This is a detailed half marathon plan which includes hill workouts, strength and maintenance for the improving half marathon athlete. Over the 12 weeks, the volume does top out over 3 hours of running per week plus cross training so it is suggested that the athlete has at least completed the "Beginners' Half Marathon" programme successfully. Alternatively, if the athlete has completed two 10km events and has been running at least 3 times per week for the preceding month they should be prepared.

To use the heart rate zone function within TP and a sports watch, the athlete should conduct a time trial as below to establish the correct zones. This programme however is based upon RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) so it's totally possible to carry out by feel rather than numbers on a watch. The programme is broken down into three blocks of four weeks, with options to use 'B Races' to test development as the weeks go by.

The Method of conducting a run time trial is suggested as follows:
Walk for at least 5 minutes and then ease into some slow running for 10 minutes.
Use a further 5 minutes to slowly increase the intensity to the point that the breath can be heard i.e. being "puffed out".
Carry out some activation exercises (refer to below) for 5 minutes.
Conduct 5 repeats of this strides warm-up:
Start by running slowly for a few seconds, gradually build speed before reaching a pace which is almost flat out then complete 30 foot strikes full gas (count 15 on one side - left or right).
Walk back to the starting point each time.
Start your sports watch and run 30 minutes as hard as you can.
Begin conservatively, and use the lap button on your sports watch when 10 minutes have passed to record the 20 minutes we need data for.
Your average heart rate and pace for the 20 minutes will be your threshold HR and Pace. These can be entered into TP to find your training zones.

Activation exercises can be anything that challenges single leg balancing. These can be a choice of:
1. Slow calf raises with one leg raised
2. Raise one knee while balancing on the other foot (add in calf raise?)
3. Lift one heel to the butt while standing on the other leg then lean forward to look at the ground while stretching the raised leg straight out behind you.
4. As above but hold arms out parallel to the ground before bending forward.
5. Butt kicks.
6 High knees.

For anyone doing the HR based workouts without knowing their training zones, here's a brief description on each zone using RPE instead:

Zone 1 = 1-2 RPE (Walking and warming-up for example)
Zone 2 = 3-4 RPE (Aerobic fat burning workouts)
Zone 3 = 5-6 RPE ("Tempo" workouts for longer intervals)
Zone 4 = 7-8 RPE ("Threshold" workouts i.e. your best 20 minute effort)
Zone 5 = 9-10 RPE ("VO2 max" or shorter intervals)