PUSH
I did a round of push ups last night (Wednesday). Yesterday's round of push ups: Week 5, Day 2, Column 3

I felt okay about getting the 30 on the last set. This is the first time I rested pretty close to the plan's suggested rest of 45 seconds. I may try Day 3 this weekend and see how that goes.

This morning I got up early for a run before work. It was cool (47) and dark, but there was the full moon aspect. I wanted to get a run in early in part because it was forecast to be mid 80s after work and in part because I wasn't going to feel like running after work. A little more than five miles with an average pace of about 8:07 started the day off right.

PULL
In retrospect, I probably could have done a run this evening. But since I just had a wisdom tooth pulled, I decided to not try to do too much. The extraction was pretty quick. A couple of shots for the local anasthetic were the only painful parts. Luckily it came out pretty easy and no cutting was necessary. The only real pain I felt was the tool slightly pinching my lower lip against my front teeth as he pulled it out. Now I have a wad of gauze in my cheek that reminds me of my Big League Chew days.

The family has decided to find some hiking trails in the area. We bought the kids some hiking boots and Power Bars to help them do it. They are quite excited. It is supposed to be a gorgeous weekend, even almost hot. We plan to take advantage of it before the real heat and humidity settle in.

I haven't posted in a while, though I have been continuing the push ups and doing much running. Some NCAA tourneys, family visits and such have kept me from the blog.

March 20 Pushups (Wk 5, Day 2, Col 3 from plan):

Start of my 9th week. March 23 Pushups (Wk 5, Day 2, Col 3 from plan, 3rd repeat):

March 26: Exhaustion test: 60 push ups. A bit better than the 50 from my last exhaustion.

I need to get back into the push ups. I did not do a third day last week, and have less motivation at the moment. I have still been running and working out. I am trying to lose a few pounds. Each Sunday morning I do a weigh in on the Wii and record my weight. A week ago Sunday I lost 1 pound, this past Sunday I lost 2. I have been running quite a bit each week and doing some weights too. I feel pretty good with all that I've managed to fit in lately.

I had Wednesday off because my brother-in-law and his wife were in for a quick visit. That morning I got out for a longer than usual run and got in about 8.4 miles. After some breakfast we went for a walk to Birkdale Village and hung out for a bit and had lunch there. A little while after that we met up with Janell's sister and her kids and went to Jetton Park.

While there, Janell and I did a lap around the park. The 1.4 mile trail took us about 17 minutes as we did some running and some walking. I then did a lap with my brother-in-law. He is 20 years old and in the Marines. He started off at about a 7 minute per mile pace which got us around the same loop in just under 10 minutes. I'm just glad I was able to do it without feeling bad. It felt pretty good actually.

Yesterday's round of push ups: Week 5, Day 2, Column 3

I did a few sets in the weight room this morning: lat pull down, biceps, lower abs, and back and obliques.

I ran about 6.5 miles last night after work with my running buddy Tim. And though it was quite windy, I'm loving the longer daylight in the evening. The local running group is starting some evening runs so I may join in on some of those too. I weighed myself on the Wii on Sunday and it said I had lost a little over a pound in the last week. It also suggested a new goal of getting my BMI back down to 22; it is currently around 23.5 or so. I don't feel like I need to lose any weight really, but do have a bit of a "spare inner tube" I wouldn't mind losing. So I'm going to try to eat a bit healthier - maybe a few less carbs and sugars and more protein.

I attempted Week 5, Day 1, Column 3 of the 100 Push Up challenge this morning before work. As usual, I took longer rests than the plan's recommended 60 seconds. I hit all the marks, but probably only because of the longer breaks, especially the 6 minutes before the last set. It was longer partially due to something rhyming with vowels.

Day 2 of this week will be interesting as it has less reps, but more sets. We'll see what happens.

After the push ups I went to the weight room and did some bicep and shoulder exercises too. I probably need a plan here too. I'm just doing whatever, but trying to push the number of reps and amount of weight each time if possible.

After blogging yesterday I decided to do a several sets of push ups over the course of the afternoon. I started at 2:15 and did a set of twenty, five minutes later another 20, and then a set of 25. And so on for the next hour or so. I did 285 push ups over that time. Then I took almost a two hour break while doing other things. At about 5pm I started up again and over the next two hours, I did another 265 for a total of 550. I'm not sure if this will help in the 100 Push Ups challenge, but I thought it was worth a try.

