Base Block — Oct 5 to Dec 27, 2026

12 weeks, no race on the calendar · follows the Oct 4 half (1:40:44) · ← the Oct 4 half plan
Background now32–35 mi
Target by Dec38–40 mi
Easy HR Cap≤ 145 bpm
Threshold (T)7:17 /mi
Lift DaysMon + Thu
Calf Ramp20 → 50 lb
What this block is for — three jobs, in priority order
#JobWhy
1Raise background volume
32–35 → 38–40 mi		The 2027 marathon build requires a 38–42 mi background to start from, and Oct 4 measured the cost of not having it: HM-equivalent VDOT 44.8 against 46 at 5K. One point of drop-off at 13.1 off a 42 mi peak week. The gap widens with distance, so at the marathon it will be larger than one point until this number moves. Volume is the stimulus of this block; everything else is maintenance.
2Hold threshold fitness
1 T session/wk, 2 from Wk 6		Off-block periods are load-bearing — they set the floor the next build starts from. Full intensity withdrawal would hand back the T work that took Jul–Sep to build. This is a hold, not a progression: no I work, no HMP work, nothing to peak for.
3Run the calf ramp
20 → 50 lb		The most overdue item in the program. It has sat between bodyweight and 20 lb for the entire half build because every taper stripped it. Target is 0.25–0.35× BW (45–55 lb at 155) for sets of 10. There is no race to protect for 12 weeks — this is the only window it gets.
Training Intensities — VDOT 46 at 5K / 45 at the half
Easy / Long (HR)
≤ 145 bpm
Cap only — no pace floor. 70% of a 148-beat reserve (HRmax 190, rest 42). Easy runs land 120–135 at 8:30–9:15, so the cap is academic; it exists to catch a day that runs hot, not to slow you down. Pace is the output. Daniels E range 8:31–9:34 is reference, not a target.
Threshold (T)
7:17
Program the watch by pace. Cruise miles w/ 1:00 jog, 2-mi reps w/ 2:00. HR settles 165–172; LTHR is 170–173. Abort at ≥178. HR is read, not programmed.
Sub-Threshold (HR)
162–170 bpm
Program the watch by HR. Saturday's second quality dose from Wk 9, and the winter substitute for T whenever footing voids a pace target. Pace is the output — log it, don't chase it.
Marathon (M)
7:58
Off the 45 anchor, not 46 — M is a half-or-longer pace and Oct 4 settled which anchor those take. No M sessions in this block; it's here as the reference the 2027 build will start from.
Repetition (R)
6:10
Tuesday strides, ~46 s/200. Hold 6:10 — don't accelerate down the set (Oct 2's last four strides ran 5:48–5:37). Full walk-back, on the flat. Not a workout; stop if form breaks.
Interval (I)
6:46
No I sessions in this block, deliberately. VO2max work is a spring stimulus with a race to point it at. Hill strides from Wk 6 cover the economy and power end at a fraction of the injury cost.
Phase 1 · Wk 1–2 · Oct 5–18 — Reset
Recovery, then reassembly. No quality, no adds, nothing earned here.
WK1
Oct 5 – Oct 11
Long: 6 mi easy
recovery
20mi
▾
MON
Full rest. Walk 20–30 min if you want to move. No lift, no core.
off
TUE
Rest, or 3 mi easy — and the test is stairs, not legs-feel. If descending a flight is anything other than normal, walk again instead. Oct 4 was 512 ft of gain with a −4.4% mile 5 and a −119 ft run to the line, and the fastest mile of the day came on that descent; eccentric quad damage peaks 24–48 h and running on it buys nothing this week. HR cap 140.
offeasy
WED
3–4 mi easy. HR cap 140 all week — 5 under the normal cap, deliberately. No pace floor: if the pace that read 126 bpm in September reads 138 today, shorten the run, don't slow it to make a number work.
easy
THU
3–4 mi easy + Lift B at 2×5 / ~70% load — first session back after race week, and it stays light whatever it feels like. Calves bodyweight 2×10. No Copenhagen this week.
easylift B (light)
FRI
Rest.
off
SAT
4–5 mi easy. HR cap 140.
easy
SUN
6 mi easy — long only in name. HR cap 140, walk breaks are free.
long
No strides, no quality, no lift A. Roughly one easy day per mile raced before hard work puts the first real session around Oct 18, and there is no race on the calendar to compress for. A good resting HR on Thursday means proceed as written — it does not mean Sunday becomes 8 miles.
