Can you run 10K under 60 minutes? Then yes 🎯

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👋🏻 Hey Reader!

Saturday September 26 · Week close

No Chicago today. Today is for everyone else.

While part of the running world watches the marathon, you're building something just as serious with a cost-to-benefit ratio I love as a coach: the half marathon.

You train hard, you race hard, and Monday you go back to your life. I've gathered everything we've published on the half into one place: assessment, physiology, nutrition, taper and checklist.

01 THE NUMBER THAT DECIDES IT

2 min

Before choosing a plan, you need an honest diagnosis.

In our half marathon workshops I use the 10K under 60 minutes as the cutoff for whether a runner has the aerobic base to chase sub-2:00 in the half.

THE MATH, UNDECORATED

A 10K under 60 min means a pace of 9:39 min/mi (6:00 min/km)

Breaking 2 hours in the half demands 9:09 min/mi (5:41 min/km) across 13.1 mi (21.097 km)

If your 10K is above 65–68 minutes, sub-2:00 isn't this season's target. Volume and aerobic speed come first.

It isn't a judgement. It's training math. And knowing it today saves you sixteen weeks chasing a number that isn't yours yet.

02 FROM 10K TO THE HALF

2 min

The most common mistake I see is treating the half as "a longer 10K, run slower". It isn't. The 10K lives near the lactate threshold; the half lives just below it, held for nearly twice as long.

WK 1–4	Gradual volume with the 10% rule, consolidating the weekly long run.
WK 5–10	Goal pace enters, in short blocks inside the long run.
WK 11–14	Specific phase: long runs with 5–7.5 mi (8–12 km) continuous at race pace.
WK 15–16	Taper. Two weeks, not three — the half doesn't need the marathon's cut.

The session that most transforms a 10K runner

If I had to pick one, it's the long run with goal-pace blocks. A week-10 example in a sub-2:00 plan:

10 mi (16 km) total — 3 mi (5 km) easy warm-up · 5 mi (8 km) at 9:09 min/mi (5:41 min/km) · 2 mi (3 km) cool-down.

It teaches the body, and the head, what holding race pace feels like with fatigue already on board.

03 THE HALF MARATHON TAPER

1 min

This week we covered the marathon taper. The half's is shorter and more aggressive in its logic:

Week −2: down to 70–75% of peak volume, but you keep one short goal-pace session (2.5–3 mi / 4–5 km) to preserve reactive muscle tone.

Week −1: down to 50–60%, with two or three short sessions including 200–300 m build-ups at 10K pace. No accumulating fatigue.

The goal isn't complete rest. It's arriving with legs that are fresh but awake. A taper with zero intensity leaves runners feeling flat on race day. I've watched it happen again and again.

04 TWO FROM THE COMMUNITY

1 min

Juan Sebastián · broke 2 hours on the fourth attempt

He failed three times running his long runs "on feel". What changed was structuring them with real goal-pace blocks. It wasn't talent. It was structure.

César · debuted in 1:54

He did the full transition from the 10K, all sixteen weeks, without skipping the strength phase. Patience in the base is what lets you attack hard in the final six.

📖 The full guide · 14 min read

All four pillars: how to pick a plan around the days you actually have, the 45–60 g of carbohydrate per hour, the caffeine dose that's actually supported, preventive strength work, and the race-morning checklist.

🇺🇸 Read the guide → 🇪🇸 En Español →

Berlin runs tomorrow

More than 56,000 runners on the fastest course in the world, without its defending champion — Sabastian Sawe withdrew injured after running 1:59:30 in London back in April.

If you get up early to watch, tell me what you make of it. And if you're racing it, good luck tomorrow.

What date and city is your next half?

Reply with both. If there's a date, there's a plan — and I can tell you which of the sixteen weeks you should be in today.

Have a good weekend, and a good long run. See you Tuesday.