extremely happy with the results! I crushed all my PB's during the race from 2 miles up to the half marathon distance!

This plan was wonderful! I ran my first half in 1:39 and was super happy with that but I wanted that sub 1:30.
I just finished my race and ran a 1:27 half! The plan has a mix of runs which makes the workouts more enjoyable. There is no thinking, everything is given to you including pace charts, distances, etc.
Thank you!

This is the first training plan that I've used for a Half Marathon as I know I'm comfortable running the distance and I've never really tried to achieve a specific time before.

I completed my last Half Marathon prior to this in 1:32:01, so I wanted to aim for 1:30:00 in this year's Big Half.

I found the plan and the strength and conditioning exercises really well structured and easy to follow.

It was a bit warmer than I was expecting (and would have liked) on race day. Even a few miles in I was having doubts as I didn't think I'd be able to maintain my target pace. As it was, the training meant that I was able to pretty much run every mile at or below my target pace.

I couldn't believe that I managed to finish the race in 1:29:38 and I couldn't be happier that I did!

Thanks for creating such an effective plan!

Really enjoyed the program and got great results.Helped me achieve my Target of 1hr30min half marathon and got me more then fit enough in time with only been running for just over one year and my second ever half marathon.

I purchased this plan to prepare my self for my first half marathon.
I still can't believe I achieved 1:26.....thanks Ben!!!!!

So I downloaded this plan after I ran a 1:52 half this time last year. Not a bad time but given my PB was 1:42, set 11 years earlier to be fair, I was disappointed and felt I could do better. Fast forward to exactly one year later. At 56 I have just PB-ed my third half marathon of the year in a healthy 1:34:31. That's three pb's this year all under 1:40. At my age, its certainly been a big push to get here but this plan has been great. Its pushed my out of my comfort zone some weeks but it was definitely needed to get my older bones and muscles working at the rate required. Thanks, Ben. Feeling super proud of myself and really greatful to have found you, your YouTube channel and the plans. Next - I'm training for a 3:15 marathon next April. After a bit of downtime and maintenance training, that is. You're doing a great job, Ben. Keep it up :)

Used this advanced half marathon plan for the Manchester Half Marathon today. Didn’t quite achieve my goal of sub 90 but it was still a 5 minute PB with a finishing time of 1:30:55. I love Bens plans and will be this one again for my next half marathon in March. Always very easy to follow, great workouts, and I love the long runs with sections at goal pace. I recommend these plans to everyone I know. Keep up the great work Ben!

I’d previously used on of Ben’s 10km plans to run a PB, and have just finished the HM plan with the Gold Coast Half Marathon (my first HM). I trained and aimed for sub-1:30, and finished at 1:22:43. Needless to say, these plans work!