Health and training

Everything your watch records, plus the road to a half marathon on 13 February 2027. The plan rebuilds itself from your real data every time you open this, so you are never behind schedule.

Today · 2026-08-06

Easy run/walk

2 min run / 2 min walk, 30 to 40 min, keep HR under 140

Easy run/walk. Jog gently, then walk, then repeat, for 30 to 40 minutes total.

This is the session that actually builds your engine. Running slowly for a long time is what grows blood volume, builds capillaries and makes your heart push more blood per beat. Running hard does not do that, it just makes you tired. The walk break is not a rest, it is the mechanism, because it keeps your heart rate low enough for the adaptation to happen at all.

Heart rate under 140. That is the only number that matters here.

27.3weeks to race
71session ceiling min
2/2run / walk min
3/4sessions this week
41running min this week
Agoal 2:20 to 2:30

The plan

Day by day

What was planned sits on top, what you actually did sits underneath, with running and walking counted separately so a walk is never credited as a run.

week of Jul 13

Mon13
Strengthmissed
Tue14
Easy run/walk✓ 51min · 117bpm0 run / 51 walk
Wed15
Rest✓ 65min · 131bpm18 run / 44 walk
Thu16
Easy run/walk✓ 47min · 109bpm0 run / 46 walk
Fri17
Rest✓ 52min · 154bpm26 run / 24 walk
Sat18
Long sessionmissed
Sun19
Easy run/walkmissed

week of Jul 20

Mon20
Strengthmissed
Tue21
Easy run/walk✓ 45min · 129bpm0 run / 44 walk
Wed22
Rest✓ 32min · 113bpm
Thu23
Easy run/walkmissed
Fri24
Restrest
Sat25
Long sessionmissed
Sun26
Easy run/walkmissed

week of Jul 27

Mon27
Strengthmissed
Tue28
Easy run/walkmissed
Wed29
Rest✓ 60min · 114bpm0 run / 40 walk
Thu30
Easy run/walk✓ 41min · 122bpm
Fri31
Restrest
Sat1
Long sessionmissed
Sun2
Easy run/walkmissed

week of Aug 3

Mon3
Strength✓ 41min · 154bpm20 run / 19 walk
Tue4
Easy run/walk✓ 27min · 106bpm
Wed5
Rest✓ 35min · 163bpm21 run / 14 walk
Thu6
Easy run/walkmissed
Fri7
Rest
Sat8
Long session
Sun9
Easy run/walk

week of Aug 10

Mon10
Strength
Tue11
Easy run/walk
Wed12
Rest
Thu13
Easy run/walk
Fri14
Rest
Sat15
Long session
Sun16
Easy run/walk

week of Aug 17

Mon17
Strength
Tue18
Easy run/walk
Wed19
Rest
Thu20
Easy run/walk
Fri21
Rest
Sat22
Long session
Sun23
Easy run/walk

week of Aug 24

Mon24
Strength
Tue25
Easy run/walk
Wed26
Rest
Thu27
Easy run/walk

Checkpoints

Only the length of your longest session matters. Everything else follows from it.

DateLongest sessionRoughlyStatus
2026-10-0150 min3 mimet
2026-11-1575 min5 miupcoming
2027-01-01105 min8 miupcoming
2027-01-17135 min10 to 11 miupcoming

Recent sessions

DateTypeTotal minRun minWalk min Longest boutRun HR
2026-08-05running3521.013.721.0175.4
2026-08-04strength training27
2026-08-03running4120.118.619.7165.3
2026-07-30strength training41
2026-07-29running600.240.30.2117.0
2026-07-22indoor cardio32
2026-07-21running450.144.40.2125.0
2026-07-17running5226.524.126.5170.1
2026-07-16running470.045.80.0
2026-07-15running6518.544.518.1162.0
2026-07-14running510.050.60.0
2026-07-09running760.154.10.1110.5

Workouts explained

What each session is for

Four kinds of session, and one for when you are travelling. Nothing else.

Easy run/walk

What it is
Jog gently, then walk, then repeat, for 30 to 40 minutes total.
Why it works
This is the session that actually builds your engine. Running slowly for a long time is what grows blood volume, builds capillaries and makes your heart push more blood per beat. Running hard does not do that, it just makes you tired. The walk break is not a rest, it is the mechanism, because it keeps your heart rate low enough for the adaptation to happen at all.
How it should feel
Easy enough to talk in full sentences the whole time. If you are breathing hard, you are doing it wrong, and slower is better than faster.
The number that matters
Heart rate under 140. That is the only number that matters here.

Long session

What it is
The same run and walk pattern, just kept going for longer.
Why it works
This is the only workout that specifically prepares you for 13.1 miles. Time on your feet teaches your body to burn fat instead of only sugar, and teaches your legs, tendons and feet to tolerate hours of impact. If a week falls apart and you only get one session done, make it this one.
How it should feel
Exactly as easy as any other day, just more of it. The temptation is to go faster because it is the big session of the week. Do not.
The number that matters
Total minutes, and never more than 10 percent above your longest of the last 30 days.

