Three weeks ago

It starts with a conversation, not a form

The coach reads Sam's Garmin history, asks what actually matters - equipment, niggles, time windows, the week away - designs the training week with Sam, names the plan, and shows the numbers before anything is built.

Coach Riley · setting up

Hi Sam, I'm Coach Riley. Your Garmin history is in - about 3h40 of running a week lately, longest run 1h25, and your easy runs sit around 9:23/mi. What are you training for?

City Half Marathon, 14 December. I want to break 1:50.

Sub-1:50 is 8:24/mi - your recent 5k pace says that is a fair target with 15 weeks of work. How many hours a week can you realistically give this, and which days are off limits?

Six hours. Weekdays 6-7am before work, Friday off, weekends I have two hours. Sunday long run around 8am. Nothing shorter than 30 minutes.

Six hours as a ceiling, 6am weekdays, Friday off, Sunday long at 8, 30-minute floor on every run. Now strength: do you lift, and what do you have - a gym, dumbbells at home, or just bodyweight?

Two mornings a week at home. 15-50 lb dumbbells and a band. I hate lunges, and my left Achilles gets grumpy on hills.

Plenty to work with. I'll write two home sessions - one lower body, one whole body - around goblet squats, Romanian deadlifts, step-ups and a lot of single-leg calf work for that Achilles. No lunges. They repeat week to week so the loads can climb, and thin out in the taper.

The Achilles goes on file: no hill repeats or hill strides while it is active, quality stays on the flat, and I ask how it feels before every hard day. When it is cleared, tell me and hills unlock.

Anything coming up in the next 15 weeks - travel, holidays? And a training philosophy you like, or shall I pick?

Away 6-10 October, no running. I did a Lydiard-style base last year and it worked.

6-10 October is time off: nothing scheduled, that week's load prorated, no reminders. Lydiard suits a 15-week half nicely. Reminders when a timed session goes unlogged - all sessions, timed ones only, or none?

City Half 1:50 - the plan I am about to build, checked against your history first.

Your week (6h ceiling, Friday off)
- Mon 6am: easy run 40 min
- Tue 6am: easy run + strides 45 min
- Wed 6am: strength A, lower body, 35 min
- Thu 6am: quality 55 min (flat while the Achilles is active)
- Fri: off
- Sat 9am: easy run 50 min, then strength B, whole body, 25 min
- Sun 8am: long run, starting at 1h30

Structure - Lydiard: 6 weeks aerobic base, 4 weeks hills and strength (hills unlock on your say-so), 3 weeks sharpening, 2-week taper. Your time off sits in week 7, so base carries one extra week.

Line check
- Recent volume 3h40/week, longest run 1h25
- Week 1: 4h05 - inside the safe step-up from what you have shown
- Long run grows at most 15% a week, peaking at 1h55 in week 11
- Peak week 5h50, then the taper
- 6 hours is a ceiling, not a target - the plan only fills it when the race needs it

Build it?

Building now. Week 1 goes to your Garmin as structured workouts - warm-up, reps, recoveries, cool-down - and the strength sessions exercise by exercise.

The plan

Fifteen weeks, built for one person

The overview shows the whole arc - phase by phase, week by week, planned load against what Sam actually did. Switch to the week: every session sized from Sam's real volume. Tap one and it opens - the reps, the zones, the strength exercises with cues. And every one is pushed to the Garmin as a structured workout.

City Half 1:50

running Active Sep 1 - Dec 14

Progress

Adherence

Training Blocks

W1 W4 W15

Aerobic base Base

Weeks 1-7

Build the aerobic foundation: consistent easy volume, durable habits, and a steadily growing long session. Week 7 carries your time off.

Hills and strength Build

Weeks 8-11

Raise the load progressively: quality sessions enter, the long session grows, recovery weeks consolidate the gains. Hills unlock when the Achilles is cleared.

Sharpening Peak

Weeks 12-13

Sharpen for the goal: the biggest weeks and the most specific work, executed on a strong base.

Taper Taper

Weeks 14-15

Shed fatigue, keep sharpness: volume drops steadily while intensity touches stay in.

Week 3 of 15 Build 1 · City Half 1:50 Current

Load vs plan

96 of 250 TSS

Mon

Easy run

40 min · Z2 94

Tue

Strides + easy

45 min 88

Wed

Strength A: lower body

35 min 100

Thu

6 x 800m @ 5k effort

55 min

Fri

Rest

Sat

Easy run

50 min · Z2

Strength B: whole body

25 min

Sun

Long run

1h30 · Z2

Tap a session to open it - just like the real plan.

6 x 800m @ 5k

Warm-up

15:00

Zone 2 · 9:07-9:49 /mi

On the watch

Pushed to your Garmin, Coros, Suunto or Wahoo

Every planned session is sent to the device as a structured workout - warm-up, each rep, each recovery, cool-down, with pace or heart-rate targets - and every edit or move is mirrored. Sam presses start. The watch does the counting.

Week 1 · 6 workouts synced · Strength A and B synced exercise by exercise

Sunday · 9:41 am

The long run lands

The watch syncs. Fit PA scores the run against the plan, spots a personal record, drains the recovery battery, and the coach speaks first.

Garmin Forerunner 265 · activity received · processing...

Sunday Long Run

Sun, 6 Sep • 8:04 am • 84°F, sunny • Garmin Forerunner 265

9.95

mi

1:32:10

Duration

9:15

Avg Pace (/mi)

Avg HR152 bpm

Max HR171 bpm

Training Load118 TSS

Elevation466 ft

Cadence176 spm

Calories1,180 kcal

Splits

#1