Wednesday morning arrived with the same 5:30 am alarm, but this time I woke before it went off, my mind already racing through the day ahead.
Three days until Brighton. Three days to prepare for our first proper preseason match, to integrate two new players into a system that was still fragile, to prove that everything we'd been building wasn't just theory.
I pulled on my running gear and headed out into the pre-dawn darkness, the cold air biting at my face as I started the familiar 6k route. My legs felt heavy, the accumulated fatigue of the past weeks settling into my muscles, but I pushed through it. The physical discomfort was easier to deal with than the mental weight I was carrying.
The system flashed in my vision as I finished, my time 33:12, slower than yesterday. [SYSTEM] Fitness: 52/100. Mental Fatigue: High. Recommendation: Rest day advised.
