Category: long-run

The coaching plan deliberately reduced this long run to 16 or 17 kilometres. The previous Sunday had reached approximately 19 kilometres, and this week was intended to absorb the accumulated load before training increased again.

The proposed Friday tempo session was not recorded as completed, so Sunday followed two days without running. The goal remained a controlled long run with reserve, not an attempt to compensate for the missing quality session.

The run became the quickest long session of the project so far. It also repeated a mistake that should already have been familiar: I forgot the carbohydrates.

The data

Metric	Result
Distance	Approximately 17.0 km
Time	1:46:46
Average pace	6:16/km
Average heart rate	134 bpm
Maximum heart rate	159 bpm
Average power	247 W
Elevation gain	217 m
Perceived effort	6/10
Fluid	Approximately 0.7 litres
Carbohydrate during the run	None; forgotten

The first half was cooler and more shaded. I kept some reserve and finished with the feeling that another two or three kilometres would have been possible.

The maximum heart rate was higher than the average suggests, most likely during harder sections of the hilly route. The overall average remained controlled.

What the coach saw

ChatGPT saw a strong endurance result. The pace was ten seconds per kilometre faster than the 19 kilometre run one week earlier, while average heart rate was identical at 134 bpm.

That comparison is encouraging, but it needs context. This run was shorter, the early conditions were more favourable and I had skipped Saturday’s tempo session. It is evidence of good current fitness, not proof of a sudden transformation.

The additional recovery probably helped the long run. More importantly, I finished with reserve instead of forcing an end acceleration.

Why 17 kilometres were enough

Stopping at approximately 17 kilometres was part of the plan. The progression was not supposed to continue mechanically from 17 to 18 to 19 to 20 kilometres every weekend.

The coaching logic was a simple cycle of load, load, recovery and then the next training step. Ending this run with another two or three kilometres available showed that the reduced week had worked. There was nothing to gain from turning the final reserve into extra distance.

The repeated mistake

For a run of almost one hour and 47 minutes, forgetting carbohydrate was unnecessary. I had already learned after the July interval session that demanding training and poor fuelling do not combine well.

Nothing dramatic happened this time, but the absence of a crisis is not the same as good preparation. Future long runs were supposed to include carbohydrates from roughly 45 to 55 minutes onward so that the routine would be familiar before race day.

The run strengthened the performance trend. The planned reduction showed the value of recovery, while the forgotten fuel showed that execution outside the running itself still needed work.

This post needs to begin with the plan I was given, because I did not follow it.

I had received a vaccination on Friday. My doctor advised 48 hours without training. ChatGPT agreed and recommended cancelling Saturday’s tempo session. If I felt completely well after the full 48 hours, Sunday was supposed to be a very easy run of 45 to 60 minutes, roughly 7 to 9 kilometres.

Instead, I ran approximately 19 kilometres.

The data

Metric	Result
Distance	Approximately 19.0 km
Time	2:02:27
Average pace	6:26/km
Average heart rate	134 bpm
Maximum heart rate	148 bpm
Average power	242 W
Elevation gain	215 m
Temperature	27°C
Perceived effort	5 to 6/10
How it felt	Enjoyable

Much of the route was shaded and ran through the woods. I tried to keep the effort steady rather than the pace. I slowed down on climbs and exposed sections, then ran faster downhill or in the shade.

The run felt good and the numbers were strong.

What the coach saw

Compared with the previous long run, I ran around nine seconds per kilometre faster at slightly higher power. Average heart rate rose from 128 to 134 bpm, which was plausible given the quicker pace, the temperature and the recent vaccination.

Metric	Previous long run	This run
Time	2:03:52	2:02:27
Average pace	6:35/km	6:26/km
Average heart rate	128 bpm	134 bpm
Average power	236 W	242 W
Elevation gain	250 m	215 m

There was no obvious late collapse. My heart rate remained controlled, and I finished feeling positive.

A good run does not make the decision good

It would be easy to use the result as proof that running long was fine. That would be the wrong lesson.

The recommendation had been deliberately conservative because vaccine reactions can appear later, and because unusual symptoms during exercise should not be ignored. I asked for advice, received a clear answer and then exceeded the suggested distance by more than double.

