Beyond Endurance - Rhys Harries

Got the week kick started with 11miles early this morning and another 9 mile in the evening. To be honest I'm finding that once my legs are warmed up then the 2nd run isnt too bad, infact it often feels better. I'm sure the ice baths help a huge amount mind, it's so basic yet so effective but by far harder than the run!!

The final week now of big milage then next week im going to drop the volume considerably by about half but up some of the intensity just to get that sharpness back and that feeling of 'fastness' (if there is such a word) back. This said, im not going to force it this week...if the miles begin to take it's toll this week and I start feeling tired or start feeling niggly injuries coming along then I'm cutting back early or taking a break - as always I'll listen to my body. Unlike the pros everyone else has to go work so we cant be too fatigued or were useless in work and thats much more serious! So like most weeks I've not got anything written in stone so the sessions will just fall in to place from how I feel and with what time I'll have. I find that if I plan too much it gets to feel very structured, too much like work and the enjoyment goes, and when I'm not enjoying I'm not running well or doing anything else well.

Regarding food today this is what I've taken on:

* Usual breakfast - 50g porridge, low fat milk (some personal trainers swear that whole milk is actually better in small doses but it's far too rich for me and I dont feel well from it), blackberries (the whole pack), 2 slices wholemeal toast with nutella spread

* Apple, glass of milk, banana

* 100g (uncooked) Wholemeal Pasta, can tuna, salad with some salad cream

* Recovery drink - Even though I tend to stay away from sports supplement because if the correct foods are chosen then your nutritional needs can be met like that + it's real food not powdered down rubbish. How ever in this case I feel im doing so much that I need the extra calories from recovery drinks to aid recovery. That was my 2nd recovery drink in about 3 weeks so you can make your own mind up about what I think of them.

* Tonight I've got a big sweet potato jacket with kale, brocolli and quorn chilli. (Quorn is immensly low in fat and tastes just like mince but yet isn't anywhere near as rich and is also great for protein) On top of this I live on water, pints of it!!

Looking at that I think I could do with a bit more food really so maybe ill bulk things up with a few bananas and toast with nutella or peanut butter before tomorrow.

On the down side - I'm completely struggling to find a b+b pre-race, it seems everyone was one step ahead of me with that one, hopefully I'll find something or it will be a very early car trip to Brecon on the morning of the ultra.....I would rather not.