Week 1

Run — 7 km @ 8:10–8:45/km

No reps here — set a Pace Zone alert for this band on an Outdoor Run (or a single-block Custom Workout named with this) so the Watch buzzes if you drift outside it. That is what keeps an easy day easy.

Straight after Tuesday's easy run, while you are still warm. At Osaka your heart rate averaged 144 against a zone 2 ceiling of 146, and you still lost 32 minutes in the second half. The engine was never the problem. The legs stopped absorbing landings, and no amount of extra running fixes that. This is the session that does.

1. 1

   Squat

   3 × 1090s rest

   Feet shoulder width, toes pointing forward. Sit down between your heels rather than folding forward at the waist, and go as low as you can keep your heels flat. Knees track over your toes; do not let them fall inwards. Three seconds down, one second up.

   Quads and glutes — the muscles that absorb every single landing.

2. 2

   Single-leg step-up

   3 × 8 each leg60s rest

   Use a step or bench about knee height. Drive up through the standing leg only — do not push off the floor with the trailing foot, and do not bounce. Lower yourself back down over three slow seconds. If your knee wobbles inwards, the step is too high.

   One leg at a time, which is how running actually happens.

3. 3

   Calf raise

   3 × 1560s rest

   Stand on a step with your heels hanging over the edge. Up over one second, hold at the top for one, then lower over three seconds until you feel the stretch below the calf. Once 15 is easy, do them one leg at a time.

   Calves and achilles — your push-off, and the first thing to cramp at 35 km.

4. 4

   Plank

   3 × 45 seconds45s rest

   Elbows directly under your shoulders, hips level with your shoulders, ribs pulled down, glutes squeezed. The moment your hips sag or your lower back arches, the set is over — 25 honest seconds beats 60 collapsed ones.

   A trunk that does not collapse late in a race, which is when your form goes.

• Do it after the run, never before. A tired-legs strength session is the point.
• Stop every set two repetitions before you could not do another one. You are not lifting for size.
• Slow on the way down, normal speed on the way up. The lowering is where the strength comes from.
• For the first two weeks use bodyweight only. Add a dumbbell or a loaded backpack once the last set feels easy.
• If you are stiff for more than two days, you did too much. Cut a set, not the session.

1. 6.5 km
   Easy running8:10–8:45 /km55:00

   The run itself. Conversational the whole way — the strides come at the end, when you are warm.

2. 0:20
   Stride 1 of 6by feel

   Wind up over 5 seconds, hold it tall and quick for 10, ease off for 5. Not a sprint.

3. 1:00
   Walk backby feel

   Walk, do not jog. Breathing completely back to normal before the next one.

4. 0:20
   Stride 2 of 6by feel
5. 1:00
   Walk backby feel
6. 0:20
   Stride 3 of 6by feel
7. 1:00
   Walk backby feel
8. 0:20
   Stride 4 of 6by feel
9. 1:00
   Walk backby feel
10. 0:20
    Stride 5 of 6by feel
11. 1:00
    Walk backby feel
12. 0:20
    Stride 6 of 6by feel
13. 1:00
    Walk backby feel
14. 0.6 km
    Easy to finish8:10–8:45 /km5:00

    Jog home slowly. Let the heart rate come down before you stop.

Paces are the Bangkok-heat bands. The same efforts in Kyoto cool will come out 20 to 35 seconds per kilometre quicker on their own.

1. Easy running — 55:00, 8:10–8:45/km
2. 6 × 0:20 @ by feel · 1:00 recovery, by feel
3. Easy to finish — 5:00, 8:10–8:45/km

Apple Watch has no file import for custom workouts. Build it as a Custom Workout on the Watch or Fitness app — Warm-up, then a Repeat block, then Cool-down — and paste this name in as its title.

Run — 7 km @ 8:10–8:45/km

No reps here — set a Pace Zone alert for this band on an Outdoor Run (or a single-block Custom Workout named with this) so the Watch buzzes if you drift outside it. That is what keeps an easy day easy.

Straight after Thursday's easy run. Weak hips let the pelvis drop on every stride, and by 30 km that small collapse is what turns into the shuffle. Shorter and easier than Tuesday on purpose — Sunday is the long run.

1. 1

   Glute bridge

   3 × 1245s rest

   Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat and close to your backside. Push through your heels and lift your hips until your body makes a straight line from knee to shoulder. Squeeze at the top for two seconds. Do not arch your back to get higher.

   The glutes, which should be driving you forward and mostly are not.

2. 2

   Clamshell

   3 × 15 each side30s rest

   Lie on your side, knees bent about 90°, heels together, hips stacked. Open the top knee like a clamshell without letting your hips roll backwards. Small movement, slow, two seconds up and two down. It should burn on the side of the hip.

   The side of the hip — the muscle that stops your pelvis dropping each stride.

3. 3

   Reverse lunge

   3 × 8 each leg60s rest

   Step backwards, not forwards, and lower until the back knee nearly touches the floor. Front shin stays vertical, chest stays tall. Push back to standing through the front heel. Step back rather than forward because it is kinder to the knee.

   Single-leg control through a long stride, which is exactly what a hill demands.

• Quality over effort here. These are small movements and rushing them wastes the session.
• You should feel these in the side and back of the hip. If you feel them in your lower back, you are arching — reset.
• Add a resistance band to the bridges and clamshells once 15 repetitions feel easy.
• Twenty-five minutes, not forty. Thursday is the last run before race-pace work on Sunday.

Run — 10 km @ 7:55–8:25/km

No reps here — set a Pace Zone alert for this band on an Outdoor Run (or a single-block Custom Workout named with this) so the Watch buzzes if you drift outside it. That is what keeps an easy day easy.