Schedule
- Goal Race: 3:30-4:00 Berlin
- Plan: Pfitz 18/63 by thebottlefarm (Unofficial)
| Date | Day | Workout | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-07-14 | Monday | Rest or cross-training | Yoga and mobility drills |
| 2025-07-15 | Tuesday | General aerobic 12.9 km | 13.03 km @ 6:31/km |
| 2025-07-16 | Wednesday | Medium-long run 22.5 km | 23.02 km @ 5:58/km |
| 2025-07-17 | Thursday | Recovery 8.7 km | 10.20 km @ 6:50/km |
| 2025-07-18 | Friday | General aerobic 12.9 km | 13.01 @ 6:23/km |
| 2025-07-19 | Saturday | Recovery + speed 12.9km w/ 6 X 100m strides | 11.12 km @ 6:33/km |
| 2025-07-20 | Sunday | Marathon pace run 25.7 km / 19.3 km @ marathon race pace (5:20/km) | Actual: 19.3 km @ 5:05/km Total: 26.16 @ 5:25/km Core and strength workouts |
- Totals:
- Expected: 96.96 km
- Actual: 103.74 km
Thoughts
Monday
After a crazy Sunday, I was glad to have another full day of recovery.
During the yoga and mobility workout, it was obvious that my flexibility wasn’t great because I had difficulty with reaching my toes and knees during stretches that I used to be able to do sprightly. I might need to add another session this week to make sure that at least I keep up with this need.
Another observation was during the lunge parts, my right toes were tender and I had difficulty doing the sitting position on them for some of the yoga poses because they were slightly painful. Good thing the sitting position was less than thirty seconds so I was able to endure them.
One good news this week was that a friend got me a bottle of Thai eucalyptus massage gel and I applied on both of my feet, especially around the ankles, before going to sleep. The gentle warmth it exerted on my skin made me feel better because the two over-the-counter creams I already have weren’t really doing anything beneficial aside from making think they’re working (I’m sorry).
Tuesday
I finally used my parked Saucony Triumph 22s with swapped insoles from my old Asics Novablast 3s! To be sure, I also did the runner’s knot to add more toe space because I can’t remember if it was one of my issues before and regardless it will not bother me if the shoes fitted more to the heel.
It’s been a long time since I last wore them and I found the foam to be firm but still protective. I prefer to feel foam on the fore and mid-foot area over the flat ground because the latter is more painful to me in short distances less than 10 km. The foam wasn’t responsive but it was enough because I only intend to use it for paces less than 5:30 per kilometer.
The shoes also felt light to me during the first 500 meters and I was surprised because some reviews online compared these to bricks (alongside the common complaint that the older versions are better) but I didn’t experience such heaviness and dullness. I hated the Adidas Adizero SL because of how flat and unsupportive they were and those are my standard of brick shoes.
Unfortunately I still have some residual fatigue from Sunday’s run and two days of hanging out with friends so I was conservative with the experiments I did today. I was supposed to try an average cadence of 176 spm but decided to rely on my natural easy day stride to not further jeopardize the run. My actual cadence was 172 spm and that is fine for today.
Aside from the tiredness I just had some discomfort on my left foot again specifically the pinky toe where I don’t know how to place it during my foot strikes. I always compared it to the right side (that had no issues) if I will splay it or keep it all intact but both had some form of niggles. Eventually I just ignored it because it wasn’t bothering me to the point of slowing down or stopping the run.
On the other hand, I believe that the T22s have proven themselves this morning and I will use them for tomorrow’s medium-long run. I never had any form of cushioning-related discomfort earlier especially during the last three kilometers that I think could worsen eventually. I hope that I finally found “the one” in terms of a stable, slow but cushioned long run shoe. Let’s see tomorrow and I’m excited!
Wednesday
Before the run
I decided to update my goal marathon pace from 5:30/km to 5:20/km after observing my performance in several medium and long runs where I found that I can sustain more than the lower end of training ranges for the original target MP.
