Finding a different way to have computers annoy me??
10:02am, 2nd Feb 2025 | 3 Comments
Blog by Rosehip
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Garmin coach isn't the first algorithm to annoy me and prescribe runs of unusual time lengths and at inappropriate paces, I also dallied with the TrainAsOne system, as a beta tester, a few years ago, but all that seemed to want me to do was its selection of three assessment runs and I could never run them to its satisfaction - probably because I wasn't the young male college student they had based their maths on. Once the new 'good' stuff started to be behind a paywall I gave up all attempts to use it.
On the Garmin Status - what does garmin say about you? thread, I'm not the only one commenting on the daftness of the garmin coach daily suggested workout
Then @Big_G asked if we'd experimented with ChatGPT?
At first I replied telling myself *not* to go down that rabbit hole, but then - well, I just couldn't resist.
I would like a training plan to take me from 25 miles per week to 50, with a cut back every fourth week. Wednesday is rest day and I can run longer on Tuesday and Thursday but not weekends
and ChatGPT said:
"Great! A gradual and structured approach to increasing your mileage will help you build endurance while minimizing the risk of injury. Here's a suggested 8-week training plan to take you from 25 miles per week to 50 miles per week, with a cut-back every fourth week. This assumes you're comfortable with your current mileage and can run longer on Tuesday and Thursday. We'll aim for a mix of quality workouts and recovery days"
Weekly Structure Overview:
Monday: Easy run
Tuesday: Long run or quality session
Wednesday: Rest day
Thursday: Longer run or quality session
Friday: Easy run
Saturday: Recovery run or easy
Sunday: Easy or moderately paced run
Key Considerations:
Long Runs: Tuesdays will be your longest run of the week, gradually increasing. Adjust pace so it’s comfortable and in the "long run" zone.
Moderate Runs: Thursdays will be slightly shorter but faster (if you want to focus on pace, or you could make it a progression run).
Rest Days: Wednesday is a rest day for recovery, ensuring you stay fresh.
Cutback Weeks: The fourth and eighth weeks are designed for recovery by reducing the mileage, allowing your body to adapt to the increased load.
Make sure to listen to your body—if you feel like you need more recovery, adjust accordingly. Incorporating some cross-training (cycling, swimming, or strength work) could also help avoid burnout.
How does that look for you?
I have copied the whole breakdown it gave me and stored as a blog on here - but I was intimidated by an 8 week plan, so:
"that looks good, but what if the timeframe were 12 weeks rather than 8?
ChatGPT said:
Great! Extending the plan to 12 weeks gives you more time to gradually increase your mileage, reducing the risk of burnout or injury. Here's how I would adjust the plan for 12 weeks, keeping the same structure but with a more gradual increase in mileage.
again, I've copied that plan, and the one over 16 weeks and the first one it gave me for a twenty week build.
With 20 weeks, you have even more room to build gradually, ensuring that you peak safely at 50 miles per week without risking overtraining. This extended plan allows for extra cutback weeks and gives you a very slow, steady buildup in mileage. Here's how you might structure it:
20-Week Training Plan (Total: 50 miles per week goal)
Week 1 (Total: 25 miles)
Monday: 4 miles (easy)
Tuesday: 8 miles (longer)
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 6 miles (moderate)
Friday: 3 miles (easy)
Saturday: 2 miles (recovery)
Sunday: 2 miles (easy)
Whilst this would give me longer at a good volume and that might make a huge difference when it comes to Lakeland50 - it scares me more than a little and I don't know how my grumbling achilles nor my old-lady joints would cope
-so my final request was
better, but the build up is still quite steep, can the 20 be adjusted so 50 miles is the final target in the last couple of weeks?
and it replied
Got it! To make the build-up even smoother and more gradual, I can spread the increase over the full 20 weeks, so that 50 miles per week is reached only in the final 2-3 weeks. This will allow for a very slow and safe increase, with more emphasis on building a solid base. Here's a revised version of the 20-week plan:
And there it was. Something sensible I can follow, chop around to suit, add hiking to - etc etc.
ChatGPT seemed quite pleased with itself:
Key Adjustments for the 20-Week Plan (Final target: 50 miles):
More Gradual Build-Up: The mileage increases very slowly, peaking at 50 miles per week in the final weeks. The majority of the first 12 weeks are spent building to around 40 miles per week.
More Focus on Base: During the first half of the plan, you're mainly increasing your mileage in small increments, allowing for a strong endurance base before the heavy mileage starts in the second half.
Final Push to 50 Miles: You gradually hit 50 miles in Week 16, with a few weeks of consistent 50-mile weeks to solidify your ability to handle the volume.
Cutback Weeks: You still have cutback weeks (Weeks 4, 8, 12, and 20), ensuring recovery and preventing burnout.
This structure should make the final push to 50 miles much smoother, with more time to build the necessary strength and stamina.
How does this feel?
and so it should be - in five minutes it had mapped out a 20 week program giving me more or less the weekly plans I would have written for myself.
It will take me a lot longer than that to transcribe onto here and/or TrainingPeaks*, but I'll need to adjust to fit around life and the LDWA events I've planned so probably will only do a month at a time**. But 20 weeks would take me nicely to a B-event in late June, now wouldn't it...
Of course, finding or devising plans is relatively easy - sticking to the damned things is the hard bit!
* I have a stash of Jason Koop-style plans on training peaks, acquired whilst I had a brief membership of the CTS thingy whatever it was, that I've tried to follow for the last four Lakeland 50s. I had merged one into the Hal Higdon marathon plan I am supposed to be following at the moment- but I think I was trying to do too much and trying to follow them without resorting to run-walking for anything other than the hard sessions in the first two blocks would break me
** but before I do that, I wonder what it would say if I asked it to alternate long runs with long hikes?
or what about adding speedwork once a week - or 5 days instead of six - or or or...
