Masters (40+) Half Marathon Training Plans
"Simply fantastic, clear and precise explanations and great professional support."
Arturo Anniballo - Masters Half Marathon
Is A Masters Half Marathon Plan Right For You?
Our Masters Half Marathon training plans are designed for runners over 40 years old. Although plenty of younger athletes love them too.
The workouts are just as tough as with our normal training plans, but with more scheduled recovery days. And more strength and conditioning work, so you stay strong and flexible.
Masters runners face different challenges to younger athletes. Families, busy careers and lack of sleep are just a few. That said, not all over 40 runners require a Masters-specific training plan. Some find it easy to carry on with a normal training load, while others need to change their approach to training.
- Premium plans with coach support for any level
- FREE TASTER PDF versions of our shorter plans!
When to Consider Choosing a Masters Plan:
- Your training time availability is reduced with work and family commitments.
- You feel sleep deprived from daily stresses.
- Your body has different needs in terms of recovery, strength and flexibility training.
- You suffer recurrent injuries.
- You feel constantly fatigued or overwhelmed by your regular training.
- You keep catching colds and other viruses.
Can I Still Race Successfully?
Yes! In fact, by following our Masters running plans, you may well race better than ever. The key to success is training consistently, without missing workouts due to injury, fatigue or time limitations. It’s not always about who attempts the most training.
All our training plans adhere to the principle of “Progressive Overload”. Meaning that the stress placed upon your body gradually increases over time. By training consistently with regular recovery periods, you’re more likely to absorb the gradually increasing training loads, without breaking down.
How is a Masters Plan Different?
Rest and Recovery
Intensive half marathon training will cause you muscle damage. As we mature it can (arguably) take longer for your muscles to adapt and remodel. This decline in rate of recovery will vary according to genetics and training history. Insufficient recovery time can lessen the effect of the workout and leave you more prone to injury. Masters Half Marathon plans have more rest days each week (1 or 2 days per week) and a 1:2 ratio of active recovery weeks to hard weeks (this is 1:3 in regular plans). That means you’ll do two weeks of challenging training, and then take an active recovery week (with around half the training stress).
Strength and Conditioning
As we get older, our muscle density begins to decline, and it becomes crucial to counter the effects of age-related muscle loss.
When you choose to follow Phil’s Half Marathon Masters plans, you can download the associated FREE Strength and Conditioning plan. These have two scheduled strength and conditioning workouts per week, designed to promote:
- Performance through improved strength and power.
- Increased muscle mass.
- Injury prevention by strengthening connective tissue, muscles, and tendons.
- Flexibility to maintain power through a full range of movement.
- Improved bone density.
- Fat-free body mass (a leaner physique).
All Strength and Conditioning workouts can be carried out at home. There are also alternative exercises if you prefer a gym based workout.
Training Intensities and Volume
Training intensely is the key to success in any sport, regardless of age. Strong performances come from having a solid base and workouts that maximise your anaerobic fitness, speed, power and skill. Evidence suggests that higher intensity work with less volume is beneficial for the Masters athlete, even for Half Marathon Training. Shorter, more intense workouts will also free up valuable time for recovery and work/family commitments. Masters plans optimise your training time with the right ratio of volume and intensity relevant to each plan.
Approach to Training
As an older athlete with a full life, prioritising is an essential skill. Ideally schedule your week, planning times for family, training, work and sleep. You should also be prepared for the curve balls that cause chaos in your best laid plans. Consistency in training is arguably the most important trait amongst successful Masters athletes. Here are some ideas to help you stick to your regime:
- Use your commute as an opportunity to train.
- Add in strength and conditioning at home, with the kids if necessary!
- If you can’t do a whole session, do part of it, something is always better than nothing.
- Commit to a lunchtime workout.
- Double up run workouts with Strength and Conditioning sessions and save showering twice.
- Life will occasionally get in the way and if you need to miss the odd workout, let it go and move on. It happens.
Top Training Tips For A Half Marathon
Running Tips
If you’re a total beginner your runs should start off at 15 minutes in duration and increase gradually over a period of weeks or months. If this feels too hard for you, walk briskly instead, until you’re fit enough to include a little running in your workouts. Over time you will be able to run more and walk less. Aim to increase the duration of your workouts by no more than 10% per week. Your runs should not feel too intense at this stage – ideally you should be able to talk while you’re running, as a way of knowing that you’re not going too hard. If not, slow down or include some walking sections. If you ignore this, you increase your risk of getting injured.
Once you have built up to running 30 minutes comfortably, you can then structure your training program around three key runs per week. The first key session is an endurance session, where you build up over the weeks and months to around 1 hour 30 minutes of low intensity running.