This morning I got up and did some weights. While there I was looking longingly at the sunrise coming up and thinking I wanted to get out for a bit but didn't want to run as I had done four days in a row already. So out came the bicycle. The temperature was about 50 which made for cold toes and fingers, but it was a good ride anyway. I got about 15 miles in before having to get back and get ready for church. The spinning felt good, though my back is always a bit sore after biking, especially when I don't ride regularly, other than my work commute. I hope to fit some more rides in this year.

I didn't get around to doing any push ups on Wednesday, but did them Thursday night instead. I did a repeat of Monday's round, but couldn't quite get the last set up to the 40. I think I may try starting Week 5 on Monday; it will be my 8th week since starting. Today (Saturday) I may do some just to keep it going, but not do anything from the plan.

I have also done a run each day since Wednesday, two in the morning, one last night and again this morning. This morning I went with the running group and took the kids with me. Their mommy had to be gone all morning, so I got the stroller for the girls and the bike for the boy. I got about 4.5 miles of running with the stroller. The weather was very nice with sunshine and about 55 degrees. There was a good size group and a few new runners. We may start some evening runs during the week soon too, especially now that it will stay light later.

I got up and out early again this morning. I've enjoyed the early sunrise and cool morning. I only did 4.5 miles today, but it was a great start to the day. I went on the greenway that is close by for part of the run. At one point on there about 50 or so yards ahead I saw two deer bounding through some tall grasses toward some trees. They must have caught site of me or smelled me. Pretty interesting to have deer in what is really a pretty developed area. I guess there is just enough woods between neighborhoods and the interstate that they manage.

For the Hundred Push Up challenge, I attempted Week 4, Day 3, Column 3 tonight. I actually met all the numbers goals, but with one modified rest break before the last set. That feels a bit better. I was a little concerned after a max out of 50 on Saturday night. No change from the max attempt a week or so ago. Maybe I just needed a longer rest. I guess we'll see what happens on the next round.

I visited the workout room twice in the past four days. I hope to stay on a bit of a schedule going there to keep up the bicep, shoulder and back exercises there.

I got up and ran before work this morning. It was cold (28 degrees) and clear. I enjoy watching the sun rise and catching the first rays of light as I run. I did about 5 miles and then got ready for work.

After work I did the same round of push ups as Monday and Wednesday this week. I shortened the rest to 1 minute after the first three sets. But even with a rest of three minutes before the last set I could only do 20. My energy was just not there. Oh well, I'll keep trying. I think I need to see what I can do for a max again tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning is the Birkdale Running/Walking group meetup. The number of members has been growing as has the number of people showing up for the runs. This is great and fun to see so many getting into it.

I decided to get up and do a run before work yesterday. I was up and out by a few minutes after 6am. It had snowed the night before and was in the low 30s, but the roads and sidewalks were only wet and not icy. I had to be back by about a little before 6:50 so my sister-in-law could drop off her kids. I figured I could do 40 minutes. I set my iPod to the preset 45 minute workout and figured I would just turn around when it told me 20 minutes had been completed. But at 20 minutes I was real close to a good turn around point so I kept going just a bit further. Not a big deal as the second half of most of my runs are faster than the first due to a slower "just getting going" first mile.

Soon after I started heading back toward home I went around a corner and hit a head wind I had no idea would be there. The remainder of the run turned into me keeping the pace up so I would make it back in time. Push it, push it, up a hill, raising that heart rate. I managed to get through the one busy intersection without having to stop and wait for a stop light, but a glance at the Garmin read 6:44am and I was about half a mile from home.

I rounded the corner to where I could see my apartment building and was relieved to see my sister-in-law wasn't there waiting. About a second later I saw her pulling up and was happy that my timing and pace worked out to get back just in time.

After work I did another round of push-ups. I fell a bit short of the total, but with shorter rest periods and one more in the final set than Monday. Baby steps.

I also got up early this morning (Thursday) and went to the workout room. I did a couple of miles on the treadmill and about 20 minutes with some weights. The weather is turning toward spring like temps again, so I hope to get some good weather running in again.