I skipped the programmed rest and maintained about 80% of the previous week’s load. This is because I feel that the forced rest during my Christmas cold gave enough of a break for the muscles. I dropped the intensity so as not to tax the central nervous system too much after first being ill and then getting back to volume in the past couple of weeks. So I focused on Z2 running and only did one brief set of hill sprints (4x45s) on Friday.

The temperature rose to 25C/77F during my weekend long run. I was swiftly reminded that I struggle in heat. This I suspect is going to be the biggest challenge at Black Canyons, depending on the weather. From the point of view of performance, the best case scenario for me would be the kind of snowy start that the race saw a couple of years ago. But part of me hopes that it’s going to be a hot day just so I can test myself against difficult conditions.

On a conscious level, I don’t feel at all nervous about the race. But I’ve noticed is that I spend a lot of time thinking about the mechanics of the event, including the gear, drop bags, race day logistics, and so on. This is a clue that the subconscious has started its preparations. First, thought, there is one more loading week to go before the taper starts: on paper, next week is going to be the hardest of the block. But at this point, I already have the compounded benefit from a number of high volume weeks on my legs, which I hope will help make the grand finale of this training block a relatively uneventful affair.