Running a half marathon is one thing. Doing it at an 8:00 minute-per-mile pace for 13.1 miles is a different beast entirely. Honestly, the jump from a two-hour finish to a 1:45 is where most runners hit a wall because they try to "out-run" their current fitness without building a real engine. You can't just grit your teeth for 105 minutes. You need a specific 1 45 half marathon training plan that prioritizes lactate threshold over "junk miles."
It's a fast time. To hit it, you're looking at a $1:45:00$ finish, which means maintaining a pace of $08:00$ per mile ($04:58$ per kilometer). If you’ve been hovering around the 1:55 mark, you aren’t just looking for more endurance; you’re looking for a higher ceiling.
Why 8:00 Pace is the Great Filter
Most amateur runners live in the "grey zone." They run their easy runs too fast and their hard runs too slow. When you're chasing a 1:45, that middle-ground kills your progress. A legit 1 45 half marathon training plan forces you to respect the biological divide between aerobic capacity and anaerobic threshold.
You have to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
Jack Daniels, the legendary running coach and author of Daniels' Running Formula, talks extensively about "Threshold Pace." For a 1:45 runner, your threshold pace is likely around 7:40 to 7:45 per mile. If you can’t hold that for 20 to 30 minutes in practice, you won’t hold 8:00 for two hours on race day. It’s basic physiology. Your body needs to get efficient at clearing lactate.
The Tuesday Speed Ritual
Don't call them intervals. Call them "speed endurance." You aren't sprinting 100-meter dashes like a high school track star. You're doing 800-meter or 1600-meter repeats.
A classic workout for this level is 5 x 1000m at slightly faster than goal pace (maybe 7:45/mi) with a 90-second jog recovery. If you’re feeling spicy, bump it to 6 or 7 reps. The goal isn't to collapse at the end of the rep. It's to teach your legs how to turn over when they’re already heavy.
The Long Run is a Lie (Sorta)
People think the long run is just about time on feet. For a sub-2:00 runner, sure. For someone looking for a 1:45, your long run needs "teeth."
If you're doing 12 miles on a Sunday, don't just trundle along at a 10:00 pace. That’s a recovery run, not a training run. About four weeks out from your race, you should be hitting 13 or 14 miles with the middle 6 miles at your goal 8:00 pace. This is what coaches like Greg McMillan refer to as "fast-finish" or "steady-state" long runs.
It hurts. It's supposed to.
You’re teaching your central nervous system that 8:00 pace is "home." If you only ever hit that pace during short intervals, your brain will panic when you hit mile 9 on race day. It’ll send those "stop now" signals. You have to override them in training.
Recovery: The Part Everyone Skips
You don't get faster when you run. You get faster when you sleep and eat after you run. If your 1 45 half marathon training plan doesn't have at least two days of very easy, "embarrassingly slow" running, you're going to get an overuse injury. Plantar fasciitis doesn't care about your time goals.
Listen.
If you’re doing a recovery run, your heart rate should stay low. If you're breathing hard, you're failing the workout. Real pros—the ones running 60-minute half marathons—often do their easy runs at a pace that looks "slow" compared to their race speed. You should too.
Nutrition and the 1:45 Wall
At an 8:00 pace, you are burning glycogen at a significant clip. You aren't just burning fat anymore.
A lot of runners think they don't need to fuel for a 13.1-mile race. They're wrong. While you can finish a half marathon on water and vibes, you won't race a 1:45 that way. You need carbs.
- Pre-race: 2-3 grams of carbs per kilogram of body weight about 3 hours before the start.
- During: 30-60 grams of carbs per hour. This usually means a gel at mile 4 and mile 8.
- Hydration: Don't overdo the plain water. Hyponatremia is real. Use electrolytes, especially if you're a "salty sweater" (look for white streaks on your hat after a run).
Maurten or Gu or SIS—pick one and use it in training. Never, ever try a new gel on race morning. Your stomach will stage a protest that involves a porta-potty and a DNF.
The Mental Math of Mile 10
The half marathon doesn't start until mile 10. The first 10 miles are just a commute to the race.
In a 1 45 half marathon training plan, you need to practice "segmenting." When you hit that 10-mile marker and your legs feel like they’re made of wet concrete, you have 3.1 miles left. That’s just a 5K. You’ve run a thousand 5Ks.
Break it down. Tell yourself: "I just have to get to the next water station." Then the next one.
Strength Training: The Secret Weapon
Stop doing 100 crunches. It’s a waste of time.
If you want to hold an 8:00 pace when you’re tired, you need a strong posterior chain. This means deadlifts, squats, and lunges. Heavy-ish weights, low reps. You aren't trying to build bulk; you're trying to build "stiffness."
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In running, "stiffness" is good. It means your legs act like springs. When your foot hits the ground, you want that energy to snap back up, not get absorbed by weak muscles. Two sessions a week, 30 minutes each. Focus on single-leg stability.
A Sample Week in the Life
This isn't a "one size fits all" thing, but if you’re eight weeks out, your week might look something like this:
Monday is for rest. Or a very light walk.
Tuesday is the engine builder. 2-mile warmup, then 4 x 1-mile at 7:50 pace with 2 minutes rest. 1-mile cooldown.
Wednesday is a "junk mile" day, but we don't call it that. 5 miles at a 9:30 or 10:00 pace. Purely aerobic.
Thursday is the Tempo Run. This is the cornerstone. 2-mile warmup, 5 miles at 8:10 pace (just a hair slower than race pace), 1-mile cooldown. This builds the mental toughness to keep grinding.
Friday is strength work. Focus on the glutes.
Saturday is another easy 4-mile shakeout.
Sunday is the Long Run. 11 miles. The first 6 are easy, the last 5 are at 8:15 pace.
Tapering Without Losing Your Mind
The "Taper Crazies" are a real thing. Two weeks before the race, your 1 45 half marathon training plan will call for a reduction in volume. You'll feel itchy. You'll think you're losing fitness. You'll suddenly develop a phantom pain in your left ankle.
Ignore it.
The taper is where your muscle fibers repair themselves. You've done the work. You can't get any fitter in the last 10 days, but you can definitely get more tired. Trust the process. Keep the intensity (run some short bursts at race pace) but cut the distance way down.
Gear Check
Carbon plates? They help, but they won't fix a lack of training. If you have the budget, shoes like the Nike Vaporfly or Saucony Endorphin Pro can save your legs some fatigue. But don't wear them for every run. Save the "super shoes" for your hardest workouts and race day.
Check your socks. Get non-cotton, moisture-wicking ones. Blisters at mile 6 are a guaranteed way to miss your 1:45 goal.
Practical Next Steps for Your Sub-1:45 Journey
To turn this information into a finish time, you need to audit your current status immediately.
- Test your current 5K time. If you can’t run a sub-22:30 5K, a 1:45 half marathon is going to be incredibly difficult. Use that as your baseline.
- Calculate your heart rate zones. Stop guessing. Use a chest strap (optical wrist sensors are notoriously finicky at high intensities) to find your true threshold.
- Find your "Race Pace" shoes now. Buy them, break them in with one long run and one speed session, then put them away until the big day.
- Map your course. Is it hilly? If your race has 500 feet of climbing, your 1 45 half marathon training plan needs to include hill repeats on Wednesdays. Flat-land training won't prepare you for a late-race incline.
- Audit your sleep. You need 7-9 hours. If you're training for a 1:45 on 5 hours of sleep, you're just begging for a stress fracture.
Success in the half marathon is about the cumulative effect of weeks of boring, consistent work. There are no shortcuts. There's just the 8:00 pace and your ability to tolerate it longer than the person next to you.