Race information

Goals

Splits

Information were taken from the official results page.

Training

Pre-training

After I learned that I got selected for the marathon, I did two training plans before I started the marathon training that were taken from Pfitzinger and Latter’s Faster Road Racing book.

1. Base Training: Build Up to 60 Miles (97 km) per Week
2. 5K Schedule 2: 45 to 55 Miles (71-88 km) per Week

The first was during winter and early spring and the second was late spring and early summer.

I decided to go through these two plans because I saw a particular comment in Reddit that it is recommend for runners to improve their speed and endurance by targeting shorter distances. These will in turn carry-over and improve the performance in longer distances.

Marathon training

I specifically chose Pfitzinger and Douglas’ Advanced Marathoning (which I will refer to as “AM” for the rest of the review) as my source for my first full marathon after a successful personal record of 19:55 for my 5K with the previous book. I was already used to the demands of the previous two plans (mainly the long runs that I learned to appreciate) and it was natural to choose the version for marathons.

In the book there are four plans that differ in peak distances from 55 miles (89 km) to 85 miles (137 km) with variations of 12 or 18 weeks in some of them. Out of all four, I chose the 18/55 plan because the last 5K plan had an average of around 50 to 60 km per week. The first week of 18/55 had a Sunday long run of 19.30 km with a total of 53 km and that was the most doable and realistic to my level of fitness at that time. The next plan of 18/70 has a 24 km long run and a total of 87 km in its first week which was impossible for me at that time or I might injure myself with the sudden climb in demand and running volume. A more detailed explanation of my decision can be read here.

I actually was able to reach an average of 90 km in the first three weeks of 18/55 because of another Reddit comment from an AM thread. The commenter stated that they did all the recovery runs at least 10 km to gently increase their weekly volume safely because they found the average of 60 km per week in the first four weeks were too easy (but the jump to 18/70 is too high to switch to). I followed this and I actually had the same results though the first two weeks were genuinely taxing on my body because of the gradual introduction of tempo and long runs in the middle of the week followed by another long run in the weekend.

I eventually considered moving up to 18/70 around the second week because the empty rest or cross-training days in 18/55 was making it easy for me. I wanted to run more because I was starting to feel too comfortable though the thought of doing double days in the first was a deal-breaker. Eventually I found Aaron or thebottlefarm’s unofficial Pfitz 18/63 (up to 100 km) plan from another Redditor that combined elements of the two aforementioned plans: the hard workouts of 18/70 and the lower volume of 18/55. It was the perfect fit of what I was looking for and I made the decision to switch my fourth week with this plan. I stuck with it until the end and never looked at 18/70 anymore because it was already demanding as a first-timer.

I wrote my experiences from following 18/55 and 18/63 each week in more detail here including specific things about the different struggles I faced during tempo and interval days and having fun testing different potential race day shoes during long runs.

Pre-race

Taper week

I initially entered a goal time of 04:30:00 when I signed up for the marathon and declared that it was my first marathon so I got put in the Group J out of A to K. I just learned after the race that I can change the goal time a few weeks before but it doesn’t matter because Berlin will always put first timers in the same group regardless of goal time I believe. According to the schedule, our groups’s gun time will be at 10:40 so I had a lot of time in the early morning to prepare.

Friday and Saturday were spent eating carbohydrate-rich food such as pasta and stir-fried noodles with rice for both lunch and dinner. I didn’t change the amount too much because on a regular day I eat lighter dinners. I also drank a liter of water with electrolytes each day due to further help my body.

Saturday was for preparing my bag that contained my sunblock, petroleum jelly, change of clothes, a power bank, homemade gels and my pair of Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 3. I’m glad it was large enough to carry all of those inside because the shoes, though light, were large enough to occupy half of the entire bag.

I spent a lot of time in the last week reading people’s tips and advise for marathoners and one thing that stood out the most is to make sure the Friday night’s sleep is at least the recommended eight full hours in case of nerves on Saturday night. Fortunately I didn’t have any trouble in both nights because I wasn’t too hung up on a goal time faster than 03:30:00 compared to the two days before my half-marathon last month where I know I had to prove myself when I have something I know I had to achieve (which I successfully did). I wasn’t nervous at all for the entirety of Friday and Saturday because I know my goal was doable based from all the long runs I did every Sunday for 18 weeks. The confidence helped me a lot in preventing my usual overthinking up to Sunday morning.

Race morning

I woke up at 6:00 and stretched my body a bit. I went back to bed to chill because I planned to leave at around 8:30 to arrive an hour early before Group J’s scheduled 10:40 gun start. By 7:40 I was eating a chocolate oatmeal and banana bowl (no nuts for the day) to keep it all simple and took one loperamide tablet. I also prepared another bottle of water with electrolytes that I sipped on as I left the house, during the commute and all the way to the race grounds.

By 8:30 I was already done with my shower but I left at 8:50 because I changed the top that I was planning to wear. It was originally an oversized cotton muscle shirt but I checked the forecast and it was going to be around 25° Celcius so I chose my plan B - a thinner, lighter tank top that’s just fits exactly on my body but not too flattering for my taste. Good thing I did several long runs wearing it so I know how it will feel and it’s not something new.

Race grounds

I arrived at around 9:40 as planned in the race grounds in front of the Reichstag. I came from the Friedrichshain S-Bahn station and it was surprisingly not too full that time. I walked for around ten minutes and it was helpful in keeping the creeping anxiety within me at bay.

I still had one hour so I sat on a free bench near the Bundestag U-Bahn station and changed into my race gear. I just had to take off my jacket (it was a bit cold during the commute) and shorts (I was already wearing my half-tights under it) and neatly put them back in my bag. I also applied my sunblock all over my head, neck, shoulder, both arms and legs followed by generous amounts of petroleum jelly on both under my arms (were they will rub with the tank top), my chest where my heart rate monitor is placed and behind my ears because I brought my over-the-ear headphones.

After I was content with my pre-race ritual, I looked for the bag drop-off area, took one last sip of my drink and surrendered them to the lovely personnel. It was a bit difficult to find at first because there’s not much signs around and luckily I found a group of people with their baggages in tow to follow. I found an entrance with a lot of volunteers checking people’s transparent bags and arms with the official tag and that led me to the tented area for bags and a lot of runners warming up.

It was around 10:00 that my stomach let me know that it wanted one last toilet break and I waited for 30 minutes near the main race road alongside other people. I used that time to warm-up my arms and legs in place. Fortunately by 10:28, it was my turn to go inside a free portalet and I was able to do my business. Thanks to the Redditors for mentioning to bring your own tissue pack inside the grounds because it is expected that there will no longer be rolls of tissues inside with the amount of people that use it.

I had around five minutes left after I was done. I took one last loperamide with my gels and briskly walked to the race road together with other people. The sun was starting to show its presence but I was more amazed by number of people I was going to run with even though we were the last two groups. The hosts were fun in leading the warm-ups and the music was thankfully modern and upbeat to fully set the atmosphere. I officially crossed the starting lines at exactly 10:47:42 in the Tiergarten road.

Race

Plan

My plan of execution for the marathon was a warm-up followed by eight five-kilometer blocks that increased in pace ranges:

I wanted it to be a reflection of the long run paces I was able to do comfortable during the training period with the last 10 km to be the fastest depending on my state that time.

For every 20 minutes or around four kilometers, I also planned to take sips from my gels. I brought four 250 ml flasks and each should last for an hour with a bit more for preparedness.

1-5 km

I stayed at the back of the group that I was in (I forgot if it was even J or K) and my plan was to stay at my Zone 2 for the first two kilometers. I started my metronome app at 180 spm to guide my cadence for the first 12 kilometers. I will increase them by two every succeeding ten kilometers and more if my confidence and body allowed.

I had trouble keeping my heart rate within Zone 2 in the first two laps unfortunately. It was a combination of the excitement, the energy all around, the music and the looming heat. It was a struggle to go slower and I believe I should have stayed at 7:00/km or slower because I would have reached the target zone.

There were hardly any shade in the Straße des 17. Juni so everyone was exposed to the sun. I’m glad I had my trusted hat on to keep me cool together with my shaved head. I was still fine with the heat.

As soon as the first five-kilometer block started, I let the cadence drive me to the target pace but it was a challenge to go through dense groups of fellow runners. This wasn’t so frustrating for me because I have experience but it broke my momentum constantly to keep up with my target paces.

6-10 km, 11-15 km, 16-20 km

I was still occupied by trying to pass through slower runners in front of me. I didn’t take this into account that much prior to the race that I will be in this position for more than an hour given that this is a major world marathon with thousands of participants. Regardless I never let it get into my head and just made sure I gave a polite warning arm beforehand to let them know I will pass through.

The targets were reached at the lower end and I was feeling fine. I made a note to be within the lower and middle points of my ranges to be conservative.

When I reached the 12th kilometer, I increased my metronome app to 182 spm. Honestly it was hard to focus during the entire run! It was loud everywhere around me and I failed to replicate the peaceful mode I was in during my solo long runs. This was the one thing that made me a bit frustrated because there were times where I was only able to follow the cadence or my pace. In this end, that is another lesson I should keep in mind if I want to do large races again.

As for my nutrition, I realised another mistake: they were heavy and added more weight to each step I did. I already felt this before in several long runs but due to my stubbornness to refuse wearing a running vest, I never rechecked this issue.

I also saw my beautiful friends in a path under the bridges in Schöneberg and they were able to give me two new flasks in exchange of two of my already used ones. Their loud excitement in seeing me help me push through and give me another layer of confidence. I was a surreal moment to see people you know in the crowd and I will cherish that moment forever. I hope I can do this to another runner friend

21-25 km

At the halfway mark, I was unfortunately succumbing to the heat from the first ten kilometers. I was starting to accept it around this time because I observed that I am no longer within that same focus as I did during my long runs. Usually I should be indifferent or still excited to do another ten or more but I was dreading the next half-marathon by this time. It bothered me but I continued on.

When I reached the 23rd or 24th kilometer, I was already slowing down and losing motivation for the remainder of the marathon. My shoes were still comfortable and reliable but my mental strength took a hit. I am now realising that I was in disbelief around this block that what conditions I trained in are not the same today. I trained in cooler summer mornings before temperatures reached 20°C and this missed detail cost me the race.

26-30 km, 31-35 km

I made a final decision to give up on following the pace targets I set by the 28th kilometer. It was super hot, my gels weren’t doing anything to improve my condition and my body was starting to break down as well.

For the first time in my life, I swallowed my pride and did a walk-run strategy in an official race. I promised myself to never stop but to make sure I cross the finish line with everything that I can do at that moment.

I remember looking at my watch at around the 32nd kilometer and it was around 3:10:00. I also saw my friends again in this mark and I told them that I don’t want to do it anymore. Of course it was a joke but I was already over it. I thought I can still do a sub-four hours if I just push more. I want to thank my past self for not listening because there were moments when I felt my vision blur and I believe that if I decided to run faster than 6:00/km, I would probably pass out in a few kilometers.

I also noted that my right hamstrings started cramping whenever I tried to go faster specifically during short moments of excitement from the crowds. I put electrolytes in my homemade gels but I think they’re either not enough or I wasn’t consuming enough. All of these will be remembered within the umbrella of summer long runs next year!

Finally I started to give myself grace by allowing myself to walk and go slower in every water station. Once I see the signs or groups of runners crowding to the sides, I will stop my slow run and just walk to grab the first two cups to pour on my head and body. I also started drinking some because my throat was already irritated with the sweetness and thickness of my gels. I proceeded to walk the length of these tables and run after I felt comfortable or motivated enough. It was really tough out there.

35-40 km

By this block I was just counting how many more kilometers until I can end this suffering I was in. I can no longer speed up my runs and I was also struggling to even run due to both my physical and mental capacity at that moment. The refreshments were no longer working unfortunately. I even opened one of my gummy bear packs; the chewing was a good distraction but not enough to help me break the walk-run strategy. I have accepted that I just have to keep pushing up to the finish line.

Finish

For some reason, I was able to break for the walk-run cycle I was in when I knew I was in Unter den Linden. My pride took over because I know there will be a lot of cameras flashing up to the finish line and I didn’t want to be seen walking. It’s a ridiculous excuse but it was effective! Though I wish I was sprinting with all my heart though my right hamstring was slightly letting itself known. I was careful in each running step to not fall down and embarrass myself in front of a lot of people.

After I passed the Brandenburg Gate, I felt another wave of relief together with hearing my friends’ screams and seeing their excited faces. Thank you so much Jhun, Gali and Sandy for lending your Sunday to follow me around Berlin, go through crowds of people through the heat and bringing my extra nutrition and to cheer me on. I will never forget this day because of you all.

For the first time after 16 kilometers, my body just carried me to the blue carpet, through the thickening group of crowds and finally under the finish line arch. After 18 weeks of hard work, I finished my first marathon with the time of 04:17:00. I still can’t believe that it was an exact measurement to the seconds.

Post-race

After I crossed the finish line, I usually expect the medals to be given near it so I can take my signature medal photo but this time, it was around 200 or 300 meters away. I believe that this was a good decision to prevent bottlenecks of finishers stopping a bit near the arch.

The walk from the finish line to the runners’ village was not easy. My legs felt their most tired in my life! I never felt that combination of immediate fatigue and soreness immediately after a run before. It wasn’t too shocking as I already anticipated the first 24 or 48 hours to not be comfortable but nothing can ever prepare me for feeling it the first time.

In my previous races, after taking pictures of myself with the medal, I would immediately go through the sponsored refreshments but today I wasn’t in the mood. I wasn’t even hungry. My mission was to get my bag, take a shower and go home so I can rest for the day.

I had to spend around 10 minutes sitting down after claiming my bag and to charge my phone because it was already dying. I had some leftover water with electrolytes from the before the race that I finished to help give my body some form of nutrition as well.

The next 30 minutes was spent looking for the men’s shower area, taking a hard-earned shower and changing into my comfortable shirt, shorts, light jacket and Asics Superblast 2s.

I am lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed with the results of my first marathon after doing the best running training I’ve ever done in my life for the past three months. I was on track for at least an easy sub-four hours but the Mother Nature had another idea.

I want to thank all the people in my life who let me know how proud they are of my achievement for this first marathon and that helped a lot. Honestly, as I’ve mentioned before, I already accepted everything at the 28th kilometer and I have no regrets aside from all the lessons I have to take into account next time.

Another interesting detail I’ve read in the past 24 hours in Reddit, among all the posts about their disappointments with the race, is that to turn this record into a weather-based personal record. This means 04:17:00 is my current best record for a marathon in 25°C and higher temperatures and I have all the opportunities in the world to crush it next time. This was the one that made me feel better the most truly.

I have finished my first marathon after years of stalling and I can finally say that I’ve done it without quitting!

Lessons learned

All races reveal new things that I can improve on as a runner from the executions of my training up to the race day itself. The following are a combination of newbie mistakes that could have been addressed before but skipped on and other items that never occurred to me ever. I am thankful to have all these information to address in my next marathon training plan.

Heat training and preparedness

I did almost all of my runs this year starting at around 6:00 in the morning especially when it got warmer. Last winter it was around 7:00 or 8:00 due to my body clock’s response to when the sun rises. It was the most ideal to me because I will finish before 8:00 or 9:00 the latest and this gives me time to eat breakfast and clean up before going to work.

I have to admit that I was consciously avoiding the heat especially during all of my long runs in the weekends. For those that go way over 16 km, I will usually be done by 10:00 and will spend my cool down walking home.

Essentially I never did any heat training for the summer of 2025 and I shouldn’t have been too comfortable with the unpredictable temperatures of the latter half of September in Berlin.

Moving forward, next year, I should at least do all of my weekend runs at 9:00 or later. This will force me to run with the sun at its highest and I have all the time in the world to observe and learn about my body’s response to multiple variables. I think that 11:00 or later will be too much but I can first assess my adaptation to 9:00 first and I can decide if later is feasible.

Race time of day

Related to the previous entry, races here in Berlin tend to start at 9:00 or later. This is totally different from my training schedule at 6:00. I always preferred to run immediately after waking up because I feel my best at that time which has been consistent ever since I started running.

Unfortunately no matter how comfortable and convenient my schedule, it is also limiting me during races because I lose focus and feel frustrated a bit during official races that start later. I already observed this earlier in Die Generalprobe where I felt a bit impatient and wish the gun started at 7:00 instead so I was still “fresh” from a night’s sleep.

I believe that my potential solution of starting weekend runs at 9:00 in the previous answer will cover this problem. I have to force myself to feel uncomfortable with the later time to run and eventually the time of races will no longer be inconvenient and foreign to both my body and mind.

Nutrition packaging

This was a marathon which meant I needed more nutrition to carry. I didn’t want to rely on the personal bottle service (which is currently only offered in Berlin) and the refreshments every five kilometers. I also didn’t want to put on a vest or a belt too because I wanted to wear less items during long runs and races.

I know that several gels in smaller packets that can be purchased might be lighter compared to my one liter of baggages but the accumulated cheaper price of the latter can’t be beaten.

As of this time, I am considering a vest and I saw a particularly light, thin and looks to be of quality build during the race. Unfortunately I failed to remember its brand but I still know how it looks like with the thin black mesh and almost a crop top-like fit on the runner.

The vest will definitely need a lot of practice during my long runs because it can potentially affect my posture but I know I will be able to adapt in case I decide to stay with it. The belt is a no-no for me because from previous experience, I don’t like the sensation of moving dangling things on my waist while running that doesn’t happen on my half-tights because they’re more secured to the legs.

Nutrition contents

I had a hard time replicating the energy and comfort my gels gave me from my practice during the actual race. I believe that it was caused by my poor variety of ingredients: only 350 g of my 2.5 kg of maltodextrin was left and I ran out of fructose powder so I substituted pure white sugar for the last batch I made for the race. This is another mistake of mine that could’ve been prevented if I bought enough ingredients before the taper weeks.

The possibility of using store-bought and trusted gels is still a reliable option but the money saved from cooking my own is unbeatable. I just have to make sure I have enough before races because the batches I made before were able to energize me multiple times consistently! The maltodextrin, fructose and dextrose powders should be constant in my kitchen moving forward especially next summer. I need to write down the actual ratios of gel batches that work and never change it up after. That inconsistency in my recipes from different sources was also not a good practice.

Finally I need to explore more ways to add varied flavour to my gels because maple syrup is not cutting it. I have to find healthy lemon, orange and maybe chocolate flavourings so that I am not used to one and it will help distract me during long runs.