WK2
Oct 12 – Oct 18
Long: 8 mi easy
lifts off freeze
26mi
▾
MON
4 mi easy + Lift A back to 3×5 at the frozen loads: Sq 175 · Bn 120, pull-ups AMRAP (~6/6/5) + core 10'. Calves 20 lb, straight-knee 3×10/side, 3-s lowering. No adds this week — re-establish the loads first, then progress.
easylift Acore
TUE
4 mi easy + 6 ST @ 6:10, ~46 s/200, full walk-back, flat. First strides since Oct 2. Hold 6:10 across all six.
easy
WED
4 mi easy. Still no T work — Wednesday opens next week.
easy
THU
4 mi easy + Lift B 3×5 / 3×8 at frozen loads: OHP 65 · Row 115×8 · RDL 160×8 (straps on RDL, rows strapless). Calves 20 lb bent-knee 3×12/side. Copenhagen resumes — long-lever 3×6, slow eccentric; expect DOMS, nothing this week cares.
easylift B
FRI
Rest.
off
SAT
2 mi easy.
easy
SUN
8 mi easy. Easy HR cap back to 145 from here on.
long
Loads come off the Wk 11 freeze — seven weeks at Sq 175 · Bn 120 · OHP 65 · RDL 160 · Row 115. This week re-establishes them at full volume; linear adds start Wk 3. The calf ramp starts here and it is the one thing in this block with a 12-week runway.
Phase 2 · Wk 3–8 · Oct 19 – Nov 29 — Build the base
Volume climbs 30 → 37. One T session, strides, hills from Wk 6. Cutbacks Wk 5 and Wk 8.
WK3
Oct 19 – Oct 25
Long: 9 mi easy
T returns
30mi
▾
MON
4 mi easy + Lift A, first adds: +5 lb lower / +2.5–5 upper, only if every set kept ≥2 RIR last week. Core 10'. Calves 20 lb.
easylift Acore
TUE
4 mi easy + 6 ST @ 6:10.
easy
WED
6 mi total: 1.5 warmup + 3 × 1 mi @ T (7:17) w/ 1:00 jog + cooldown. Program the watch by pace. This is the Sep 2 cutback dose on purpose — first T session in five weeks, re-entry dose, not a test. HR will settle 160–168; abort at 178. Flat route.
threshold
THU
4 mi easy + Lift B + calves 20 lb + Copenhagen long-lever 3×6.
easylift B
FRI
Rest.
off
SAT
3 mi easy.
easy
SUN
9 mi easy, all of it easy. No HMP, no finishing fast.
long
Two new stimuli land this week — T work returns and lift loads start moving. That is the ceiling for one week; the long run stays flat at 9 and the plyos wait until Wk 4.
WK4
Oct 26 – Nov 1
Long: 10 mi easy
plyos in
33mi
▾
MON
5 mi easy + Lift A (adds if ≥2 RIR) + core 10'. Calves → 25 lb. Plyos introduced, before lifting: pogo hops 3×10, both feet, minimal ground contact. 30 contacts. Stop the set the moment ground contact lengthens.
easylift Acore
TUE
4 mi easy + 6 ST @ 6:10.
easy
WED
7 mi total: 1.5 warmup + 4 × 1 mi @ T (7:17) w/ 1:00 jog + cooldown. Pace-programmed. Read rep time against 7:17, not the derived pace/mi — GPS undermeasures and a true mile logs as 0.98.
threshold
THU
5 mi easy + Lift B + calves 25 lb + Copenhagen 3×8 + pogo hops 3×10.
easylift B
FRI
Rest.
off
SAT
2 mi easy.
easy
SUN
10 mi easy.
long
Plyos start at 60 contacts/week and only after three weeks of loaded calf work, because they load the same tissue the ramp is building. Both sessions sit on lift days, two days clear of Wednesday.