I calculated several possibilities and chose 5:20/km as a new goal because I believe that 5:15/km with 6:18/km as the lower end would be too much right now.
| Target | 20% less | 15% less | 10% less |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5:30/km | 6:32/km | 6:20/km | 6:03/km |
| 5:25/km | 6:30/km | 6:14/km | 5:58/km |
| 5:20/km | 6:24/km | 6:08/km | 5:52/km |
| 5:15/km | 6:18/km | 6:02/km | 5:47/km |
Today’s medium-long run already had the 5:20/km paces set and I will check if I can maintain without too much blow to my capabilities and recovery.
As planned I wore the Triumph 22s after yesterday’s positive experience. I bought a 1/3 full flask, a leftover from Sunday’s run which I think was enough. I also took a loperamide tablet but it didn’t help much and I should have taken it at least an hour before going outside.
During the run
The run was fine and it was divided into three parts as suggested in the book. I removed the cool down to be part of the main block so I can have an active recovery of walking after.
- 1.6 km warm-up @ Zone 1
- 5.23 km @ 6:08-6:24/km
- 15.69 km @ 5:52-6:08/km
The first two parts were fine and I divided the second part into two by cadence. The first half was the usual 176 spm and increased to 178 spm for the rest. The plan was to add two up to the end of the third part based from what I feel.
I had a slight struggle to settle in the new lower target of 6:24/km compared to the previous 6:32/km in the first kilometer of the second part but through the guidance of the metronome, I was able to get into the groove of it. My main worry was that my heart rate will jump to higher Zone 3 or worse lower Zone 4 to the point that I will struggle to keep up but nothing of such happened. I am thankful for this new practice of increasing my cadence which has been effectively letting me do less work for faster paces and less recovery time.
By the third block, I was running at 180 spm easily, almost cruising and sometimes going between 5:40-5:50/km which wasn’t good because that’s beyond my target! Although this could be another evidence that I can do much faster but let’s check again during Sunday’s long run.
By this time, the Triumph 22s were doing their job - cushioned and light (despite the reported weight of 286 grams). It wasn’t as bouncy and responsive as the Asics Superblast 2s but this one has more foaming around the fore and mid-foot section which I prefer for recovery and long runs less than 5:00/km pace that I find to be less comfortable in the latter.
At around 16 km, my left pinky toe was struggling again with how to place itself in each foot strike. Aside from my whispering stomachache that I can endure, this was the only major issue I had today. I know its placement as it hits the ground is not optimal because it now has a section of extra skin making a groove which doesn’t exist to my right. I still don’t how how to fix this because my right foot never had any issues and I might try to wear thicker socks to check if it just needs more protection. This was reoccurring in waves after ten kilometers and goes away but became more prominent after the said distance. On the other hand, this doesn’t make me doubt the Triumph 22s as my protective choice for long runs because they have proven themselves today.
Another detail is that I usually experience this with shoes that are too small for my feet or when the toe box is tight. Unfortunately I think both are not the case here because these are size 28.5 cm which is half-size larger than my regular ones and I made sure it had the runner’s knot to push the feet further to the heels. I might need to loosen up the left shoe’s forefoot area to be sure next time.
Despite all the problems with my left pinky toe, I was enjoying the cadence practice so after 12 km (or the first six kilometers of the main block), I increased the target to 182 spm. This was my hard limit last Sunday and it was understandable because I was already tired from two hours of running under the rain. However today’s was different because I was able to settle in it the same as the lower targets. Because of this, I decided to test again and bumped it to 184 spm for the last five kilometers. I was surprised because the changes were subtle but the difference in intensities were magnified as I ran but it wasn’t a struggle which was I initially thought. From this, I know that I can go higher and maybe up to flat 190 spm in the future but I have to carefully plan that because that could potentially bring down the paces to 5:00/km which will be too fast for me.
To be honest I had some moments today where I had to dig a bit to my mental strength because I ran through the same route I do all my slow recovery runs and it is sometimes difficult to motivate yourself if a specific area is the “finish line” from multiple runs. It wasn’t too much of a problem though because of my stomachache and pinky toe problems but I wish I had different views and scenes to distract me from the paths that I already know.
