This is the 18-week program as it stood on day one (June 29, 2026), before contact with reality. The current version tracks every amendment since. Frozen here on purpose — the diff between the two pages is the story.
The goal, in priority order
- Don’t get injured.
- Don’t regress.
- Run 30 km on October 24, 2026.
Completion-driven, not calendar-driven: the date slides before I do.
The weekly template
| Day | Session | Intensity |
|---|---|---|
| Mon | ~6.7 km easy + strength A | Z2 130–145 |
| Tue | optional easy | Z2 |
| Wed | medium-long, 8→12 km | Z2 |
| Thu | ~6.7 km easy + strength B | Z2 |
| Fri | rest | — |
| Sat | long run (or race) | low Z2 |
| Sun | rest or short recovery | Z1–Z2 |
Only the four core sessions (Wed ML, Sat long, two strength) are non-negotiable; Tue/Sun are the adjustment variables. Everything at heart rate, nothing at pace. No speed work anywhere in the 18 weeks.
Week by week
Long-run progression is capped by duration, deload every third week, races replace their week’s long run and are run controlled.
| Wk | Starts | ML (Wed) | Long run / race | Type | Vol ~km |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2026-06-29 | 8 | 12.0 / 1:12 | base | 35 |
| 2 | 2026-07-06 | 9 | 13.5 / 1:21 | build | 37 |
| 3 | 2026-07-13 | 6 | 10.0 / 1:00 | deload | 28 |
| 4 | 2026-07-20 | 9 | 15.0 / 1:30 | build | 39 |
| 5 | 2026-07-27 | 10 | 17.0 / 1:42 | build | 42 |
| 6 | 2026-08-03 | 6 | UTFS 10 km (Sun Aug 9) | deload/race | 30 |
| 7 | 2026-08-10 | 10 | 19.0 / 1:54 | build | 44 |
| 8 | 2026-08-17 | 11 | 21.0 / 2:06 | build | 46 |
| 9 | 2026-08-24 | 8 | 16.0 / 1:36 | deload | 36 |
| 10 | 2026-08-31 | 11 | 23.0 / 2:18 | build | 49 |
| 11 | 2026-09-07 | 12 | 25.0 / 2:30 | build | 51 |
| 12 | 2026-09-14 | 8 | Beluga 18 km (Sat Sep 19) | race | 46 |
| 13 | 2026-09-21 | 12 | 26.0 / 2:36 | build | 52 |
| 14 | 2026-09-28 | 7 | Half 21.1 km (Sun Oct 4) | taper/race | 44 |
| 15 | 2026-10-05 | 12 | 28.0 / 2:48 | build | 53 |
| 16 | 2026-10-12 | 9 | 22.0 / 2:12 | deload | 43 |
| 17 | 2026-10-19 | 8 | 30.0 / 3:00 — the goal | PEAK | 50 |
| 18 | 2026-10-26 | 6 | 12–15 recovery | recovery | 34 |
Guardrails
- Pain rule: ≤3/10, gone within 24 h, no gait change, not rising week-over-week — otherwise cap, repeat or step back a week.
- One variable at a time, ~10 % weekly volume ramp, acute:chronic workload ratio held in 0.8–1.3.
- Autoregulation: morning resting HR, HRV and sleep gate every progression. Missed sessions are never made up.
- Strength 2×/week (calf/plantar/hip session A, quads/glutes session B) — zero-drop shoes make this non-negotiable.