Push Ups and Easy Morning Run

Last night I did Week 5, Day 2 of the Push Up Challenge. This was the first time I was doing 8 sets instead of 5 (since last week I messed up and didn't see that I was supposed to do 8 sets instead of 5...). I actually was able to follow the program exactly, with the exception of the last set which calls for "Max - at least 45" and I could only do 35. I ended up doing 175 push ups - 19, 19, 22, 22, 18, 18, 22, 35.

Holy Cow!!!

I started thinking about the fact that I did 175 push ups. I had never, ever, ever done that many push ups in one day before - let alone in 20-30 minutes. Even if I do not get to the eventual goal of doing 100 consecutive push ups, I at least can take satisfaction in the accomplishments I have made along the way. I'm still going to continue the program - and I hope to hit 100 push ups one day in the next few weeks - however, I believe that I've pretty much achieved the intent of this program already.

This morning, I went for an early morning run. My kids had woken up early (somewhere around 5:30am??) and started playing together in my older son's room. I heard them stirring so I rolled out of bed, checked the weather (41 degrees - good for shorts and a long sleeve running shirt), and got out the door a little before 6am.

The Garmin took a while to find the satellites this morning. Kind of annoying when it is dark and on the chilly side.

Since it was dark, I was listening to music (Ben Kweller this morning) and I didn't want to look too much like a dork watching my watch and counting footfalls, I decided not to monitor my turnover on today's run. I think it's better to do that at the gym on a treadmill with an in-your-face timer looking right back 'atcha. I did concentrate on taking smaller steps to make my turnover quicker - even without counting the footfalls. I really think this helps my overall form - my posture seems better and my heart rate doesn't elevate as much.

Today's stats: 4.47 miles in 48:53 - 10:57/mile with an average HR of 150. Compare that to the last time I ran this route on Sunday (afternoon run and after lunch so it's not such an equal comparison) 51:09 - 11:33/mile with an average HR of 160.