After the run
Overall the run was successful with an average of 5:58/km which is the fastest I believe so far for all my long runs in this training block. By the end I didn’t feel thrashed and spent.
The cadence practice will continue because I have felt that I have been recovering quicker from long runs after switching to less ground contact time.
I did the same old foam roller massage for my legs when I got home and I’m looking forward to three more days of less intense runs.
Thursday
Today I ran with the Mizuno Neo Vistas again and made sure to loosen up the mid-foot area to check if my left pinky toe will have problems again. Unfortunately it was still the only thing that made the run not-so fun! I checked reddit for some suggestions and right now I can do is to put petroleum jelly on my left pinky toe and wear my Danish Endurance socks tomorrow and on Saturday for both the Triumph 22s and Neo Vistas if anything changes.
Other than that I am thankful for the three days of less intense workouts until Sunday.
Friday
Since today was not a recovery run, I wore my Triumph 22s and I feel like I had some improvements regarding my left pinky toe’s situation.
As planned, I put a generous amount of petroleum jelly around the toe and wore my thick socks. Both didn’t change anything unfortunately. However during the last five kilometers, I randomly decided to stop fighting the runner’s knot that was pushing my foot to the back and make it go further to the front but not so much that my foot was rubbing the upper. For some reason there was a bit of relief from my constant controlling of how the left pinky toe landed because it was natural now. By “natural” I meant compared to my right pinky toe that never had such problem. My verdict is that I don’t need the runner’s knot after all and I will try this again. Basically I just needed to change the original insoles to something my feet are comfortable in if that theory works consistently.
On the other hand, I was a bit fast today because I felt good and springy today especially with my cadence. I still made sure not to go over my Zone 2 limit and mostly stayed on the upper half throughout the run. It was great and I wish I was running faster but I know that today was not the day for it. We will see on Sunday’s marathon pace run!
Saturday
Unfortunately my speed and heart rate were higher than the target ranges today. I think I got too excited at the start and decided to stick with that intensity for the rest of the run and the heat. Hopefully this will not affect my performance tomorrow!
I was planning to skip the strides part to not “damage” my legs but by luck I watched this just-uploaded video of Steve Magness about Rhythm Work which contains notes about how to do strides. One key thing I learned was to gradually make each stride faster wherein one can start with 5 km pace and go further than that. Before I just tried my best to keep all strides within a specific range such as my 1600 meter pace because I thought that was a hard rule. Today I tried them in six repetitions and it went well! Eventually by the last four laps I made sure I kept my form - swinging arms, low shoulders, face and eyes looking ahead parallel to the ground and engaged core to use my thigh and buttock muscles for better leg turnover.
On another topic, my left pinky toe was still annoying with the Triumph 22s even after removing the runner’s knot. However after the third stride’s stomping on the ground, the discomfort went away and I felt a specific portion of the left shoe’s foam that was now either supporting or preventing my left pinky toe from splaying like before. It was now in that specific place where there’s no pain the same as the right. What’s better is that this never went away up to the conclusion of the run when I was back to running in recovery pace. I will check again next week if it is really gone.
Sunday
Today I decided to wear my SB2s over the Puma Deviate NITRO Elite 3s because even though the latter are my choice of racing shoes for the marathon, I considered that my target MP of 5:20/km is not compatible with such shoes that were made for paces 4:30/km or faster. I kind of regret buying it because I didn’t think of this months ago but that’s fine because they’re great intervals shoes and I will delegate them to 5 km to HM races during this block so they will still get some usage!
On the other hand, my SB2s tend to have less amount of forefoot cushioning and/or responsiveness that I don’t like after two hours of running but they should be more comfortable than the DNE3s for lower paces. The Triumph 22s were also a candidate because of how they surprised me this week but I already used them for two consecutive days so their foam might not be lively for today’s long run.
Before the run
Same as last week I ate an oatmeal bar and a banana and afterwards a loperamide tablet. Even if we had a terrible experience with loperamide last Wednesday where it didn’t work, I decided to give it a try again because it is better to at least have it in my system regardless if it will have an effect or not.
