Tuesday – Easy Run
After a rest day on Monday, I headed out Tuesday morning for sixty minutes easy. The weather was a little cooler which made it easier to find a rhythm, and I ended up with 11.03 kilometres at 5:27 pace, heart rate steady at 146. I ran fasted and felt good throughout
Wednesday – Medium Long Run
The midweek medium-long run was officially 75 to 90 minutes, but I stretched it to 95 and covered 16.57 kilometres. Average pace was 5:44 with a heart rate of 150. I followed my usual loop, adding a few small climbs, and had a friend ride alongside, which made it easy to keep things conversational. My foot had been a bit sore after Tuesday, but it felt much better today, and the run ended up flowing nicely from start to finish.
Thursday – Tempo Session
Thursday was the tempo session again — five by six minutes, same as last week. I felt strong and ran a touch quicker this time, with splits of 4:20, 4:18, 4:17, 4:21, and 4:20 per kilometre. The main difference was holding something back on the final rep rather than going all-out, which made the session feel controlled and sustainable. Total came to 13.07 kilometres in just over an hour, and Garmin even called it “productive,” which it almost never does.
Friday – Rest Day
Rest day.
Saturday – Vientiane City Run Club
Saturday was the Vientiane City Run Club, with a big turnout and a great atmosphere. The group ran seven kilometres, kept it interesting by running ahead to take some photos. I tacked on another three to make it 10.17 in total, just over an hour of easy running.
Sunday – Long Run
Sunday’s long run followed the same structure as two weeks ago — two sets of forty minutes easy, each followed by three kilometres at half-marathon pace. My friend was back on the bike, which always helps, and we ran the back loop of the Vientiane Marathon course. The conditions were much kinder this time, no torrential rain like before. I averaged 4:10/km for the first 3K effort and 4:12/km for the second, noticeably quicker than last time’s 4:19/km and 4:20/km. The effort felt hard but not as hard as last time, 2 weeks ago, some is done to conditions, and hopefully some is building fitness.
Weekly Recap
I hit 73.4 kilometres this week, continuing to build steadily on the last two. Another solid block of training in the bank. I haven’t missed a run since mid-July, so the consistency is really starting to show — building, building, building. Everything’s heading in the right direction. Biggest week since Khon Kaen Marathon in January