Focus during races

This one was a revelation during the marathon. All of my long runs were done in quiet mornings with occasional runners and bikers passing by. I also learned to appreciate the sound of my metronome app to guide my cadence and nothing else. Those two perfectly worked together in helping me get accustomed to long runs beyond two hours. This was one of my favourite workouts to do in the plan.

However those conditions were starkly different from the chaotic, crowded and over-stimulating atmosphere of races. As a person who strongly prefers the opposite, I learned the hard way during the race about a new limitation that I have. I still have to take a moment on how to deal with this in the future - to attend more races, to accept it and learn to appreciate the culture or to move away from large events and to participate in smaller races with less people. I have no answer right now but I have to take note of this interesting observation I have.

• Goal Race: 3:30-4:00 Berlin
• Plan: Pfitz 18/63 by thebottlefarm (Unofficial)

Schedule

• Goal Race: 3:30-4:00 **Berlin
• Plan: Pfitz 18/63 by thebottlefarm (Unofficial)

• Total:
  • Expected: 80.79 km
  • Actual: 89.36 km km

Thoughts

Monday

The yoga and mobility exercises were executed smoothly this morning. I am glad that I wasn’t too tired from the two workouts yesterday that could have affected today. I also added a two-minute plank at the end for a change which I was able to do (though I started struggling after 90 seconds).

This will be the only movement today and I will keep the rest of the day relaxed.

Tuesday

Today was fine but I was extra vigilant if I will feel the same sluggishness as last week’s runs. My legs were really heavy and a but sleepy when I was doing the warm-up skips and steps though I gradually got the rhythm once I started running.

I was a bit hungry though at the first two kilometers which was confusing because I had a healthy filling dinner last night and had an oatmeal bar before leaving. The hunger went away after which was fine as it didn’t affect the rest of the run.

The run wasn’t special though I was in lower Zone 2 again (around 120 bpm) instead of the Zone 1 target. I just let my feelings take over the run as long as I wasn’t exerting too much for a recovery run which is something I have learned to listen to from the plan. I will make sure to follow this on the race (while maintaining my marathon pace target of 5:10/km) and I will make sure I do not repeat the same mistakes from Die Generalprobe.

Wednesday

This run went well! I felt easy and light, I felt comfortable to reach the paces I needed to (Zone 1 to MP) and overall had a great time!

Unfortunately I had some hiccups: I pushed the wrong button while at a stoplight so my warm-up was cut to only 300 meters instead of a full mile and I had to quickly go to a toilet (and luckily one was free at seven in the morning!). After all of that I had a good time!

I struggled a bit from the jump to marathon pace from 10% to 20% slower but all I had to do was keep up with the cadence and they carried me. Though I took note that I had to put in some effort to be within the 5:10/km target aside from relying on the cadence. I might go for 5:15/km or even 5:20/km on the race but the goal is to make sure I am fresh when I get to the last 10 km of the race.

I love my AP3s and they are really proving themselves as a perfect pair of running shoes. The last time I had this was with an old pair of Asics Novablast 3s that I bought from a heel striker which made the midsole super bouncy. The AP3s are super shoes though and even though I am privileged to both train and race in them, my goal after I recover from the race is to find a cheaper, less fancy version and I am looking at both the Adidas Supernova series and Puma Velocity NITRO 4.

Although I woke up with a constant discomfort on my chest area and it is still here after the run. I don’t remember changing my diet in the past week to fatty food so this was strange. I have been sleeping for an average of eight hours at night too. Regardless I will keep an eye on this and hopefully it will not affect Sunday’s race.

Thursday

Today’s run was nothing special though I stayed in around 125 bpm throughout the workout which is beyond my target of Zone 1. I could have gone slower or even stopped to fully bring my heart rate down but I continued thinking it would eventually settle. I didn’t have much problems though with my ankles, PTT and hamstring so I will just keep it all controlled until Sunday.

Friday

This morning was fine and I made sure to not skip the strides like I did in the past four weeks.

The Asics Superblast 2s, as my designated recovery shoes now, were a bit bouncy today and I don’t know if it’s from the mindful steps I did or the foam has renewed. I always hated how it has been flat and unresponsive in the latter half of my training plan but today they seem to have more life. It still has that ground-feel that I dislike but nothing to worry about.

The strides went well as I did them gradually faster starting at 4:38/km and ending the sixth at 3:54/km which was satisfying. I always worried about the damage they can cause my ankles and PTT but today nothing of the sort was felt during and after the last lap. Though I nearly sprained my right ankle during the warm-up after stepping incorrectly in the A-skips. It was a terrible mistake and I’m glad it didn’t become worse!

I will spend today and tomorrow just drinking a lot of fluids, eating as usual and making sure I don’t do anything new related to my running and diet. Sunday will be a blast!

Saturday

Today is the shakeout run and I had a lot of thoughts while doing it, mostly what will happen to me between the 21km and 32km tomorrow. I am confident that by strictly following my target pace and adjusting to the heat will carry me over plus all the long runs I did in the plan. I did what I had to do with Pfitz 18/63 and I know that I am adaptable to whatever random thing will happen tomorrow.

I will spend the rest of the day preparing my clothing bag, making sure everything I need is there and resting. This will be my first marathon and I know it’s too early to say but I hope it will not be the last.

Sunday

Full race report is available here.

• Goal Race: 3:30-4:00 Berlin
• Plan: Pfitz 18/63 by thebottlefarm (Unofficial)

• Total:
  • Expected: 61.16 km
  • Actual: 57.24 km

Thoughts

Monday

Coming from a demanding weekend, my entire body was heavy and sore when I woke up this morning. Despite that my only concern is the healing progress of my left posterior tibial tendon. It is only painful now when I exaggerate my twisting and nothing from regular movement and walking.

Due to that assessment I continued with my Vlad Ixel yoga and mobility session. The latter has a lot of ankle-related exercises and I am thankful that I was able to push through them with little to no pain on my problem area. Afterwards I did the “Basic Core Strength Session” activity from the Advanced Marathoning book to continue training my core.

I am still not sure if I will run tomorrow even though it is a recovery run. If my ankle is fully comfortable by the end of the day and tomorrow morning, then I will reconsider going outside otherwise I will strictly just repeat today’s workouts.

Tuesday

My left ankle and PTT were still sore when I woke up early in the morning. It had a sudden jolt of pain when I tried twisting it because every now and then I will do that to check. I made an easy decision to not run this morning and give it another day to heal. Although when I was fully awake and tried walking there was no pain at all.

I just continued with the same yoga and mobility session today as they are very effective in keeping me prepared and safe while running. My right hamstring is less tight now during the stretches but I can’t fully extend it yet. Nevertheless an improvement is welcomed.

By tomorrow I hope my left foot is ready and I can resume the runs.

Wednesday

Fortunately my left PTT is better after two days of no running. My Asics Superblast 2s were still comfortable and supportive enough for the comeback run today though its toe box is so spacious now. I will try to tighten the laces on that area a bit because it is sometimes unstable when my toes are all over the place. As for my right hamstring, it is unnoticeable now and I just remembered to take note of it in the end. Lastly both of my knees were sore once I stopped but not painful. I already remember that sensation from extended rest and no damage was done.

I am still debating if I will just do a general aerobic run instead of the prescribed intervals tomorrow because of the latter’s risk of impacting my ankles again. The final decision will be tomorrow morning after I wake up.

Thursday

I decided to push through with the VO2max intervals today when I woke up. My ankles and PTT didn’t feel any significant sores or discomfort. The only problem was I slept late because I was watching Monster Rancher 2 streams and wanted to finish a particular match.

Before the run

As usual I had to eat an oatmeal bar, a banana and took one loperamide to keep everything intact. I wore my Asics Magic Speed 3s but didn’t put on a heel patch because the heel counter felt soft today. Fortunately I was correct!

I made sure all my stretches and dynamic warm-up drills were generous but not too stretchy that I sprain my joints. I wanted to fully wake my legs properly to be ready for the last intervals of the plan.

During the run

Unfortunately I nearly twisted my right ankle after running clumsily over a heavily stoned path. Automatically, I slowed down and took the stoplight pauses to assist in the quick healing. It didn’t hurt after a few minutes and because of that I decided to continue the warm-up and the rest of the run.

1. 1.61 km warm-up @ Zone 1
2. 1.61 km @ Zone 2
3. Three times
   1. 1.61 km @ 5K pace (3:58/km)
   2. 5:37 recovery (90% of estimated 6:20 to finish)
4. 3.22 km cool down @ Zone 2

I was slow today compared to the middle of the plan. I wasn’t able to fully go in that zone of my current 5K pace of 3:58/km or faster no matter how much I tried.

I was supposed to spend 5:37 minutes as recovery but I cut it down to around one minute less before lap 2 and almost 50% before lap 3 because it felt too long! Looking back, especially with the improvement between the last two, I think the recovery was too long and it jeopardised the momentum I had from the last lap that could have been carried over to the next.

After the run

Regardless I am still happy of my results because they are under my 10K pace which is enough stimuli as long as they’re faster that my target marathon pace of 5:10/km. Additionally my legs are not too sore and I think I can do the strength workouts tonight if all goes well after eight hours of rest later.

Evening workout

My legs recovered quite a bit from sitting down and my work after the run so I decided to continue with the strength workouts in the evening. Coincidentally, calf-centered exercises were the theme of the videos I randomly selected today! I was anticipating for resistance band exercises because I find them the most fun but my calves haven’t been worked a lot for a while so this was still beneficial.

1. Build Stronger Claves - Calf Workout For Runners - 15min HOME WORKOUT
2. MARATHON STRENGTH TRAINING WORKOUT/ FOLLOW ALONG - 4/4
3. 5 Minute Glute Workout for Runners (FOLLOW ALONG)

I loved the single-leg tiptoed exercises because my calves really had to support my body while and the leg to practice stability. The effort was hard enough that I didn’t feel too much impact on my precious ankles and PTT. I only struggled with the last glute workouts because I had to do single-legged sit-ups and leg lifts that were totally withering on those parts of my feet especially the left side. Nevertheless I finished all of them to add to my non-running support this week.

Lastly I did another round of foam roller massage to my thighs and hamstrings to aid recovery.

Friday

My legs were so heavy and tired today during the start! It was fine because I have gradually learned to embrace and accept genuine slow days where I’m not too impaired to run but I will be super slow no matter what. I am thankful that there were no lingering pain on my ankles and PTT that could have manifested later in my run. I was actually faster today because I re-checked my running form and I was more intentional with my forefoot strikes without increasing my heart rate too much. I reminded myself not to do anything new regardless of the things I learned today and keep it all the same up to next week’s marathon.

I am excited for Sunday’s last long run because I expect a lot more people running outside and I get to wear my AP3s again!

Saturday

Today’s run was terrible. My body felt heavy, my legs felt over it and I had a lingering stomachache even though I took an emergency loperamide before running (which shouldn’t have been the case because this was just a short run). I still persevered and finished everything though I didn’t do the strides again. It only felt better (nearly to what I usually am on a normal running day) when I went into a slight uphill in the last 500 meters. I guess I had some rest as I was waiting for he stoplights to change but the change of mood was welcomed.

Sunday

Before the run

The same routine: I ate an oatmeal bar, a banana and took a loperamide tablet. After that I sprayed on my sunblock (even though the forecast was around 40% chance of rain) and put petroleum jelly on my chest when the HRM strap will settle.

I brought two 250 ml flasks for my final experiment: one homemade gel and one Vitargo mix flavoured with maple syrup. I wanted to try if the thick gel and the watery mix (which I tend to avoid) will not upset my stomach. I know one long run is not enough for experimentation but I found that the differences of the solutions’ consistencies will add to the distraction during the race and the watery mix will help push some of the gel in my mouth.

I wore my AP3s again since they will be used next week. I did not wear heel patches again because they have proven to not rub that area in previous runs.

During the run

I don’t know why but all my warm-up sessions this week have been terrible: my body felt heavy, my legs felt like they were over it and my motivation was less bright because of the first two. I am positive it is just from the taper week madness but I can’t help but worry! Regardless I still kept the “suggested” 180 spm cadence during this time which helped to make me focus.

1. 1.61 km warm-up @ Zone 1
2. 4.43 km @ 5:57-6:12/km (20% less than my target MP)
3. 13.28 km @ 5:41-5:57/km (10% less than my target MP)

Everything improved when I started increasing my cadence at 182 spm in the second block as I focused on gradually reaching the goal range. I remember that I lightened up a bit because I knew I was back into what I wanted and should feel like in these long runs.

For my nutrition practice, I took 1/3 of each flask every 20 to 25 minutes alternating between the gel and mix. I still had one flask from super thick gel batch but I didn’t have to take off the cap because they flowed better than the earlier ones.

I observed that I was more aware in keeping a straight body and engaging my core throughout the run. Though I noted that I didn’t use my thighs too much or it wasn’t just obvious to me. Yes, I engaged my core mindfully and transferring the focus to my thighs was natural now but this morning I didn’t feel the latter too much. I will revisit it again in the remaining easy runs but it is something not to worry about.

In the main block, I started at 184 spm cadence. This was so natural and comfortable for me together with the shoes. I also tried softening my foot strikes because I felt like I was pushing them down too much. That part wasn’t too intrusive with what I have been doing in my long runs that it could’ve sabotaged anything and actually I felt more dainty and less heavy-footed when I did that small change. I will also keep checking this especially on Wednesday’s dress rehearsal for any last observations.

Midway through I also realised that I don’t feel any tightness on my right hamstring anymore regardless from when I woke up this morning and as I was running. It just needed two weeks to go away and I’m thankful that it never interfered with my previous runs.

Initially I decided to keep the cadence of 184 spm for the entire main block but I found myself feeling more confident and less worried so I let myself increase it to 186 spm for the last 5 km. It was just so easy to do because I didn’t need any distractions aside from the tick tocks of the metronome app and the nature around me. I was a bit worried still because yes I felt great and the run was easy since my targets today are not my target marathon pace of 5:10/km but as they always say: follow the plan and trust the plan.

After the run

I finished at around halfway the race next week and I have to be honest: I felt that I could go on for another 10 to 16 km at the same average pace but not more than that. I purposely made sure to do a body check at the end and the not-so stellar self-review could just be from my taper craziness. On the other hand, of course I still felt like I have a lot of life more on my legs physically and could go on mentally.

Again, I already did all the hard tempo runs and long runs in the past 17 weeks and since I plan to treat next week’s race as just like any ordinary long run day, I should not have any worries!

At home I did downward and upward dog stretches followed by generous foam roller massages to my thighs and legs for faster recovery.

Evening workout

Since I had a less intense long run in the morning, my legs and feet weren’t too beaten up after. I still had energy to do my strength workouts in the evening.

As always, I pulled from my pool of Vlad Ixel videos:

1. Strength For Runners - Resistance Band Workout - 15min FOLLOW ALONG
2. MARATHON STRENGTH TRAINING WORKOUT/ FOLLOW ALONG - 1/4
3. Stronger Glutes For Runners - 5 min home workout - FOLLOW ALONG

The first one was my favourite because I enjoy doing resistance band workouts. I used my “light” (or 2 out of 5 in resistance) band for the entire session and looking back I should have switched to the next stronger band because it was getting easy. For the rest of the other videos, I only struggled with the floor oblique twists as usual but I think I performed better today as I paused for two seconds at each point. I figured that I got fatigued easily when I did the twists faster and slowing down was the right call. Lastly, I had to do squats in all three videos which was a cool coincidence. I don’t think that I put too much work on my thighs and glutes due to only using my current body weight.

The entire session was fun and quick which I prefer. I am thankful that I didn’t skip it again due to a sore ankle or PTT.

Overall

After coming from last weekend’s crazy two-day back-to-back quality runs, I had to skip Tuesday’s workout even though it was a recovery run. This week is the first of the two-week taper and I promised to listen to my body and to be on red alert for my ankles and PTT.

Unfortunately I had moments of sluggishness and feeling not myself at the start of almost all the runs this week which was concerning but I attribute them to my taper anxiety that’s just all in my head.

I have one more week left before the race and I just have to avoid doing, eating, consuming, drinking and wearing anything new especially on Sunday. It will just be any other long run day but with extra 10 km at the end and a lot of people around me. It’s been 17 weeks of hard work and I can’t wait to finish it all on my first marathon!

• Goal Race: 3:30-4:00 Berlin
• Plan: Pfitz 18/63 by thebottlefarm (Unofficial)

• Total:
  • Expected: 78.86 km
  • Actual: 95.74 km

Thoughts

Yesterday I decided to bump up my target marathon pace from 5:20/km to 5:10/km this week moving forward. This Sunday’s long run will determine if I am capable of keeping it together with the new nutrition intake of gels every four kilometers. People say it should be every 20 minutes but I’m not that fast yet. My main focus in the output is if my stomach can still get used to it and my overall heart rate with the elevated pace targets. I hope it works out!

Monday

It’s been a week and my right hamstring is still tight from the half-marathon race. I have been generous with the foam rolling on that area and no changes. I hope it gradually goes away completely in the next three weeks. I doesn’t affect my running because I can tune out the discomfort but I’m still cautious of its unpredictability. Nevertheless I only mentioned it because I can’t extend my right leg completely flat on the ground yet due to the pain.

I did my usual Vlad Ixel-guided yoga and mobility drills which were both welcomed after yesterday’s long run. My ankles, post tibial tendon and shins are doing fine. I finished everything with the “Basic Core Strength Session” from the Advanced Marathoning book with more repetitions or longer time spent to keep them exciting.

Tuesday

I have done a ton of intervals in this plan that I don’t have anxiety anymore the day before. Five repeats of 600 meters is short yes but I still had a target pace to finish so there’s still a need to focus.

The first few meters of running with my newly-cleaned Asics Magic Speed 3 were painful on my ankles and post tibial tendon! I don’t know why but I tried changing my foot strikes to every point of my left foot (except the heel) to relieve the pain. Eventually the pain went away and unfortunately I can’t remember what exactly I did to make that happen. All I know is that I endured the first 500 or so meters then I was back to my natural running style. On the other hand, my right hamstring still has that tightness after a week! It’s not bothering me when running but I wish it wasn’t there like before. I’m just going to keep doing foam roller massages on it and hopefully it helps.

Today’s workout’s results were worse than the previous one a month ago because I completely needed more warm-up and obviously held back in the first lap. I can confirm that the right hamstring had no intervention with my results because I felt nothing on this part as I exerted more effort.

The difference between today and the last time is that I held back and didn’t give it my all in the first two laps. Of course I did my usual no-looking-at-the-watch until really necessary and just relied on what I felt was within the target pace of 3:58/km but it wasn’t enough. Fortunately in the last three I was able to harness it again and reignited my discipline.

