Peak Week Before Berlin Half: 80K and Still Standing

Peak week is done.

80 km in the legs, body cooked, confidence high.

Back in August, during my 2025 Berlin Marathon block, I hit 85 km. This time I hit 80 km for a half-marathon block, which might sound like overkill.

And honestly, for many runners, it is. If your goal is to finish a half, or run 2:00+, you probably don’t need this much volume. Around 50-60 km can absolutely do the job.

But for me, this block is personal.

Berlin Marathon 2025 was my first marathon. I am proud I finished it, but I was also gutted. I went in chasing sub-4 and came out with 4:09. The heat was brutal, and I also just lacked experience.

So this half feels like redemption. I started this plan in October, and now I am heading into Berlin Half trying to run sub-1:39.

Not gonna lie, I am sore and tired. I woke up in the middle of the night with leg pain (a mosquito also deserves 50% of the blame), but overall I am really happy with where my fitness is.

Monday was treadmill day because it was raining and I was on-call. The session was 5x1 mile at 4:10 pace with 2 minutes of rest.

Lately I have been a bit anxious about treadmill running because it usually feels slightly easier than the road, so I set the incline to 1%. Little did I know that would torch my legs for the rest of the week. I think that incline woke up muscles I haven’t been stressing enough. Also, that session was harder than expected. 4:10 pace is no joke.

Tuesday is usually my double-session day: upper body plus easy run. Work was intense, but I still prioritized training and got in my sessions, including an easy 14 km. Later I realized I had left my weightlifting shoes at the gym. Went back, and they were gone. Like, who steals someone else’s shoes? 🤦🏻

Wednesday was a tough one: a 2 km fartlek, so 2 sets of (2 km at 4:50, then 2 km at 4:15). The 4:15 blocks hurt exactly as expected. I didn’t hit them perfectly; my fastest km was 4:16. My legs were still trashed from Monday.

Thursday is usually leg day only, no running. But this week I had a Running Analysis session at a nearby center. I booked it early this year and, to be honest, I still don’t know if it was worth EUR 250.

I did learn a couple of useful things. My form is not as bad as I thought, but I am overstriding, which means I am wasting energy. I ran 2 km there, then still did my gym leg session after. Big mistake. Legs got even more sore.

Then Berlin decided to give us spring/early-summer weather. Friday was almost 16 C, so I couldn’t wait to get home and run outside. It felt amazing. The city was alive again after weeks of frozen misery, and it reminded me how much I hate winter.

Saturday is always long-run day. People who do long runs on Sunday are (ahem) sociopaths… joking, of course.

I did 25 km at 5:05 pace. Back in September, that was around the upper edge of my marathon pace. On Saturday, it felt controlled, and I honestly felt I could hold it for another 2 hours. That says a lot about how much fitness I have built over the last 5 months since Berlin Marathon.

So yeah, this week hurt. But it also gave me confidence.

4 weeks until Berlin Half. The goal now is simple: stay healthy, recover well, and show up ready.