The second key session is a speed session, with a warm up, a warm down and some hard efforts sandwiched in between – such as 4 x 3 minutes hard with 2-minute recoveries.
The third key session should be a run that includes some half-marathon paced efforts, so you get used to the demands of race day. For example, 2 x 10 minutes at half marathon pace, with 3-minute recoveries (plus, warm up and warm down). We include these kinds of workouts in our half marathon training plans. All your key sessions should constantly evolve and progress over time, so your body is forced to adapt and improve.
If you do additional runs, they can be steady jogs of around 30-60 minutes. If possible, do some of your running on soft surfaces like grass or trails, to reduce the impact on your body. Training on hillier terrain is good too, because it spreads the load to a wider range of muscle fibers, compared to running on flat ground. Always be mindful of avoiding injury – over half of all runners are injured every year. In our novice, intermediate and advanced half marathon training plans we make every third week an “active recovery week” where the training is halved. This gives your body a chance to recover and get stronger.
Strength Training Tips
We include two sessions per week in our FREE Strength and Conditioning plans. These workouts can help improve your strength and flexibility, leading to more efficient movement patterns and fewer injuries. We suggest you only do strength work in addition to at least three runs per week, rather than instead of them.
Using A Masters Half Marathon Training Plan
Online training plans are for athletes who don’t feel the need for a personal coach, but who still want the structure and planning of an expertly-written training program. Research has shown that you are twice as likely to reach your goals if you train with a structured plan.
If you have a recent background of fitness or sport, it could take you 15+ weeks to get fit enough to conquer a half marathon. If you’ve been more sedentary over the last few years, it’s harder to predict. Either way, you need to build up your training gradually over a period of months. Fitness improvements build up slowly and gradually, like coffee dripping through a filter into a jug.
Compatible with over 100 apps & devices, including:
Compatible with over 100
apps & devices, including:
Head Coach & Founder: Phil Mosley
Why Use Our Training Plans?
Flexible, structured training for any level
Research-backed plans for any experience-level that fit around your lifestyle. From leading endurance coach Phil Mosley.
The world's best training app
We use TrainingPeaks for personalised training zones, trackable progress and so much more - on any major training device.
Certified coach support (rated 4.9/5)
On top of full help-centre & FAQ support (with videos), our coaches will quickly reply to any questions you have about your plan via email!
1. Choose from 18 plans from 6-21 weeks long
With beginner, intermediate, advanced, masters (40+) and off-season plans – we’ll have the perfect one for you.
2. Activate your free TrainingPeaks™️ account
A flexible calendar, targeted training zones, trackable progress and so much more – on any device.
3. Get your online plan and start ticking off sessions!
Keep motivated with any of your training questions answered quickly by our team of certified coaches!
About Phil Mosley
Phil is a recognised expert with over 20 years of experience, having featured on many endurance sports publications. He founded MyProCoach in 2010 to to offer the world’s most comprehensive range of online training plans, all designed to help you enjoy the same success that himself and his athletes have, while still making sure you have quality time for your family, friends and career.
Masters Half Marathon Plans (6-21 Weeks)
WITH FREE EMAIL COACH SUPPORT
We use TrainingPeaks to deliver your plan – the world’s most popular endurance coaching platform. Free to use, TrainingPeaks is an online calendar that lets you record, track and analyze your training sessions.
It has a host of great features allowing you to get as in-depth as you like, including the ability to export your workouts to your training devices (Garmin, Zwift, Apple Watch etc) and follow them in real time.
TrainingPeaks enables us to set you in-depth training plans in a way that other formats cannot. Phil Mosley is a Certified Coach and one of the best-selling coaches on the platform.
Whenever you need help with your training plan, we aim to respond to your emails within 24-hours. Our Certified coaching team are on hand to answer any questions during the first use of your plan, plus a bonus three months after its completion.
During checkout, please also share your email so I can send you a series of 5 helpful emails to get you started.
As you can understand, some limits apply (for example, we can’t analyse your data or edit your training plan) but for anything else relevant to your training, we would love to help. You also have full access to our online help centre, with videos and articles to help you train effectively.
We have a huge range of plans that enables you to select one that best meets your goals, schedule and ability. If you’re not sure where to start, read on below for a quick overview.
What type?
Our Standard and Masters plans are designed to get you ready for your target event, while our Off-Season plans are designed to allow you to recover from a tough season whilst maintaining your well-earned fitness. Generally, Masters plans are designed for athletes over 40 years old, although plenty of younger athletes love them too. The workouts are just as tough as with our standard training plans, but with more scheduled recovery days. Some find it easy to carry on with a normal training load, while others need to change their approach to training.
What length?