Strength

What it is
About 30 minutes of squats, lunges, step ups, calf raises and core work.
Why it works
Running at 210 pounds puts real load through your joints. Stronger hips, glutes and calves absorb that load so your knees and shins do not have to. It also protects muscle while you lose weight, which matters because you want to lose fat, not the engine underneath it.
How it should feel
Controlled. Two or three sets of movements you can do with good form, not to failure.
The number that matters
None. Just show up and move deliberately.

The travel session

What it is
Twenty minutes of anything that raises your heart rate, twice in the week.
Why it works
This is not a consolation prize. Studies that cut training to two days a week, and cut sessions to as little as 13 minutes, found aerobic fitness fully maintained for 15 weeks, as long as the intensity stayed high. So on the road you protect the hard part and throw away the volume. A brisk walk up hotel stairs counts.
How it should feel
Genuinely hard, unlike your normal easy days. This is the one time effort beats duration.
The number that matters
Two sessions. Twenty minutes. That is a complete week while travelling.

Rest

What it is
Nothing at all, deliberately.
Why it works
Adaptation happens between sessions, not during them. The training is the signal, the rest is where your body actually builds the thing you asked for. A rest day you planned is part of the work. A day you avoid thinking about becomes three.
How it should feel
Guilt free.
The number that matters
Log it and move on.

Heart and fitness

The engine

Resting heart rate is the clearest single sign that base training is working. It falls slowly, over months, and it is the number to watch.

Resting heart rate

57.5bpm · 14 day avg

down 0.6 versus the previous two weeks · latest 56

2026-04-08 to 2026-08-05: low 51, high 71, latest 56

Healthy for your age. It fell from 59 to 57 over the last month, which is the direction you want.

VO2 max

36ml/kg/min

Fair for 41. Good starts around 42

Garmin recalculates this after hard efforts.
Expect it to move slowly, over months.

Losing 20 lb alone would move this to about 40, because the number is measured per kilogram of you.

Predicted half marathon

3:06today

Target is 2:20 to 2:30 by February

Your last real half was 2:38 in January 2024,
run at 183 bpm. The goal is to beat it at 150.

This prediction assumes your current fitness. It will fall as the base builds.

Sleep

The experiment

Your hypothesis is that these numbers are caused by carrying extra weight and will improve as you approach 190 lb. This section is the test. The shaded band on each chart is the healthy range.

Sleep duration

6.1hours · 14 day avg

down 0.2 versus the previous two weeks · latest 5.88

2026-04-08 to 2026-08-05: low 3.48, high 9.15, latest 5.88

Below the 7 hour floor the plan asks for. This is the single biggest lever on how hard your easy runs feel.

Blood oxygen overnight

91.7percent · 14 day avg

up 0.1 versus the previous two weeks · latest 94.0

2026-04-08 to 2026-08-05: low 89.0, high 94.0, latest 94.0

Averaging below 93 percent is low. Together with your REM sleep this is the pattern worth showing a doctor.

Lowest oxygen dip

79.5percent · 14 day avg

down 0.7 versus the previous two weeks · latest 84

2026-04-08 to 2026-08-05: low 70, high 88, latest 84

Single dips mean little on a wrist sensor. A repeated pattern of them is what matters.

REM sleep

9.1percent · 14 day avg

up 0.4 versus the previous two weeks · latest 10

2026-04-08 to 2026-08-05: low 0, high 25, latest 10

Healthy is 21 to 31 percent. Yours sits near 10, which is the marker most consistent with disrupted sleep.

Body

Weight and composition

Weight is the single biggest multiplier on your aerobic fitness, because VO2 max is measured per kilogram. It is also the axis the sleep experiment turns on.

Weight

210.0lb

One weigh in so far, logged 2026-08-05

Log your weight weekly and the trend line appears here.
It is the axis the whole sleep experiment turns on.

BMI 29.5, body fat 26.5 percent. Target is about 190 lb.

The arithmetic

20lb to lose

210 today, about 190 is the target

Your absolute aerobic capacity is roughly 3.4 litres per minute. Losing 20 lb without changing your heart at all would move your VO2 max from 36 to about 40, and take roughly 8 beats per minute off the same running pace.

Daily activity

Load and recovery

Steps

4444.8today · 14 day avg

down 2,265 versus the previous two weeks · latest 8,330

2026-04-08 to 2026-08-05: low 1631, high 16071, latest 8330

Goal is 10,000. Steps outside training still count toward general health.

Stress average

40.9of 100 · 14 day avg

down 2.4 versus the previous two weeks · latest 37

2026-04-08 to 2026-08-05: low 21, high 63, latest 37

Garmin infers this from heart rate variability through the day. Useful as a trend, not as a single day.

Body battery peak

62.4of 100 · 14 day avg

down 0.3 versus the previous two weeks · latest 75

2026-04-08 to 2026-08-05: low 20, high 100, latest 75

How full the tank got each day. A peak that never clears 75 usually means sleep, not training.

You have shown up 3 times this week.

Nothing here needs to be perfect. The plan already assumes you will miss weeks, travel, and come back. The only thing that actually matters is that you come back, and this page will always tell you exactly where to restart.