Good news is that the entire thing were in negative splits! By the third lap I realised that my calves were hurting with all the effort so I changed to engaging my core so that my thighs will do the rest of the work. It was so fun to be able to feel my thighs carrying my entire speed because I was able to increase my cadence, to breathe more so I can recover quickly as I went and to give it my all in the last 200 meters of each lap.

After several weeks of missed interval work I needed that wake-up call because only in the third lap I remembered that better techniques that I learned in order to succeed in the past:

• to speed up quickly and gradually in the beginning but to make sure my core is engaged and my thighs will absorb all the surprise stimuli instead of my feet, shins and calves.
• to go faster in the downhill part instead of slowing do to have a quick recovery; the end is near so my change the momentum there?
• to go faster after the downhill part into the uphill in order to access that part within me to give it my all because the end is just 100 meters away!

Overall I am still proud of the results with only one full day’s rest after Sunday’s long run! I was already decided that I will just skip it again for a recovery run but I felt great when I woke up. I hope to do better next time and right now I will definitely take into mind all the things I learned and remembered into Saturday’s solo 10 km tune-up race in the same concrete track. My calves are still the most sore after the workout but I have three easy days to look forward to.

Wednesday

Finally after so many weeks I got to wear my pair of Salomon Aero Glide 3 GRVL! I was skeptical at first if they will be flat during the warm-up phase but they were still light and bouncy as I remember. This was because of the second run where they disappointed me in the first few kilometers until I picked up the cadence to around 180 spm.

Since today is only a short general aerobic workout I didn’t bother using my metronome app to guide the cadence. It was influenced by the gentle and comfortable start so I wanted to just run by feeling today within the Zone 2 targets.

I was already cruising in the main block by engaging my core and using my thighs to do all the work. I maintained it throughout the run although there was a moment at around eight or nine kilometers in where my left ankle or PTT hurt again same as during Sunday’s long run. It was sudden but went away quickly. I can only remember that it was either while I was running through unstable cobblestone paths or after that. Regardless it was not nice and I changed my foot to land on the balls of my pink toes to relive the uncomfortable part. Though not as stable, it was an effective change until the pain subsided and I was able to my normal form.

I finished the entire thing slow and steady but had to eat all two packs of my gummy worms along the way because I got hungry! I didn’t know the two cheese sandwiches and banana was not enough last night. I should have eaten more before going out same as during quality days.

Thursday

The run was a non-event though I made a mistake of wearing my favourite Rockay half-tights’ garter line to my belly button which made me feel down for the entirety of the run! I didn’t feel any stomachache or anything similar but a combination of my body not wanting to run. When I adjusted my tights, I felt relief and the weird sensation went away.

Afterwards I did three Vlad Ixel workouts again. These were supposed to be for Tuesday, the same day as the intervals, but I was too tired after my work activity in-between.

1. STRENGTH FOR ULTRA TRAIL RUNNERS - Home Workout - 15min FOLLOW ALONG
2. MARATHON STRENGTH TRAINING WORKOUT/ FOLLOW ALONG - 3/4
3. Glute Workout For Runners - Resistance Band - 5min Home Workout

As always the three workouts were fun and today I got resistance band workouts which are my favourite. I will take the rest of my day easy and drink lots of liquid in preparation for the last crazy double quality weekend of the plan!

Friday

The recovery run was fine and my right hamstring doesn’t feel tight while running. Although during my yoga and mobility drills, when I had to do lunges and straighten my right leg, I still can’t extend it fully because of the tightness. I know it will take more time to fully relax and I’m thankful it is not triggered during my runs.

Saturday

Before the run

One of the most important lessons I learned in the past few weeks is to eat more pre-run on quality days so that it can support the warm-up and eventually to not feel hungry after the entire workout. I had a big Maurten oatmeal bar that I got from the half-marathon race weeks ago, a banana and our trusted loperamide tablet. I originally wanted to have a proper bowl oatmeal but it will take more time to boil water compared to just eating the giant oatmeal bar I have.

I didn’t have any pain on any of my lower body parts and that was a good sign. It’s been a while since I had such start of the day together with a positive mood I know I don’t have to worry too much.

I wore my Puma Deviate NITRO Elite 3’s with heel blister pads today. I don’t think I will ever use the MS3s for a tune-up race but for intervals and tempos yes because I have no serious time records to beat there.

During the run

I still had some reservations because of my performance during the intervals last Tuesday. I had that slight doubt that I lost some fitness and is now slower due to the first laps of that workout. It didn’t affect me too much emotionally but it planted the idea that I can’t beat last month’s 41:46.3 record for my 10 km in the entire run that I have accepted that I will only do my 2nd best today. I wish I believed in myself more and didn’t slack off.

1. 1.6 km warm-up @ Zone 1
2. 3.22 km @ Zone 2
3. 10.0 km @ 3:59-4:14/km
4. 3.22 km cool down @ Zone 2

Same as before I had a 5 km warm-up from Zone 1 to 2. Strangely today I didn’t have any desire to cut it off and to immediately proceed to the tune-up race and maybe that’s because of my already influenced motivation.

Today I carried over my new nutrition plan of taking four to five big sips of my homemade gel every four kilometers. It was a bit awkward at first because the four big gulps interfered with my breathing as I maintain my pace but it was doable! I will not go faster than my marathon pace during the race so it will be much relaxed on actual use.

I made sure the first two kilometers were controlled and slow but the second to be faster. I was able to do it but given the times I achieved, I have fully accepted that I won’t best my last and should just continue maintaining whatever I am able to do for the rest.

Looking back, my workout targets still had the same range of 3:58 to 4:14/km as the last TTR (which were my 5 km and previous 10 km paces) and I should have adjusted the slower limit to 4:11/km to reflect my improvement. It would’ve given me more (healthy) pressure to take the TTR more seriously. Unfortunately I was lazy to change it the week before.

For the third to eight laps, thanks to my learnings from Tuesday with respect to the 800 meter track I ran in, I was able to take advantage of some simple distractions that I used to motivate me.

• Same as before I mainly relied on the watch’s beeps if I was going too slow or within the target but I allowed myself to look at my current pace every 800 meter lap and to check my kilometer time every notification.
• As for the track itself, I gradually took advantage of the downhill to maintain my pace and to go faster with increased cadence as I went up to the uphill. I used the momentum from the downhill to not go slower as I went uphill.
• After the uphill and going into the flat half I always reminded myself to just keep the pace and breathe to not go slower.
• In the flats I let myself choose from only to options: maintain the current pace or go faster.

These were really helpful in keeping me distracted from the amount of laps left I had to do and the pace I needed to maintain.

From the third to eighth kilometers I was able to go into that “comfortably-hard” zone I have learned to endure and somewhat enjoy. The numerous tempo runs in the first half of the Pfitz plan really helped me train my body and overall pain endurance that led into this priceless information.

All throughout the run I was so conscious in engaging my core to enable my thighs to carry the hard work. This was a product of weeks of practicing this mindfully and some core workouts. My calves were accumulating discomfort too but I was able to keep it at bay with the former. Around the sixth or seventh kilometer I also noticed my right hamstring’s tightness but it never resulted into pain. I just felt it but I kept going because there was nothing else. Fortunately I observed that it started to lessen it’s noticeability this week (until this particular moment) and hopefully gone by race week.

As I approached the last two kilometers I allowed myself to try going all-out because I was confident that I still have a lot in the bank. It was during this moment that I realised that I could’ve been faster overall in the middle block because yes it was hard but I was super controlled and knew that I was holding back.

Regardless I achieved them at 4:08 and 4:00 which I am proud of and is eye-opening after doubting myself in the beginning. I finished with 41:50.3 (from Garmin) and that’s 3.7 seconds short from my previous record of 41:46.6 four weeks ago. Of course there’s a tiny sting of disappointment because I could have beaten my previous record easily but now I am more appreciative of the results because it means that I never lost fitness, that I never got slower since the last month and that I am more than capable of doing it again (within the capabilities of my body while in training).

After the run

The last kilometer was a great push and I had to lie down the first patch of grass I saw when the 10 km notification beeped. Actually it wasn’t necessary at all because I remember feeling I could have continued with the cool down easily. Nonetheless I let myself do that as a small prize for finishing the entire TTR!

It’s really amazing to see my progress from the first two TTR and I know I am capable of doing more just by trusting myself more and digging deeper into a more uncomfortable mode. The latter will be the hardest but I know it will unlock the next personal best. I have no plans when will it be because the marathon is still the first priority. Definitely next year but that’s the exact schedule is still undecided.

I treated my legs to a longer foam roller massage session afterwards. I hope these are enough together with lots of afternoon naps for tomorrow’s run! I’m excited to run with my AP3s again for the long run!

Sunday

Before the run

I had two oatmeal bars without a banana because I forgot to put them out of the fridge last night. I don’t want to eat a cold banana before the run because it might upset my stomach. Fortunately the Maurten bar was around 1.5 times larger than my regular one so I believe that’s enough. I also took a loperamide again for security.

Yesterday I cooked another batch of gels with electrolytes from the drugstore. I brought two 250 ml flasks and two small gummy bear packs.

For the shoes, of course, I used my loved pink Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 3 and wore a heel blister patch again on my right foot. Apparently I bruised that part yesterday with the DNE3s and just realised when it stung while showering last night.

Lastly I sprayed a ton of SPF50 sunblock all over my exposed face, shoulders, arms and legs; petroleum jelly on my chest where the HRM strap will stay and on my armpits in case of friction with my shirt again.

During the run

Today is the second-to-the-last long run beyond 16 km in the plan before the race. I updated both of them to reflect my new marathon pace of 5:10/km and hopefully I am able to do it after being encouraged by my previous runs:

1. 1.61 km warm-up @ Zone 1
2. 6.44 km @ 5:57-6:12/km (20% less than my target MP)
3. 19.31 km @ 5:41-5:57/km (10% less than my target MP)

The start was okay. I didn’t struggle with the thick midsole in the first few meters compared to the last time. My feet fitted in comfortably and I did my warm-up. I’m now wondering if this will be an on-an-off thing where I will struggle after every long run. Hopefully not because consistency is important to me.

The first two blocks was weird because of an overwhelming feeling of heaviness in my entire body. I can’t pinpoint specifically if it was due to my fatigue from yesterday’s TTR, an impending stomachache or I wasn’t just in the right mood this morning. It was a bit discouraging because it bothered me and it occupied my thoughts with trying to find the root cause though I carried on as always. I still had targets so the slight bump in the paces from the WU at an arbitrary Zone 1 to the low 6:15/km of the second block but today I didn’t have trouble easing in thanks to the cadence of 182 spm I followed.

One of the best parts today was the uphill in the last 700 meters of the second block because I felt so effortless climbing it with fast feet turnover. Yes I was still within 5:57-6:12/km which is relatively slow but I was so confident that I had to hold back to not go faster before approaching the flats to not regret going faster again.

For the nutrition, I kept the same four to five big gulps every four kilometers for practice. Although I did a mistake of putting too much pectin and estimating the thickness of the batch of gels I cooked yesterday because I can’t hardly squeeze anything from my flasks! It was so thick that I resorted to just opening the cap and pushing the gel to consume easier. The taste was good but it was so thick that I felt the heaviness in my stomach and that was a new experience today. Eventually I got used to it but the discomfort in the first time was not a good thing because I thought I needed to go to the toilet. Though I reached the main block and loops, I finally let myself use the nearest toilet and I was correct that I just needed to do my business. The run felt lighter and better after that.

The main block wasn’t a perfect run because I had a few bumps here and there. At around the 19th or 20th kilometer mark, my left leg showed signs of tiredness but I carried on. It felt heavy from the hips (not because of the flask like in the first long runs I did; I think it is stronger now) down to the feet that I had to slow down a bit.

The cadence practice today was inconsistent especially in the latter half because I decided to stay at 188 spm for eight kilometers. I decided that 192 spm would be too much today and the former would be a good place to stay longer for practice. Looking back I made the right decision because I never anticipated that tiredness that will come in the last eight laps.

All my previous long runs have been controlled and followed the paces to a degree but today I wanted to finish fast, with fast pertaining to my goal marathon pace of 5:10/km. I let myself go in the last three kilometers after checking my lower body that I can do it. To be honest it wasn’t a good experience compared to what I expected because:

• My left ankle and posterior tibial tendon acted up as I went faster but I made sure to keep it at bay by carefully easing into my thighs to do all the work. I also tried to change the points where my left foot hit around the forefoot and mid-foot area for any signs of relief.
• My right hamstring slowly tightened and though didn’t directly interfere with my form, was still annoying. After two weeks I expect it to be gone with all the foam roller massages I’ve been doing but something today triggered it again which I suspect could be from the fatigue.
• I can’t keep up with the 190 spm target anymore together with the pace so I prioritised the latter since it was the end. It was interesting looking at my results because I resorted to an average of 176 spm in these last three laps. This was a major eye-opener today because in all of my previous long runs with cadence practice, I was able to keep it consistent up to 188 spm but I guess today is not my day and/or it was body telling me that this is too much and we have to keep it in check.
• The AP3s, at one whole centimeter larger than my feet size, started loosening a bit as I went faster around the forefoot area. I think I need to tighten that part a bit next long run because it felt a bit unstable. Though I was able to lock my feet in by sliding my feet further in front and the heel wasn’t a problem because I don’t use it.

On the bright side, not everything was a disaster because of the following:

• I never faltered in my motivation to finish the two and a half loops in the same route. I only had my metronome app tick tocking, the nature around me and my thoughts that kept me entertained. This is what I was proud of from last week’s performance.
• I am more conscious in engaging my core to distribute the load from my calves and ankles up to my thighs. I still need more practice to fully maintain for a full kilometer and beyond.
• My breathing all throughout the run including the last fast three laps were steady and I didn’t go overboard. I kept my promise to do overdo it because I want to see myself in the starting line in two weeks.

After the run

The fatigue from yesterday really hit me today but I am pleased to have achieved what I did today without cutting it off both physically and mentally. I have accepted early in my training plan that there will be days where something might bother you but to remember to not think of it too much and just use it as a learning experience to be a better and versatile runner.

I slept a lot in the afternoon after my run and my left ankle is still sore from that fast finish. I decided to not do any strength exercises tonight because a lot of them will target the legs. I don’t want to aggravate it further with the amount of single-leg workouts in the program. I hope that by tomorrow and on Tuesday morning it will back good as new! I’m a bit sad, yes, because I was looking forward to Vlad Ixel’s workouts today but I have to make sacrifices.

Overall

My total distance this week is around 17 km more than the prescribed due to the slower runs. For the last two weeks of this plan, I will strictly follow the decreased distances leading up to the race to respect the taper period. The main thing to do right now is to listen to my body, to not go over the training plan schedules so I do not repeat the mistakes I did last year.

I will see myself ready and excited in the starting line of Berlin Marathon!

• Goal Race: 3:30-4:00 Berlin
• Plan: Pfitz 18/63 by thebottlefarm (Unofficial)

• Total:
  • Expected: 96.56 km
  • Actual: 97.67 km

Thoughts

Monday

I was a bit scared of how terrible I will feel this Monday morning after yesterday’s race but in reality it was much better. I slept for eight hours and woke up not sick after all the feverish and headache manifestations yesterday afternoon. I also didn’t have trouble getting up from bed which is always a good sign.

Both my shoulders hurt the most out of all my body parts. My two hips come second followed by the less sore calves and ankles. It’s mostly the upper body that still has some fatigue. I hope that these will continue to recovery for the rest of the day and not go berserk tomorrow morning because I usually feel my DOMS on the second morning after hard workouts and races.

Regardless I did my yoga and mobility drills. Since everything was already sore, I didn’t have trouble with the stretches especially during the yoga part where I had to do lunges for around five minutes each leg. My right thigh is still tight and has some pain but it only limited my flexibility today which I didn’t push.

For the core, I did one round of the “Basic Core Strength Session” as always from the Advanced Marathoning book. I didn’t have any motivation to do the advanced one because it is more difficult. Maybe next week.

Tuesday

I already accepted last Saturday that I have to skip the run today because my DOMS usually manifest two days after an extremely hard workout such as races. Fortunately I felt less fatigued and sore when I woke up especially the ankles who are my constant worries. Both my calves and my right inner thigh are the only parts that still have slight pain and tightness but not too much that I can’t run.

I was supposed to do strides today but I skipped them and just completed the suggested distance. My Asics Superblast 2s were reliable in protecting my feet during the first half while I struggled to lift each leg without any discomfort. I eventually warmed up enough on the second half with more freedom in the swing of my legs and forefoot flexibility but the pain on my calves and thighs was still there though doable.

I believe I will skip tomorrow’s intervals and just do another recovery run. I don’t need much of it anymore and will focus more on completing my long runs diligently to practice my pacing for the full marathon.

Wednesday

My hamstrings and calves were less sore when I woke up but the rest of my body felt less energetic that usual. I followed my plan to not do the intervals today because I am still wary of my fatigue especially for my ankles which are not hurting but I suspect they would be stressed to the point of missing some days.

It did take more time for me to warm-up while running this morning. The first six or seven kilometers were fine but slow and sluggish but at around the eight kilometer my body felt looser and back to its energetic self. It was still slow overall but I only cared for staying within Zone 1 which was comfortable to let me go beyond ten kilometers without any unnecessary discomfort.

Thursday

I finally got my pink Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 3 yesterday so it was a perfect time to test them on a long run workout. I loved the bounciness on the midsole and the shape of the rocker to the forefoot when I tried my friend’s pair last Saturday so I know I will enjoy these a lot.

Before the run

I only had an oatmeal bar and a small cup (yes a cup) of my leftover homemade gel. I had around 100 ml of the gel left when I cooked last week so I put them in two silicone muffin cups to not waste them. Unfortunately I forgot to take a loperamide before going out so I had another run disturbed by my stomachache.

During the run

The AP3s were super bouncy and light which is what an ideal pair of running shoes is for me. The warm-up was started with 180 spm but not followed too much because despite the fun ride I was still getting used to the profile. My route has a lot of cobblestone-paved roads so those were the main challenge today. I had to engage my core a lot to let my thighs do the work instead of my calves and ankles while trying to stay stable on uneven stones.

It wasn’t hard to speed up as I increased my cadence from 184 to 188 spm. I actually had to slow down quite a bit but let go in the last parts since my heart rate was still in the low Zone 3. I divided the entire run into four four-kilometer blocks with each target’s cadence gradually increase by two.

