This was when I last posted in April 27.
I am now in the taper phase of pfitz 18 weeks/55 mile plan.
@Ender Story time
1st 32k ran at May 9: I ran it in cloudy weather with no sun, 5.40 min/km. At that time, I was thinking there was no chance to even break MP because none of my km I ran was anywhere close to my MP.
2nd 32k ran at May 16: I ran this entirely in the rain, 5.23 min/km. I got in the last 2k at MP. My shoes were drenched from puddle.
3rd 32k ran at May 27: I ran this during the Hari Raya Haji Holiday, 5.10 min/km, warm weather. Last 3k at faster than MP.
This is my final 32k run.
That same week, I ran 110k/week.
Mon: 5 x 600m (90s rest): Total 11.2k with warm up and cooldown
Tue: Strength training
Wed: (AM) 32k long run (PM) 8k recovery run
Thur: 10k recovery
Fri: 10' x 3 (1 min rest): Total 9.2k with warm up and cooldown
Sat: 19k medium long run
Sun: (AM) 10k recovery run (PM) 10k recovery run
This was my peak week.
My learning point:
1. It's possible to achieve 110k off 6 days of running. I believe pfitz plan 12/70 and 18/70 has that already.
2. I wouldn't do doubles off long run or hard run (AM) followed by easy/recovery run (PM) again. I learnt my lesson.
3. The most I can see myself doubling now is 15/15 or 10/20, no more than 30k unless my fitness improves tremendously.
4. Strength training is important to handle high mileage, but if you chase high mileage and do doubles, you might struggle to find time for running. My solution to this is to focus on building strength during base building (<100k weeks). And then slowly substitute the strength training for running. Gold standard probably be 2 hours of weekly strength training.
5. You need to increase mileage where you don't lose sleep. Get in minimally 7 hours per day of rest. 8 hours is optimal. And naps throughout the day (1-2) on weekends.
6. Adding on to point 5, my sustainable ceiling with a full-time office job is probably around 100km/week. I can occasionally hit 110km/week if I reduce rest days to one. Beyond that, every additional rest day probably requires another ~10km of running spread across the remaining days. With no work-from-home flexibility, recovery time becomes the main constraint rather than fitness.
7. I also started taking multivitamins or supplements, such as iron since it's very helpful for running due to foot strike hemolysis.
What is next for me:
1. Gold Coast Marathon: Let's see how things go, I did what I can already, the rest is up to taper/race day.
2. IPPT: 1 month prep using a 3k workout plan
3. Decathlon 10k: Early season race to gauge HM fitness
4. Dec/Jan: Likely will run HM or another M, let's see how GCM goes first