This week saw snow as the next test of will on my long run. 25km of fasted speed hiking in the snow, broken up with a halfway Coffee, and working out how many pairs of running tights I really should wear on a day like that.
That said training is progressing. My week looked like this:
Monday:
Rest Day
Tues
- 45 Min - session with 30 min run/walk (Maffetone HR = 128-134bpm) plus strength/rehab work
Wed
- 7Km speed hike
Thurs
- 30 min run/walk (Maffetone HR = 128-134 BPM)
- 15 mins rehab exercises
Fri
- Rest Day
Sat
- 5Km walk
Sun
- Long 'Run' - 4hrs 50 minutes, 25.5km speed hike
25km in the snow was lovely at first, but then it stopped being lovely after about 30 minutes out the 4+hours.
Having resisted the temptation to throw a snowball at my training partner (Graham), we plodded on through the crappy conditions. There are only so many times you can tell yourself 'this is good for me, it's building my resilience'. There is, though, a satisfaction of being the only lunatics out working on getting fitter in less than ideal conditions.
I could have stayed in. I could have cut the target of 25km this day short. But I didn't. I have a quote on my homepage from JFK for a reason. It's there to remind me that anything worth having doesn't come easily, and we have to choose to do the hard things in order to reap the rewards from it.
"We choose to do the other things... not because they are easy, but because they are hard."
For me this whole 5 month challenge is about going all in'. In reality my journey has really been 2 1/2 years before I decided to hike 'very fucking far. Injuries. Pain. Weight loss. Weight gain. Got fit. Lost it all. And now I'm where I am at today with 4 months left to target. The weight doesn't come off, nor the fitness improve on its own. Not at my age. Not with my injuries in the last. No. It's a relentless, committed march towards improving. Even when it's cold, wet and miserable.
Days like this one, where it's miserable remind you of what you have inside, so you strap your boots on, and your bobble hat (Graham) and you get out and do the work.
Results Wk 3
Starting Weight: 112kg
Wk 3 Weigh-in: 106 Kg!
Weight Lost = 6kg (13.2Ibs) in 25 days
Remaining weight to lose = 16Kg
This is a great result! Almost a stone lost in 3 weeks. That is 25% of my target weight loss achieved in month 1.
Boom.
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