I also had a new batch of homemade energy gels with that I cooked with 12 grams of pectin (two grams more than before) because I want it to be a pinch more viscous that before but not to the point that it will block my throat. I brought one 250 ml flask and a pack of gummy bears because that’s enough base from previous runs.
During the run
The workout was programmed as the following:
- 1.6 km warm-up @ Zone 1
- 4.8 km @ 5:52-6:24/km (10% to 20% less than my target MP)
- 19.3 km @ target MP 5:20/km
Remember that I bumped my MP from 5:30/km to 5:20/km after observing the many long runs I have done in the past eight weeks that showed that I can do faster and so starting this week I updated the rest of my training plan.
Unfortunately I think the second block should have had a gradual increase of paces to reach the target MP by the main block because the jump from 5:52/km to 5:20/km is high. I was in an uphill portion of my route when the switch from block # 2 to # 3 happened and I had to make an effort to reach the target and adjust for the extra pull by gravity. This was a quick adjustment from the two blocks and this was the root cause of why my main block is 5:05/km, fifteen seconds faster than MP. The entire uphill part was fast and I was thought I was within the range without looking at my watch but then I saw the first kilometer clock in at 5:07/km. I decided to keep it that way and to not go down to the 5:20/km because I felt confident and cocky. I hope I don’t regret this next week in terms of recovery.
I used the metronome again to guide my cadence and the following are rough estimates on when I chose to change the target:
| Distance from start | Cadence |
|---|---|
| 1.6 km | 178 spm |
| 4.0 km | 180 spm |
| 13 km (12 km left) | 182 spm |
| 19 km (6 km left) | 184 spm |
| 23 km (3 km left) | 186 spm |
The first two felt natural and easy during the second block and I believe that it was through the countless practice in the previous runs. I started with 178 spm immediately instead of the usual 176 spm because I believed that I can do it now without surprising my legs with the faster turnover and fortunately I was right even during the change to 180 spm.
I have to admit that the sudden change from the upper limit of 5:52/km to 5:20/km in the main block was harsh but I remember the adrenaline carried me through the uphill. I wasn’t able to check my specific heart rate during this time but I took note that I wasn’t gasping for air or showed any signs of pushing too much. This is why I was a bit confident to maintain what I started even though it was terrible practice.
I divided the main block into three main laps of six kilometers where I became ambitious to do 180, 182 and 184 spm cadence for each. As the metronome clicked, my legs did what they had to do. I was fun to learn the different cadences that I was able to employ which still maintaining a specific pace. The transitions from 180 to 184 weren’t a surprise to me even if there were uneven cobblestones and ground on my path. I was still stable and able to keep up. Then I wanted to have another form of variety for by the last three kilometers, for the last time today, I increased the target by two spm. This 186 spm was still doable and not exhausting but I had to give extra focus to not fall off my rhythm because it felt similar to the leg turnovers I will do in a tempo or interval workout. I remember that it didn’t cause my heart rate to increase or made me too tired to the point of decreasing it back to the previous target. It was just near the sensation of how much my legs will do during a speed workout and I think 188 spm would be another level of challenge. For now, I learned that 184 spm so far is a good upper limit and I will reserve 186 spm for days when I want to entertain myself.
There were moments where I wished that I was listening to my upbeat music but it just distracts me from the metronome! Again I never got bored throughout this run which was a nice revelation; this means I can put on my music in other runs if ever I reach my limit and need a new rush of motivation.
Now we have to talk about different discomforts and pain that I observed during the run:
- After 90 minutes I felt like both of my shoulders were starting to go heavy. I made sure to constantly keep them down, to fix my posture with a straight back to keep that “tall” position and to engage my core.
- The left ankle and arch started whispering sensations of discomfort around the 21st kilometer. Unfortunately I forgot what I did to relieve it but same as before both went away and but I have a hunch that it could be from the intense marathon pace target. Both could have been triggered by the extra effort I was doing to compensate to keep the pace.