It was enjoyable and the shoes were extremely supportive and soft. I kind of prefer them over the SB2 and DNE3 for long runs now because it feels like a combination of the best of those two: the softness of the FFBlast foam together with the lightness and stability of the PWRPlate and Puma Grip. I need more of these shoes I think!

After the run

My legs felt fresh especially my hamstrings, calves and ankles that have been complaining a lot from fatigue after Sunday’s race. On the other hand my arms and shoulders were tired and that means I need to do more upper body work. I have to follow some Vlad Ixel videos over the program in the Advanced Marathoning book for more targeted muscles and intensity to combat these.

Overall I loved the shoes and I will use them for this Sunday’s long run. I will go faster for some time there and I will be able to utilise a bit of their power then. I’m excited!

Evening workout

I went back to my trusted Vlad Ixel training videos as planned earlier because his workouts emphasized on lower body stability and strength. They were the ones I religiously followed during the winter training until I moved on to Jeff Browning’s Tough 21 during spring’s 5K plan.

I randomly picked the first three links from my links and they were a fun variety of resistance bands, optional weights and single-leg workouts.

1. STRENGTH FOR RUNNERS - Home Workout - 15min FOLLOW ALONG
2. MARATHON STRENGTH TRAINING WORKOUT/ FOLLOW ALONG - 1/4
3. 5 Minute Glute Workout for Runners (FOLLOW ALONG)

I wasn’t too tired afterwards but some of them were challenging such as the single leg toe touch, single leg chair stand-ups and weighted Russian twists. They were all fun collectively and I enjoyed the variety of movements I had to do that definitely targeted many parts of my lower body.

Lastly I added five sets of weighted bicep curls with the last one up to failure. I hope to do this more often per week so I don’t have tired arms in the first 16 km of my long runs.

Friday

Morning Run

Days before I as expecting the workout for Friday to be a recovery run so I wore my SB2s. I wish I checked before so could have prepared with my Salomon Aero Glide 3 GRVL given that it rained the night before. Regardless the SB2s were able to handle a bit of wet road and light trails.

The main block was 9.7 km at Zone 2 which I was a block I haven’t done in a long time in this plan. I thought I will have a problem staying within the range but I just had to increase my cadence. Eventually I got the hang of it and had to slow down a bit to keep my HR from going over the lower Zone 3 mark.

Unfortunately I had a stomachache throughout the run. It was awful because there were two groups of toilets in the park I always frequent to but they’re never open before 7:00. I already accepted that I will have to cut the run at ten kilometers and to walk home slowly. But for some reason I saw the further of the two and saw green lights which meant they weren’t unoccupied and probably open for anyone to use! I immediately went into one and thankfully it was genuinely unoccupied and ready for anyone to use. I decided to complete the rest of the workout including the strides after this.

I was supposed to do ten strides but only did five because I was going to go over 15 km if I went another path home. I know my body should be prepared for it but I was extra careful again for Sunday’s long run which is the last 32 km before the race. I didn’t feel any discomfort from my shoes or any body part by this time and just wanted to keep my fatigue at the minimum.

Morning workout

I did yoga and mobility workouts after the run. My right hamstring was still tight and a bit sore from last weekend’s race when I did some lunges but wasn’t too painful to affect my performance. Overall the two sessions were easier because they were done after a run.

Saturday

It was an uneventful recovery run. My heart rate went over to Zone 2 starting at the fourth kilometer but I just kept my super relaxed intensity. I’m more excited for tomorrow’s long run with the AP3s and I know I will have a great time with them.

Sunday

I was waiting for this day the most this week because I get to do a much-needed practice run with my new marathon shoes, the AP3s, after last Thursday’s wonderful experience.

Before the run

I have been reading the day before a lot about nutrition and found one case that aligned with my experiences so far in the training - hungry during the runs even if I just chugged my gels and hungrier after the run. I decided to eat more before the run and I had security with the loperamide and the convenient toilets around the route I chose for today.

Aside from the usual oatmeal bar, a banana and loperamide tablet, I added two slices of raisin bread for extra carbohydrates and weight to my pre-workout meal. I didn’t add any spread to the bread such as cheese or chocolate to not overwhelm my stomach too much. Originally I planned to wake up at least an hour before the leaving for an actual bowl of oatmeal with apple or banana slices for a fool-proof meal but I got too lazy. The one I did today was convenient and fast because everything was consumed 15 minutes before my target time to leave - 6:00.

Afterwards I applied my favourite sports sunblock all over my head, neck, shoulders, chest and arms for better coverage and petroleum jelly on the chest where my HRM strap will stay and a lot more on the armpits. The latter was due to the bruising I got from last Sunday’s race. As for my feet I put on slip blister pads on the heels in case they rub on the shoes. I didn’t experience such last Thursday but I didn’t want to risk it today.

For the nutrition I bought two flasks with the second one only 1/4 full from Thursday’s, one Powerbar Powergel Hydro from a friend and two gummy bear packs. The plan today is to be more aggressive with the homemade gels after last week’s race - take five generous sips for every four kilometers. This will lessen the need to constantly grab them compared to before, to check if my stomach can handle a larger amount of gel and to observe if it will still translate to an actual energy support after taking.

Lastly I did two toilet breaks to make sure I have nothing else on my stomach before leaving! Never ever doubt that second signal or else based from my previous experiences.

During the run

Today’s workout is still based on my target marathon pace of 5:20/km:

1. 1.61 km warm-up @ Zone 1
2. 7.64 km @ 6:08-6:24/km (20% less than my target MP)
3. 22.93 km @ 5:52-6:08/km (10% less than my target MP)

When I wore the AP3s for the second time I actually got surprised by the thick mid-foot foam and rods combination that it was uncomfortable at first because I feel like they’re forcing my feet to arch. I noticed the thickness during my first run last Thursday but it was not this intense. It could be that my feet have been used to the SB2’s less chunky mid-foot from that past two days.

The first kilometer was awkward because I was trying to get used to the mid-foot and it hurt at first. I was slowly running (it was a warm-up) and trying both forefoot and mid-foot strikes to figure out which will hurt less on the balls of my feet. I didn’t experience this during the first time as well which is strange. Fortunately I pushed my feet further into the toe box (which was spacious) and that weird feeling of digging too much on my mid-foot went away throughout the rest of the run.

I think that as long as my natural cadence is within the 170 spm range, I will keep doing my cadence practice with a metronome every long run. The difference of how much tired and slow I was in my previous runs compared to when I switched to 180 spm and above was consistent. It feels like I unlocked a secret ability that I never knew I had. I know that a lot of people recommend to not focus that much on cadence but I believe that the amount of improvement I observed with my practice is not something to ignore.

Since my warm-up was rocky, I chose to extend the introductory 180 spm to the first half of the second block. I had to figure out how to work with the AP3s again over focusing on the cadence unfortunately. Eventually as I’ve mentioned earlier I got the hang of it and moved on to 182 spm for the rest of the block.

There was nothing notable after the warm-up aside from the first time I did four to five sips of my gel at around the fifth kilometer. The amount of gel was felt in my stomach and it kind of triggered the need to the toilet but it was too early in the run so I endured it. Eventually it went away and I continued with this trend by the following four-kilometer sections to be more exact.

As I approached the longest part of the run I divided it into three seven-kilometer block in terms of cadence. It started with 184 spm that ends with 188 spm but I made a note to try dipping into 190 spm on the last 3.5 km if my body can still handle it.

Between the crucial 16 to 21 km there were no problems both physically and mentally. I was surprised because this time I didn’t change my route of three eight-kilometer loops and I never got demotivated mentally or had the desire to be free from the metronome app I was listening to. I guess I was in pure zen mode or maybe just super focused with the run and all I wanted was to nail it given the target paces and cadences.

By 24 or 26 km, it was now beyond that distance I used the AP3s for the first time. I started feeling my legs’ tiredness and heaviness but it didn’t affect my state of running - I was still cruising at around 5:55/km at 188 spm. Nothing was hurting but this never happened before with my DNE3s with the same parameters. My only suspicion that makes sense is that my legs had some residual fatigue from last Sunday’s race and the overall load this week. Note that I only gave myself Monday as a no-running day and some recovery runs so it could be that those weren’t enough to prevent my legs’ fatigue this morning.

At around 28 to 30 km, my ankles, specifically the post tibial tendon (PTT) and my shins gradually transitioned from discomfort to slightly painful. It was alarming because even after a year I am still cautious with damaging my PTT again so I tried to change the position of where I step: both my natural forefoot and stepping flat mid-foot on the thick part aggravated my feet but when I slightly forced to overpronate the pain slowly went away to nothing. It was weird because that’s what I believe caused my PTTD last time but today it gave me relief. I just made a note to still check my feet after concluding the run if it will suddenly become painful again. After five hours it is just normally sore from tiredness so I hope it’s just from the overall fatigue.

Looking back at my last 32.2 km run I was faster there because I believe that I didn’t follow the upper limit of the main block. Today I chose to be obedient because it is only a few weeks before the marathon and I don’t have any room for injuries caused by not following my plans. Today’s 5:59/km to last time’s 5:52/km is a big difference but I know I am capable of repeating this again on race day.

Finally as I approached the last seven kilometers, though actually tired and not up to doing ten kilometers more if it was the full marathon, I still had more to bump my cadence to 190 spm so I did it. It wasn’t a big difference actually compared to the transition from 186 to 188 spm. By this time I was already at around 5:45/km, almost ten seconds beyond the upper limit of my target range but I continued because I was comfortably cruising.

I kind of regret not doing the last few kilometers at my target marathon pace or even faster. It would have been a good chance to assess my body’s capability if it can still go faster after a long distance of running.

After the run

Regardless I am still proud of my performance today because aside from proving the reliability of the AP3s, my mental motivation was intact throughout the run and I didn’t have to distract myself with anything aside from the monotone tick-tocks of my metronome app and my own thoughts. I never got bored of the same loop thrice. I am still surprised how I pulled it off because before I would immediately plan detours or reversing the loops in order to give me new stimuli but today none was needed.

It was tough but I felt the improvement of my endurance compared to the past long runs. I hope to carry over all I’ve learned today in terms of body prepation, nutrition, focus and resilience on race day. I also hope to perform and experience this again next year and hopefully much faster and more efficient. I know I will!

Evening workout

I continued with the Vlad Ixel exercises again for tonight because they’re easy to follow and convenient with regards to what I need for now. I did the following in order of two 15-minute and one five-minute workouts:

1. STRENGTH FOR TRAIL RUNNERS - Home Workout - 15min FOLLOW ALONG
2. MARATHON STRENGTH TRAINING WORKOUT/ FOLLOW ALONG - 2/4
3. Stronger Glutes For Runners - 5 min home workout - FOLLOW ALONG

I always liked doing the single-leg skips and chair steps because I feel the benefits gradually. I wish that I didn’t stop after recovering from my injury last winter because it would have made the middle weeks of this training plan bearable with faster adaptation and recovery. Nevertheless the three were fun and challenging enough to end this productive week.

• Goal Race: 3:30-4:00 Berlin
• Plan: Pfitz 18/63 by thebottlefarm (Unofficial)

• Total:
  • Expected: 88.51 km
  • Actual: 77.78 km

Thoughts

Monday

My left ankle was less sore when I woke up compared to yesterday. There’s still a bit of discomfort so I am now leaning towards skipping the hard run tomorrow morning.

The yoga and mobility workouts were fine as always but I was less flexible today as expected. My left ankle hurt a bit in some of the drills such as lunges and I hope it will recover for the rest of the day. For the core part, I did the basic again from the Advanced Marathoning book because I was lazy to do the advanced. To compensate for difficulty I increased the repetitions and made the entire plank section a full one minute.

Tuesday

I had generous amounts of sleep in the past two days and I believe that helped me recover faster for today. My left ankle was still suspicious in terms of having some form of soreness when moved around but doesn’t feel any pain when I walk or put pressure on it.

I decided to continue with the intervals today because of that and brought my Asics Magic Speed 3 after many weeks of waiting. I started using my Puma Deviate NITRO Elite 3s over it because the latter was so responsive and light compared to the former.

The workout went well! I actually didn’t check that I was only supposed to keep the repeats at my current 5 km record of 3:58/km and I did an average of 3:50 per lap. It was a short distance so I didn’t bother checking my pace and did everything by feel again.

The difference between the two shoes I mentioned for faster paces were definitely obvious but I didn’t mind the extra effort I had to exert in order to do each lap. I made sure to engage my core and increase my cadence which made it more enjoyable. My left ankle didn’t act up in any part of the workout especially during the first 600 m so that was a good sign. I was on alert to shift to just a recovery run for any single sign of foot pain which thankfully never happened.

I spent the most time to finish the second lap based from the results and I believe it was due to my initial exhaustion for the first lap and thinking if I should dial back on the paces (but as I’ve mentioned, I never looked at my target pace so I thought the first 3:50/km was the baseline). Regardless I did everything by feeling as mentioned and I crushed the last three laps! The last lap was crazy but I wanted it to be the fastest.

At the end I wasn’t too thrashed that I had to lay on the grass again or sit down somewhere which is a good thing. I have a race on the weekend so this will be the last day before Sunday where I can do all the fast runs I want. I will focus on recovery on the remaining days to make sure my legs are fresh for the half-marathon!

Wednesday

Before the run

My left ankle was still suspicious when I woke up but there was no pain when I put on pressure while doing my morning stretches. I proceeded to continue with the long run. For preparation, same as before, a banana, oatmeal bar and loperamide tablet before leaving with my Salomon Aero Glide 3 GRVL shoes.

I know that I recorded a new MP of 4:59/km last Sunday but I didn’t update all my workouts this week and beyond because of my ankle. I will reconsider it again next week after this weekend’s race. My priority is for this discomfort to fully go away and the race will add more load to it. It will be best to delay changing everything for a week for recovery.

During the run

The first half (eight kilometers) were done in 180 and 182 spm. It was a bit of a struggle because the ankle started feeling uncomfortable but not too painful that I had to consider fully stopping. I hang onto the hope that it will eventually go away and I will forget about it similar to last weeks. It did eventually but it wasn’t consistent.

I had to speed up a bit when the second block with a target of 20% less than my MP (5:20/km) and had to really exert some force to keep up. It wasn’t too exhausting but definitely something I haven’t done in a while because before the target paces were slower and can be achieved with my regular “easy” effort.

As I was at around 4 km, I made a mental note that after one loop (roughly 10 km) and the pain starts to feel prominent, I will stop and walk home. I had to be realistic and to be extra careful against injuries.

The main block was 12 km and it was spent at a gradual 184 to 188 spm cadences. I divided this block into three-four kilometers.

As expected, it was the most fun because the cadence finally carried to the target of 10% less than my MP without too much effort. The ankle was still uncomfortable but it came and went many times. I remember it only hurt a bit when I was in uneven surfaces such as the cobblestone paths I can’t avoid. On the dry forest trails there weren’t and that could be from the less tough soil and gravel.

After the run

Overall it was fun run with my new trusted long run shoes despite the ankle scare. It was really uncomfortable when I was walking for the cool down but it eventually went away after a kilometer.

I am thankful for the recovery runs in the next three days and I will make sure not to aggravate it further in preparation for the half-marathon race.

Evening workout

Initially I was already decided that I will not do any workouts at night because my ankle was still sore after the run. Fortunately after eight hours it was gone and I felt fine enough that I will not aggravate it with the drills.

I did two rounds of the “Basic Core Strength Session” from Advanced Marathoning but replaced the leg pushaways with its more difficult counterpart in the advanced set. After that I did one rpunds of the “Strength Training Session” with the updated weights from last week and two sets of bicep curls because I wanted to. I only did one instead of two because of the last additions. I hope I get a good night’s sleep because of everything I did today!

Thursday

I did not do the recovery run today because my left ankle was still sore. It had some feedback when pressure is applied and this was my sign to not do anything crazy that might make it worse.

I settled for the usual yoga and mobility workouts by Vlad Ixel as substitute to keep me moving. This is good because I need catch up on the amount of these cross-trainings in order to keep my body bulletproof for the second half of the training plan.

I hope a day’s rest is enough to help it recovery so I can do my easy runs on the next two days.

Friday

The recovery run today was supposed to have strides but I avoided them to not aggravate my ankles. To compensate I did extra two kilometers which are not terrible stimuli.

There was still some form of discomfort on my left ankle that feels like there’s a splinter inside it but not too much that I have to stop. Eventually it went away in the last few kilometers but it was hard to judge if it was just from fatigue, the AG3 GRVLs + high cadence, or something else. I hope it goes away tomorrow so I can do my best on Sunday’s race.

Saturday

Today was a combination of recovery and shakeout run for tomorrow’s race. Again my left ankle is the focus and it is better this morning compared to the last three day’s. I kept it really slow today because I have all the time in the world tomorrow to go my fastest in the last ten or five kilometers of the race.

I have eaten a lot in the past two days: fried chicken, rice and stir-fried noodles (a typical plate in a Filipino party and I just realised it) and drank a lot of water regularly. I hope these will all carry me to the finish line tomorrow.

Sunday

Before the run

I had a good seven to eight hours of sleep last night. I had quite a day walking around with a friend yesterday so I slept easily thankfully.

The race was at 9:00 so I decided I have to be there at least an hour before to warm-up and catch any toilet needs. I woke up at around 5:30 and had chocolate oatmeal with bananas. It was quite filling and I thought I won’t be able to finish them. I also took my loperamide afterwards which was around two hours before the run started. I wore my SB2s for comfort during my commute instead of wearing my race shoes immediately like before. This was one of my good decisions today after my friend suggested me to consider this change.

I was quite anxious all morning because of the nerves and I kept telling myself that it is just any normal running day but we have to run faster and there’s a lot of people around. It didn’t help and the two bus rides to the starting line just upset my stomach. I have accepted that I will always be anxious of races no matter how many times I have done them in the past seven years but I hope I get better next time. My stomach felt all the negative energy I had during the bus ride so I immediately went in line for the toilets near the event. There were already a lot of people around and fortunately the lines were fast and the toilets were everywhere.

I also wrote my racing plan into my left arm just below my watch with a pen to remind me. I was aiming for a negative split with gradual two- or three-second faster paces after each five kilometers. I wanted the last lap to be the fastest as always.

After a successful trip to the toilet, I felt much better both mentally and physically. I still wasn’t able to find my friend so I decided it was time to change into my Puma Deviate NITRO Elite 3s, put on lots of petroleum jelly and sunscreen all over my exposed extremities and drop off my bag to the staff.