WK5
Nov 2 – Nov 8
Long: 8 mi easy
cutback
28mi
▾
MON
4 mi easy + Lift A, no adds — cutback week + core 10'. Calves 25 lb (hold). Pogos 3×10.
easylift Acore
TUE
4 mi easy + 6 ST @ 6:10.
easy
WED
6 mi total: 1.5 warmup + 3 × 1 mi @ T (7:17) w/ 1:00 jog + cooldown. Cutback dose.
threshold
THU
4 mi easy + Lift B (no adds) + calves 25 lb + Copenhagen 3×8 + pogos 3×10.
easylift B
FRI
Rest.
off
SAT
2 mi easy.
easy
SUN
8 mi easy.
long
First cutback of the block. No load adds anywhere — lifts, calves and plyos all hold. The point of a cutback is to absorb four weeks of accumulated work, and adding anything defeats it.
WK6
Nov 9 – Nov 15
Long: 11 mi easy
2nd quality day
35mi
▾
MON
5 mi easy + Lift A (adds) + core 10'. Calves → 30 lb. Pogos 3×12. Add unilateral: barbell split squat 2×8/side at bodyweight or a loaded backpack — start at bodyweight regardless of how it feels.
easylift Acore
TUE
4 mi easy + 6 ST @ 6:10.
easy
WED
7 mi total: 1.5 warmup + 2 × 2 mi @ T (7:17) w/ 2:00 jog + cooldown. Pace-programmed. Longer reps, same pace — the progression in this block is rep length, never pace.
threshold
THU
5 mi easy + Lift B + calves 30 lb + Copenhagen 3×10 + pogos 3×12.
easylift B
FRI
Rest.
off
SAT
3 mi easy + 6 × 30 s uphill strides at 5K effort, walk down, full recovery. Effort-prescribed, not pace or HR — a hill makes both meaningless. Moderate grade, 4–6%; stop at six.
easyhills
SUN
11 mi easy.
long
Saturday becomes a second quality day — small, and it stays small. Hill strides are the economy and power stimulus that replaces I work in this block: most of the benefit, a fraction of the injury cost, and no pace target to chase. Sunday stays entirely easy regardless of what Saturday felt like.
WK7
Nov 16 – Nov 22
Long: 12 mi easy
phase high
37mi
▾
MON
5 mi easy + Lift A (adds) + core 10'. Calves → 35 lb. Split squat 2×8/side. Pogos 3×12.
easylift Acore
TUE
4 mi easy + 6 ST @ 6:10.
easy
WED
8 mi total: 1.5 warmup + 5 mi @ T as 2 + 2 + 1 (7:17), 2:00 jog between + cooldown. Pace-programmed. Same session as Sep 9, which ran 7:17 / 7:16 / 7:13 — a flat route this time; Sep 9's rolling mix-up cost rep 1 five sec/mi and put rep 3 at LTHR.
threshold
THU
5 mi easy + Lift B + calves 35 lb + Copenhagen 3×10 + pogos 3×12.
easylift B
FRI
Rest.
off
SAT
3 mi easy + 8 × 30 s uphill strides, same grade and recovery as Wk 6.
easyhills
SUN
12 mi easy. Longest run since Sep 13. Gel at 60 min if it helps the habit; no pace work.
long
37 mi is within 5 of the Sep peak, carrying one T session instead of two plus HMP work. If anything is going to complain, it complains here — that is what the Wk 8 cutback is positioned for.
