Runtime

Reset week: absorbs the three sessions missed in W1 without touching the rest of the plan — same weekly load, races stay anchored. If the Jul 5 long run did happen after all, check it off in W1 and treat Wednesday as a plain easy 4 km. Strides move to Friday: short accelerations, smooth and controlled, not sprints.

6K long run — new territory beyond the 5K. Keep it slow. Walk if you need to.

Deload week. Every 3-4 weeks, pull back 20-25% to let your body adapt. Not optional.

Rewritten Jul 26. The original W5 asked for 22 km and a first 8K — off a month averaging 5.7 km/week and a 5.05 km longest run, that was a fantasy. This is three short runs and a 6 km long: still your biggest week of the block, but built from sessions you've already proven you can do. Frequency is the target here, not distance. Three runs at 8:30-9:00/km beats one hard one. If you only get two in, make them Wednesday and Sunday.

One-off shape this week only: the long run sits on Saturday at 05:45 and Sunday Aug 9 is the single empty day of the whole programme. From W8 the long run returns to Sunday where it belongs. 05:45 because sunrise is ~06:15 and by 09:00 Istanbul is 32°C. Friday is upper-body only so Saturday's legs are fresh.

Away in Arsuz Aug 10–17. Runs stay exactly as planned; the three lifts become swims. Swimming is the ideal substitute here — aerobic, zero impact, and it protects the running legs you are trying to build. The tempo is gone from the whole programme: your all-out 5K is 8:04/km and your easy pace is 8:30/km, so there is only ~30s/km between easy and maximum — no aerobic gap for tempo to sit in. Strides are the only intensity until W12. ⚠ Basketball on Friday, not later. It is lateral, high-impact and the single most likely thing to sprain an ankle two days before a long run. Friday leaves a clear day.

Deliberate step back after three build weeks — this is where the adaptation actually lands. Was 26 km with 5x400m intervals and an 11 km long run; off an 18 km week that was a 62% jump into speed work you have no base for. Monday is a travel day — if you are still on the road, drop it and take the week as three runs. Normal shape resumes: Sat is pull, Sunday is the long run.

The 4th weekly run arrives — short, Friday. Only run this week as written if W6, W7 and W8 actually happened. If you missed more than two runs across those three weeks, repeat W8 instead and tell Vega. Falling behind is fixable; stacking volume on a broken base is not.

Sunday Sep 6 is the first 10 km of your life. Three weeks before the race, on a training Sunday, with no bib and no clock — exactly where you want to meet that distance for the first time. Walk 60s every 3 km if you need to; that is strategy, not failure. Carry water. Do not race it.

Second down week. You just ran 10 km for the first time — absorb it. Long run back to 7 km. This is the week your body banks the last three.

Biggest week of the block, and the first and only quality session before Buyukada: Wednesday's middle 3 km at goal 10K effort (~8:00/km). Not a time trial — a rehearsal so race pace is not a stranger on Sep 27. Sunday's 11 km is the longest run before the race. Tuesday is the last heavy leg session until after Buyukada.

Post-race. Monday is non-negotiable rest, Tuesday's jog will feel awful and that is normal. Long run drops to 10 km — you raced 10 km eight days earlier, this one is at 9:15/km with no clock. Do not try to prove anything this week.

Now the half-marathon build actually starts. Sunday's 13 km is new territory. This is where you start practising fuelling — something with sugar at 45 minutes, water every 3 km. Whatever you plan to use on Nov 1, use it here. Leg day goes moderate from now on.

Sunday Oct 18 is the dress rehearsal — 16 km, the longest run of the programme. Same wake time, same breakfast, same shoes, same fuelling as race day. Was 18 km; 16 is the honest ceiling off this base. That leaves a 5 km gap to the half, which race-day adrenaline and a run/walk strategy will cover — but you should know the gap is there. If you finish this, you finish Nov 1.

Volume drops a third. You will feel antsy and convinced you are losing fitness. You are not — the hay is in the barn. No heavy leg work from here to the race. The only job left is arriving on Nov 1 healthy.