I did a total of two kilometers or 15 minutes of slow running warm-up inside the starting corral with other runners. I didn’t do this before but after all my tempo runs, I gradually learned appreciated the extra preparedness it provided in all of them. I didn’t complete my usual 20-30 minutes because the crowd started to fill the area. I did a final recheck of my shoes’ lacing and stayed a few rows from the elites at front.

During the run

I went too fast in the first kilometer at 4:16/km instead of listening to my plan of doing it under 4:30/km. To be honest my heart was already at upper Zone 4 this time because of all the stimuli around me and I had trouble calming down. It didn’t help that within the first mile was a giant, winding uphill that surprised me even though my friend already warned me. Still, I love uphills so I knew what to do to overcome it - higher cadence, tilt my upper body forwards and breath to keep calm.

I brought my headphones during the run because I considered what if I needed music for motivation during the latter part of the course. I chose quite a few upbeat songs for the first ten kilometers which affected my faster paces. I should have waited.

The hill flattened and I eventually felt much relaxed. I went into that mode of working hard comfortably in the later five kilometers that I familiarly felt during my tempo runs. This was a good sign. Unfortunately I was still too fast at around 4:16/km compared to my planned 4:20/km. By this time I was following a group of Adidas Berlin runners as my unofficial pacers because they were consistently just in front of me which was motivating.

The course was a two-loop 10.5 km route and it passed the starting area. I believe that by this time I kept the trend of being too fast because I did an average of 4:11/km between the 9 to 11 km marks based from the laps. Ouch. I should be doing 4:17/km by this time. I passed the starting line together with the group I have been following for the first half.

The mental games started around this time because my mind had thoughts of this mark being the end of my previous tempo runs and I was trying to fight it back. It didn’t help when I saw the uphill again. I tried everything to keep it together again but the fatigue from doing too much in the first half has taken over. By the 13th kilometer I was already slowing down a bit at 4:20/km to recover. I also lost the pack of runners I was following but I switched to others immediately in front of me.

The shoes were still fine at this mark from what I remember. They were bouncy and I can feel the thick midsole catching each step I did though my ankles were tired and the stability was gradually breaking down. I put on blister protectors for both my heels because the DNE3s tend to rub that during my long run and unfortunately they started getting irritated. I forgot about them later on but at around the 18th or 19th kilometer I assumed my right upper heel was bleeding and I have to deal with it later during my rest.

I was still hanging on by the 17th kilometer but after that, no matter how many gels I took, no matter how I tried to increase my cadence, I had nothing else to pull from. I am truly appreciative of all the people watching that kept shouting encouragements but they weren’t getting through my tired body and mind too. That broke my heart a bit because it was a real time realisation. I was nearing my end of my wits and the only thing that kept me going to the finish line was the desire to get the medal and rest.

For the last four kilometers, I am still pleased that I did not go over 4:30/km looking back. It was the hardest four kilometers of the year because I was just over it. I wanted it to end. I also realised that they made the course a bit longer by a few hundred meters because my watch already signal the end of the half-marathon and I still can’t see any finish line arch! That was terrible honestly.

Finally I chose to not do a sprint on the last kilometer because as I’ve said, I had no more left in me. I felt relief when I saw the narrow barricades appear again from the distance and when I was a few meters away from the end, my right thigh suddenly became tight! Fortunately I carried on like nothing happened and was thankful it manifested during this point because it will break my heart if it did on the middle of the race.

Finally I smashed my previous record of 01:33:46 last June 2024 using my ill-fitting Adidas Adizero Adios 8 with today’s 01:31:18 with the DNE3s! That is more than two minutes shaved off from my last try!

Even though I did a positive split, I am still extremely proud of myself and this is just a proof of how helpful the 18/63 training has been because I actually set four new personal bests today (aside from the 10 km I did a few weeks ago):

I will take all the lessons from all the wrong decisions I did today and will diligently apply them for future races. It has proved that I can do it but I just have to be better at pacing myself at the beginning if I want a negative split and possibly a faster half of the race. I am still young and have more races in me so I have all the time in the world to practice and to do better!

Half-marathon donr and I now have the full marathon waiting in four more weeks!

After the run

The following were hurting after I crossed the finish line:

• my right upper heel from all the rubbing with the DNE3s (though there were no blood and just irritation)
• my left upper armpit sore from all the friction (though I applied lots of petroleum around that area before; it wasn’t red or bruised thankfully)
• my right thigh was tight and I had to walk with a slight limp to keep it neutral
• both the calves are sore from all the support
• both arms were hurting (which means we really need to do lots of bicep curls)

I ate a half of a banana, a cup of water, two cups of iced tea, two bottles of grapefruit-flavoured alcohol-free beer and my friend’s cookies and chocolate milk after all of that. Of course my stomach complained afterwards with that combination.

I walked a bit with my friend to the bag drop, stretched, changed into clean clothes, switched into our own SB2s and walked slowly more until we stopped in front of the paramedics tent for some cold compress for our legs and to check our pictures and results. I put the cold compress on my right calf most of my turn because it was the one that’s hurting the most out of everything else from my head to the toes.

The journey home wasn’t comfortable because I started having headache but can’t sleep on the bus properly from all the stimuli around me (checking my phone, the shaky vehicle, the cold of the air-conditioning) and I think I should have eaten first before leaving the venue. I am a trooper and was saving money so I still continued.

When I got home I did the longest foam massage session I ever did for my thighs and calves. I really felt the relief especially when I pressed harder on my right thigh that’s tight. I expected it to hurt more but it was the opposite - it loosened and felt better. Unfortunately I didn’t have any appetite by this time so I just ate three slices of raisin bread and cheese with a liter of electrolytes mixed with water that I planned to bring but my bag was already full. That was enough together with another banana and cleaned myself.

Overall

Despite the ankle scare in the middle of the week and three missed or switched runs, I closed this week with new running milestones and I am thankful for all the training I put myself into in the past 13 weeks.

The next few days will be crazy in terms of recovery but I know my body is resilient and I will need all of these to prepare for the full marathon in September. Four more weeks, a few more long runs and I know I am on the right track!

• Goal Race: 3:30-4:00 Berlin
• Plan: Pfitz 18/63 by thebottlefarm (Unofficial)

• Total:
  • Expected: 98.17 km
  • Actual: 99.44 km

Thoughts

Monday

Before I slept last night, I already anticipated that waking up will be difficult this morning. I was correct - my entire body felt heavy and I had a slight headache. I am thankful that there’s no run scheduled today because I am no capable of doing even a recovery run and I will just cancel it. I slept for another 30 minutes because there’s no rush and I only had home exercises to do.

The yoga and mobility workouts were fine aside from my slightly rigid joints and muscles. It was evident during each position but that’s expected and I was still able to execute all of them. Additionally there were no discomfort on my legs especially the ankles which I am thankful for.

I let myself do more repetitions during the core drills because I only wanted to do one set and this would be a good compromise instead of two. It was still easy so I think I should move on to the advanced version in the Advanced Marathoning book next week to check.

Tuesday

Unfortunately I woke up slightly weak, coming from yesterday’s lingering feverish feeling all day. I made a difficult decision to cancel today’s VO₂max repeats and replace it with a recovery run. I didn’t feel confident because of the fever and some level of residual fatigue was still present; fortunately I didn’t feel any discomfort or soreness on my ankles and legs because these will make it harder for me.

I took a paracetamol tablet before running because it was that terrible but I had a motivation in the form of my new pair of Salomon Aero Glide 3 GRVLs to test for the first time. This is a possible long run substitute to my Saucony Triumph 22s so I made sure to take note of everything while running.

The run was okay for what it is and I believe that I made the correct decision to take it easy today. I need this entire day to fully recover from last weekend because yesterday wasn’t enough. I hope I will be back to do another quality run tomorrow morning.

Salomon Aero Glide 3 GRVL

It was very light and springy for daily trainer-priced shoes! The warm-up skips were fun to do and I really felt the feedback immediately. I didn’t feel its weight hinder each step but I can say that it is less clunky than my pair of Asics Superblast 2.

I saw comments online that it runs long and I disagree. It is a bit narrow on the toe box which was evident when I wore my socks today. Unfortunately it was the thinnest one I have so I will do a runner’s knot for next run and maybe this will help push my feet further so my toes have more room. Regardless I didn’t have my usual pink toe issues in other shoes with these during the first run.

I actually used it last Saturday for a walk and the most prominent thing I noticed was that the outer left and right of the left and right shoes respectively have thicker foam which made me feel like both pinky toes were raised a bit compared to the rest. I am not well-versed with shoe stability technology but I think this could be one of such features because it helped me push more from my “natural” big toe.

The grip from the GRVL was nice but still doesn’t compete with Puma’s but better than Asics’ current outsoles. I only tried it in dry trails this morning and it performed well on annoying cobblestones of varying sizes. I was able to run with a faster cadence of 175 spm without much difficulty because of its lightness and I will try again to increase it to upper 180s on my long runs to further verify if it will perform great.

I have some level of expectations in terms of bounciness and the amount of foam on the forefoot and mid-foot and the shoes didn’t fulfill much of both today. Since this is a first try, I will take note of them but will reserve my judgement after a long run of more than 90 minutes. I think that is a better environment to test them further. Although I liked the firmness of the foam and I believe I can cruise in these easily in paces of up to 5:30/km. I am hoping they can handle 180 spm+ cadence and at most 5:00/km so I have two long runs this week to check.

Overall they’re light, reliable and look good for me. I like minimal monochromatic running shoes and these are perfect because they almost look unbranded which I prefer for a lot of my clothes. I have to try them for a long run to further get to know them better and I think we will have a good time together.

Wednesday

Morning session

Today’s long run went well! I felt good when I woke up and definitely better than the last two mornings.

It was an important run because I had to take notes of how the AG3 GRVLs will perform during the long run. The most significant details is if it will start hurting at 16 km or so similar to my Puma Deviate NITRO 3s.

The warm-up was terrible! The shoes felt dead despite it being super light and springy on my feet. I was already having doubts if I wasted my money and I concluded that these are not for slow paces at 6:30/km or slower. They are just not protective similar to Saucony Triumph 22 and SB2s.

The following is the workout I did:

1. 1.61 km warm-up @ Zone 1
2. 3.62 km @ 6:08-6:24/km (20% less than my target MP)
3. 10.86 km @ 5:52-6:08/km (10% less than my target MP)

Since this was a long run, I had to use my metronome. The progression was 180 spm for the second block followed by 182 spm and 184 spm for the last block after each five kilometers.

I remember having to put more effort in keeping the minimum of 6:24/km pace at first but was able to maintain it with the help of the target 180 spm. Eventually the shoes shined at 182 spm for some reason! Each of my mid-foot strikes were smooth and light though I had to exert some effort to keep up with the paces because the foam and rubber outsole can only respond back with this level of daily trainer performance.

Regardless the main block was super fun and it happens rarely but I found myself surprised that I already reached 16 km! There were no pains on my toes, ankles and shins despite this being a first long run test of new shoes! My route had two kilometers left so I completed them and still after 18 km I felt great. My legs had some tiredness on then but nothing was damaged though they will not compare to the freshness after long runs with SB2s.

I am both impressed and appreciative that I didn’t waste my money. I bought these as easy long run shoes and they performed as I expected. I am going to run with them again on Friday and I am excited because I will spend more time with them again on higher cadences.

Evening session

I usually leave eight hours of rest between two workouts in a hard day based from common suggestions online. I decided to try the “Advanced Core Strength Session” from the book since I’ve been doing the basic version for weeks.

I did one set of the advanced core, one set of the basic core and one set of the same strength workouts. For the last one I used weights and I like the extra level of difficulty during the rows, tricep press and lunges (I held a barbell on each hand).

Thursday

I woke up terrible this morning because my upper body felt so heavy! I realised this was caused by the upgraded weights I incorporated last night during the strength sessions.

The recovery run was fine with the Saucony Triumph 22s. They were boring and did what they had to do - to protect my feet and to keep me running slow. It was a stark contrast from the light and springy AG3s from the past two days but the T22s are definitely better when we needed extra protection while running.

Friday

I have learned to love and look forward to mid-week long runs of the Advanced Marathoning plan and today was not an exception. I was extra excited because I wanted to try if the magic of the AG3 GRVLs will be consistent from Wednesday’s.

I use the same workout pattern for all my long runs and for today it is the following:

1. 1.61 km warm-up @ Zone 1
2. 4.43 km @ 6:08-6:24/km (20% less than my target MP)
3. 13.28 km @ 5:52-6:08/km (10% less than my target MP)

Similar to what I observed on the first two runs this week with the shoes, they were terrible at lower cadences (< 180 spm) and to make it fun during the warm-up I increased it a bit.

I had a hard time starting the second block as I picked up the cadence to 180 spm while trying to stay within the lower target of 6:24/km. I eventually got the rhythm but in times like this I think I should increase the warm-up distance.

Honestly both the lightness and springiness of the shoes that I experienced earlier this week were not obvious today even during my dynamic stretches and skips. I wore heavier Triumph 22s yesterday so I assumed there should be a more pronounced difference on my feet but there was nothing special in simpler words. I don’t know if I’m nitpicking and having high expectations again but I’m glad I was proven wrong again today.

It’s not a long run without my trusted metronome app and I decided to let the final four kilometers reach 188 spm. I divided the main block into four sub-sections of 3-4 km each that perfectly allowed me to go from 182 to 188 spm.

The run became lively when I hit the 184 spm mark. Before I was still trying to keep my pace within the ranges with some level of effort but this time, the cadence was carrying me to the faster paces easier. I checked my feet again for any form of discomfort and fortunately there were none. My forefoot was enjoyable compared to mid-foot strikes because of the smoother transition but both were efficient regardless.

The final ten kilometers between 186 and 188 spm went like a breeze. Usually my ankles and shins would hurt halfway through but this time there were still none. There’s the occasional tiredness but I just take a sip from my homemade gel and it will be gone in a few minutes. I believe that I have practiced enough to the point where these two cadences do not feel like I am sprinting and getting tired quick (but my heart rate was still within Zone 3). They now feel the same way effort-wise as 180-184 spm and my legs are used to them completely.

By the last kilometer, since it ends at 19.31 km, I rounded it up to 20 like always. I did a final body check and I was confident that I can continue another five or ten kilometers with the same intensity (I was running at an average of 5:45/km by this time) while my legs and feet were still on board. I would appreciate more cushioning but for now the extra rubber on the outsole serves kind of the same purpose.

Saturday

It was fine but the Triumph 22s weren’t fun anymore even after changing the insoles. I know I claimed they became lively and softer a few runs ago but I didn’t experience that anymore. It has been used for 200 km and unfortunately there were more terrible days compared to the good ones. I kept it slow at under 6:40/km but the shoes need more cushioning. I can forgive the lack of responsiveness but my feet definitely suffered with the weight and overall below average foams. I might use the SB2s for the coming recovery days instead because that’s the only pair I have that would work for short slow runs.

Sunday

Before the run

To start the day, I woke up with my left ankle in a bit of discomfort. I believe this was a leftover from last Friday’s long run and could have been made worse by yesterday’s with Triumph 22 (we are not on good terms right now so I will blame it). My watch also stated that I only slept for five hours last night. Everything will be all right I told myself.

As usual I had one oatmeal bar, one banana and one loperamide tablet washed down with water before putting on my sunblock and petroleum jelly and getting dressed. I also took one paracetamol just in case to help alleviate any headache because I only slept for five hours last night.

I also decided to give my Puma Deviate NITRO Elite 3s another chance today with the caveat that I will make sure to run with higher cadence (180 spm and higher). Before I will start to feel discomfort on my forefeet with my natural cadence at around 16-18 km consistently. After last week’s revelation that I feel great during and after runs with the higher cadence of the AG3 GRVL, I wanted to check if this will carry over the more advanced shoes. I know that I am taking a risk using them compared to my trusted SB2s but I remember my last 10 km tune-up race last week that had a total of 20 km including the warm-up and cool down sessions where I didn’t feel any pain after. This run and my cadence theory were enough to make me take the risk.

Lastly I brought two flasks with the other one a leftover from the previous two long runs and barely filled at around 1/4 with gel. Additionally I got two packs of gummy bears as usual in case I get sick of the gels.

During the run

I immediately started the WU at sort of following my 180 spm setting in the metronome app. I wasn’t impatient but I was checking if there were any discomfort that I should take note of and luckily nothing notable happened. This continued to the second block and of course it started a bit rough on the first kilometer because I had to be within the pace range and by this time I set the cadence to 182 spm. Afterwards I got the hang of the slight change in intensity and was able to cruise to the end. Usually I would divide this into two with the latter having another increase in cadence but I didn’t because it will push my planned limit to 192 spm which was too much for today.

As for nutrition I kept one giant sip of my gels after every two to two and a half kilometers.

1. 1.61 km warm-up @ Zone 1
2. 4.83 km @ 5:52-6:24/km (10%-20% less than my target MP)
3. 22.53 km @ 5:20/km (current MP target)

For today I chose to do it in Tempelhofer Feld because of the reliable number of drinking fountains and generous amount of toilets in case of emergencies. Of course I remember that I tend to struggle mentally on the last 1/3 of my long runs there because of the repetitiveness (I’ve been running there for three years and have probably ran most of the accessible paths at least once!) and the windy parts that slow you down. Regardless I know that it will only make me wiser for race day whatever challenge I face there mentally.

On the way to the old airport, there is a giant uphill in Neukölln that coincides with the start of the main block that I want to thank because I was able to get into the rhythm of the 184 spm cadence and increase my speed a bit to be near 5:20/km. I gave myself grace this time because 5:52/km to 5:20/km is a giant increase in pace and allowed the first few kilometers to let my legs get used to it. Through the years I managed to change my hatred of uphills into what I can use to my advantage with proper posture and breathing. Too bad I am terrible with downhills because I am always afraid of tripping. That’s one thing I need to get over in the future.

I know I was supposed to abide by my newly-chosen MP but after two kilometers of the main block I found that I can push it a bit between 5:05-5:10/km. I just made a note to not go faster than 5:00/km because that’s not part of the plan today. I was wrong later.

By this time I divided the 22 km block into four sections by increasing cadence. The first three five kilometers with be from 184 to 188 spm and to make it exciting the remaining seven kilometers will be 190 spm. It was cool challenge that I was willing to put myself in.

Near the entrance of the airport I started using my full flask now and I realised that it was spilling from the drinking spout! I also felt some gel left on my tights. It was unfortunate and the only thing on my mind was to reach the second fountain to was my hands and the flask because it was sticky!

