Week 6

The last week of open diet was delicious.  A few ice creams and sweet breads, tasty.  Also, some running, 80km/ 50mi.

possibly my favorite, anpan
(suga-fied adzuki beans wrapped in sweet bread)

The Sun/ Mon 52km adventure was tough both mentally and physically.  Sun was tougher physically as my legs didn't "engage" until about 90mins in when the hill climbs began.  Mon was a mental strain where for the first hour I questioned the point of endurance racing and more specifically endurance running (must be missing the mix of triathlon!).  As with all down moments, these passed and by the end, I was grateful for sticking with it.  I've made a commitment to do Tango and MDS, and short of serious medical issue, I'll complete these (hopefully in a competitive time).

As for my reasons for endurance racing, that'll be addressed in an upcoming post.

H&N - 63.6kg/ 140lb w/ 10.6%bf, slightly up on weight and flat bf.  I'm not concerned about weight at this point, it's still at a good level, and I haven't tried to start "trimming the fat" yet.

Week seven starts a strict no sweet/ no alcohol (with one drink exception for special occasions, i.e. meeting new work colleagues, weddings, etc.) and more control over portion size (though to be fair, I've been limiting portions for the last week as over-eating just for the calories was uncomfortable).

R&R - Still sleeping 8hrs every night, plenty of time for post-run and random stretching and kicking my feet up with compression tights.  This could all change today as I start work, so may have to adapt.

Wed - 75min w/ 3x 7.5min HMP, 7.5min intervals are a different world from 5min.  I hit the first two but didn't have it on the third settling around 4.15/km pace.  Toughest session yet which felt great afterwards.  Look forward to pushing harder next week.

Fri - 70min w/ 15min MP, relatively easier than Wed and was able to work on tuning out distractions vs. simply getting through the session.

Sun -  2.5hrs mod, given Tango's 500m climb 60km into the race, I'm adding hills to the long runs.  Sun will mimic Tango targeting at least 500m of climbing (easily available in the mountains north of Kobe) starting just after half-way through.

Mon - 2.25hrs mod, beyond the mental side discussed above, physically I could feel the strain through my achilles and feet.  No injuries but may need more rest (if that's possible).