Week 2

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.

Run — 8 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.

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.

Run — 12 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.