Week of 6/4 ; 2 weeks and counting..

We leave for Boston this Friday - no going back now... Really cutting back this week, with the half interval session on Tuesday and MP run on Thursday and 16k on Friday being the main events. Given how crap I felt on Saturday after a rest day I think I'm not going to take too many days off from here on in - i'll just keep the runs very short in the last week.

Monday: 8:5km recovery @4:52 HR 138 Ca86 15°C 67% E20/28. Ran a recovery circuit around King's Park with Sas on a nice cool morning. Enjoyed this one - it's very scenic, all the tempo's and hard running are behind us, and we could bask a little in the afterglow of our (minor) success yesterday at the Bridges. In a big plus, the resolution to hold back a bit yesterday meant that the legs felt fine today - no damage done.

Tuesday am: 9.59km recovery @ 4:42 HR 141 Ca87 17°C 56% ENE28/37. Ran the Mends loop clockwise for a change to minimise the effect of the pretty strong NE wind. Legs felt a little bit sore - funny, they felt better yesterday. I'll be glad when the easterlies die down, my allergies really kick up when they blow for a while...

Tuesday pm : WAMC Intervals. 27°C 28% S7/11. Session was (15s;15sJR)x2 ; 30s ; 30sJR ; 1min x 5. I did three of these and just did them comfortably. It was pretty warm with no wind to speak of, but I was happy just to do the three efforts and then cooldown. I won't be back at intervals for a while, but it's nice to 'earn' a short session - it's almost a victory lap to celebrate the end of the marathon training before we steel ourselves for the main event.

Wednesday am: 8km recovery @ 4:48 HR 137 Ca 87 18°C 47% ENE15/20. Ran an abbreviated Maylands loop with Sas. It was pretty nice when we headed out but did warm up. Good easy run to shake out stiffness from last night. Not a great sleep last night so felt a bit tired but as always felt better as the run went on. Nice coffee from Cobalt afterwards though... I think that's why I like this run ;-)

Thursday am: 13.32km Easy @ 4:25 HR 151 Ca 86 18°C 50% E7/11. Ran the loop down to UWA up and over King's Park - no loops this time- and back to Mends street on Sas' MP run. Pretty disgusting morning - the air quality was terrible and my throat feels a little inflamed from all the smoke and other gunk that's in it. We haven't had the Freo doctor blasting away for a while now and the difference is palpable. I guess the good thing is we're having a sneak preview of the air quality in the NE of the US. Legs again felt a little sore at the end... Said our au revoires to the Mends gang and also bumped into GC by the Mends jetty.

Thursday pm: 7.92km MP @4:08 HR 161 Ca 88 31°C 22% SW13/17. Well, it ain't getting any easier. Legs felt a little sore and heavy as I ground out this short MP loop from home. It was pretty hot and dry and it's been a fairly stressful day, with packing and last minute preparations. The stats don't look too bad - I think I just tired rapidly, because it didn't feel too bad at first. Looking forward to running inthe US where it'll be 25 degrees cooler hopefully.

Friday: 16.04km @4:45 HR 145 Ca85 18°C 66% E20/28. Ran with Sas from Zamia to Nedlands and back. This was the last run in Perth before Boston - legs a bit sore and heavy again, niggles everywhere - it's all good! Met up with Herbs and Joe doing some of their last work before Canberra and ran back with them for a while. HR was up a bit on the return leg because the wind was pretty strong, and there also seemed to be more hill that way. Had a nice takeaway from Zamia before I said my goodbye's to Sas - we'll meet up on the Amtrak into Boston next Saturday.

Saturday: Well, we made it in one piece ; 34 hours door to door. Flights were comfortable, especially Stockholm to the US where there were maybe 40 people in the whole economy section, so managed to get a whole row and have a good sleep. I sleep pretty well on planes anyway and the legroom on Malaysian was definitely better than on Emirates. The food was OK - but I'm glad I took extra. Philadelphia is a little cool and wet - a bit different to the weather we left behind. Did 25 minutes on the treadmill working up to marathon pace. Legs felt heavy and sore - from the plane I guess. It'll be nice to have a few runs this week where I feel good !

Sunday: 7km @ 4:24 HR150 Ca85 3°C 39% NNW25. Ran from hotel up Schuylkill river path to the Art Museum, up the 'Rocky' steps (because you just have to!) to check on Kim where shes was meeting some locals, up around the back a bit and then back to the hotel (map). For the first time in a few days the legs didn't feel too sore and the conditions were just beautiful as was the scenery. Wore a hat and gloves but I wasn't prepared for my feet getting a little numb from the cold. The wind-chill was about -5°C but I felt OK once my ears went numb. Started out slowly and did some MP towards the end. Really enjoyed this one - a good confidence booster.

Thanks to everyone for the good wishes - may you all be successful in your endeavours over the next few weeks, particularly Epi and Biscuitman in the quests for the sub-3. You guys are looking so strong, all things being equal you are a shoe-in. All the best and see you all in a few weeks.