Week ending 02 aug 2026
On track for 2:42-2:44 after 20 km at marathon pace inside a 33.9 km long run. The limiter is now load distribution and push-off sequencing, not fitness.
- runs
- 6
- distance
- 105.5 km
- time
- 8h 05m
- elevation
- 1039 m
| day | session | km | time | pace | hr | load |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mon 27 jul | Easy shakeout | 5.7 | 29:32 | 5:08 | 144 | 33 e |
5:08/km for HR 144. The 185 max on an otherwise flat 144 bpm trace reads as a strap artifact. | ||||||
| tue 28 jul | 6x5' threshold | 13.5 | 58:27 | 4:20 | 162 | 83 e |
Two sets of three off 60 s recoveries with 5' easy between sets. Reps at 3:37 / 3:36 / 3:39 / 3:39 / 3:41 / 3:33 per km, 8.29 km of work at 3:37/km. Rep HR 172, 169, 172, 172, 177, 179. Fastest rep last, no fade. | ||||||
| wed 29 jul | 3-2-1 hill reps | 26.3 | 2:14:18 | 5:06 | 153 | 171 e |
15.6 km approach at 4:58/km, then 3x(3'/2'/1') uphill on 7-8% grade. Rep paces 4:42 / 4:21 / 4:00, then 4:35 / 4:29 / 4:12, then 4:51 / 4:37 / 3:54 per km. Rep HR peaked at 175.5 on the first 3'. 646 m of vert, the heaviest push-off day of the block. | ||||||
| thu 30 jul | 10-8-6-4-2' progression | 14.1 | 1:03:57 | 4:31 | 167 | 97 e |
4:10 / 3:56 / 3:51 / 3:38 / 3:31 per km off 60 s floats, 7.66 km of work at 3:55/km average. Block HR 179, 180, 178, 182, 181, max 188. Run 24 hours after the hill session; heart rate sat above the marathon band throughout. | ||||||
| fri 31 jul | Easy bridges loop | 12.0 | 55:28 | 4:38 | 144 | 63 e |
4:38/km for HR 144, max 163. Clean easy day, and the only buffer between the three-day quality block and the long run. | ||||||
| sun 02 aug | Long run with 4x5k at marathon pace | 33.9 | 2:22:52 | 4:13 | 159 | 197 e |
11 km approach at 4:21-5:00/km, then 4x5k at 3:55 / 3:53 / 3:53 / 3:54 per km with 1 km floats around 4:56. Rep HR 166.6 / 166.7 / 170.0 / 175.8, max 188 on the last rep, which carried 54 m of climb and finished at the 32 km mark. 20 km of marathon-pace work in total, 9 bpm of drift across it. | ||||||
good
- Long run 33.9 km with 4x5k at marathon pace: 3:55 / 3:53 / 3:53 / 3:54 per km, 1 km floats between. Average HR by rep 166.6, 166.7, 170.0, 175.8. The first three reps held 2:44-2:45 marathon pace 2-6 bpm BELOW the calibrated 172-177 band, and the final 5k finished at the 32 km mark carrying 54 m of climb. This is the longest and the latest marathon-pace exposure of the block: 12 km of it two weeks ago, none last week, 20 km now.
- 6x5' threshold averaged 3:37/km across 8.29 km of work (3:37 / 3:36 / 3:39 / 3:39 / 3:41 / 3:33) off 60 s recoveries. The fastest rep was the last one and it carried the highest heart rate of the set (179.1 average, 186 max). No fade end to end, and the same 3:37/km average as the 4x2k a week earlier.
- 10-8-6-4-2' progression descended cleanly at 4:10 / 3:56 / 3:51 / 3:38 / 3:31 per km, all five steps completed, run the day after a 26.3 km hill session with 646 m of vert. 7.66 km of work at 3:55/km average.
note
- Distribution: roughly 40 km of the 105.5 km week was quality work, about 38% of volume, spread over four quality sessions in six runs. Only Monday's 5.7 km and Friday's 12.0 km were unambiguously easy, which is 17% of the week.
- Push-off sequencing tightened again: Tuesday threshold, Wednesday 3-2-1 hill reps (18 minutes of work on 7-8% grade, 646 m of climb), Thursday progression down to 3:31/km. Three consecutive push-off-heavy days, against two consecutive last week and two separated days the week before. The FHL tendon and the left hamstring share this exposure.
- Heart rate against the 172-177 marathon band: Thursday's work blocks sat at 178-182 average with a 188 max, the highest of the week, and the opening 10' ran only 4:10/km for HR 179. Sunday covered essentially the same average work pace (3:54 vs 3:55) at 166-176.
watch
- Rested versus fatigued is now directly measurable rather than inferred. Thursday's 30 minutes of work averaged 3:55/km at roughly 180 bpm on the third consecutive quality day; Sunday's 20 km averaged 3:54/km at 166-176 off an easy Friday and a rest Saturday. Same pace, 10-14 bpm apart.
- The 2:40 read stays unconfirmed for a third straight week. Sunday's first three reps at 3:53-3:55 for HR 166-170 sit well under the band and point to headroom, but the specific signal - the fast end of the 3:43-3:50 goal-pace range on rested legs at HR 176 or lower - has still not appeared in the data.
- Weekly volume has sat below the ~116 km / 8-run baseline for three consecutive weeks (103, 105.7, 105.5 km) while quality density has climbed sharply. Every rep in every session was completed and no symptoms surfaced, so tolerance so far is inferred from completion rather than directly reported.