Peak & taper for the half marathon on Sun 4 Oct — the sole A-race. Long-run ladder to 18km with goal-pace finishes; threshold and goal-pace work in place of the 5K sharpening that was deferred to a post-half block. The W29 long run sets the race target: A-goal 1:35 (4:30/km), B-goal 1:40 (4:44/km).
Half Marathon · 1:35:00
Sun 4 Oct · 4:30/km
weeks to go
Next checkpoint: Peak long run and goal-setting checkpoint. Hold 4:44 comfortably → race 1:35. Grind it → race 1:40. — Last 5km @ 4:44/km off 18km (13 Sept – 19 Sept) · in 2 weeks
Wed 16 Sept
5×1km at 4:30/km — A-goal half pace — with 90 sec easy jog recovery. 10 min warmup, 8 min cooldown. This is a rehearsal of the pace, not a test of it: if reps 4 and 5 need fighting for, that is a straight signal that 1:40 is the more honest race target. Pace-led, HR-guarded: lock to the prescribed pace even if it feels easy. HR 165 is the abort signal, not the target.
Tue 15 Sept
Easy 6km. Z2 (135–147 bpm), conversational, ~5:30–6:00/km.
Sat 19 Sept
Peak long run of the build. 18km total: 12km easy at Z2 (135-147 bpm), then 5km at 4:44/km, then 1km easy jog. Was 20km with the last 10km at 4:30 — too much off this base, and the fast portion mattered more than the raw distance. THIS SESSION SETS THE RACE GOAL — and read HR, not just pace: - 5km at 4:44 held at HR 160-168, finishing in control → 1:40 is solid, and 1:35 is worth a conversation. - Sustained 172+ (Z5), as on 29 Aug → race 1:40 and negative-split it. - Grinding, fading, or missing the pace → go conservative and race off effort. FUEL — full dress rehearsal for race day. Carry fluid, drink from 20 min, gel at ~45 min and again at ~80 min. Use exactly what you intend to use on 4 Oct; nothing new on race day. EVEN SPLITS — five metronome 4:44s. A block that builds and finishes at 4:31 is a failed execution of this session even if the average lands on target, because the race demands the pace be repeatable, not peaked into. START HONEST — open at 6:00-6:10, nothing under 5:45 in the first 3km. Arriving at km 12 already drifted is what made 29 Aug cost so much. FINISH THE JOG — run the closing 1km easy rather than stopping on the fast km.
Fri 18 Sept
30–45 min recovery spin. Peloton HR Zone 1–2 (power-zone endurance/recovery ride).
Sun 20 Sept
30–45 min moderate spin. Peloton HR Zone 2; push Zone 3 if feeling good.
Thu 17 Sept
30–45 min strength (core/upper bias; keep heavy hip-hinge/compressive loading light until the back is fully robust).
Work-crunch calendar clarified 2026-08-10; supersedes the FORWARD RISK paragraph of note id 19, which speculated about a Sep 2026 deadline. Correct picture: - Runner works in Audit. The budget deadline suspected behind the W7 (Apr 2026) zero week recurs EARLY 2027, not Sep 2026. W28-W30 (the 16km, 18km peak and taper into the 4 Oct half) are NOT at risk from it. - Runner is in year-end crunch NOW (Aug 2026, spanning W23-W24 onward) and reports managing it. Evidence supports "managing": W23 returned 83% (5/6, both runs, 13km) DURING the crunch, including the 8km long run that broke a three-week 5km ceiling. This is the opposite outcome to W7, where a work squeeze produced 0/6. Treat concurrent work load as a live but currently well-handled factor, not a red flag. WATCH: the long-run ladder steepens through the crunch window - W25 12km, W26 14km. If a week has to shrink, protect the long run and drop cross-training; the long run is the binding constraint on the half, per note id 16. Do not let a compressed week take the ladder rung with it. BANK FOR LATER: an early-2027 budget deadline collides with the FALLBACK sub-20 5K plan (dedicated 8-week build -> Feb/Mar 2027 attempt, per note id 13). It does NOT affect the primary early-Nov 2026 attempt off the half's aerobic peak. Another reason to prioritise the November window.
Claude — Week 24 — 8/10/2026
W7 (Mon 13 - Sun 19 Apr 2026) reconstructed retrospectively on 2026-08-10. This is the only 0/6 week in the plan's first 24 weeks. No contemporaneous note exists - there is a month-long gap in coaching notes between 4 Apr (W5) and 5 May (W10). BEST GUESS, UNCONFIRMED: runner attributes it to a work budget deadline and long hours, with workouts skipped as a result. Runner could find no direct evidence; treat as probable, not established. Supporting fingerprint: all six sessions were scheduled in advance on Sun 12 Apr at 20:37, so the week was planned properly and then abandoned. The 14 Apr threshold session was actively marked "skipped"; the remaining five were left as "planned" and never touched. This is an absence pattern, not an injury pattern - contrast W12 and W14 (back flares), which both generated notes written during the week and still returned 50% compliance. Distinct from the W9 holiday (Mon 27 Apr - Sun 3 May, Jersey), which was known in advance, is recorded in note id 6, and still returned 33% including a parkrun on 2 May. FORWARD RISK: work-crunch is the one disruption class in this block with zero mitigation attached, and unlike the foot or the back it gives advance warning. If a comparable deadline falls in Sep 2026 it lands on W28-W30 - the 16km, 18km peak and taper before the 4 Oct half. Mitigation pattern that already works is the W9 one: when disruption is known in advance, pre-cut the week to 2-3 protected sessions rather than letting it go to zero.
Sub-20 5K · deferred
Targeting a sharpening block after the half (~Nov) · last read 70% (medium), Week 16
Claude — Week 7 — 8/10/2026
8 Aug — 8.02km at 5:50/km, avg HR 145, RPE 5, hot, zero foot pain. Longest run since June and a 60% jump off the 5km ceiling held for three weeks. The 13 min in Z3 is heat drift, not effort drift (RPE 5 at 5:50). This completes the second consecutive clean pain-free week, so the gate set on 22 Jul is met: strides return in W24, threshold work in W25. Foot no longer the limiter — volume is.
Claude — Week 23 — 8/8/2026