When I reached the fountain, I had another hiccup because after washing and refilling my flask, I realised that I forgot to stop my watch so there’s this 5:28 kilometer lap on my record. It’s not a big deal so I continued running. Unfortunately as soon as I sped up, the flask kept spilling the water! There’s something wrong with the spout and I made a note to fix it later. I was a bit worried because I was only halfway and two packs of gummy bears are not enough if this flask becomes empty.

After I settled from all the flask drama, I suddenly felt a rush of renewed energy. I was truly surprised because I did stop at the fountain (but still moving my feet in position) and that usually means I interrupted my momentum from before. For some reason my watch told me I was running at around 4:30/km and I had to slow down because that will be too much effort.

Amidst all of these I did another body check and it was halfway at around 15-16km. I was happy because don’t feel any discomfort on my feet especially the left ankle that was sore when I woke up. I have finally surpassed the complaints I used to have with my DNE3s and the relief kept me going.

The last 12 km was going well and became more lively when I hit the 190 spm. I thought I would my legs will eventually hit their limit in terms of the fast turnover because even though the cadence is not new to me (I am able to reach it during tempo runs when I go all-out effort), this is the first time I have to consciously maintain it. Fortunately all my feet did was go faster and I appreciated the DNE3s more and more. It was the best part of today’s run because I was in that zone of running fast but still holding back to keep some energy in the tank for the remainder of the workout. I want to experience this again and hopefully during the race.

On the other hand, at around the start of the last seven kilometers, I felt a certain muscle at the back of my right thigh tighten immediately and it was consistent until the end. It wasn’t too uncomfortable to even consider stopping so I continued and I eventually forgot about it until I finished. Although the discomfort become more prominent while doing my cool down walk where it slightly affected how I walked that I was nearly limping to keep from triggering it. I now have a new learning of what I am lacking in terms of strengthening specific parts of my legs and I am thankful that it wasn’t too bad while running. It was really balanced today with these extremes in both positive and negative experiences that will both help me be a better runner.

I ate what I said earlier to not go under 5:00/km because starting at 15 kilometers I was already at around 4:55/km. I was still comfortable and nothing was alarming me to stop - breathing, my ankles, shins, my arms, nothing! This is why I decided to go a bit faster on the last two kilometers to test my capacity because I still felt great overall with the high cadence and the support of the shoes. By this time I was around 4:50/km and I let go, just running within the cadence to whatever faster pace it will take me but not too fast. I made sure I was still 30 seconds slower than my half-marathon pace. 4:35/km for the last kilometer while still holding back is not bad. I remember I felt I could go on to complete a marathon only if I still had another full flask of gel that’s not leaking.

After the run

I am extremely proud and beyond satisfied with my performance during and the results today! The main block of 22.61 km had an average pace of 4:59/km (could have been lower if I didn’t have the stop watch mishap midway but I have no regrets) which is six seconds faster per lap compared to my last MP long run last month.

I am still on the fence if I will update my target MP from 5:20/km to 5:10/km this coming week. My left ankle felt so sore today (aside from the left shin and the back muscle on my right thigh) and it’s the only thing that’s keeping my confidence to do the update. I will check tomorrow morning and maybe Tuesday’s to see if it subsides. The VO2Max on Tuesday is also in consideration if I will just change it to a recovery run.

Lastly my evening core and strength workouts are cancelled today because of the aforementioned ankle and thigh sores. I don’t want to aggravate them further with additional effort and I can do them on another day this coming week.

Overall

My personal revelation in the past four weeks of practicing higher cadence (180 spm+) is that I now enjoy my easy/slow and progressive MP long runs better in the shoes I have (DNE3, AG3 GRVL), not thrashed and still have fresh legs after. I used to hate the DNE3s a lot with my “natural” cadence of around 170-175 spm even when I try to go fast (tempo runs and races not included) and now the difference is night and day! I am planning to apply this to my SB2s and the regular Deviate NITRO 3 if both will have the same effect especially the latter which I give up on an upper limit of 16 km.

Unfortunately I didn’t do a lot of workouts this week but I hope to make up for them next week. It’s hard to balance strengthening to keep me from injuries while cancelling them to not irritate my lower body with lingering sores and in the end I want to run more so I pick the latter for more recovery. They can be rescheduled on another quality day.

• Goal Race: 3:30-4:00 Berlin
• Plan: Pfitz 18/63 by thebottlefarm (Unofficial)

• Total:
  • Expected: 93.34 km
  • Actual: 102.03 km

Thoughts

Monday

I was thankful for a full rest day of no running after last week’s Friday and Sunday quality runs that demanded a lot from my lower body. I don’t think I will be able to run even at easy pace this morning.

Same as before I followed Vlad Ixel’s yoga for runners and mobility for runners workout videos followed by Pfitzinger and Douglas’ Basic Core Workout Session. The last one had more repetitions compared to the ranges in the book because by this time I let it all loose especially only lower back to help me feel better which it did.

I had a doctor’s appointment afterwards and I had to run briskly to cross the street before the stoplight turned red. Unfortunately that made my left shin feel sore to the touch. There was no pain while walking but only when I pressed the shin bone. I have to check if this will affect my run tomorrow or I should take a rest day to help it recover more.

Tuesday

I woke up with the left shin still tender and responds with a bit of pain when touched. I tried to walk and again there was no pain. I only have a few discomfort from the ankles but I didn’t have any warning signs that I should cancel today’s workout. Of course walking barefoot around the house comfortably is not a reliable basis if I can run or not so I decided to do some dynamic workouts before running to really make sure that there’s no pain as I engage my lower extremities.

Now that all the tempo runs have ended last week, I didn’t have any anxiety the night or even days before this. I am more relaxed and just excited to do the short but intense laps because in my head, shorter distances regardless of the pace targets will be “easier” in terms of the time needed to suffer.

Before the run

I took a flask containing 50% maple syrup and 50% water as an experiment for today. I read a few consistent comments in reddit about people running and cycling with maple syrup but for long distances. I know that I have a short one today but it’s still a good opportunity to test it. My only hesitation is the consistency of the liquid because it is way watery that my usual homemade gels with pectin. My stomach usually hurts a few moments after having watery nutrition during runs so I also have this point to check during the run. I didn’t take a loperamide tablet as well to help the assessment and that the run is not beyond 90 minutes so there’s no use for me.

For the warm-up I did some A-skips, A-walks and B-skips together with the rest of what I follow from the Advanced Marathoning book. Fortunately I still didn’t feel any pain during and after doing all of those dynamic stretches and drills so I decided that to continue.

I also wore my Puma Deviate NITRO Elite 3s because the forecast was a rainy morning. I was going to bring out the Asics Magic Speed 3s again but I didn’t want to risk slipping just in case.

During the run

The warm-up at Zone 1 and the following short two kilometers at Zone 2 were great because I was able to keep my heart rate down and not get too excited especially while wearing the very light DNE3s. I had an itch to start immediately when I arrived at the track but we don’t listen to those voices anymore.

When the first lap of the main block started, as always, I had my music on and just listened to my body as I attacked it. Unfortunately I went too fast again versus how I should feel at the expected 3:58/km. I still have that problem to properly pace especially during there intervals just because I am always thinking that I will not reach the target which is the reverse!

I took some sips of my maple syrup concoction each two laps and I didn’t have any trouble with my stomach. I made sure to take one sip and divide it into two swallows to not surprise my stomach with too much volume and there were no pains so I believe it works! I’m not sure about the energy it provided but I will try it again for tomorrow’s run because I will have more changes to observe during a more relaxed and longer session.

The second lap was faster, as I always wanted it to be, and I had to go to another route of making sure each lap was faster. Unfortunately my pride didn’t want me to go back to 3:58/km coming from a 3:45/km so I decided to at least the succeeding laps do not go slower than the first.

After the second lap, I can feel the exhaustion from the quick and demanding laps accumulating so I decided to change my strategy. I usually start out too strong and too fast so by the last 300 m, I tend to slow down and break down my form of engaged core and higher cadence of around 180 spm. I decided to switch it up for the last three: go steady at the first half and use all my energy and willpower to make sure the last half is faster.

I think I nailed the last three using the new strategy! I got too tired in the first two by the 400th meter but with the halved way, I forget the fatigue and just think of going faster until my watch beeped stop. I am happy with the results! I still had the same exhaustion during the two minutes of rest in-between but I felt more satisfied because I felt that I didn’t waste anything in the whole lap.

At the end of the laps, I normally let myself lay on the grass surrounding the track to recover but today I didn’t need to and proceeded to finish the cool down until the end. Yes it was tiring but it wasn’t as great compared to my tempo runs before and I was able to go down the Zone 2 target after a kilometer or so.

After the run

I always have various pains on my legs, calves, shins and/or ankles after the main block of a speed day but there weren’t so much today. I was able to take myself home during the cool down and I don’t know if it was just because of the joy from the negative splits I did.

At home I did my static stretches and had a generous foam roller massage on my thighs and hips to help the recovery faster.

Finally I will not do any core and strength workouts this afternoon because I have a long run tomorrow. I consider it as a quality day so I will probably do that double hard workouts tomorrow.

Wednesday

I was really excited to do this run yesterday because of two reasons: it will be my first long run after a quality day (no recovery day in-between) and I will test my maple syrup and water mix as alternative to my homemade gels.

Before the run

Unfortunately I woke up feeling sad from a dream I don’t remember anymore and this genuinely affected my overall lookout of the day. On the other hand, I don’t have any pain or discomfort on any part of my lower body especially my left shin bone when I was walking around to prepare.

Regardless this is part of life and it will not stop me from going outside to run. I brought my 250 ml flask of leftover maple syrup mix from yesterday and two packs of gummy bears before leaving.

During the run

The first four kilometers were a struggle emotionally because the negative feelings after waking up still lingered and it was a long run so I didn’t have any music to distract me aside from my metronome’s ticking. Fortunately it didn’t affect me much mentally and physically aside from my legs and feet trying to warm up with the Asics Superblast 2s which went away after a few kilometers.

Today’s medium-long run has the same format as the others based on my current target marathon pace of 5:20/km.

1. 1.6 km warm-up @ Zone 1
2. 4.43 km @ 6:08-6:24/km (20% less than my target MP)
3. 13.3 km @ 5:52-6:08/km (10% less than my target MP)

As mentioned, I did my cadence practice again with my metronome app and started with 180 spm immediately in the second block. It was rough this time compared to the other days in terms of staying within the target pace because of my emotional state but halfway through it I found the rhythm. I was able to stay within the ranges without too much effort.

After that, since I didn’t have any music to accompany me, I used the time to console myself and think of things to look forward to the next days. It wasn’t a quick turnaround but I reminded myself that I have to accept that there are things I can’t change and that’s fine. If I recall correctly, it never went away (it’s still here with me as I’m writing this journal note) but that joy and excitement I get from running took over at the start of the third block.

I divided the third block into three groups with increasing paces from 182 to 186 spm and everything went well throughout aside from going over the upper limits of the target range when I reached the last four kilometers. I chose to keep my cadence rhythm over the pace again because I was having fun and didn’t feel any discomfort!

Aside from the other minor discomforts on my legs and ankles, I realised that my left hip was no longer in pain. I felt nothing, which was a good thing compared to last Sunday’s long run. I think I have to accept that I can’t put a flask on my tights’ left pocket to prevent any stimuli for this specific pain for the rest of my plans.

All throughout the run, the maple syrup concoction was consumed after every four kilometers I believe. It was my mistake to bring leftovers (I think it was only half - 125 ml full) because I wasn’t generous with the nutrition intake. I felt hungry immediately after two or three kilometers from the last sip but good thing I had a gummy bear pack to help me for the last four. I believe that it was effective because even though my stomach grumbled two or three times this morning, there were no sensations of tiredness or even slow down due to the need for more food that I always experience during long runs without proper nutrition. The watery consistency didn’t bother me as well though I took a loperamide tablet for safety. Overall I will try it again but will make sure to bring more than enough for anything beyond 16 km!

After the run

I like rounding up my distances so from the prescribed 19.3 km I ended it at 20 km just to keep it consistent. I walked longer this time because the route I ran through is eight kilometers each lap and I appreciated that cool down regardless.

My legs still feel fresh though there are a few small painful moments when you press on them but not to the point where I can’t walk or run properly. I hope to feel better emotionally as the day passes and I am thankful for the two recovery days coming!

Evening workout

I felt better now after a day of working and some rest. I had enough motivation to do two sets of core and strength drills from the Advanced Marathoning book.

Thursday

My recovery run today was fine although I went above the Zone 1 range on the latter part due to excitement from the music I was listening to.

The first three kilometers with my Saucony Triumph 22s were terrible especially during the beginning. I swapped the old Asics Novablast 3 insoles to my Puma MagMax’s to check any differences and it was evident during the first 300 meters. Each step was clunky and I felt the firmness of the shoes’ foams. It was terrible! Regardless I didn’t turn around to replace the insoles and moved forward.

Afterwards, all the complaints I had suddenly went away when I started increasing my cadence a bit and ran “more lively”. The foams became flexible and easy to push into during each stop and it was an overall satisfying experience for relatively heavy and slow shoes.

I was supposed to do six repetitions of 100-meter strides but I decided not to this morning because my shins and ankles felt vulnerable and not fully recovered yet from the past two days’ hard work. I’d rather miss the stimulus and technique correction from the strides versus prolonging my legs’ recovery and the possibility of injuring myself. This time I wasn’t disappointed with myself and more strict to not do anything counterproductive.

Friday

It was a nice run. My Triumph 22s had the same softness and that sufficient comfort to do easy runs as yesterday’s. It could have been better in terms of responsiveness and bounce because I might use it over the SB2s because of the amount of foam on the forefoot and mid-foot area.

My heart rate unfortunately got stuck at an average of 120 bpm, four units more than my current Zone 1 upper limit of 116 bpm but halfway through I just ran using my feeling of how easy I can do. I reminded myself that tomorrow I have tune-up race where I can do everything I wanted. I’m terrified right now.

Saturday

I will never ever lose the nerves the day before any tempo or race workout but I will always show up no matter what!

Unfortunately I didn’t find any race between the recommended 8 km to 15 km range today and the closest parkrun is just 5 km on a route with lots of downhills that I’m still cautious. I decided to do it in my trusted 800-meter concrete track that has no distractions ever.

Before the run

My regular pre-workout snack of a banana, an oatmeal and a loperamide tablet was mandatory this morning. It has worked a lot in my previous quality days in carrying me to the first five kilometers of the run and preventing any unnecessary stomachaches consistently.

As for nutrition, I bought one flask of my homemade gel with a new recipe by Jim Downing and a pack of gummy bears.

I wore my trusted Puma DNE3s again because this was a run with an interrupted long hard effort. I also put them in a runner’s knot finally after brushing off and forgetting that the heel was always loose during the latter part of the previous runs. It gave me a tiny bit of confidence boost knowing that I won’t have to think about it later.

During the run

Even though it’s a race, I still programmed it the same way as my tempo workouts:

1. 1.6 km warm-up @ Zone 1
2. 3.22 km @ Zone 2
3. 10.0 km @ 3:59-4:14/km
4. 3.22 km cool down @ Zone 2

Because my last 10 km personal best was 4:14/km, I decided to use it as my upper limit today with the lower end near my current 5 km pace (3:58/km). This was definitely intimidating on paper because in terms of my last tempo run the range was my 15 km to HM pace (4:16-4:22/km). Two seconds per kilometer was shaved and that’s a big deal for me.

This time I didn’t want to cut the Zone 1 and 2 runs because I was genuinely thinking how the “race” will feel like and if I can sustain them. Regardless I decided that I will do it same as before - run the first lap conservatively, make sure the second one is faster, and let the rest of the laps be guided by both the target pace and my “comfort”.

Same as before I took two sips of my gel every three laps or 2.4 km. The new mixture I made didn’t upset my stomach (thankfully) and I didn’t notice any difference from its effects compared to the ones I made before with other recipes. This is not a complaint but only an observation. I have no prior experience of how store-bought gels perform but the one I have is cheap and enough to carry me to my goals.

As for the mind games during the run, I allowed myself to look at my watch (current pace only and to avoid looking at the distance left) every 800-meter lap and each kilometer beep to make sure I am still on track. Honestly there were times in the uphill part of the track that my pace goes down to around 4:20/km but I already had a technique to continue speeding upwards and maintain whatever is left to the flat part. This worked before and still carried me today.

I want to thank all the people online whose comments that basically say to “race by feeling” for situations like this because I never struggled keeping myself within the range (save for the aforementioned uphills but as I’ve said it settles back to a faster pace once of the flats). I really took it to heart and it supported everything to help me focus throughout the run. I employed it in all my previous tempo runs but today is significant because I realised how powerful it was.

Another thing that I did was to do various body checks on parts that I can control while running as a form of making sure I’m not maintaining a disadvantageous form and as a distraction. I did engage my core and sucked my stomach in many times, especially when I was breathing a lot. Unfortunately I am a mouth breather and my nose breathing needs a lot more work. The amount of air I inhale and exhale from mouth breathing is optimal to keep me going. Another body check was to keep my eyes looking straight ahead, to help the head be parallel to the ground. I just realised that I forgot to “feel tall” or imagine a string pulling my upper body to stay straight but let’s do that next time! As for the cadence, I didn’t think about too much except for when I wanted to speed up a bit but that’s more on instinct and not a specific number.

I began to struggle a bit in the sixth kilometer as proven by the only pace out of the target range and I don’t even remember what specific matter caused it. I was still breathing hard, the effort was hard but not intervals hard, I was on a “comfortably hard” level. I assume it was because of the delay in trying to put back my flask to my elastic pockets. This part coincides with the uphill always (there’s a marker for me to see) and doing a fast uphill run while trying to consume two gulps from a flask perhaps contributed to it. Despite this I don’t remember panicking or even paying it too much attention because I only went faster after.

By the last two kilometers I was already decided that I want to finish the 10 km and no more. I made a mental note at this mark if I can translate this to my half-marathon race in two weeks and sadly I wasn’t optimistic today. We’ll never know until race day!

As a treat, I made sure the last kilometer was my fastest and I absolutely crushed each lap’s pace. This time I had to lay on the grass immediately to rest because I gave my everything for a new personal record!

41:46.4 is almost 30 seconds shaved off from last week’s record and three seconds per kilometer! I was only hoping to keep the average of 4:14/km but I did it. I am proud of myself and I can’t believe that this full marathon plan has done great wonders not only to my long run adaptation but to my shorter distance records as well. The contrarian part of my brain is now telling me that “oh no we have to be faster in the next two tune-up races to keep the trend!” but I am confident that no matter what happens, all of these will all culminate in a successful marathon.