For the best outcome, count back from your “A” target race date and simply choose a plan to fill that gap (you can still work in other, smaller races during your plan). Note that longer plans start easier and progress more gradually than shorter plans. The body responds best to constant, gradual progression with regular recovery periods, and that’s exactly what our plans are designed to give you!
What level?
Choosing the correct level will help you get the most out of your plan. Generally, if you’ve never done this event before or currently train up to a few times per week, you might consider a Beginner plan. Alternatively, if you’ve done this event many times before or currently train 5+ times a week, you might consider an Advanced plan.
But don’t worry too much – we also let you swap the level for free within 14 days of purchase, if you find it too easy/hard!
Visit the MyProCoach Help Center for further guidance and to contact our Certified coaching team.
Certainly! Our training plans allow you to easily swap a few days around each week to suit your availability. Or you can swap out a session, to attend a similar group workout instead. That’s fine. If you opt for TrainingPeaks Premium (from $9.92 per month) you can even drag & drop your workouts onto different days. We give a few recommendations on how to best do this in our help centre.
And you can also train for multiple events! Our training plans guide you up to your target “A” race, but it’s also good to include some “B or C” races along the way. Our help centre goes through the exact steps you should take to enable you to get full benefit, without detracting from your key focus
Trial Us With Our FREE TASTER Plans! (8- And 12-Week PDFs Only)
- No coach support, personal intensity zones or tracking software
- Standard (non-masters) version only
Beginner (6-21wks)
Perfect for your first Half Marathon- Premium, flexible plan
- Intuitive tracking software
- Help centre & FAQ support
- Email access to coach
- From just $2.90/week!
Intermediate (6-21wks)
For seasoned runners- Premium, flexible plan
- Intuitive tracking software
- Help centre & FAQ support
- Email access to coach
- From just $2.90/week!
Advanced (6-21wks)
Slash your race-times- Premium, flexible plan
- Intuitive tracking software
- Help centre & FAQ support
- Email access to coach
- From just $2.90/week!
Under 40? Check our Half Marathon standard plans.
Join Over 40,000 Successful Athletes
- Nick GoldstonIRONMAN 70.3, July 2019Plan Prepared Me Superbly! My race at IM 70.3 Santa Rosa went great! The plan prepared me superbly for it. I felt strong! Thanks so much for your guidance regarding the use of your plans.16 Sep 2019Dan ForerIRONMAN 70.3, May 2020Quality: Intermediate 70.3 Quality Ironman 70.3 intermediate plan. I recommend it! I’m an amateur with 10yrs of competitive Tri and duathlon racing at world level in the past. I’m also experienced in training with no plan and a few extra kgs - this doesn’t work. I’ve trained in squads, on generic plans, dedicated... >> read moreQuality Ironman 70.3 intermediate plan. I recommend it! I’m an amateur with 10yrs of competitive Tri and duathlon racing at world level in the past. I’m also experienced in training with no plan and a few extra kgs - this doesn’t work. I’ve trained in squads, on generic plans, dedicated one-to-one coaching in that time with various approaches from sprint to full Ironman. So I’ve seen a lot what what is out there. This plan is quality. On reading I could tell it was very good. The difficulty as intermediate is well placed. Its suitable challenging for someone with racing background but who’s been out of the game for a short while too. The plan is centred around initial tests to baseline your ability, so in this regard it is personalised to your ability. As the athlete, you must still use your smarts to listen to your body when training but on this plan I felt the fatigue was always well managed. The plan in Training Peaks is brilliant. Full description of each session automatically customised to the required intensity using your previous test results. The plan is also periodised into build and peak phases with a clear distinction in the type of training in each phase with progressive adaptation of sessions within the phases. It’s very well thought out. You are also able to re-use the plan in Training Peaks which is ideal especially when unforeseen events occur like race cancellations and you need to restart or just aim for another race date. The results. I’ve seen significant improvements across swim, bike and run. Biggest gains being on the bike! I’ve also followed the strength and conditioning sessions in the plan so injury prevention and support for better person is handled by this aspect. The team is also very supportive and motivating via social channels. They really take an interest in the athletes who purchase their plans. So be sure to follow myprocoach on FB and insta. I highly recommended this plan, so get it and shift your attention to picking the race now! << read less21 May 2020Boris IliykovIRONMAN 70.3, September 2019My best performance and my new personal best Never felt so good on a race day before. I was well prepared thanks to the advanced 70.3 plan and had my best swim/bike/run splits and even with a flat tire I was able to achieve a new personal best. The plan was well structured with the idea of training... >> read moreNever felt so good on a race day before. I was well prepared thanks to the advanced 70.3 plan and had my best swim/bike/run splits and even with a flat tire I was able to achieve a new personal best. The plan was well structured with the idea of training smart not long and and I was able to push hard for the entire race. Thank you! << read less22 Sep 2019
