Run your half marathon strong, not just finished.
This 12 week plan is built for the intermediate runner currently logging 15 to 20 miles per week who wants to combine smart running with structured strength work to arrive at the start line durable and ready to race 13.1.
What you get:
12 week progressive plan built on the UESCA hybrid endurance coaching model. Four phase periodization: Base, Build, Peak, Taper. Two hard run days every week (steady state, tempo, cruise intervals, threshold intervals, and half marathon pace work) progressed week to week. Long runs that build from 5 to 13 miles with marathon effort finishes and half marathon pace segments. Three strength sessions per week paired with your hard days using bodyweight and one pair of dumbbells, so easy days stay easy. Recovery weeks every fourth week. Dual prescription on every workout: heart rate percentage AND RPE, so you can train by feel or by data. A coach note on every workout explaining the why and how it should feel. Fully structured workouts that sync to Garmin, Wahoo, Coros, and Apple Watch for guided execution. A complete Read This First guide on Day 1 covering how to set your threshold heart rate in TrainingPeaks, fueling, recovery, what to do when you miss a workout, and race day.
Who this is for:
Intermediate runners with 12 weeks until race day, currently running 15 to 20 miles per week, who have completed a 5K or 10K race or training cycle in the past year and want strength built into the plan, not bolted on.
Equipment needed:
Running shoes, one pair of dumbbells, a mat, a sturdy step or low platform, a hill for hill strides from Week 5. Heart rate monitor recommended but not required.
Communication: this is a self guided plan. Questions are welcome through TrainingPeaks messaging, and one on one coaching with Pacheco Endurance is available if you want a plan built around you.
Coach Pacheco is a UESCA Certified Running Coach and a medically retired Army Infantry Major who built this plan around the same principles he uses with private clients. The structure works. The work is up to you.
UESCA Certified Running Coach and retired Army Infantry Major. Ranger School graduate, former Ranger instructor, Best Ranger competitor. Medically retired in 2024 and told in the hospital I might not run again. Rebuilt through running: two marathons, a half marathon, 15 laps at a Backyard Ultra, and the Pikes Peak Ultra 50 miler. Author of the Run Strong plans on TrainingPeaks: half marathon, AFT two mile, CFT, and mountain 50K and 50 miler. Your body adapts to what you ask of it. Ask more.