Reference

Know what you're doing.

The training only works if you do it right. Quick refresher on pace, strength form, and the rules of the road.

The three paces

If you remember one thing, remember this.

Pace terminology is where most beginners go wrong. Three intensities run through the plan — easy, steady, and (eventually) hard. The talk test is your tool.

Easy Conversational. Full sentences, no breathing strain. Feels almost too slow. Roughly 60–70% effort, or 65–75% of max heart rate. Most of your running lives here, even when you're fit.

Steady Comfortably hard. Short sentences only, breathing noticeably but not gasping. You could hold it for 30–45 min if pushed. Roughly 75–85% effort, 80–88% max HR. This is what "tempo" sessions in your plan target.

Hard Two or three words between breaths. Not in your current plan. You'll know it when you find it.

The talk test

Mid-run, try saying "I'm running easy today, the weather is nice." Fluent → easy. Need to break it over two breaths → steady. Only 2–3 words → too hard, back off.

Tempo runs in detail

What they do, why they matter, how not to wreck them.

Easy running builds your aerobic base — the engine. Tempo running raises your lactate threshold, the pace at which your body accumulates lactate faster than it can clear it. Practically: tempo work makes a faster pace feel easy. Without it, you'd run for hours at a crawl but couldn't push when you wanted to.

Reading a tempo session

Every tempo block in the plan has the same shape: warmup easy → steady block → cooldown easy. The warmup is non-negotiable. Going straight into hard running is how you get injured.

Example, week 15: "35 min: 10 easy / 15 steady / 10 easy" → jog easy for 10 minutes, lift to steady for 15, drop back to easy for 10.

Tempo with intervals later weeks

From week 19 onward, the steady block breaks into chunks with recovery jogs between, like 5 x (4 min steady / 2 min easy). Splitting the work lets you accumulate more total time at threshold than you could do continuously. The "easy" between bouts is genuinely easy — slow jog, walk if you need to.

The most common tempo mistake

Going too hard. If you're staggering at the end of the steady block, you ran it as hard pace, not steady. Better to err on the easy side — you still get most of the adaptation and don't trash yourself for the long run later in the week.

Strength circuit

Twice a week, non-negotiable. Joints over muscles.

The goal isn't to build big muscles — it's to make your joints, tendons, and stabilising muscles strong enough to handle thousands of foot strikes per run. At 95kg this is the difference between training consistently and getting sidelined.

Bodyweight is enough for the first 6–8 weeks. After that, hold dumbbells or a backpack with books for progression.

Squats

Feet shoulder-width apart, sit back as if into a chair, knees tracking over toes (not caving inward), thighs reaching parallel to the floor if mobility allows. Stand by driving through your heels. Builds quads and glutes — the engine of running.

Reverse lunges

Step backward with one leg, lower until both knees are at ~90°, push back to standing through the front heel. Reverse lunges are kinder on the knees than forward lunges. Trains each leg independently — running is a series of single-leg landings.

Single-leg glute bridges

Lie on your back, knees bent, one foot flat on the floor, the other leg straight out. Drive through the planted heel to lift your hips until your body forms a straight line from shoulders to knee. Squeeze the glute at the top. The most underrated exercise for runners — weak glutes cause knee pain.

Calf raises

Stand on the edge of a step with heels hanging off. Rise onto your toes, lower slowly past flat — slow means 3 seconds down. Calves and Achilles take huge load when running; weak calves are why beginners get shin splints.

Planks

Forearms on the floor, body in a straight line, brace your core like someone's about to punch your stomach. Don't let hips sag or pike up. A strong core stops your form falling apart on long runs.

Side planks added week 4

On one forearm, body straight on your side, hips lifted. Trains the obliques and glute medius — which controls hip stability when you land on one leg.

Step-ups added week 9

Step onto a sturdy chair or low bench, drive through the planted foot, step back down with control. Mimics running's propulsive action directly.

Form rules

Knees track in the same direction as your toes — never cave inward.
Move with control, especially on the lowering phase. Fast down is where injuries happen.
If form breaks down, the set is over. Reps don't matter.
Sharp pain ≠ muscle burn. Sharp pain means stop the exercise.

Rules that matter most

Boring fundamentals that prevent everything else from going wrong.

Easy means slower than you think. If you can't speak in sentences, slow down or walk. Single biggest beginner mistake.
Repeat a week if it felt hard. Week numbers aren't a deadline. Repeating week 5 or 8 because it beat you up is smart training, not failure.
The 10% rule. Don't increase weekly running volume by more than ~10% week-on-week. The cutback weeks in the plan exist for a reason — don't skip them.
Cardio fits faster than connective tissue. Your lungs and heart adapt in weeks, but tendons and joints take months. Going too fast early is how injuries start.
Get fitted at a real running shop. Not Amazon, not what looks good. Wrong shoes at your weight = injury. Replace every 600–800km.

When to stop and rest

Niggles vs injuries — knowing the difference.

Some discomfort is normal, especially in the first weeks. Muscle soreness 24–48 hours after a session is expected. What's not normal:

Sharp, localised pain — especially shin, knee, Achilles, foot arch.
Pain that gets worse during a run rather than warming up and fading.
Pain that changes your gait — if you're limping, you're done for the day.
Niggles that persist more than 3–4 days of rest.

Rule of thumb

If a pain warms up and disappears in the first 10 minutes of a run, you're probably fine. If it persists or worsens, walk home. The plan will still be here tomorrow. The same can't be said for a stress fracture.

A few rest days never set anyone back. Pushing through real pain has ended more running journeys than starting too slow ever has.