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.

Okay, I’ve learned the important principle about getting the “worst done first” and that’s why lately I’ve been getting up earlier to run and do push ups before my day actually begins (well, that and the heat and humidity). This morning I got out a bit later than I’d hoped but here are the results of the W3D2 100 push ups workout. As usual, there are 5 sets and this time 90 seconds of rest between each. I did:

27-19-19-15-[35] for a total of 115 push ups.

I’ve not really been blogging much about my progress in the One Hour Runner program, but today was my second day of the seventh week (sounds Biblical, doesn’t it – “in the second day of the seventh month when King Paul died of running complications…”). I ran for 34 minutes and covered 3.32 miles. The whole goal of the program is to work up to one hour of running without walking, and Friday I’ll do the long run of the week – 45 minutes. God help me.

At the end of last week, the program calls for another test to see how many push ups you can do at one time. My initial test at the beginning of the program was 45, and this time I did 60. That’s a nice jump in 2 weeks time.

Today begins the third week and it calls for another 5 sets with 60 seconds rest in between each. Of course, the last set is the one that is an attempt on my life, where I do as many as possible before collapsing. My results:

25-17-17-15-[30] for a total of 104 push ups.

I also started the 7th week of the One Hour Runner program and ran 3.24 miles in 30:00 for a 9:10/mile pace. I finished the 6th week last Saturday in Columbia, SC, with my longest run to date: 41 minutes covering 3.77 miles. This week will conclude with a 45 minute run and I’m hoping to run for 4 miles.