This week's challenge is simple: get in two strength sessions on top of your running. Strength work is the part of the plan most runners skip. It's also what helps you hold your form late in a race, especially on hills and in the back half of an ultra. 🟢 Beginner: Two 15-minute sessions. Bodyweight squats, lunges, glute bridges, calf raises, and a plank. Focus on clean form, not reps. 🔴 Advanced: Two 30-minute sessions. Add single-leg work like step-ups and single-leg deadlifts, plus core. ⛰️ Ultra and mountain runners: Prioritize step-ups and calf raises. Your climbs will thank you. Schedule them on easy days or after an easy run, not right before a hard workout or long run. If something hurts, back off. Every plan in the Classroom has strength sessions built in, so use those if you're following one. Comment "I'm in" below, and check back this weekend to tell me how it went.

Most runners I talk to run their easy days too fast. It feels productive, but it leaves you tired for the workouts that actually move the needle. Here's the simple check I use: if you can't speak in full sentences, you're going too hard. Easy runs should feel almost too easy. 🟢 Beginner: Walk breaks are fine. The goal is to finish the run feeling like you could keep going. 🔴 Advanced: Keep easy days truly easy so your tempo runs, intervals, and long runs get your best effort. ⛰️ Ultra runners: This matters even more. Most of your race is run at an easy effort, so practice it. The race pace calculator in your plan in the Classroom shows the easy pace range for your goal. Use it as a guide, but go by feel first. Heat, hills, and poor sleep all change the number. What does your easy pace look like right now compared to your race pace? Drop it in the comments.

This community offers various running plans for your goals. You will also have access to me, a UESCA certified coach with 2.5 years of coaching experience. I will answer any questions you have about the plans as you go through them. This is not 1on1 coaching, unless you sign up for VIP, this is more so a guidance offered to make sure you are utilizing your plan correctly and progressing properly towards your race day and goal. The Community: I envision runners from all over coming together to chat, share experiences and training progressions, race results, and to hopefully connect for a run or at races.

Share what you're training for and what your goal for the race is, as well as one personal win you've had with running in your past.