Most importantly, I had a moment that teetered nearly to the same exhaustion I used to feel whenever I run too fast on easy days (more than Zone 3). It was around halfway that I felt like I was exerting too much effort to keep the new range of 5:05-5:10/km and slightly gasping for air due to the struggle. Fortunately it went by so quickly that I immediately went back to my focus and rhythm within my targets. I believe that if I weren’t prepared by weeks of high mileage, that part would have been longer and more intense.
Despite all of those issues, I have to give credit to my nutrition because I was more aggressive today. My stomach was perfectly behaved when I started the main block so I decided to consume two big sips from my flask every two to three kilometers or approximately one of the four corners of the area I ran in. This was a new amount to consume but I never felt any moment of tiredness or even stomach upsets save from the discomforts of my ankles. I will keep this in mind for my actual marathon.
Today’s heat really affected my heart rate by staying mostly at Zone 4 (yikes!) instead of the usual Zone 3 (35% in my previous 2025-06-22 run of the same workout). I know that this was mostly caused by going over my target pace but I want to highlight that I was sweating more this morning but never had any moment of thirst!
Finally the last three kilometers to the rounding up to a whole 26th was a little trial to check if I can go a bit faster at the end without doing too much. I made sure I didn’t go faster that 4:55/km to not further prolong my recovery.
After the run
Same as the previous MP run, I went over the target pace again!
| Date | Expected MP | Actual MP |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-06-22 | 5:30/km | 5:10/km |
| 2025-07-20 | 5:20/km | 5:05/km |
But there are differences between these two: the first one still felt easy and there was more in the tank all throughout the block while today’s was within a safe limit and anything more than that will do damage to my legs. One of my lessons today is that I might be prepared for a hard limit of 5:05/km average marathon but I have to be realistic and to check first how my body will respond next week if I can keep this target.
As I’m writing, my left shin is painful and tired and I already rubbed ointment all over it together with the ankle. Surprisingly the shin is more pronounced compared to the ankle so I’m hopeful it will just need a full day of laying down and a night’s sleep to recover.
Evening workout
I have observed in the past two weeks that my left hip had some minor moments of discomfort during long runs. Aside from all the issues with my left shin and both ankles, I concluded that I need to support everything with some form of strength training if I want them to at least calm down if not fully go away. I’m afraid that they will get worse if I continued to ignore them and relied only from my supplementary once-a-week yoga and mobility drills.
Since today was a hard day of running, it is the perfect day to add such strength training to keep it all in one day. I rested for at least eight hours to make sure my left shin will be stable and when I felt that it was ready, I decided to push through.
I checked the Advanced Marathoning book to keep everything from a single source and fortunately Chapter 4: Supplementary Training was there. I am glad that each section was simple and straightforward so I performed two sets of the “Basic Core Strength Session” and one set of the “Strength Training Session”. I wanted to also perform the latter twice but held back since it was my first time doing something similar to it ever since I started the marathon plan. I kept both simple and used body weight except for 2.5 kg of dumbbells for the lateral rows. There was also the “Advanced Core Strength Session” and I will do it after a week of two to make sure my body adapts gradually to the load.
After this, I feel good and I know some of these muscles with hurt a ton tomorrow morning and I hope I decrease any pain on my hips and legs during the next long run.
Overall
I am going to use this section for expressing my gratitudes in terms of the plan:
- Thankful that I had a successful and less intense taper week after two weeks of back-to-back threshold runs.
- Thankful that I found a simple solution to finally enjoy the Saucony Triumph 22s and I no longer need to sell it.
- Thankful that I took a risk to change my target MP to 5:20/km because if I didn’t do it, I wouldn’t know that I am able to hold 5:05/km albeit in a controlled and shorter distance.
- Thankful that I finished another week without any injuries or symptoms of overtraining (fingers crossed).
Next week
Tentatively I will pepper some non-running workouts to my weeks starting next week:
- Vlad Ixel’s yoga and mobility drills: twice a week on easy days
- Pfitz’s “Basic Core Strength Session”: thrice a week, before a strength training
- Pfitz’s “Strength Training Session”: twice or thrice a week on hard days only
I hope that these will be a good supplement as I ramp up the intensity and paces in the coming weeks.