- Nigel YeoIronman Hamburg July 2019Very Pleased Finisher This is the first time I have used an online training programme and wouldn't hesitate to recommend Phil's to anyone looking!! They keep you focused on your training and the plans are very well set out. Phil is always on hand for advice and help which is great, even when... >> read moreThis is the first time I have used an online training programme and wouldn't hesitate to recommend Phil's to anyone looking!! They keep you focused on your training and the plans are very well set out. Phil is always on hand for advice and help which is great, even when you pick up some slight injuries along the way. This ironman advanced plan got me to the finish line in Hamburg very happy indeed. Don't hesitate if you are looking you wont be disappointed. Many, Many Thanks...………………... << read less29 Aug 2019JanSprint/Olympic Triathlon, July 2019Masters triathlon win win ! I can highly recommend Phils training plans . I have been on a training plan for the last year with exceptional results , I’m not new to the sport 16 years and now in the masters category. The training plan gives me a more balanced life and no niggles !!!... >> read moreI can highly recommend Phils training plans . I have been on a training plan for the last year with exceptional results , I’m not new to the sport 16 years and now in the masters category. The training plan gives me a more balanced life and no niggles !!! In the last year I have won every race I entered, feeling fresh and have a stronger endurance speed base . At 64 im racing as I did in my 40’s . So thanks Phil , I'm looking forward to my next race ! Jan << read less02 Jul 2019Kerry SmithLoved everything about it I followed the beginner Olympic triathlon program and loved it. At first it felt like I wasn’t doing enough, but soon realised I had been over training and by following Phil’s sweet spot training I actually started getting faster and stronger even though by time I was doing less. I... >> read moreI followed the beginner Olympic triathlon program and loved it. At first it felt like I wasn’t doing enough, but soon realised I had been over training and by following Phil’s sweet spot training I actually started getting faster and stronger even though by time I was doing less. I managed to catch a cold the week of my event, but despite this I was able to compete and finished the event within my time goal (less than 3hrs 30) and recovered well the next day. I felt strong throughout the event (well, except the last 3k which were up a very rude hill), and had confidence in my race pace and nutrition strategy which came with the training. I emailed the coaches several times in my training and the replies were prompt and very thorough. I also loved that the training sync’d to my Garmin watch and prompted me live during training. I’ve just downloaded the intermediate program and plan to try another Olympic in 6 weeks time and see if I can do it a bit quicker! Thank you, the plan was brilliant! << read less22 Feb 2020
- AndréanneIRONMAN 140.6, September 2019I am so proud, I finished with a BIG smile! Hello to the whole coaching team @ myprocoach.net! A very quick note just to say a big THANK YOU! This Saturday, I just finished my first IM distance Triathlon in Almere (Nederlands) in 11:22. It was such an amazing event, and I am so proud I finished it with a... >> read moreHello to the whole coaching team @ myprocoach.net! A very quick note just to say a big THANK YOU! This Saturday, I just finished my first IM distance Triathlon in Almere (Nederlands) in 11:22. It was such an amazing event, and I am so proud I finished it with a BIG smile! I have followed your intermediate IM training plan and it guided me through a smooth, injury free (!) and constant evolution toward that big race. I wanted to ensure I share this and say a big thanks the whole team for getting me there, 😉 All the best and continue the great work! Andreanne << read less18 Sep 2019Kyle MiersmaIRONMAN 70.3 & 140.6, 2019Easy to follow and great IRONMAN results!! Very structured, easy to follow training plans helped me to some great PBs for Ironman 70.3 and also used Phil's plan to train and finish my first full Ironman distance race!!! He takes the guess work out of it and with the Training Peaks partner, you can upload and swap... >> read moreVery structured, easy to follow training plans helped me to some great PBs for Ironman 70.3 and also used Phil's plan to train and finish my first full Ironman distance race!!! He takes the guess work out of it and with the Training Peaks partner, you can upload and swap dates to accommodate your busy life. << read less01 Sep 2019Chris SharkeyIRONMAN 70.3, December 2019Thank you! Just wanted to thank you for the training plan and your advice through the plan. I have just completed the Bahrain IRONMAN 70.3 and had a wonderful day. I smiled all the way through it. It was my first triathlon and was delighted with a time of just under 6 hours.09 Dec 2019
A Growing Community Of Athletes
*on average athletes use their plan twice (our plans can be activated multiple times for free)
Kickstart Your Training Today!
Choose your premium training plan, download the TrainingPeaks app and start ticking off sessions!
Sign up for Phil's email newsletter!
Get expert training advice, the latest news and occasional discounts. You can unsubscribe at any time.