Run — 2026-09-09

3.24 km in 19:21 — 5'58" pace at 157 bpm. Week-2 opener, ~11:30 start. Yesterday's "didn't go" got answered today: the opener happened, floor intact (3.24 vs 3.5 planned — close enough to call it a hit). But the real story is the leak, not the pace: km 1–2 were genuinely controlled (6'06" → 6'11"), then the ego opened km 3 with a 400 m surge at ~4'20" (cadence 180, HR 165→180 in one burst) before he backed off to a 5'30" km. Post-hoc context: annoyed at work that morning, easily irritated, legs tight and sore (calf around the achilles) — and he named the driver himself: "I need to push back my ego and my stress… pushing myself will not bring me results in stamina." The sleep base was clean (HRV 127, score 88) — this wasn't a taxed body, it was a stressed one. Day 3–4 of nicotine withdrawal (quit Sep 6) is also the chemical crankiness peak: some of the irritability is the quit working. First run inside the craving-peak window (Sep 9–13) — the tool got used.

Data

Metric	Value
Distance	3.24 km
Duration	19:21
Avg pace	5'58" /km
Fastest pace	5'30" /km (best km) · ~4'20" 400 m surge in km 3
Avg HR	157 bpm
Max HR	180 bpm (the surge)
Cadence	168 spm (max 186; 180 during the surge)

Metric	Value
HR recovery (2min)	21 bpm (171→129)
VO₂Max	46 ml/kg/min (maintained, "average")
Steps	3,254

HR zones: Extreme 1 min · Anaerobic 10 min · Aerobic 6 min · Fat-burning 1 min · Warm-up <1 min — 11 of 19 minutes above the ~152 bpm aerobic ceiling, most of it the surge's wake. Splits: 6'06" → 6'11" → 5'30" + 0.24 km — the first two km were the plan; km 3 was the argument.

Sleep — Night before

7h 37min · 00:25→08:21 · REM: 18% · Deep: 30% · HRV: 127 · Resting HR: 50 · Score: 88/100

Sober late night (00:25 bed — the cost vs the 22:59 record night is the whole 145→127). Architecture fully repaired: REM back to 18%, deep 30% at 95 continuity. First run in a week starting from a clean base, not debt. The work-stress came AFTER this sleep — the base was fine; the morning poisoned the run, not the night. See Sleep/2026-09-09.

How it felt

"Legs were tight and sore, especially the calf around the achilles. And I am easily annoyed — I got annoyed with work this morning. The first two kilometers were kinda controlled with 6'00"/km. But I really wanted to go fast: the first 400 meters of the 3rd km was in 4'20" pace (with 180 cadence) and in that small time my HR jumped from 165 to 180. I need to push back my ego and my stress somehow. I feel like I want to push myself, but this will not bring me results in stamina."

(Legs: tight+sore, calf-achilles focus — side unstated. Noted as a watch item, second consecutive run with achilles-adjacent tightness after Sep 6's left-achilles-first-2-km.)

Comparison

Metric	Sep 2 (controlled)	Sep 4 (hot overshoot)	Sep 6 (long, taxed)	Sep 9 (today)
Distance	3.01 km	5.04 km	6.07 km	3.24 km
Duration	19:32	36:31	41:59	19:21
Avg pace	6'29"	7'15"	6'55"	5'58"
Avg HR	148 bpm	159 bpm	157 bpm	157 bpm
Max HR	163 bpm	176 bpm	179 bpm	180 bpm
Cadence	166 spm	156 spm	161 spm	168 spm
VO₂Max	46	46	46	46
Sleep HRV	145ms	111ms	74ms	127ms

Verdict: The floor held — and the leak got smaller, which is the actual progress. Three runs of effort overshoot in a row (Sep 4 hot, Sep 6's 22 anaerobic minutes, today a 400 m burst) but the shape is trending the right way: this time the restraint lasted 2.4 km, the leak was ~15 seconds of a 19-minute run, and he pulled back after it instead of riding it. The driver is now named and it's not the body — clean sleep base (127 HRV, score 88), sharp early km's, then the ego took over on a stressed morning. His own read is the correct one and worth locking in: the 400 m surge trains a system the half marathon barely uses, and steals recovery from the one it does — the stamina he wants for Nov 29 is built by the boring km's, and he's the one who said it. Two contexts soften the self-criticism: (1) day 3–4 nicotine-free is the chemical irritability peak — some of "easily annoyed" is withdrawal, temporary, and a sign the quit is landing; (2) an annoyed run that happens at all is still the loop working (Jul 8's full rage run was the crash version; today was a 400 m leak, not a crash). Friday (4 km, 48h before the 7 km Sunday) is the natural place to practice the pushback — boring on purpose is the win condition there.

Physical notes: Legs tight and sore, focus on the calf around the achilles (side unstated — Sep 6's tightness was left achilles, first 2 km, resolved in-run). Two runs running with achilles-adjacent tightness after two full rest days — this is Sunday's hard 6.07 load + today's surge stacking on the calf-achilles complex, not daily wear. Watch item: tightness that resolves during the run = the warm-up pattern (like the right ankle) and is manageable; soreness that persists past tomorrow or sharpens into point-pain = stop and report. Mobility floor applies tonight: ankle circles + gentle calf work. No foot numbness reported at 3.24 km.

Connected

Sleep/2026-09-09
Runs/2026-09-06 (previous run — the taxed 6.07 long run whose load is still in the calves)
Runs/2026-09-02 (the controlled benchmark this week should rhyme with)
Half-marathon-plan

5.6 KiB Raw Blame History Unescape Escape