This was a rest week focused on recovery and adaption. The plan called or a 50% drop relative to the highest volume in the previous three weeks, but I cut it slightly more because the next week is going to be the highest volume week I’ve ever done running, i.e. about 100K or 10 hours. That’s still a far cry from some of the highest volume weeks I’ve done on a bike, but running is obviously a very different sport in terms of the stress it causes.

Speaking of the relationship between running and biking, I don’t think I’ve ever improved my endurance through running. The way it’s usually gone for me is that I’ve first done a cycling block where I’ve gotten into shape by doing long endurance rides and a hefty dose of intervals. I’ve then switched to a running block and gradually lost the fitness over several weeks.

Not so this time. Even though I’ve focused almost exclusively on running, I noticed the other day that a local hill that I’ve done dozens of times has started to feel noticeably easier. This is so even though I’ve done virtually no fast or hard running during the past two months. It’s yet another example of the fundamental law of endurance training: consistency trumps everything.