This week's stats: Tuesday - 10km - 5:39/km pace - 55m elevation gain Sunday - 26km - 6:53/km pace - 203m elevation gain

Alcohol consumption: Last Sunday - 1 shot of 15% alcohol content Japanese sake Thursday - 1 shot of 40% alcohol content cognac

How it felt this week:

Let's get the alcohol consumption confession out of the way first. My wife decided to crack open the sake she bought from Hokkaido, Japan last Sunday and have a drink. I simply cannot resist trying it out, because it's a limited edition sake that can only be bought in Hokkaido, made by a distiller that is 48 years old, using a method of sake crafting that has over 350 years of history. Then there was a family dinner on Thursday, so I had a drink with my dad during dinner.

As for the runs, I felt pretty good on Tuesday. I felt like I'm starting to pick up on the pace too. I was supposed to do a short 5km-6km run Friday night, but ended up playing Monster Hunter Wilds with my friends again. Had my long run this morning and it was tough. It started to rain just as I left my front door and the rain got heavier the further I ran. I ended up dripping wet from head to toe and was also cold. I guess an advantage of running in the rain is that I can just tilt my head up, open my mouth, and be able to drink some water. Had terrible pacing during run, especially past 17km, where I was averaging 7:30/km (very slow). The soaked socks, shoes, and pants didn't help my pacing at all. Tried to push for a 30km run, but my legs were starting to give up on me, so I ended it at 26km. Hoping for better weather and better performance next week.

Weeks before race day: 8 weeks.