Stephen Gilmore.

MandaRUN 2026 Half Marathon Training Plan

I signed up to run another half marathon! It’s the MandaRUN on November 22. It’s my second time going after a HM (the first). I’ve got about 10 weeks to train before race day. I used AI to help me come up with a training plan and this is what it looks like:

Week Mon (Easy) Wed (Tempo) Fri (Easy) Sun (Long) Weekly Total Dates
1 2 mi 3 mi 3 mi 4 mi 12 mi Sep 14 - Sep 20
2 2 mi 3 mi 3 mi 5 mi 13 mi Sep 21 - Sep 27
3 3 mi 4 mi 3 mi 6 mi 16 mi Sep 28 - Oct 04
4 2 mi 3 mi 3 mi 5 mi 13 mi Oct 05 - Oct 11
5 3 mi 4 mi 4 mi 7 mi 18 mi Oct 12 - Oct 18
6 3 mi 4 mi 4 mi 8 mi 19 mi Oct 19 - Oct 25
7 3 mi 4 mi 3 mi 6 mi 16 mi Oct 26 - Nov 01
8 4 mi 4 mi 4 mi 9 mi 21 mi Nov 02 - Nov 08
9 3 mi 3 mi 4 mi 10 mi 20 mi Nov 09 - Nov 15
10 2 mi 2 mi 2 mi Race Nov 16 - Nov 22

Note: Claude seemed to do better at this than Gemini.

New weight lifting routine

I’m going to dial back my weightlifting routine a bit to focus on running. I’m trying out a Dan John “Easy Strength” inspired routine. We’ll see if consistency beats intensity. I’m aiming to do this 5x per week, Monday through Friday.

Exercise Sets × Reps
Romanian Deadlift (Dumbbell) — hinge 2 × 5
Bench Press (Dumbbell) — push 2 × 5
Bulgarian Split Squat (Dumbbell) — squat 2 × 5
Dumbbell Row — pull 2 × 5
Farmers Walk — carry 2 × 40s
Side Plank — ab 2 × 30-45s
  • Weight: Use whetever is already the 8-10 rep max for each lift. It’s not a 5 rep max.
  • Never train to failure.
  • Legs dead from running? Drop the squats first. Then RDL, if needed.

Old weight lifting routine

This is the old weightlifting routine routine that I’ve been trying to do ~4 times per week. (Just saving it somewhere so I don’t lose it).

Routine A

Exercise Sets × Reps
Romanian Deadlift (Dumbbell) 3 × 8-10
Superset: Bench Press (Dumbbell) 3 × 8-10
Superset: Dumbbell Row 3 × 10-12
Superset: Hammer Curl (Dumbbell) 3 × 10-12
Superset: Farmers Walk 3 × 45-60s

Routine B

Exercise Sets × Reps
Bulgarian Split Squat (Dumbbell) 3 × 8-10
Superset: Overhead Press (Dumbbell) 3 × 8-10
Superset: Lat Pulldown (Cable, Neutral Grip) 3 × 10-12
Superset: Triceps Rope Pushdown 3 × 10-12
Superset: Face Pull 3 × 15-20