Wk 30 summary

• 7 runs (eventually)
• 107 km

• 3 quality workouts

1. Wednesday: 2x4km @MP effort, but it was a complete counter-performance. Whatever the reason, I could not even complete the 2nd interval, felt completely without energies. It did not make sense to continue
2. Thursday: medium-run with 15x1' faster intervals (rec:1'). Complete different sensations. Maybe due to the air being much less polluted than the days before, but legs were snapping easy and sustained a average of 3'25"/k pace for all the intervals without slowdowns. I might even push a bit more...
3. Sunday: long run, throwing a 8km faster section towards the end. Felt very good. With E. Regardless of the hot weather (27C, 92%Rh) we kept a good pace in the warm-up climb to MuiTzeLam (it is a 3 km steady climb) and later went for a medium effort 8k section. I closed in 29'30", that makes 3'41"/k pace (6'00"/mile) with HR averaged 169. That would be PERFECT if I could keep it for other 34km....

Overall: the week started with very poor sensation that were very likely due to the pollution, because later in the week felt very good. I am much ahead of last year fitness curve and it is surprising that I can already run at my target marathon pace/target HR with 3 months to go and in the middle of the summer heat... I am very impatient to see what's is going to happen once the temperature cools down

What's next: this week marks the end of my preparatory phase with a balanced approach of building base and elevating the aerobic threshold with light workouts. Time to move on to a next phase where I need to add some more intensity and more workouts targeting AT improvement. I also neglected a bit the strength conditioning (hills) so it is time to recover this weak spot before the actual racing season kicks off

Problem of the week: I am interested to know how others training in similar heat handle the rehydratation issue. I guess that I lose in average 2 liters of water per workout + additional loss for the usual daily life. Lately I start to have some slight abdominal trouble cause by drinking that much water every day, especially after the longer workout I feel the need to drink maybe 2 liters very quickly but this does not go well with my intestine's capabilities...