Ahh, I am loving Fridays! Not for the obvious, end of the work week reasons, but because it means I’m another week closer to finishing up the 2 fitness programs I’m on right now: One Hour Runner and 100 Push ups. First up? The OHR update:
What a great run this morning. Up at 6:15 am and on the road for my OHR Week 7 ending 45 minute run. Yes, folks, that’s 45 minutes! As my wife said, “In a row??” Hard to believe that this non-runner as of almost 4 months ago is now running – and not dying while doing it – 45 minutes non-stop!
My only goal was to hopefully cover 4 miles, but I didn’t want to push it. The long runs aren’t the times to break pace records, that’s for sure. Anyway, I was relaxed and breathing fairly normally when I glanced down at my watch for the first time and saw that I was in my 37th minute. I smiled knowing how good I felt and then I thought, “I wonder if I can get 4 miles?” I upped the pace just a fraction, but made sure I was still upright and not extending my strides too far. I had an idea where I needed to end my run to be somewhere past 4 miles and thought I could make it until I glanced back at the watch and saw 43. I realized it was gonna be close so I picked up the pace again – I’ve never turned my strides over so fast!! But my breathing was still steady so I kept at it. That last minute was the most amazing minute of running! I kept increasing my pace and yet my breathing stayed steady – this was the payoff of all those weeks of C25k and OHR! At 45 minutes on the dot I stopped my sportband watch and waited to see how far I’d gone. Imagine my response when I saw…….
3.99 miles!
How many steps did I miss 4 miles by? Actually, none. My Nike+ is notorious for being off a tenth of a mile on the short side and when I went back and drove it, I was over 4 miles by a hair. I’m averaging it all out and saying 4.
Week 8 begins Monday.
Now, for the hundredpushups.com update. This is the first time in the 3 weeks that I’ve struggled to get the minimum number of push ups in the last set, but today I barely got it done. I think the fact that I ran the 45 minute run above first had something to do with it. Plus, I’m a wuss. Anyway, my results today:
30-22-22-20-[27] for a total of 121 push ups.
So, I’m halfway through the program and it’s onto Week 4 starting Monday. I may have to repeat a week soon. Time will tell.