After the run

My feet were mostly sore but I can walk without any pain. I always do these checks now because the marathon date is nearing. I am extra careful to identify any lingering pain on my lower body especially my more susceptible ankles in order to help them recover as soon as possible.

I have the whole day to rest and fuel up for tomorrow’s long run. It is a shorter one but I will take it easy because my entire legs is vulnerable right now. I want to show up on next Tuesday’s intervals fresh and ready!

Sunday

I woke up with residual pain all over my body. It wasn’t too uncomfortable but the feeling of wanting to stay in bed to rest was overwhelming. Since there wasn’t pain on my legs and ankles when I wiggled them, there was no excuse to not go outside to run. I always surprise myself with these situations because two years ago I would have closed my eyes immediately but that was a different time with different fitness goals.

Before the run

After stretching the sleepiness away, I ate the same things as before: an oatmeal bar, a banana, a loperamide tablet and water for quality days.

I put on my extra wide nipple bandages that I cut last night. It was definitely better because of the sticky parts’ surface area against my skin.

As for the chest strap, I applied a generous amount of petroleum jelly on the area on my chest where the gadget will be placed. It has been effective in keeping the chafing away for more than three hours.

Lastly I bought a full flask of my new batch of homemade gel and two packs of gummy bears. I made sure to only out light stuff on my left pockets to not aggravate the left hip.

During the run

As stated in the Advanced Marathon book, the long run after a race should be casual and only up to 15-20% of the target marathon race. I made sure to never forget this when I first read the book because the thought of doing a 20 km+ run the day after a race with no recovery day between was intimidating to me. Spoiler: I survived!

The workout today is as follows:

1. 1.61 km warm-up @ Zone 1
2. 6.44 km @ 6:08-6:24/km (20% less than my target MP)
3. 19.31 km @ 5:52-6:08/km (10% less than my target MP)

I didn’t bother to recalculate and re-program the pace targets on my watch. I just made sure to run the first two blocks easily without any care if I’m within the ranges or not.

As expected, I was super slow, my heart rate was unstable and my legs were very heavy during the first eight kilometers. There were no sensations of discomfort or pain on my shins, hips and ankles throughout that journey but my body was explicitly telling me that it is tired which I had to respect.

I was a bit alarmed during this time because I had some bouts of headache which never happened before. It came quickly for two or three times but that was enough for me to worry. During each, I took a sip from my flask because it could just be my body telling me it needs nutrition. I was anxious that something might happen to me afterwards because of this “early warning” and luckily it never came back in the main block. I can only think having eaten less yesterday than I should have. I will check again next time and hopefully this never happens again. I hope it was a by-product of the effort exerted yesterday.

I kept the cadence training today despite the need to keep everything easy by starting the second block at 180 spm. I believe that I still need to practice them especially with loaded tired legs for better retention. I hope I’m right and we’ll see the results tomorrow or on Tuesday morning.

Usually I will bump the cadence to 182 spm halfway through the second block but I decided to hold back and consider it later in the run after checking my body. It was still comfortable at the “casual pace” and by this time I know that doing additional changes will negatively affect the rest of my run which I don’t want to.

I chose a different route today - the Tiergarten where the starting and finish lines of the Berlin Marathon is placed. I figured that if I went to Tempelhofer Feld, my mental focus will take a toll especially with the residual fatigue. A new route will open new surprises I’ve never seen and will distract me to keep going. This definitely worked to my favor fortunately.

By the time I reached the start of the 19 km block in my plan, I was getting the groove back and decided to try keeping up with its range. I can always hold back again if it gets too hard. The confidence carried over to my cadence goals and I divided it into four-five kilometer sections with increasing cadence of two: starting from 182 spm and ending with 188 spm.

Nothing remarkable happened during the first half of the last block. I was able to keep the cadence, my feet didn’t mind the state of my SB2s’ foam and still be within the target paces. Even though I have been to this place multiple times in the past to visit the tourist areas, this was my first time as a runner and I saw a new perspective of the area. I did once during the 2024 Berlin Half-Marathon but to me it was a long time ago. I can compare the Tiergarten to a larger Treptower Park-Plänterward but with two “wings” on each side. Unfortunately I only ran on the main road and the side trails of the latter part after the giant statue. I will explore each of the two wings next time for more exploration!

This was an extra sensitive day for me so I made sure to do constant body checks. I engaged my core a lot of times today to keep my upright and I did it consciously now. I am not frustrated from forgetting it after a few hundred meters because I was more consistent today. I kept my eyes looking straight because I caught myself looking downwards a lot during the latter parts. There’s nothing interesting on the ground so I don’t know why I did that. Probably fatigue in a way.

As I approached the last 10 km, I already finished the entire length of the main road and now I had to go back to a familiar place. To keep it varied, I let myself run through the side trails of the road. Despite this, the fatigue on my legs were definitely more prominent and my ankles were starting to hurt. It came to a point that I wanted to cut the run at around the 22 to 24 km mark because I was afraid I will be injured if I continued. One detail was there were lots of traffic lights around the main road and I can say that the constant stops helped alleviate the pressure from my left ankle and I was able to continue to the end.

This moment really made me reflect a bit on how will I perform during the race. I know that I have everything against me in this run and this is not a proper example to base my marathon performance but I can’t help it. An ankle hurting at the 21 km mark made me think that if I were on a race this is just the halfway point! Good thing all those negative thoughts went away afterwards as always when I push myself to move forward.

Today had the longest final five kilometers of the week and the cobblestones on some parts of the park weren’t helping. Good thing that I was aware of my broken down stability and form so I moved to the paved biking paths if I can. By this time, 188 spm was not a problem and I decided to hold it back again to the lower half of the target pace. This really helped a lot in bringing me back to an easy felling honestly!

At the end, my flask was already empty and there was a water fountain waiting for me. I am thankful for this serendipitous moment.

After the run

I had to walk for a bit to find the nearest coffee shop. Initially I wanted to go home right away after a few stretches while walking but I remembered that the two packs of gummy bears left will not be enough if I went hungry during the trip. I found a donut shop and treated myself to two pastries and the required chocolate milk. I was able to sit down on a comfortable chair and rest a bit as I finished my meal.

When I got home, I diligently applied foam roller massages on my thighs, hips and buttocks. I believe that I did two sets of each this morning for extra recovery support.

I am still tired as I’m writing this. Actually more tired compared to previous long run Sundays because both my upper and lower body feel heavy and fatigued. My shins and ankles are tender, of course, but I already applied massage balm on them and hopefully they’ll feel better tomorrow morning.

Overall

This week has beaten last week in terms of the fatigue I feel after! The previous one was definitely had the longest distance required but the effort this time is much intense especially this weekend. I had to cancel my afternoon core and strength workout today because I am still weak and feeling a slight headache here and there even after a two-hour nap. Last week, by this time, I was already halfway through my cross-training.

Everything this weekend was a new experience to me in terms of running and I am truly satisfied and proud of all the accomplishments I achieved without hesitation. I didn’t know I still had all of these in me. I didn’t know that there will come a point where I will hate listening to any music or podcast while doing two-hour or more runs. I didn’t know that a marathon plan will lead to multiple 10 km personal records.

I still have two weeks with four quality days coming but they will be easier especially the last one because I will spend the weekend doing an official half-marathon race after almost two years. After that is the taper and a few more sleeps, I will see myself at the starting line.

• Goal Race: 3:30-4:00 Berlin
• Plan: Pfitz 18/63 by thebottlefarm (Unofficial)

• Total:
  • Expected: 101.39 km
  • Actual: 104.55 km

Thoughts

This week is the peak of the entire training plan. There are three quality workouts with the last two with only one recovery day in between. I am terrified right now as I’m typing this thinking about them but I know that I will bring my best each day of this week!

Monday

After yesterday’s core and strength workouts, I had some slight upper body pain but not that uncomfortable to dwell on. I also realised that I have little to no lower leg pain aside from the left ankle from pushing too much during the lunges but overall I can see the effect of my body’s adaptation to the demanding long runs from before.

I did the standard yoga and mobility drills after waking up and it is always a struggle compared to doing them right after a run. I did one set of the core workouts again but increased some of them with five or ten more repetitions just to make them less easier.

Tuesday

I woke up with a slight pain on my upper body that I associate with strength training but I didn’t do any of such since Sunday. I got annoyed a bit thinking this was another manifestation of getting older but I remembered that I carried around 10 kg of groceries the day before!

Anyways I decided to do some extra running form assistance in my warm-ups based from this video from The Running Channel that a dear friend recommended. It was hard to keep track on how to do everything because right now all of them look similar to each other. I plan to practice them tonight casually to help recall and distinguish each one.

The run went fine though my Saucony Triumph 22s could be better at this point in terms of cushioning. I have come to a point where most of the shoes I have tried that were cushioned but considered “heavy” were not heavy to me anymore and this pair is one of them. I remember that I switched its insoles to my old Asics Novablast 3s because of discomfort and recommendation from reddit but I will try the first again on Thursday’s recovery run to check if after 140 km, the main foam will be broken-in enough that the original insole will not cause the previous problems I had with the left toe box.

During the strides section, I really felt slow and not warmed-up enough I believe to go fast and nimble. It was prominent in all six laps but I didn’t mind it at all because it was a recovery day and the goal was just to stimulate my body. After ten weeks of this training plan, I learned to be more forgiving of my body and its complicated machinery and I definitely feel the improvements during the quality days where it matters most.

After that I did the usual yoga and mobility workout but I felt really less loose and flexible today compared to other days. It could just be a different day overall for me but nothing to worry about.

Wednesday

The medium-long runs of Pfitzinger and Douglas plans is my favourite part of the week. I can definitely say that it has increased my confidence to run beyond 16 km and its timing in the middle of the week adds another layer of self-confidence before the workday starts (at least for me as a morning person).

Before the run

Since it is beyond 16 km, I ate an oatmeal bar and banana and finished with a loperamide tablet to keep the stomachache away. I just wanted to run the entire thing without stopping.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to do the entire new warm-up sets from The Running Channel because I was eager to go outside and run immediately. Next time!

During the run

I can confidently claim that it was one of the better long runs in a while because of many reasons.

Here is the workout structure with respect to my target marathon pace of 5:20/km:

1. 1.6 km warm-up @ Zone 1
2. 4.83 km @ 6:08-6:24/km
3. 14.48 km @ 5:52-6:08/km

I immediately started the second block with a cadence target of 180 spm using my metronome app. I wanted to listen to a podcast but after several minutes, the podcast interfered with my focus to get into the rhythm. Maybe in the future I can do both or even without the help of the metronome app! Regardless I didn’t have any problems with this aggressive jump from my current “natural” cadence of 170 spm.

The third block was the most exciting because I divided it into three sub-blocks of around 4-5 km with increased cadence each. I started with 182 spm and ended with the last at 186 spm. Compared to my previous runs, the latter was more relaxed today and I didn’t have that sensation of the faster leg turnover making me feel that I was doing Zone 4 or harder effort. My heart rate increased a bit but it was all still within Zone 3 and I didn’t feel any significant changes that made me feel like I was doing more effort than what was asked.

I used my trusted SB2s today and checked if they will cause any discomfort by 16 km into the run and fortunately there were none. What was only prominent was my usual complaint that the forefoot and mid-foot could be more cushioned because it was getting a bit flat starting that mark up to the end. There was still a feeling of foam and no-ground contact (which I prefer) but I will be more satisfied if there was a bit more to catch my feet after each step. It is now at 400 km after this activity and I hope it can last for another 400 km or better.

After the run

I rounded up the entire run into 21 km and my legs especially the ankles still felt like they can go on for another 5 km of the same effort. I love when I end up with such results because it matches to the expectations mentioned in the book after long runs to “still have gas left” to prepare us physically for the actual marathon.

Another thing was that the SB2s felt really loose all over while I walked and I should tighten them a bit for the next run. This might be a problem next run because they will probably be clunky if unchanged.

Thursday

This was a regular recovery day, nothing special aside from my Triumph 22s that felt better on the toe box with respect to my left pinky toe.

I already put on the original insoles but when I put them on before leaving I had to bring back the thin old NB3 insoles. They’ve been unused for the last 100 kilometers and they made the shoes feel really tight and I didn’t have any confidence with them. I’d rather keep what’s working than jeopardize tomorrow’s run.

After that I did Vlad Ixel’s yoga and mobility workouts followed by one set of core workouts from the book.

I am scared and excited for tomorrow’s “exam” but I know that I can do it successfully because I have done it before without any problems!

Friday

Before the run

I had the same pre-workout food for quality days: an oatmeal bar and banana followed by a loperamide tablet. All of these were consumed at least 15 minutes before I leave so I usually do all of these immediately after waking up and making my bed.

The Puma Deviate NITRO Elite 3s have been my choice for fast days over the Asics Magic Speed 3 because they’re softer, lighter and more explosive. I put a thick patch on my left heel again because it was rubbing the previous times as precaution.

During the run

The following is my programmed workout, the same pattern as all the previous tempo workouts:

1. 1.6 km warm-up @ Zone 1
2. 2.41 km @ Zone 2
3. 11.27 km @ 4:16-4:22/km
4. 4.73 cool down @ Zone 2

The warm-up was funny because my heart rate was already beyond my Zone 1 when I started but I kept at it up to the second block. I was considering skipping the half of the second because the excitement and wanting to get over the tempo block was creeping in but I’m glad that I didn’t listen to the voices and finished it.

I had my 250 ml soft flask filled with my homemade gel and I decided to take two giant sips each three loops or roughly 2.4 km. To also keep the mind focused and rewarded, I allowed myself to look into my watch for the current pace at two instances: each 800 m loop (there was a marker on the ground written by someone in orange paint which wasn’t there before but nevertheless helpful) and each 1 km beep.

After so many tempo runs in this plan, I developed a silly superstition: the second lap will dictate the rest of the run so it should always be faster than the first or else. Unfortunately when I saw the giant 4:20/km at the 2 km mark, I was really affected but for today, it didn’t matter because I was able to forget about it and continue with the intensity I needed to maintain.

I had four guides during the run: first was to practice engaging my core to put all the load on my thighs and buttocks, second was the watch alert if I was running slower compared to the lower range of my target (4:22/km), third was making sure I took advantage of the slight uphill and downhill parts to carefully adjust my efforts and finally the aforementioned nutrition each three loops. In combination with the upbeat playlist I was listening to, I forgot all my worries and was left to focus on finishing each loop and lap.

The first 7 km was great, especially when I kept seeing the paces go below my upper limit of 4:16/km. I didn’t consciously try to go slower within the proper range because I was afraid it will interfere with the momentum and rhythm I was already running in. I believe that I should practice this next time but today it didn’t matter. I was focused on making sure I reach the end of each loop: do quick resting deep breaths on the 100 m downhill and prepare to climb the 100 m uphill where the marker is in.

I also realised that today I wasn’t struggling despite the targets and that the recommended “15K to half marathon race pace” added more confidence to my capabilities. I know that I can go faster, but I learned to respect that range and in turn, I was running within the upper/better limits of that range with moderate difficulty. I checked myself halfway if I was breathing hard, if I was having a hard time to keep up the consistency and if my legs were getting tired; and fortunately there were no such sensations. I was doing what was needed from me and I was doing well at my current capabilities. This is also not including the mental games that was happening on my head but as I’ve mentioned, the four guides kept me busy and I didn’t think of anything else aside from counting when I can take a sip again and if I am still running within the target range.

By the second half, I already let go of trying to stay within the paces and just made sure I was still doing the intensity I started without breaking down at any point even in the uphill part. I accidentally fooled myself by promising that I only had to do 12 loops and not 14 so by the time I reached the ninth loop, I had to keep the lingering “five more loops” thoughts out of my head to not distract me.

I also considered doing the last five loops or 4 km a total all-out effort but I decided not to just because I didn’t want to. But I promised to do it in the last lap as a treat which I did. It was the first time in weeks that I was breathing hard, my legs started to hurt and I was doing everything both physically and mentally to keep the pace I chose to up to the end.

I am truly proud of my new 10 km personal best of 42:17.8 @ 4:14/km today! I know that I was supposed to achieve it three weeks ago and sadly I strictly followed the 6 miles or 9.6 km plan and I wish I thought of rounding it up because 400 m would have been negligible versus the overall effort. Nevertheless, I am more confident now in this distance and my next challenge is to apply the same intensity to my planned half-marathon race in three weeks!

Actually by the 10th kilometer, before I decided to go all-out, I did another check if I still had gas to continue for another ten and I believe that I was only confident up to 15 or 16 km due to the dwindling motivation and that my entire body was ready to finish the entire thing. We will never know because maybe the energy of the crowd, the non-loop race path and my improved physical condition will all do some magic on the race.

After the run

I did the quite long-ish cool down of almost 5 km and I gave up trying to run slower and bring down my heart rate to lower Zone 3 because I can’t with the DNE3s’ lightness!

Overall my legs and ankles didn’t have the immediate pains compared to my first five tries of this tempo run with less distance! I wasn’t limping while doing the cool down or while walking after compared before. I am pleased to have come this far in terms of my physical and mental adaptation to this crazy plan and I am looking forward to what surprises are in store in this second half of Pfitz 18/63.

Evening workout

My legs and ankle were less painful throughout the day compared to the other days of long runs which was a welcomed change. This meant that I won’t have much trouble executing the lunges during the strength set.

I did two sets of core and one set of strength with some drills’ repetitions bumped to 20 from the recommended 10 or 15 for added difficulty.

The push-ups surprised me because I was able to keep my form throughout the movement though I was still too weak to let my chest touch the ground and come back up. The rest of the session went well and I only did one set of the strengths because I just didn’t want to do a second one.

Saturday

Finally after three years of living in Berlin, I joined a local parkrun that I should’ve went to before!

Today’s Hasenheide Parkrun # 315 was simple and straightforward. All the volunteers wore highly-visible neon vests and the pre-race explanations were done in both German and English. As stated, the gun started at 9:00 near the gathering area with all the participant’s luggage and some toilets.

I stayed at the back because it is my recovery day and my plan was to familiarise myself with the route. There were helpful signs in neon colours as well together with a volunteer so it wasn’t complicated.

I enjoyed all the uphill sections but the giant downhill at the north-west portion really frightened me even though I was going slow. My heart rate was unfortunately within Zone 2 and not my usual Zone 1 but I made sure to not go above that because of tomorrow’s tough run.

Overall it was fun and organised neatly. The only things that would prevent me from visiting is if I have plans in early Saturday morning and my fear of that downhill. I am not kidding about the latter part.

Sunday

Before the run

I ate an oatmeal bar and a banana when I woke up and took a loperamide tablet after. I washed down all of them with water and made sure it was at least 15 minutes before I left the house.