WK8
Nov 23 – Nov 29
Long: 10 mi easy
cutbackoptional 5K
31mi
▾
MON
4 mi easy + Lift A, no adds + core 10'. Calves 35 lb (hold). Split squat 2×8/side. Pogos 3×12.
easylift Acore
TUE
4 mi easy + 6 ST @ 6:10.
easy
WED
6 mi total: 1.5 warmup + 3 × 1 mi @ T (7:17) w/ 1:00 jog + cooldown. Cutback dose. Skip entirely if the Thursday 5K is on — see the week note.
threshold
THU
Thanksgiving. Either 4 mi easy + Lift B + calves 35 + Copenhagen 3×10 + pogos, or a turkey-trot 5K if one gets entered — in which case lifts move to Friday and Wednesday's T comes out.
easylift B
FRI
Rest, or the displaced Lift B.
off
SAT
3 mi easy. No hills this week.
easy
SUN
10 mi easy.
long
The 5K is optional and unentered — it is in the file because a cutback week is exactly where a free fitness check fits, and because a 5K is the only thing in this block that could re-rate VDOT. If it happens: race it off a short warmup, prescribe the best pace believed available rather than a threshold to clear (the Aug 22 lesson — pacing to a pass mark caps the result at "just clears"), and expect a mid-base-block result 10–20 sec slower than Aug 22's 21:29. That would not be a fitness loss, and nothing in this block changes on the number either way.
Phase 3 · Wk 9–12 · Nov 30 – Dec 27 — Hold 38–40
Target background established and held through winter. Sub-T returns Saturdays. Footing outranks every pace target from here.
WK9
Nov 30 – Dec 6
Long: 12 mi easy
sub-T returns
38mi
▾
MON
5 mi easy + Lift A (adds) + core 10'. Calves → 40 lb. Split squat 3×8/side. Pogos 3×15.
easylift Acore
TUE
5 mi easy + 6 ST @ 6:10. Strides move to a cleared surface or come out — not worth a slip for 46 seconds of work.
easy
WED
8 mi total: 1.5 warmup + 5 mi @ T as 2 + 2 + 1 (7:17) + cooldown. Pace-programmed if the footing is clean. Snow or ice → convert to sub-T, HR-programmed 162–170, and void the pace target entirely.
thresholdor sub-T
THU
5 mi easy + Lift B + calves 40 lb + Copenhagen 3×10 + pogos 3×15.
easylift B
FRI
Rest.
off
SAT
3 mi easy + sub-T 2 × 10 min @ HR 162–170, 2:00 jog between. Program the watch by HR; pace is the output — log it, don't chase it. Replaces hills from here: sub-T is the one quality format that survives bad footing and cold air intact.
sub-T
SUN
12 mi easy.
long
Target background reached. 38 mi is the bottom of the 2027 requirement, and the job of the last four weeks is to prove it is repeatable in December weather, not to push past it.
WK10
Dec 7 – Dec 13
Long: 13 mi easy
block high
40mi
▾
MON
5 mi easy + Lift A (adds) + core 10'. Calves → 45 lb — bottom of the 0.25–0.35× BW target band. Split squat 3×8/side. Pogos 3×15.
easylift Acore
TUE
5 mi easy + 6 ST @ 6:10 (surface permitting).
easy
WED
8 mi total: 1.5 warmup + 3 × 2 mi @ T (7:17) w/ 2:00 jog + cooldown. Six T miles — the biggest T session of the block, and the same volume as Wk 15 of the half build. Pace-programmed, or sub-T by HR if the footing says so.
thresholdor sub-T
THU
5 mi easy + Lift B + calves 45 lb + Copenhagen 3×10 + pogos 3×15.
easylift B
FRI
Rest.
off
SAT
4 mi easy + sub-T 2 × 12 min @ HR 162–170, 2:00 jog. HR-programmed.
sub-T
SUN
13 mi easy — longest of the block so far, at 33% of the week. All easy.
long
40 mi with two quality days is the hardest week in the block. It is 2 mi under the Sep peak and carries less intensity. If it goes cleanly, the 2027 build has a 40 mi background to start from — which was the whole point.
