Spoiler alert: there’s no trick.

I’ve got a week and a half before I run my second half marathon and a month and a half before I run my first full, the LA Marathon.

I’ve been using a training plan from Garmin that syncs with my watch. It monitors my heart rate, tells me to go faster or slower, tells me when to warm-up and cool down. It’s very high tech and I like to think I’m training as smartly as possible.

But you have to run 5 days a week. When I signed up for this (the marathon, the training, the goal) I committed to this.

I will do this program. I will not switch programs.

Dan John, Olympic weightlifting coach, has only one rule.

Do NOT criticize, condemn or correct a training program that you are doing until you complete it.

Damn right! Let’s do this! Well guess what.

I haven’t hit a full week of all 5 prescribed workouts. Yes, the holidays were busy. Yes, I moved across the country. But those are all excuses.

So I look for the answer I want to see. Is there a training plan that’s only 3 days a week?

26.2 miles. 3 days a week. No.

But there is a hack. It’s on my wrist. It tells me exactly what I need to do.

I just need to do it.