Eight weeks is tight. Not impossible, but tight enough that there's no room for wasted weeks, random spikes in mileage, or skipping strength "just this once." If you already have a running base, here's exactly how to spend the runway you've got. If you don't, keep reading for a minute before you scroll: there's a better plan for you further down.
I build compressed plans like this with 1:1 athletes fairly often: someone signs up for a race with less lead time than they'd like, or life ate the first month of a longer plan. It's doable. It's just a different shape than a 12-week plan, not a squeezed-down copy of one. Less time in Base, most of the runway in Support and Specific, and a taper that's shorter but not skipped.
Eight weeks is the non-beginner minimum: the shortest window I'd build a half marathon plan in, and only for someone who already runs. This guide assumes you're training 4-5 days a week already, you can comfortably cover 10-12km right now, and you've got real running history behind you, even if you've never raced a half before.
If that's not you yet (if you're not running consistently, or 10km would be a stretch today), 8 weeks is not enough time to build the aerobic base and the tendon and joint durability that comes with months of easy running, not weeks. Compressing that timeline for a true beginner doesn't make you tougher, it just raises your injury risk for no real benefit. Go read the half marathon training plan for beginners or the couch-to-half-marathon guide instead, and come back to a plan like this one once you've got the base under you.
A 12-week plan gets roughly even thirds: Base, Support, Specific. Eight weeks doesn't have room for that split, so it isn't attempted here. Base shrinks to two weeks, just enough to confirm your body is handling the plan's early load, not enough to build fitness from scratch (which is exactly why this plan needs you arriving with a base already). Support takes over most of the middle, because that's where the real fitness-building happens: bridging easy running toward actual race demands. Specific gets compressed into the final stretch alongside the taper, because with only 8 weeks total there isn't a separate long "race-rehearsal" block before you have to start backing off.
Inside that shape: never two hard days back to back, at least two real progression runs across the 8 weeks (not per week, the plan just needs to fit two in somewhere sensible), and speed volume capped at no more than +5 minutes week over week. Those rules don't relax just because the calendar's short, if anything they matter more.
Long run climbs from 11km in week 1 to a peak of 17km in week 6, starting noticeably higher than a beginner plan would, because you're not building a base here, you're sharpening one that already exists. From week 7 the taper begins: volume comes down deliberately rather than gradually drifting down, because with only 8 weeks total there's no slack left to improvise it.
| Week | Phase | Long run | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Base | 11km | Confirms your existing base can handle structured load, not building it from nothing. One quality session, kept easy. Strength ×2 starts this week, not "once things settle." |
| Week 2 | Base | 12km | First progression run of the plan (1 of the 2-minimum): easy start, faster finish, nothing dramatic. Never scheduled next to a quality day. Strength ×2 continues. |
| Week 3 | Support | 13km | Support opens: sessions start pointing toward actual race pace instead of just easy volume. Speed volume can nudge up, capped at +5 minutes versus last week's total. |
| Week 4 | Support | 14km | Steady build continues. One quality session, one strides-based session at most, no third hard day. Strength stays at 2x; this is where it's tempting to skip and shouldn't be. |
| Week 5 | Support | 15km | Second progression run lands here (your 2-per-plan minimum is now met). If the week 3-4 load has felt manageable, this is where a second quality session can be considered, never back-to-back with the long run. |
| Week 6 | Support | 17km | Peak long run of the whole plan, roughly 80% of race distance. Nothing new gets introduced from here, only sharpening what's already working. Strength continues, loads can lighten slightly. |
| Week 7 | Specific: taper begins | 10km | Taper starts here, about 1.5 weeks out from race day. Long run drops noticeably from week 6's peak. One shorter quality session keeps legs sharp without digging a new fatigue hole. Strength drops to lighter maintenance loads. |
| Week 8 | Race week | 3-4km shakeout + race | Volume drops hard. A few short strides mid-week keep legs activated, nothing that leaves soreness behind. Strength goes to light maintenance only, or rest if anything feels off. Use the taper planner for your exact day-by-day breakdown of this final stretch. |
I'm not going to pretend an 8-week build carries the same risk profile as a 12-week one, it doesn't. Less time means less margin: fewer weeks for your body to adapt to load before you need it to hold up under race-specific demands, and no real room to absorb a missed week or a nagging niggle without it eating into the plan itself. That's not a reason to panic, it's a reason to be disciplined about the parts that actually reduce risk: strength training, never stacking hard days, respecting the taper instead of trying to "fit in one more long run." Runners who get hurt on short plans are almost always runners who tried to make up for lost time by adding volume the plan didn't call for. Don't be that runner. The plan already accounts for what 8 weeks can safely hold.
Two strength sessions a week run underneath this entire plan, from week 1 through week 6 at full load, then tapering to lighter maintenance in weeks 7-8. Squats, single-leg work, core, hip and glute strength: nothing that needs a personal trainer to explain, but not optional either. With a shorter runway, strength is one of the few levers you have to reduce injury risk without spending extra weeks you don't have. Skipping it to "save energy for running" is exactly backwards, it's the thing keeping your form together when everything else is compressed.
A full 12-week plan gets a proper taper week before race week. Here, with only 8 weeks total, the taper compresses into roughly the last 1.5 weeks: the back half of week 7 through all of week 8. That's still enough time to arrive fresh, it's just less padding than a longer plan gives you, which is exactly why sticking to it matters more, not less. You can't add fitness in these final days. You can only lose freshness by trying to sneak in one more big session. Use the taper planner to see your exact day-by-day plan for the final stretch.
Compressed plans are exactly where a real coach earns their keep: knowing what to cut and what to protect when the calendar's tight. That's what RunLetters Half Marathon Coaching does: a real coach (me, 13 half marathons in, PB 1:23:45) building your training around your actual schedule and adjusting as it goes, not handing you a static PDF.
See the coaching programYes, if you already run regularly. It's the minimum runway for real fitness gains without just stacking fatigue, but only if you're starting from an existing base of 10-12km and 4-5 running days a week already, not from zero.
No. Without an existing base, 8 weeks doesn't give your body enough time to build aerobic fitness and durability safely. Use the half marathon training plan for beginners or the couch-to-half-marathon guide instead.
Then this plan is built for you. The long run starts around 10-12km and peaks at 16-17km by week 6, reflecting fitness you already have rather than fitness you're building from scratch. Strength training and the short taper still aren't optional: a shorter runway means less margin for skipping them.