FIVE

Wow, done with five weeks.  This one felt long, 73km/ 45mi.

The interval sessions are getting better as they increase pushing my heart, lungs and muscles to develop.

Maybe it's mental, but I've noticed two aspects of the long runs: I feel better on the Mon run than the Sun and my focus drops off a cliff in the last 15mins.  We'll see how this continues.

Health & Nutrition - Weight is down to 63.2kg/ 139lb and 11.1% bf (increase, but no concern as I put it down to the margin for error within the scale, will explain in a later post).  I'm still eating ice cream and sweet breads (lots of bakeries in Japan) at my leisure though plan to cut this out after week 6.

No injuries but some areas to work on: right foot muscles are tight (tennis ball massage to ease the tension), lower back is tight (more warm-up, stretching and back strengthening) and the left achilles "feels funny" (icing, more rest and elevation).

Rest & Recovery - Still with the long stretch sessions (though missed the stretch after Sun's long run with no side-effects Mon morning).  I'm getting about 8hrs sleep each night, sometimes a mid-day nap and plenty of rest at home during the day; however, this could all change in wk7 when I start work.  Also, wearing compression gear like it's going out of style.

Wed - 75min w/ 3x 5min HMP + S&C, stormed this session.  Did some of the intervals off-road and despite my concern hitting HMP, ended up running below it.

Fri - 65min w/ 10min MP + S&C, experimented with this session by sleeping in and starting at 8.30 (vs. normal 6.30 start time).  With the late start, I was ready to go from the first step and executed the MP run well.  Also, the first time I've looked forward to S&C post interval run (a good sign!).  Despite a couple positives, I'll stick with the early start.

Sun - 2hr mod, up at 6.30 and pooring down rain.  I've had build-up in my chest over the last couple weeks, possibly from running in the rain, so doing it again may not be smart.  Back to sleep.  Up at 8.30, still raining, 'I really want to get this done, can't change race day if it's raining, so need to practice for all conditions.'  With that, I headed out in the rain.  Nobody on the street or footpaths, it eventually stopped raining and the session flew by.

Exhausted afterward and a funny feeling up the left leg, straight to nap and rest.

Mon - 2.15 mod, a cool breeze and shining sun made for good conditions while the distance made it tough.  Funny how much a difference 15mins makes.  Was feeling great after cool down, stretch and recovery meal.