WK11
Dec 14 – Dec 20
Long: 11 mi easy
cutback
33mi
▾
MON
4 mi easy + Lift A, no adds + core 10'. Calves 45 lb (hold). Split squat 3×8/side. Pogos 3×15.
easylift Acore
TUE
4 mi easy + 6 ST @ 6:10 (surface permitting).
easy
WED
6 mi total: 1.5 warmup + 4 × 1 mi @ T (7:17) w/ 1:00 jog + cooldown. Cutback dose, shorter reps.
thresholdor sub-T
THU
4 mi easy + Lift B (no adds) + calves 45 lb + Copenhagen 3×10 + pogos.
easylift B
FRI
Rest.
off
SAT
4 mi easy. No second quality dose this week.
easy
SUN
11 mi easy.
long
Cutback across the board — no load adds, one quality day, long run back to 11. Holiday travel or a lost week lands most cheaply here; if something has to give in December, give this week, not Wk 12.
WK12
Dec 21 – Dec 27
Long: 14 mi easy
block close
40mi
▾
MON
5 mi easy + Lift A (adds) + core 10'. Calves → 50 lb. Split squat 3×8/side. Pogos 3×15.
easylift Acore
TUE
5 mi easy + 6 ST @ 6:10 (surface permitting).
easy
WED
8 mi total: 1.5 warmup + 3 × 2 mi @ T (7:17) w/ 2:00 jog + cooldown. Pace-programmed, or sub-T by HR on bad footing. Christmas Eve week — move the day freely, keep the two-days-clear-of-a-lift rule.
thresholdor sub-T
THU
Christmas Day. 5 mi easy + Lift B if it fits; skip the lift without replacing it if it doesn't. Calves 50 lb + Copenhagen 3×10.
easylift B
FRI
Rest.
off
SAT
3 mi easy + sub-T 2 × 12 min @ HR 162–170, HR-programmed.
sub-T
SUN
14 mi easy — matches the longest run of the half build, run entirely easy this time.
long
Block closes here. Deliverables to check against on Dec 27: background at 38–40, calves at 50 lb for sets of 10 with the 3-s lowering intact, T work held at 7:17 through a winter, and a 14-miler that costs nothing. Those four are what the 2027 build gets to start from. Write the next block in the last week of December, once the spring-vs-fall question is answered.
Volume
20 · 26 · 30 · 33 · 28 · 35 · 37 · 31 · 38 · 40 · 33 · 40 — cutbacks bold, Wk 5 / 8 / 11. Block total ~391 mi, averaging 32.6/wk. Peak is 40, which is 2 mi under the Sep peak and carries less intensity, so this is not a new high-water mark — it is the same ceiling converted from a race peak into a sustainable background. The ~10–15% YoY growth guidance applies to the next peak (50 in a 2027 marathon block), not to this number.
Quality
One T session a week, two quality days from Wk 6. T progresses by rep length only — never pace: 3×1 mi → 4×1 → 2×2 → 2+2+1 → 3×2. Saturday is hills (Wk 6–7) then sub-T (Wk 9+). No I work and no HMP work in this block, both deliberately: VO2max work needs a race to point at, and race pace needs a race. The next time either appears, it will be inside a build with a date attached.
Watch
Pace or HR, never both. T sessions: programmed by pace (7:17), HR read only, abort ≥178. Sub-T: programmed by HR (162–170), pace logged as the output. Easy and long: HR cap 145, no pace floor. Hill strides: effort, since a grade makes both fields meaningless. For distance reps, read rep time against the target, not the derived pace/mi — GPS undermeasures and a true mile logs as 0.978–0.980.
