Run — 2026-09-18

3.11 km in 18:51 — 6'04" pace at 152 bpm (max 170). Progressive from the gun: 6'15" → 6'10" → 5'45", a clean negative split. First run this block that got faster instead of fading, run on a full 8h24 recovery night (HRV 127, RHR 47 — the first big sleep since quitting).

Data

Metric	Value
Distance	3.11 km
Duration	18:51
Avg pace	6'04" /km
Fastest pace	5'45" /km (km 3) · burst 4'46"
Avg HR	152 bpm
Max HR	170 bpm
Cadence	164 spm (max 175)
Stride	98 cm · 3,095 steps

Metric	Value
HR recovery (2min)	24 bpm (dropped 24, 164→116)
VO₂Max	46 ml/kg/min (held, "average")
Recovery time	12 h
Total / active calories	246 / 217 kcal

HR zones: Extreme 0 min · Anaerobic 7 min · Aerobic 8 min · Fat-burning 1 min · Warm-up <1 min. Splits: 6'15" → 6'10" → 5'45" + 0.11 km in 0'41" (6'15" + 6'10" + 5'45" + 0'41" = 18:51 ✓). Running form: ground contact 293 ms, balance L 50.0% / R 50.0% (symmetric — no gait compensation).

Sleep — Night before

8h 24min · 23:07→07:32 · REM: 8% · Deep: 28% · HRV: 127 · Resting HR: 47 · Woke: 1× · Score: 89/100

First big sleep since quitting smoking. HRV snapped 98→127 and RHR 54→47, both back to clean baseline; bed 23:07 was the first pre-midnight bedtime since the Sep 8 record. The only soft spot is architecture — light 64% (High) and REM 8% (Low), still settling after the withdrawal week. See Sleep/2026-09-18.

How it felt

Achilles still a bit tight, but better in the new shoes. Wore them all day yesterday, ran in them today for the first time. Still figuring out the fit — "will definitely need to re-tie them." Left shoe is bar/straight-laced, right is the normal cross style. Right foot hurt a bit after stopping and went the slightest bit numb. "This shoe is tighter than the Kiprun for sure."

(Achilles: still present, but milder than the Kiprun — the GT-2000's higher drop + stability is offloading the dorsiflexion demand exactly as the Sep 16 note predicted. Foot: the numbness is the logged compression pattern — and today was an accidental A/B test: the bar-laced left foot gave no report, the cross-laced right foot is the one that hurt and numbed slightly. That points straight at midfoot lace pressure, which the bar lacing already reduces. The new shoe being "tighter for sure" raises the stakes: less room for the foot to swell, so the compression threshold (3–4 km) is likely to arrive sooner, not later, in these.)

(Post-hoc, ~2h later: left ankle silent — no issues. That's the real confirmation the run held, not just survived it. Also starting a topical herbal sport cream on ankles + knees (calendula + sweet chestnut + licorice + walnut + chamomile + lavender base — a surface anti-inflammatory, gentle, no counterirritant). Sensible for the superficial ache; it does not build dorsiflexion range, so the mobility floor stays the actual fix.)

Comparison

Metric	Sep 9	Sep 10	Sep 13	Sep 16	Sep 18 (today)
Distance	3.24 km	4.05 km	2.57 km (stopped)	2.01 km	3.11 km
Duration	19:21	26:52	20:49	12:09	18:51
Avg pace	5'58"	6'38"	8'06"	6'03"	6'04"
Avg HR	157 bpm	154 bpm	133 bpm	150 bpm	152 bpm
Max HR	180 bpm	169 bpm	149 bpm	163 bpm	170 bpm
Cadence	168 spm	162 spm	150 spm	168 spm	164 spm
Sleep HRV	127ms	123ms	119ms	98ms	127ms

The engine is unchanged and the tissue is finally behaving. 6'04" at 152 bpm is the same efficiency as Sep 9 (5'58"/157) and Sep 16 (6'03"/150) — VO₂Max held at 46, HR recovery 24 bpm in his usual 18–24 band, balance a clean 50/50. And this was fasted — no breakfast, no coffee — so 152 bpm is the true cost of the day, not a stimulant artefact (fuel's a non-issue at 3 km; last night's dinner covered it). What's different today is the shape: the last three runs all faded (Sep 13: 6'52"→8'36"→9'23" → stop; Sep 16: 5'56"→6'08"), and today went the other way — 6'15" → 6'10" → 5'45". That is the warm-up pattern finally doing its job instead of the achilles announcing itself at km 2.

Verdict

The comeback run the down week was for. Two days after the 2 km break-in and one day after the first full recovery night since quitting, this is a proper step back up: 3.11 km, progressive, no fade, no gait compensation. Opening deliberately (6'15") and letting it build (5'45" final km) is exactly the execution the Sep 16 note asked for — open easy and let the legs warm into it. It paid off: the negative split is the first signal that the achilles/calf issue that ended Sep 13 is quieting, not just being managed.

Still inside the down week, so no volume heroics: the Sunday long run is the actual goal, and this morning already banked the Friday slot. HRV 127 behind it means the base was fully recovered — this wasn't a run on credit.

On the shoes — the lacing experiment is already telling us the answer. Left bar-laced, right cross-laced, and only the right foot hurt + numbed slightly: that's midfoot compression, and the bar lacing is the fix for it. Before Sunday, lace both feet bar-style (or better, skip the midfoot eyelet over the arch — the wide-lace pattern), and only snug the heel/ankle, never the midfoot. The GT-2000 is tighter than the Kiprun, so there's less swelling room — expect the numbness threshold to sit closer than 3–4 km until the upper breaks in and the lacing is right. If it still numbs after both feet are bar-laced loose, that's the signal the fit (not the pattern) is the problem.

Connected

Sleep/2026-09-18
Runs/2026-09-16 (the break-in this extends)
Runs/2026-09-13 (the flare this is the clean return from)
Health/mobility
Half-marathon-plan

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