Week in Review: 4 - 10 Jan '16

Stuck with running for at least an hour at MAF each time I run this week. Originally had the aim of running 80km this week but then kicked myself for trying to get into that "I must run X kilometres this week" mindset. Ended up running only 3km more than last week, though that is partly because I didn't run on Saturday thanks to a mean hangover from a big night out with the Mrs on Friday night.

I've also decided to experiment with moving my rest days from the Wednesdays to Mondays. This should give me the opportunity to properly recover from my Sunday long runs, especially when I start running more than three hours each week.

I've also picked up my morning mindful meditation to clear my mind and start the day off sharp and focused. This definitely has an effect on my productivity and I think it may be helping with the running too as the lower stress should lead to better performance at MAF. One of things I do slightly differently now is when I'm concentrating on my breathing as part of my meditation, I'm making sure I slow deliberate breathing. Breath in for about four seconds, then exhale slowly for about four seconds. This has been shown to have an effect on morning HRV readings and I'm interested to see how it works on me.

So far I think the MAF training it starting to take hold and I'm definitely feeling faster at the start of my runs. One other observation is I've noticed my morning HRV reading is increasing. I've only ever seen it hover around the 68 mark and trend lower when I knew I was tired, but I'm now regularly seeing it in the 70-72 range. I'm not sure if this is due to improved cardio thanks to MAF, the improved relaxation thanks to the meditation, the slow controlled breathing during meditation or due to an over-all decrease in life stress. I'll be monitoring this closely to see what happens and see if I can work out which is having this effect.