July 22, 2025 - Road to BM HM

If you’re wondering what this is about - One year ago I crawled through a 5K in 50 minutes—now I’m attempting the slightly unhinged goal of running a sub-2-hour half marathon, documented through daily brain dumps complete with training chaos, 5 AM existential crises, random tangents, and way too much heart rate data.

Sleep: 5h14m – Low
RHR: 55 bpm
HRV: 86 ms
Workout: Row for 20 minutes, focusing on distance.

Since yesterday, I’ve been using AppBlock on my phone to block Instagram and YouTube (for Shorts) from 9:30 AM to 6 PM. It also blocks those domains on the mobile browser. I did open Instagram a few times on my desktop browser, but nowhere near my usual usage.

Endless scrolling UIs are probably one of the most destructive “innovations.” The dopamine hit + an algorithm that knows exactly what kind of sucker you are = a lethal combination. Because of the block, I ended up getting a decent chunk of work done yesterday. Not the focused kind I’d have liked — mostly admin tasks — but still, progress.

I’m also low on sleep today, and in general. I’ve been averaging around 6 hours per night. That’s not enough. I plan to fix it — though it’s tough. I wake up at 4 AM to head out for my run by 5:45. For 8 hours of sleep, I need to be in bed by 8 PM, which is… difficult. But we’ll get there. One step at a time.

This week is a deload week. The plan cuts back on intensity and mileage every 4 weeks. Some articles call this periodization — breaking your training block into 4–6 week chunks, each focused on a specific aspect (base, speed, endurance, etc.).

In this case, I don’t see a huge difference in the workouts, but hopefully these periodic cutbacks help the body recover.

This week’s target mileage: 32K.

I skipped Monday’s run — felt like sleeping in, and gave in. In the spirit of deloading, and knowing the intent behind workouts, I think that’s fine :P

I was planning to run today but decided to swap it for an indoor row. I’m attempting the July Challenge at Greybox — just a simple goal: row on the Concept2 for 20 minutes.

I don’t think I’ve rowed for more than 15 minutes before, and that was with breaks. Aerobic endurance from running doesn’t transfer cleanly here — HR shoots up fast. Also hits the back and legs hard if form isn’t tight.

So we’ll see how it goes.

After that, the plan is to strength train:
Bench Press – 10×10, low weight, high volume.

This morning is likely going to be messy. I have a client call, then I’m accompanying a friend to the hospital — probably most of the day will go into that. If I’m back in time, there are a few interesting tasks lined up. Also, the usual grunt work. In the spirit of endurance training — we’ll get through it.

Post-Workout Report

I finished the 20-minute row — think I did pretty okay.
Managed about 4.5 km in 20 minutes.

Heart rate gradually climbed in the first Km and stayed high

Avg HR: 174 bpm
Max HR: 196 bpm

Good threshold cardio for the week. Endurance from running helped in sustaining that high HR.

Coach gave a couple of feedback on posture — staying upright until the legs fully extend makes the cycle more efficient and lets your legs produce more force.

After rowing, I joined the group at Greybox for strength work. We changed the plan from 10x10 benchpress to a combo of benchpress and hip thrusts.

Warm-up

5-round circuit, 30s per exercise:

• Push-up
• Plank
• Shoulder & Toe Touch
• Weights Around Shoulder Rotation

Strength Workout

Disclaimer: I have used LLMs to check my grammar, fix my spelling and edit it lightly. But I certify that this still is written by a human. Sleepy, but still a human.