FFS Rosehip! - you said don't go down the rabbit hole. put your trainers on and go for a run
On the Garmin Status - what does garmin say about you? thread, I'm not the only one commenting on the daftness of the garmin coach daily suggested workout
Then @Big_G asked if we'd experimented with ChatGPT?
At first I replied telling myself *not* to go down that rabbit hole, but then - well, I just couldn't resist.
I would like a training plan to take me from 25 miles per week to 50, with a cut back every fourth week. Wednesday is rest day and I can run longer on Tuesday and Thursday but not weekends
and ChatGPT said:
"Great! A gradual and structured approach to increasing your mileage will help you build endurance while minimizing the risk of injury. Here's a suggested 8-week training plan to take you from 25 miles per week to 50 miles per week, with a cut-back every fourth week. This assumes you're comfortable with your current mileage and can run longer on Tuesday and Thursday. We'll aim for a mix of quality workouts and recovery days"
Weekly Structure Overview:
Monday: Easy run
Tuesday: Long run or quality session
Wednesday: Rest day
Thursday: Longer run or quality session
Friday: Easy run
Saturday: Recovery run or easy
Sunday: Easy or moderately paced run
Key Considerations:
Long Runs: Tuesdays will be your longest run of the week, gradually increasing. Adjust pace so it’s comfortable and in the "long run" zone.
Moderate Runs: Thursdays will be slightly shorter but faster (if you want to focus on pace, or you could make it a progression run).
Rest Days: Wednesday is a rest day for recovery, ensuring you stay fresh.
Cutback Weeks: The fourth and eighth weeks are designed for recovery by reducing the mileage, allowing your body to adapt to the increased load.
Make sure to listen to your body—if you feel like you need more recovery, adjust accordingly. Incorporating some cross-training (cycling, swimming, or strength work) could also help avoid burnout.
How does that look for you?
I have copied the whole breakdown it gave me and stored as a blog on here - but I was intimidated by an 8 week plan, so:
"that looks good, but what if the timeframe were 12 weeks rather than 8?
ChatGPT said:
Great! Extending the plan to 12 weeks gives you more time to gradually increase your mileage, reducing the risk of burnout or injury. Here's how I would adjust the plan for 12 weeks, keeping the same structure but with a more gradual increase in mileage.
again, I've copied that plan, and the one over 16 weeks and the first one it gave me for a twenty week build.
With 20 weeks, you have even more room to build gradually, ensuring that you peak safely at 50 miles per week without risking overtraining. This extended plan allows for extra cutback weeks and gives you a very slow, steady buildup in mileage. Here's how you might structure it:
20-Week Training Plan (Total: 50 miles per week goal)
Week 1 (Total: 25 miles)
Monday: 4 miles (easy)
Tuesday: 8 miles (longer)
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 6 miles (moderate)
Friday: 3 miles (easy)
Saturday: 2 miles (recovery)
Sunday: 2 miles (easy)
Whilst this would give me longer at a good volume and that might make a huge difference when it comes to Lakeland50 - it scares me more than a little and I don't know how my grumbling achilles nor my old-lady joints would cope
-so my final request was
better, but the build up is still quite steep, can the 20 be adjusted so 50 miles is the final target in the last couple of weeks?
and it replied
Got it! To make the build-up even smoother and more gradual, I can spread the increase over the full 20 weeks, so that 50 miles per week is reached only in the final 2-3 weeks. This will allow for a very slow and safe increase, with more emphasis on building a solid base. Here's a revised version of the 20-week plan:
And there it was. Something sensible I can follow, chop around to suit, add hiking to - etc etc.
ChatGPT seemed quite pleased with itself:
Key Adjustments for the 20-Week Plan (Final target: 50 miles):
More Gradual Build-Up: The mileage increases very slowly, peaking at 50 miles per week in the final weeks. The majority of the first 12 weeks are spent building to around 40 miles per week.
More Focus on Base: During the first half of the plan, you're mainly increasing your mileage in small increments, allowing for a strong endurance base before the heavy mileage starts in the second half.
Final Push to 50 Miles: You gradually hit 50 miles in Week 16, with a few weeks of consistent 50-mile weeks to solidify your ability to handle the volume.
Cutback Weeks: You still have cutback weeks (Weeks 4, 8, 12, and 20), ensuring recovery and preventing burnout.
This structure should make the final push to 50 miles much smoother, with more time to build the necessary strength and stamina.
How does this feel?
and so it should be - in five minutes it had mapped out a 20 week program giving me more or less the weekly plans I would have written for myself.
It will take me a lot longer than that to transcribe onto here and/or TrainingPeaks*, but I'll need to adjust to fit around life and the LDWA events I've planned so probably will only do a month at a time**. But 20 weeks would take me nicely to a B-event in late June, now wouldn't it...
Of course, finding or devising plans is relatively easy - sticking to the damned things is the hard bit!
* I have a stash of Jason Koop-style plans on training peaks, acquired whilst I had a brief membership of the CTS thingy whatever it was, that I've tried to follow for the last four Lakeland 50s. I had merged one into the Hal Higdon marathon plan I am supposed to be following at the moment- but I think I was trying to do too much and trying to follow them without resorting to run-walking for anything other than the hard sessions in the first two blocks would break me
** but before I do that, I wonder what it would say if I asked it to alternate long runs with long hikes?
or what about adding speedwork once a week - or 5 days instead of six - or or or...
FFS Rosehip! - you said don't go down the rabbit hole. put your trainers on and go for a run
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Rosehip
Grumpy old woman in the making Still plodding along, I have plans and targets. I also have more time to myself now and need to use it wisely.2025 L50 charity page justgiving.com
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