Welcome to the Through The Westside with Love Training Program
Thank you for signing up to participate in the 2025 Through The Westside With Love Half Marathon!
This plan is specifically geared to prepare you to take on the Half Marathon on October 4th, 2025.
The goal is to make sure you finish strong, injury-free, with a smile on your face or with tears of joy.
Who is it for:
For the first time half marathon runners & those with some running experience, looking to ramp up their training for a marathon.
How long: 8 WEEKS
The plan focuses on building our running base and adding mileage. The ‘Training Runs’ should be done at a comfortable, sustainable pace. The purpose is to help you get the miles. Most typical marathon training plans you typically run three to five times a week, increasing your mileage as you get nearer to race day. On the other days, you can strength train, do some low intensity exercises (like Yoga or Pilates) and most importantly, rest your legs, allowing them to fully recover.
Half Marathon training can be an extremely rewarding experience as you prepare to get yourself to the starting line.
However, it is also a HUGE commitment – which is why it’s so important to prepare for those 13.1 miles correctly.
*Active Recovery: refers to light physical activity that is done after a more intense workout or competition to aid in muscle recovery and prevent injury.
*Strength Training (also known as resistance training): is a type of exercise that involves using external resistance to improve muscular strength and endurance.
Things I Wish I Knew
Your half marathon training plan won’t be perfect. You get sick, you go out of town, or you realize you can't run after work like you planned and that's okay! Your training won't be derailed by having to change things up. If anything, it helps you deal with potentially unexpected situations on race day.
Don't try anything new on race day, that you haven't done throughout your training. Example: new shoes, camel packs, etc.
Dedicate your runs to someone or something. Find your WHY. Feeling like you are running for a purpose or for someone who is really struggling, often puts the pain you are feeling during those few miles into perspective.
LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! Rest when your body is telling you to. Even if you have a run scheduled.
You can’t prepare for the weather on race day. You truly never know what you're going to get when you wake up the morning of the race. They say it's good to practice in every possible weather condition, but you won't know what you're running in that day. There’s no such thing as bad weather, just soft people.
Running/Training for a half marathon is more mental than physical.
You deserve to treat yourself! Marathons are hard on the body so when you finally cross that finish line, take a minute (or two) to celebrate your hard work!