Monday: I felt the usual tiredness after long run day. I went to the gym, did 30 min runner yoga, then 30 min super easy cycling. then I spent 10 min in the steaming room and did stretching. By afternoon, I was feeling back to the baseline.
Tuesday: 60 min MP workout, totally 9.2 miles. MP segment was okay and I averaged 8:50 (4 miles at 8:30) despite slowing down the last 20 min. Yet, the effort felt harder than it should be for this pace. I don’t know whether it was because I slept 6.5 hours, or that the last 20 min was incline up. I finished the workout segment and had to walk to catch my breath. I didn’t feel great at the end of this run and wonder how should i adjust my pace in the next session. I went to my slimfit and left feeling slightly better. I focused on refueling, did 20 min stretching/foam rolling before bed, and went to bed early, hoping for a good recovery.
Wednesday: I slept very well, waking up past 5am after 8.5 hrs of solid sleep. I felt great. 8.2 miles easy run averaging 10:30 mostly because the last two miles I slowdown a lot to keep the effort still easy (that is HR below 135). I am coming to conclude that I don’t do well with hills or sustained incline and my runs always end that way. maybe i should think of a different route.
Thursday: 2 sets of 10 min at MP (slower this time, target 8:45, ended up doing 8:32), totaling 6.5 miles. This workout felt much better and I had still energy in the tank after Slimfit. I also went to the physio for follow up. He did the assessment and the muscle on my hamstring has relaxed. We did the laser boots again and review the stretching exercise.
Friday: active recovery day. I did 10 min super easy bike, 20 min runners single leg exercises, 15 min easy swim, then 10 min steaming room and stretching. It felt good. I also booked a sport massage, per my physio suggestion to lose everything to prepare for the long run the next day.
Saturday: I exchange the easy run for long run this week to have fresh pair of legs for this long run. My target was 16.5 miles to keep up with the 10% increase rule. I ended up with 17 miles, a bit short of 3 hours. It was a good solid long run. HR averages 134. I still don’t feel great after gels, need more practicing. I did gels at 5, 10, 13 and took 1.3 liters of water with LMNT. Then rest of the day I spent at the swim competition, eating despite lack of appetite. I can’t imagine the life of ultra runners, they must be so nauseas for training and eating so much. we got home from swimming competition 7:20pm. I felt tired after a long day outside home.
Sunday: I woke up past 5am Yay! Went out for an hour of super easy recovery run. It served the purpose because I felt better by the end of the run than when I started. Few hours later I did 30 min easy swim. Love the feel of water and the sound of it. After the race, I’ll probably start taking lessons to learn proper swimming. I told Sofia I want to learn to swim 400 freestyle nonstop. Then I did steaming room, stretch, feeling productive on my active recovery day. I spent 2 hours in bed reading, then 20 min foam rolling, aiding recovery. It is because “full time” job this recovery business.
Total: 48 miles
Strength: 2 slimfit, 1 short.
Swim: 2 recovery swims
A solid week of training focusing on recovery, which starts right after the run and secure sleep.
Our New Journey 
That Tuesday workout sounds like a proper struggle, but it’s interesting how different Thursday felt after a good night’s sleep and a slightly slower target pace.
Well done on Saturday’s long run, too! Having to go to a long swim competition after that is tough!
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