Week ending 08 nov 2026
Race week: Fremantle Half Marathon Relay, leg 3 — 8.55 km (GPS) in 31:30, 3:41/km GPS basis, HR 185.7 avg / 197 max; team title retained (🥇). Opened 1.94 km at 3:29.9, faded to 3:51 by km 7 with HR pinned 187–189, closed 3:42 / 3:38. Limiting factor: continuity at speed — HR cost ran ~10 bpm above every comparable pre-break effort.
- runs
- 2
- distance
- 17.1 km
- time
- 1h 15m
- elevation
- 175 m
| day | session | km | time | pace | hr | load |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mon 02 nov | Lunch Run | 8.6 | 43:08 | 5:02 | 148 | 51 e |
Kings Park, 8.56 km at 5:02/km moving (303 s stopped), 156 m. One Mount Street climb at HR ~176 (~270 m, ~39 m gain); otherwise easy, HR 148 avg. Calf/shin recurrence reported around this day (soreness 1–2/10, felt while running). | ||||||
| sun 08 nov | Fremantle Half Marathon Relay 🥇 | 8.5 | 31:30 | 3:41 | 186 | 59 e |
Leg 3. 8.55 km GPS in 31:30, 3:41/km GPS. Splits 3:27/3:34/3:38/3:44/3:46/3:48/3:51/3:42 + 548 m at 3:38. HR 186 avg / 197 max. 17 °C, 84% RH. Team title retained. | ||||||
race
- Leg 3 (anchor), started 07:01:45, 8,548 m GPS, 31:30 elapsed = moving (no stoppage). Leg was announced as 8 km; GPS reads 6.8% over that, far beyond the usual ~1% road error, so the true leg is probably longer than 8.0 km. Splits below are GPS basis; official distance and chip time not in the file.
- Watch km splits: 3:26.8 / 3:34.0 / 3:38.2 / 3:44.4 / 3:46.2 / 3:47.6 / 3:51.3 / 3:42.2, last 548 m at 3:37.8. Halves 15:26 / 16:04 (+4.1%). 8 km split 29:31 (3:41.3/km). In-race bests: 1 km 3:28, mile 5:36, 5 km 18:11.
- HR 166 (km 1, lag) → 181 → 186 → 187–189 plateau km 4–7 → 192 → 195–197 over the last ~550 m. The rise to 197 is smooth over ~5 min during the finishing effort, not a spike; read as real, so the old ~190 HRmax estimate is too low.
- Cadence 178–187 spm (2025: 186–190); power 467 W avg (2025: 480 W). Speed-per-watt sits inside the pre-October baseline on GPS distance.
- Conditions: 17.3 °C, 84% RH, light southerly — cooler than the 2025 leg (18–22 °C). Heat is not the explanation for the HR cost.
- Against the stated plan (3:30–3:40/km): km 1–3 at or inside it, km 4–7 outside, average 3:41 — just off the slow end on watch pace.
- Against 2025 (same event, different course and distance): first 8 km 28:49 at 3:36.1, HR 176 avg for the full 10 km. This year 29:31 for 8 km at HR ~186 — slower and ~10 bpm dearer in cooler weather.
- Race-morning load: 17.8 km ride to the start (04:39, 40 min moving, 151 W). Ride home afterwards 17.3 km at 33 km/h, 196 W, 31.5 min.
good
- Team title defended (🥇 on the activity).
- 8.55 km genuinely continuous at 3:41/km GPS — the longest unbroken block at ≤3:42 and ≤3:47 on record (previous 3.0 km and 5 km), and 1.94 km at 3:29.9 — the longest ≤3:30 block (previous 1 km).
- Closed the last 1.5 km at 3:42 → 3:38 with HR at 192–197: there was something left to find late, after the km 4–7 slide.
note
- Projection missed. The 8 km range (27:45–28:30) and 10 km range (35:10–36:00) were built on pre-October anchors. Race-equivalent 10 km by Riegel is ≈37:10 on GPS distance (≈37:35 if GPS read the usual ~1% long). The HR-at-pace drift flagged since 20 Oct turned out to be the most predictive datum.
- The race came with five run-free days before it (3–7 Nov), dry needling 4 Nov (~88 h before), an active right calf/soleus attachment problem (clinically not bone), and one run in the previous six days. These confounds can't be separated from fitness in one race.
- Positive split shape: fastest km first (3:27), slowest km 7 (3:51), with HR rising 181 → 189 while pace fell. That is the same seam between fast opening and continuous pace that decided Sydney.
- No symptoms in the race description (auto-text only). Tissue state after the race is not in the data — none reported yet.
watch
- Post-race tissue response at the soleus attachment and calf: the race was the biggest dose of the provoking pace band in this episode (8.5 km at 3:27–3:51; previous max 3 km at 3:40). What happens next — walking, rest, the press test — is the readout that matters, not pace.
- Stated plan: about a week off running, cycling only, then running at ~4:00/km or slower for several weeks. The first faster session after a reduction has preceded both shin episodes so far (18 Oct, 1 Nov).