Pretty much everyone over here aims to get in better shape during their deployment. Some of us make more progress than others, but so far I'm pretty happy with the way things are going for me.
When I first go here, I'd run for a little while, maybe 3k. Simon the Australian Army PT instructor in charge of the gym put together a nice program for me, and I gradually added to it. I'm now working towards a "Tour of Afghanistan" t-shirt. I just have to run, bike or row 1,740k and the shirt is mine.
Actually, they multiply your running and distances by three, to make them more equitable with the bike distances. So I only have to actually do 580k to get the shirt. No problem, right?
Anyway, I've upped my speed and distance so now I'm covering 8 to 10 km each day, in some combination of rowing and running. Sometimes it's a 4k row and 6k run, other times I'll just go for a full 8k or 9k run. And while I used to do a leisurely 5k in 30 minutes, now an 8k in 42 min is more typical.
The other change is that I used to run miles, but no I run kilometers. They're much easier.
Actually, I'm tracking kilometers because that's how they do the shirt. But I do like the sense of accomplishment when I do 8k. It feels like more than 5 miles.
I'd also been doing a little weight lifting, but now I've got a new program that gets more serious about weights. I like it so far - we'll see what sort of progress I'll make in that department.
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