Week 2

It's been merely a week since the plan was formulated.

A whirlwind of activity, excitement and fear and suddenly I have a reserved spot, suddenly I am actually really doing this. Today: I am starting the visa process. A bit complicated because I am not only doing the run - after the race I am also going to be in Beijing for a work conference (Molten12 for the curious).
On the practical front: the weekend's training went well and the final total for the week is <drum roll> 39 km. The target for Week 2 however is 48km! I remember last week, how each 5km felt like a drop in a very, very big bucket - nothing has changed. I still feel totally petrified, but I am soldiering on, whilst doing the pace calculations over and over again. I wish I could stop but some weird OCD monster has taken over my calculator.
42.2 km in 6 hours = 8:32 min/km pace. Average training pace currently about 7:30 min/km. Race pace is typically about 1 min faster, if training goes well. Obviously the effects of a longer distance over a tough terrain will likely slow the overall pace down. Hopefully to about 8min/km. That would be fine by me. I am putting the calculator away now. I am. My head hurts. Tomorrow I am going to make a graph!