WEEK 14 ULTRA TRAIL AUSTRALIA 100 ...I see the light

 Long As I Can See the Light

Friday's Run on the coast as the Sun sets

Is it the end of the tunnel or the lights of a train and train wreck about to happen? That is the question after 14 weeks of training , some big weeks of mileage a real big change in my diet and eating habits a near 10 kg drop in weight and 7 kg since December 2015.These are the the questions and the dilemma after a hard Easter Monday run which was sub optimum. I did learn a few things and a few facts about the training I have been doing.

After 3 months I have surpassed the number of kilometers of running I have done for the whole campaign leading up to North Face 100 last year . Last year I ran about 800 km and this year I have already done close to 950km and I have 6 weeks to go.

Most of the runs have been at a pace to ensure I was maximizing my fat burning capacity and I was below 65% max VO2 . In the 40 miler as I tried to increase my pace to ensure I did not miss the 5 hr/46km cut off I was unfortunately burning more Carbohydrates and pushing my HR up as well and combined with the fatigue I was already carrying from the 33 km run the previous Wednesday , I was really just going to suffer and never quite become the efficient running machine and not just bonk or tire . I didn't quite bonk but I did get the legs pretty fatigued and felt tired which was not the case the previous several long sessions.Interestingly despite a sore knee I felt find a day later , I did rest on Tuesday and only ran a short 7km on Wednesday but the legs were fine with a little fatigue but a year ago I was hobbling after any long run

On Thursday I rested again .Friday a double easy run with 7km in the morning and 8km in the evening .Saturday a 70 minutes run on the trails around Trigg with about 9km and On Sunday similarly about 66minute run at Reabold with 28 minute at between 5 minute and 6 minute pace  with the last 2km a bit slower as I ran up the inclines .I managed 10.2km and had coffee at Georges wishing him Bon Voyage as he headed to Morocco for the Marathon De Sables  .

Saturday's Cross Fit Work Out

An easy recovery week and with Mondays run covered about 87 km for the week in about 9.5 hours and 30 minutes of cross fit.

After a 1000km