The fact that nothing went wrong does not make that a sensible application of the coaching process.

This is exactly why I promised to document deviations rather than rewriting the story afterwards.

What came next

The following day was set aside for complete recovery. The next quality session would depend on normal resting values, no vaccine symptoms and fresh legs. If any of those conditions were missing, the intervals would be replaced by an easy run.

From a running perspective, this was the strongest long session so far. From a decision making perspective, it was the clearest failure of the experiment.

Less than a day after the tempo run, I started the longest session of the project so far.

The instruction was simple. Keep it easy, ignore pace on the hills and do not add a faster finish. I walked the steeper climbs and tried to keep the effort steady.

The data

Metric	Result
Distance	Approximately 18.8 km
Time	2:03:52
Average pace	6:35/km
Average heart rate	128 bpm
Maximum heart rate	143 bpm
Average power	236 W
Elevation gain	250 m
Temperature	26°C
Perceived effort	7/10
Fuel and fluid	500 ml water, one gel at km 10

The average heart rate was remarkably low for a run of more than two hours on a hilly route. It rose gradually from around 120 bpm early in the run to somewhere near 135 to 140 late in the session, but there was no sharp spike.

What the coach saw

ChatGPT rated the effort management very highly. Walking the climbs kept the session aerobic, and the stable power suggested that I did not suffer a major late collapse.

The contrast between the objective and subjective data was interesting. My heart rate looked very comfortable, but I rated the run 7 out of 10. The previous day’s tempo session probably contributed to that difference.

This is exactly why perceived effort belongs in the log. Heart rate alone might have made the run look almost effortless. It was not.

Fuel practice

I drank 500 ml of water and took a gel at kilometre 10. The gel contained around 21 grams of carbohydrate.

That was enough to finish, but the coach recommended taking more during future runs lasting over two hours. The proposed range was roughly 40 to 50 grams of carbohydrate per hour.

That recommendation sounded high compared with what I was used to, so it would need to be tested gradually rather than introduced all at once.

The week in context

This completed a four run week with intervals, an easy run, a tempo session and a long run. It was the strongest week of the preparation so far.

The coach planned another interval session for Tuesday, but with an important condition. A fifth repetition should only be added if I felt properly recovered.

This was the first long run of the project and the most important session of the opening week.

The plan asked for 17 kilometres at a controlled heart rate. Pace was secondary. The route ran through wooded and hilly terrain, and I decided to walk the steeper climbs rather than force myself to run every metre.

The data

Metric	Result
Distance	17.0 km
Average pace	6:36/km
Average heart rate	133 bpm
Maximum heart rate	156 bpm
Average power	236 W
Elevation gain	209 m
Temperature	25°C
Fuel and fluid	Two dates from km 10, 500 ml water
How it felt	Good

The average pace looks similar to an ordinary easy run, but the route included more than 200 metres of elevation and the session lasted close to two hours. Walking the steepest sections helped keep the effort under control.

Most importantly, I still felt good late in the run.

What the coach saw

ChatGPT focused on the average heart rate of 133 bpm. It remained low for a run of this length, and there was no dramatic rise near the end.

The power output also stayed stable. That suggested I was not fading badly, even though the terrain and temperature added difficulty.

The coach called this the most important session of the preparation so far. Its reasoning was straightforward. Speed over short distances was already visible, but this run provided the first real evidence that my aerobic base could support a stronger half marathon.

It also revised its early race estimate. A finish around 1:54 to 1:56 began to look plausible if the training continued well.

Fuel practice

I drank 500 ml and ate two dates from kilometre 10. That was enough to complete the session comfortably, although the coach suggested testing a little more carbohydrate during future long runs.

This was not just about preventing fatigue. Race day is a poor time to discover that a particular gel or feeding schedule does not agree with my stomach.

My takeaway

Walking the hills did not make this a failed run. It helped turn it into the session it was supposed to be.

That may be the most useful lesson from the first week. Training quality is not measured by how stubbornly I follow a pace. It is measured by whether I create the intended effort and recover well enough to train again.