Journey to Fitness Chapter #21: Strength and Honor!

Strength and Honor!!!

Week 2 of the Custom 21km Training Program.

Monday came and went by in a flash. 5km easy run in the morning, and Miles was kept busy at work for the rest of the day. 5km seems routine these days to Miles. Easy 140 bpm average HR, easy pace at 8:31mins/km. As miles laid in bed to rest at the end of the day, he didn’t feel like he ran in the morning.

And before he knew it, he was at the pool for Tuesday’s cross training swim. This is the third week in a row that Miles has swam as part of his cross training. Slowly getting used to swimming again.

Wednesday came fast…. and it was time for his 6km fast run. “Fast” run seems so ambiguous, perhaps it just means….. run based on gut feel. So Miles just went a bit faster than his usual easy run, ended with a 7:55mins/km pace which was decent. Average HR at 144 bpm, still within the usual target range of 135-145 bpm. “Perhaps, I should have ran faster…” thought Miles after looking at the statistics.

After a rest day on Thursday, it was time again for his cross training. This week marks the start of his twice cross trainings per week. Since this is the first time Miles is swimming twice a week, he decided to do a shorter session, but with a slight change…. swimming only using Front crawl, instead of alternating Breast-stroke/Frontcrawl like he usually did in his past few sessions.

Miles was worried his arm might get tired using only front crawl for the whole session, but it didn’t felt as bad as he had imagined. He ended the swim feeling really good about himself.

Before long, it was the weekend run with the guys again. 8km didn’t sound too intimidating, especially as he had his buddies by his side. Running and joking made the time passes quickly. Before they knew it, they completed the 8km run easily, easy pace of 8:29mins/km, though at a slightly higher average heartrate of 147bpm.

As they cooled down from the run, getting ready for breakfast, Miles started thinking to himself… “Hmmmm. seems like an easy week, it’s been a while since he completed all his session in a week. In the past few weeks, it was either the weather or work or travel that disrupted his training….”

“Perhaps I’m really getting stronger!” Miles thought, trying to convince himself.

“Strength and Honor!!!” came to mind, as Miles remembered the quote from Gladiator, and imagined himself running among a field of wheat…..

“That reminds me…. I should start strength training too….. ”

Things are looking up finally, and Miles is hoping this time he will be able to stick the plan.

Week 2 of 20, seems like there’s still a long way to go. But every journey begins with a single step…..

… stay tune to see how they fare next week.