Lifting
Mon (A): squat, bench, pull-ups + core 10' (+ split squat from Wk 6). Thu (B): OHP, rows, RDL + calves + Copenhagen. Squat/bench/OHP 3×5 at ~2 RIR; RDL and row 3×8; pull-ups bodyweight AMRAP (~6/6/5). Straps on RDL, rows and pull-ups strapless. Wk 1: Lift B only, 2×5 at ~70%. Wk 2: both lifts, 3×5 at the frozen loads — Sq 175 · Bn 120 · OHP 65 · RDL 160 · Row 115 (~155 lb BW), no adds. Linear adds from Wk 3: +5 lb lower / +2.5–5 upper, only while every set keeps ≥2 RIR and DOMS never touches a Wednesday. No adds in cutback weeks. Never lift the day before a quality session — Mon→Wed and Thu→Sat are both two days clear. Loads have been frozen since Aug 17; seven weeks is long enough.
Calves
The headline item of this block. Mon straight-knee 3×10/side, Thu bent-knee 3×12/side, always single-leg off a step with a 3-s lowering and full stretch at the bottom. Load by plate to chest / suitcase hold / backpack. Ramp: Wk 2 20 · Wk 4 25 · Wk 6 30 · Wk 7 35 · Wk 9 40 · Wk 10 45 · Wk 12 50, holding through cutbacks. 50 lb at 155 BW is 0.32× — inside the 0.25–0.35× target. Soleus and achilles carry 6–8× BW per stride at HM pace, and the gap between that and what they have been trained for is the single largest durability hole heading into marathon volume. Stop rules: every set ≥2 RIR with the 3-s lowering intact — a sloppy eccentric means the load is wrong, not the tempo. Sharp or localized achilles pain = drop a step, don't train through it.
Plyos
New to the program, and introduced Wk 4 — after three weeks of loaded calf work, because they load the same tissue the ramp is building. Pogo hops only, both feet, minimal ground contact, before lifting on Mon and Thu. 3×10 (60 contacts/wk) → 3×15 (90/wk) by Wk 9 and no further. Stop the set the moment ground contact lengthens — the stimulus is stiffness, not fatigue. No box jumps, no bounding, no depth drops this block: the landing loads are a different order of magnitude and there is no reason to buy them in year one.
Copenhagen
Thu with Lift B, where it has always sat. Skip Wk 1, resume long-lever 3×6 in Wk 2, progress 3×8 (Wk 4) → 3×10 (Wk 6) and hold. Slow eccentrics. Addresses the recurring bilateral adductor and lower-core DOMS after fast sessions — a capacity gap, not an injury, and nothing in Lift A or B loads it.
Winter
Footing outranks every pace target in this file from Wk 9 on. Snow or ice means a T session converts to sub-T by HR 162–170 and the 7:17 target is void — pace on a bad surface measures the surface, not fitness. A treadmill at 1% is the alternative when the pace itself matters. Strides move to a cleared surface or come out entirely. Do not chase 7:17 on ice to protect a number in a block with no race in it. Cold air also raises HR a few bpm at fixed pace; on an easy day that is the cap doing its job, not a warning.
Resting HR
Log Monday and Thursday overnight. Baseline 40–42. Decision attached: ≥45 for three consecutive readings → the next Wednesday T session becomes easy miles and the week's mileage holds flat instead of stepping up. Back to 40–42 → resume as written. This is the one tripwire worth keeping — the Sep 19–29 episode (45–48 for ten days) showed up here before it showed up anywhere else, and it was invisible in easy-pace HR the whole time.
Open
(1) Spring vs. fall 2027 marathon — unresolved, and nothing before January depends on it. Oct 4 sharpened the trade rather than settling it: the measured 5K→half spread says the limiter is volume, which argues for fall 2027 and a summer of base over a spring attempt off the current background. (2) Thanksgiving 5K (Wk 8) — unentered, optional, and the only thing in this block that could re-rate VDOT. (3) Recompute every %HRR figure against rest 42, not 50 — `runs_csv.exs:21` and `5k_readiness.exs:21` hardcode `@rest_hr 50`, understating by ~2–3 points throughout `out.csv`. Deferred through race week because nothing operational depended on it; the race is run, so the blocker is gone. The easy cap in this file already uses the corrected 148-beat reserve.