This week was about managing my foot and keeping the consistency going. This week was also juggling rare social events with marathon training, we were out Thrusday and Saturday well past my usual bedtime. Changed out my recreational shoes and dog walking shoes took it more easy during other family activities.
Tuesday – 60 Minutes Easy (Fasted)
Fasted run this morning — 60 minutes easy. Got rolling towards the end and found a nice rhythm. Covered 11.14 km at an average pace of 5:23 /km, with an average heart rate of 148 bpm, so everything stayed well under control.
Wednesday – Medium Long Run (1 hr 45 min)
Longest duration medium-long run of the block today — 1:45:00, covering 18.41 km at an average pace of 5:42 /km and an average heart rate of 145 bpm.
It was a public holiday in Laos, so I took the rare opportunity for a sleep-in and spent extra time rolling out and warming up before heading out a bit later. That meant I was running in the sun by the end, but happy to get it done. A good milestone early in the block — next week these runs will start including marathon-pace work, so the distance will go up but the duration will stay the same.
Thursday – Tempo (5 × 6 Minutes)
Same session again today — 5 × 6 minutes tempo — but I mixed it up a bit. The goal was to find marathon pace rather than run these as all-out threshold reps.
For the first three, I tried to settle into that rhythm and landed around 4:34–4:35 /km, with the heart rate still fairly relaxed. The fourth rep I ran more by feel, starting a touch quicker and averaging 4:29. For the fifth, I switched my watch display to heart rate and pushed up into the 170s — above marathon effort — averaging 4:11 /km. Quick, but still controlled.
I wanted to get a feel for that in-between zone before Sunday’s long run, which finishes with a marathon-pace section. Right now, 4:35 /km feels like working a bit harder than I’d like, while 4:45–4:50 /km feels almost too easy. There’s a step change in stride mechanics around 4:30 /km — below that, I lengthen out naturally and it feels smoother. I’ll probably start conservatively closer to 4:40 /km for marathon pace as we build into the next block.
Friday – Rest Day
Rest Day, need it after a late night and my foot still not quite right.
Saturday – City Run Club + Top-Up (Fasted)
Day off got my foot feeling fine again. Joined the Vientiane City Run Club this morning for the weekly 5 km loop and topped it up solo to make 10.19 km total. Easy social pace — 1 hour 1 minute running at 6:02 /km average. Another fasted run, keeping it relaxed and conversational.
Sunday – Long Run (25 km with Marathon Pace Finish)
Saturday night we were out at a concert, so I was short on sleep — less than five hours — but still got up for a 4 a.m. start and got the long run done. Covered 24.9 km total: 1.5 km warm-up, 15 km steady, 30 minutes at marathon pace, and about 2 km cool down.
Had my friend on the bike again for bottle support and company, which made the kilometres roll by easily. The marathon-pace segment averaged 4:41 /km, keeping it steady and including a few hills. Early in the block, that’s right where I want to be.
The best sign was that I didn’t even notice the 30-minute timer go off — I kept rolling at marathon pace for another 30 seconds without feeling it. Finished feeling fresh and strong, could easily have kept going, but shut it down as planned. Great feeling to finish a long run — and a long week — with more left in the tank.
Pulled up much better than previosu week, foot is good and at the time of writing (Monday) I could’ve run today where as last monday i very much needed another day to recover.
Weekly Recap
That closes out Week 4 and the first building block of the training plan — 77.6 km total for the week and every session ticked off. The consistency through these first four weeks has been the real win, and now the foundation is set. That makes this the biggest week of the year so far, and the next one should come in similar or a little higher as the volume and intensity both start to climb.
Next week was originally meant to be a down week, but I’ve rearranged the plan to target the Luang Prabang Half Marathon the following weekend. So the coming week will shift gears into more marathon-pace work — a 60-minute MP in the midweek run and a 2 × 10 km MP long run on the weekend.