Keeping the Engine Warm and Steady

The weekend was finally here and Miles gets to meet up with his pals Wade and Gallop for the long run on Saturday.

Due to work schedule, they had to train on their own during the weekdays and could only meet up once a week over the weekend for their long run.

“How was your run during the weekdays? Able to keep to the plan?” ask Gallop.

“It was good, except that I messed up my Thursday run, where I ran 3km when the plan was 3.2km all along” Miles lamented.

“Oh….. you ran a total of TWO HUNDRED METERS LESS?!?! That’s unthinkable!!! You just mess up your whole plan!!! You’re done!!! It’s the end of the world!!! “ laughed Wade uncontrollably.

“Yeah! Yeah! Laugh all you want! I just don’t like it when there’s a blip in my otherwise perfect plan.” quipped Miles, “Let’s get on with our run.”

As the trio started their weekend run on a fine Saturday morning, the cool and refreshing air blows gently on their face. It was a great way to spend the weekend morning, with your close friends, laughing and joking, easing their minds off the stress of work in the past week.

Before they knew it, they had completed the intended 5.9km run, with some to spare.

As they were cooling down and doing their stretches, Wade suddenly blurted out “Why is the distance in the training plan so weird? 5.9km? why not 6km?” as he gave Miles a strange and puzzled stare.

“I’m sure the original training program must have been in miles, you had to convert it to kilometers?” Gallop asked before Miles could say anything.

“Ha ha ha… yes, in fact, there is an option to download the training program in kilometers! See, they cater to runners from all parts of the world! Stop complaining Wade, just follow the plan!” laughed Miles.

“I’m not complaining, more curious… speaking of curious, where are we going for breakfast? “ replied Wade with a laugh.

Macro Week #01 (10km Novice)

Micro Week #02, Session 4 –

Plan: Run 5.9 km

Actual: Run 6.01 km

Another session in the bag, the trio kept the run at conversational pace, keeping their avg HR between 135 – 145 bpm.

And so the weekend passes by quickly, following their first “long” run together, they separately did their own cross training on Sunday.

Even though the schedule stated a 40mins cross training session, Miles did a slightly longer 48mins walk at a leisurely pace on Sunday morning. Enough to whet up an appetite for breakfast.

And so the trio completed their first week of training (They skipped week 1), enroute to their Marathon goal.

Moderate effort at easy pace for all the runs and brisk walking.

In Miles’ mind, he has a much bigger dream than just the marathon, but he wasn’t confident enough to share it with his two buddies at this point in time.

He intends to see how they fare for the rest of the plan before deciding if this dream of his is a reachable target.

As for now, Miles just wanted to concentrate in finishing their first micro plan to complete a 10km.

A small step towards a big dream!!!

 

Fun Fact:

The trio is training for their first 10km in “Aerobic base training”.

Aerobic base training builds cardiovascular endurance through consistent, low-intensity, high-volume workouts – typically in heart rate Zones 1-2 (60-75% max HR), to increase mitochondrial density, capillary growth, and fat-burning efficiency. In layman’s term – Prepare your body to get use to higher intensity workout in the future.

This foundation improves long-term stamina, strengthens the heart, and allows for faster recovery, paving the way for higher intensity workout.

Over time, you should see improvement where your pace will get faster while maintaining the same average HR in future runs.

Zone Descriptions

  • Zone 1: Easy, warm-up/cool-down, aids recovery.
  • Zone 2: Endurance, burns fat, sustainable for a long time.
  • Zone 3: Aerobic, improves cardiovascular efficency.
  • Zone 4: Anaerobic, increases speed/lactate threshold.
  • Zone 5: Maximum effort, short bursts, builds speed.

 

Disclaimer

This is a work of fiction. If you think you recognize yourself in here, you’re probably mistaken… or you have a very unusual life. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents are either made up entirely or borrowed from the author’s overactive imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental — and if it’s not, well, that’s just awkward.