I have a new spray-on “sport” Nivea SPF 50 sunblock and applied it again today because it smelled great and added a bit of shine to my skin which was cool! Since my other sunblock is still 1/4 full, I will only reserve this for quality days until the other is used up.

I brought two 250 ml flasks of my homemade gel and one mixed with maple syrup and water to try. I also took two small packs of gummy bears for variety.

After that I did some dynamic warm-ups like A-skips and lunges aside from my usual set because I know I will need everything to nail today’s workout. I wish I did more.

During the run

I have the same workout structure as the previous 32.2 km long runs but with adjusted paces based from my latest target marathon pace of 5:20/km.

1. 1.6 km warm-up @ Zone 1
2. 7.64 km @ 6:08-6:24/km (20% less than my target MP)
3. 22.9 km @ 5:52-6:08/km (10% less than my target MP)

The blocks one and two were uneventful. Since I did great last Wednesday’s medium-long run, I immediately started my metronome app to 180 spm and the transition of my legs was near effortless while keeping the target. I also took two sips of my homemade gel every after two to three kilometers unless I felt like I needed to.

As I approached the third block, I decided to divide it into three parts of roughly seven kilometers each where I can adjust the cadence up to 188 spm. I made a mental note if I can do a fast last few laps by increasing it further to 190 spm around the last 3.5 km.

When the third block started, I was already running at around an average of 5:50/km which was beyond the upper limit of my target range. Unfortunately I was in the zone and enjoying the cruising sensation so I decided to use the paces as suggestions and to focus on the rhythm provided by the metronome. I regretted this decision later.

At around the 12 km mark, me left hip was hurting and I already know that it was caused by the weight of my flask so I took it away and held it for the rest of the run. I switched it from my left and right hands to balance the weight. Fortunately my right hip with a full flask didn’t have any pain even though I can feel the weight there.

A group of people were with me around the 17-18 km portion and it was the first time that I had a hard time focusing on my cadence because one of them was talking loudly. I can hear my metronome but the person talking was just so loud that their voice filled my head. Good thing that I already have a 4 km loop planned to go to and they didn’t follow me there and I was able to return to the 184 spm I needed to.

I started struggling between the 18 to 27 kilometer marks because of many things: one is that my left hip started to have a sensation of discomfort and I know that it was not caused by the weight of my flask anymore. I need to continue and be diligent with the strength training in order to support the large load that I put into it during my long runs beyond half-marathon distance. Second was that my mental focus was challenged because of the hip pain it made all the other discomfort I felt on my feet to be maximised and in turn, a voice in my head kept saying that I need to pause (not stop!) for a bit. Luckily I didn’t listen and the prize of a complete record without any pauses for this part of the run was more important to me so I continued. Lastly, it was super windy on the second half of this 4 km loop and this affected the effort that I needed to do on top of the first two reasons. Nevertheless I used this as a way to distract me from all the other discomfort I was feeling.

During that part, I was already up to 5:40/km and that wasn’t good. I wouldn’t have struggled if I just stayed within the target paces but I was stubborn to not change from what I started and to keep the cadence rhythm going. I was also a bit amused and excited because I was doing a faster pace and thought that I got stronger so I should accept it and maintain until the end which I did.

The last seven kilometers was brutal because I had to use up all my physical and mental strength. It started to feel like the longest seven kilometers of my life. My feet, especially both ankles were sore, my left hip had an inconsistent discomfort that came and went, my shoulders were sore and the rest of my brain wanted me to pause (again, not stop!) and lay on the grass found all around me. Again, I am thankful for the constant voice in my head reminding me that this is all part of the training and I should embrace it fully. This kept me going for the latter half of the entire run. I had my pride preventing me from cutting the run short too.

All throughout the run I tried to engage my core again and I am not satisfied with my application because it came and went. I will engage it voluntarily for a few kilometers and then after a while, I will realise that I’m not doing it anymore. It’s not that frustrating at all but I am disappointed because I genuinely believe that I will get tired less if I pulled it off better. All the pressure on my feet will be distributed to my thighs and legs and I will still have more gas for the last part of the run. Unfortunately it wasn’t the case this time.

I calmed down a bit at around 28 km because I let my cadence match the target pace range. It was surprising because the feeling of relief and easiness took over my body and I realised how dumb my earlier decision was. I felt light, all the discomfort on my legs and feet were somewhat minimised and I was sure that I can keep it up until the end. It was really one of those things that I love from long runs - I learn more from doing random things and hopefully I will apply them next time diligently.

For the last two kilometers, I found myself in the windy part of the route again but it didn’t bother me that much because I was near the end. I stopped the metronome and played the music that I have been wanting to ever since I started the run. I let the new sensation give new life to my tired legs and feet despite the opposing forces of the winds and I managed to do the last kilometer near my target marathon pace.

I looked at my watch and apparently I set a new 30 km record of 2:59:24 or 5:59/km! I remember that I checked if my body can still do another ten kilometers to complete a full marathon and unfortunately I was spent. My morale wasn’t low though because I had to celebrate for finishing such as challenging workout! I just have to figure out how to pull it all off with 5:20/km on race day. May all eighteen weeks of training guide me.

After the run

Despite wanting to lay on the grass multiple times during the last two hours, I didn’t and chose to sit on a nearby concrete bench to finally rest my body.

I want to highlight that I was tired but the pain and discomfort on my lower extremities were more prominent. I believe that I am less tired after the run compared to the first few long runs beyond 16 km I did in the earlier weeks of the plan but I attribute them to wearing the wrong shoes (Puma Deviate NITRO 3) with less cushioning compared to my Superblast 2s.

Right now my ankles are still sore so I have to spend the day to relax and hopefully recover fully for next Tuesday. They’re all covered with this Thai eucalyptus rub that has been helpful to lessen the soreness and add more warmth to make them feel extra relaxed while I rest.

Evening workout

After this morning’s long run, my body was still tired even after four hours that I considered not pushing through with the core and strength workouts. I was able to sleep for an hour of two after that and surprisingly my legs feel better; not nearly fresh but well-rested enough that I know that I can do the additional workouts.

I did two sets of each same as last Sunday but added more repetitions by bumping the easier ones like calf raises, bench dips and squats. I also did the planks for a full minute instead of the recommended four repetitions of 5-15 seconds each because it wasn’t challenging enough. I only hated the lunges the most because it was so clunky and I had to do a lot of movement to finish a repetition.

I will continue doing everything with my body weight for the next two weeks and after that I will incorporate my dumbbell and weights on everything especially the hip bridges, squats and lunges for more benefits.

Overall

This was the week with the highest amount of distance recommended in all eighteen weeks and I am pleased and satisfied with my performances during its three quality workouts. This is my first time doing such a mileage-heavy and effort-heavy week in my life and I am glad that I got through it without missing any days and without injuries. I learned a lot about myself and the way I run and it got me thinking that I doing it all over again (just the plan) is a definite possibility in the future.

Starting next week, there will be four quality sessions per week and I hope that my body will be able to handle all of the challenges. My excitement and motivation to do them is still here kicking despite the volume of running and I can’t wait to do the intervals in two days!

• Goal Race: 3:30-4:00 Berlin
• Plan: Pfitz 18/63 by thebottlefarm (Unofficial)

• Totals:
  • Expected: 80.47 km
  • Actual: 86.46 km

Thoughts

As expected, I woke up with some muscle pain on the upper body but not that much because I just used my body weight. My left shin discomfort has gone away but both ankles were still sore. Regardless, it was easy to get up and prepare for the day.

Monday

This morning, as decided, I added the “Basic Core Strength Session” from Pfitz together with my usual Vlad Ixel yoga and mobility drills.

My flexibility was not good during the stretching parts which means that I have to increase this per week. I struggled a bit to perform the positions with less reach that I was able to before.

Afterwards I did one set of the core workouts. I have to learn how to engage my core and keep it longer than five seconds because I always forget and had to redo it again during execution phase. This is just day two and I hope to get better as I do it more often.

Tuesday

As expected, my DOMS were prominent when I woke up this morning. My upper body and legs have the familiar muscle pain which means that my body weight strength workout last Sunday were effective (I hope so). Of course this didn’t affect my motivation but I took a paracetamol tablet just in case.

The run was fine, especially with the Saucony Triumph 22s. They were a tiny bit softer now on the forefoot and mid-foot sections which I like and for the first time, I didn’t have any annoyances in my left pinky toe during the start which is a first. I believe that at 80 km, I have broken-in this pair (no including the original insole unfortunately).

Since it was a general aerobic run, I only kept everything under the lower half of Zone 2 and I felt that I was going faster than expected (average of 6:30/km) but when I checked the results, it was actually 6:50/km which is understandable because my thighs and buttocks were still sore. Nevertheless I felt great throughout the run while holding back to prepare for the two quality runs this week.

Unfortunately at around the 11th or 12th kilometer, the left pinky toe’s old issue of being unrestricted on the toe box occurred again. I just adjusted the rest of my left foot to the extra space on the shoe’s right side to give it more room. Another note is that the foam I mentioned from before that prevented this wasn’t felt anytime during this run which is expected because the foam had time to rest over the weekend. Regardless, I will try to run more on these shoes because this sensation goes away after a few hundred meters or so.

My left ankle and side arch are now aching but not to the point of walking was painful. I believe these are just leftover fatigue from last Sunday’s run and I hope they’ll recover soon because we have a crazy workout tomorrow!

Wednesday

Before the run

It was rainy today and of course that will not stop me from running! I wore the Puma Deviate NITRO Elite 3s over the planned Asics Magic Speed 3s because I wanted extra assurance from slippages on the concrete track. The latter I believe is good enough but I didn’t want to risk it especially while I hammer at 5 km pace.

I also decided to put on my waterproof jacket that I usually wear as winter outerwear for extra protection in case the rain worsens based on the weather prediction.

During the run

The 3.2 km warm-up was good enough to prepare me for the laps but as expected, the jacket started to heat me up especially when there was around 500 m left before the first interval lap. I was already sweating a bit while raining though it wasn’t annoying or uncomfortable. I just wish I took it off as I started to approach the laps.

I went too fast for all of them based on my target pace of 3:58/km. It was because I felt like I was running too slow physically due to the jacket. What worsen it was that my heart felt heavy and I had to work harder because of it which was a bit worrying. It wasn’t one of my best speed days to be honest.

The first was too fast and it carried over to the rest of the laps but I am proud to know that I am actually capable of such speed even in a controlled workout.

The DNE3s were phenomenal and the Puma Grip on the wet puddles on concrete was top notch. I was able to not think much about where my feet hit and to just focus on nailing the fast feet turnovers. I was able to appreciate the wide forefoot area more as it supported my ideal form when running at around 4:30/km or better. It was very bouncy and everything I wanted for today’s crazy workout.

On the other hand I was gasping for air at the end of each lap and I remember that Garmin gives you five signals in both sound and vibrations on the watch before a lap ends. It was so hard that I immediately slow down at the third beep to go straight to recovery. Based on the results it didn’t matter because I gave each my “controlled” hard word and still was too fast!

I believe that it would have been more comfortable if I took off the jacket and just embraced the rain. I felt restricted the most in the chest area but not to the point that I needed to recover more after each generous two minutes and 55 seconds (calculated based from the 90% of expect time to complete each lap).

The difference today compared to the tempo days is that I am not used to quick bursts of speed. I have done this before in previous training plans but after nine weeks of no similar workouts (strides do not count for me), I consider today a surprise for my body. This is another part that I had a hard time to adjust causing me to overcompensate physically.

Nevertheless I learned a lot today and I have more coming in the future to do better in intervals.

After the run

My ankles, especially on the left were fine. In the past quality days of tempo runs, my left shin and both ankles would be a bit sore immediately after and would hurt during the cool down but today, none were felt even now after 90 minutes of rest.

Even though I struggled a lot during today’s laps, I feel less exhausted and damaged compared to the tempo days. I am looking forward to the varying distance targets in the next weeks so I hope to have better experience in the future.

Evening workout

I did the same core and strength workouts from last Sunday. I am still learning how to get used to engaging my core in most of the exercises as stated in the book but I’m glad to have a bit of progress today by being more aware compared from before. I also chose to added more repetitions to some of the workouts that felt easy to me such as the planks, calf raises, bench dips and squats over using my dumbbells over body weight. I will do that in four weeks to let my body plateau first in this setting.

Thursday

I am happy that I wasn’t as thrashed as the previous days-after the tempo runs earlier in the training plan. I didn’t feel any fatigue or lingering soreness aside from my left ankle (that went away after warming up for a few kilometers) during my run.

Unfortunately the Mizuno Neo Vistas were really not effective today. My left pinky toe started rubbing against the upper material by the fifth kilometer and continued to be uncomfortable until the end. I can’t do anything about it aside from curling my toes which is not ideal even for a slow recovery run. Because of this, I have to accept that it is not for me.

Afterwards, I did my yoga and mobility drills. Today was easier to stretch especially the main block in a prolonged lunge position and that is definitely because all my joints and muscles have loosened up after the run.

Friday

Today was another relaxed run which was slower compared to yesterday’s recovery run even though today’s a general aerobic.

I wasn’t under any soreness or discomfort before, during and after run. It was gloomy early in the morning and I decided to enjoy the pouring rain and to forget about my pace (aside from keeping it all within my Zone 2).

Saturday

It was really fun this morning! It was clunky during the first four kilometers because I felt hungry and uninspired but after that, everything went lively including my cadence and motivation.

As always, I was considered skipping the strides because it just rained and my route will be muddy but after one loop I determined the paths I can do them safely. The Triumph 22s were reliable on the wet concrete especially during the strides. My feet felt secure and I didn’t have any worries. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to recreate the relief I had last week with a foam protrusion on the left shoe that made my left pinky toe comfortable.

I did two sets of the Pfitz core workout after my cool down stretches and I hope it will have some form of help to maintain my core while running in the coming weeks.

Sunday

It was a nice morning run and I am glad there was no rain to make it challenging in both the routes and the effort needed like the previous week.

Before the run

Same as last week, I ate an oatmeal bar and a banana 15 minutes before leaving. I also took a loperamide tablet to prevent any unnecessary toilet trips during the run.

I applied the new 5:20/km marathon pace target to today’s session as follows:

1. 1.6 km warm-up @ Zone 1
2. 5.6 km @ 6:08-6:24/km (20% less than my target MP)
3. 16.9 km @ 5:52-6:08/km (10% less than my target MP)

To be honest I had no worries before the session compared to last week when I was computing these new values. I believe that I just forgot about the gravity of the changes even though I have noted beforehand that I have new paces to follow. Regardless it made the run much fun without such doubts before the run.

During the run

The first two blocks went well and I immediately got the hang of the new pace in the second block. It was a slight jump from the Zone 1 pace I settled in but thanks to the change in cadence that I set my mind into, I was able to reach it effortlessly in a few hundred meters.

Again I applied my cadence training because I found that it helped a lot in keeping my discipline to not go lower than my target ranges. I was extra ambitious today because I started the second block at 178 spm and halfway through I bumped it to 180 spm.

I explored a new place in my route at the beginning of the main block because I plan to join some park run events there in the coming weekends. It was a nice 5 km loop inside a forested part although there was a big dip at around the 2 km mark in the path which made me slow down because it was at a high gradient level. I have to get used to crossing that dip if ever I want to do some personal bests because right now it looked dangerous to me in terms of balancing my body towards the drop.

At around the 16 km mark, I felt my knees started to tighten up as I lifted each leg. There was no pain but only mild discomfort. This happened last week and all I can think of is that it could have been from the high cadence because I was already doing 182 spm by this point. Same as before, it went away after a few meters and never came back.

By the last seven or eight kilometers, I sensed that my legs were going tired and felt heavy. But I remember that nothing was painful and I just needed more nutrition so I did two big sips from my flask. Later I increased the cadence to 186 spm to let me carry to the finish line which was effective.

At some points in the latter part of the entire run, I made sure to engage my core a lot of times because of the legs getting tired. I thought that by squeezing my stomach, I will distribute the effort that my ankles were doing to the thigh and buttock muscles. I actually felt the change and the relief from the ankles but I’m still not consistent with the engagement. I always falter after a few minutes and have to remind myself constantly to do it. I have to practice and practice it regularly even during recovery runs because I think this will help a lot during the first 32 km of the marathon to keep my legs fresh so I can bring myself to the last 10 km using my leg power.

Overall I still find that my Superblast 2s are less cushioned (not flat; there’s still some foam that I can feel during each foot strike) after the half-marathon distance or approximately two hours of running. I don’t know if it is because I gained 5 kg over the last ten weeks (to support the demanding runs) that made the shoes flatter compared to last September or I just received an outlier pair that’s not as effective as I remember. I am leaning towards the first reason because I enjoyed the pair I had last year because it was bouncy and protective to the point that I gradually had to check myself if I was running too quickly due to the enjoyment. Today, I don’t feel that sensation anymore with my pair unfortunately.

Throughout the run, my stomach never hurt and I am happy that the loperamide did its job. I will continue taking it for long runs and eventually the actual race because of its helpfulness in prevent any additional discomfort that I don’t want to focus on while running!

After the run

The last 300 meters ended uphill, my favourite, and I still felt unspent and not thrashed as stated in the book to be an ideal case. This is compared to the last one spent 90% under pouring rain that I had to sit down on a bench after with paces still set to my previous 5:30/km! I guess this is another improvement of my capabilities after ten weeks of crazy mileage and I am thankful for that.

After almost two hours, my legs are not tired, my ankles are not sore, and my lower back is not hurting compared to the first three weeks’ long runs where I had to take a rest immediately after each.

I am looking forward to the next eight weeks and what other surprises they will bring me!

Evening workout

Since today is a hard day, I had to do the basic core and strength sessions from Advanced Marathoning same as last week. I still incorporated my current body weight for the strength part but added five to ten more repetitions for almost everything because I felt they were too easy.

I did two sets of each and I definitely struggled with the push-ups and bench dips the most. As always my arms and overall upper body is weak but I hope to see more improvement because these will be regular occurrences for the rest of the training plan.

I will monitor when I can switch to the advanced core session and add more weights to the strength session without prolonging my recovery too much.

Overall

I claimed that last week was the taper week for this second cycle but I realised on Monday that last week’s expected totals were 93.34 km and this week was 80.47 km. That was a nice mistake because my mindset was focused on the absence of any speed workout last week compared to this week.

Nevertheless I appreciate the less work load on the tenth week and I was able to not worry too much about the dreaded tempo run. It will come next week though followed by another 32 km long run. I will survive both!