I stumbled across a link to a story about a guy named Cliff Young. I clicked it. I read it. You’ll want to, as well.

The Legend of Cliff Young: The 61 Year Old Farmer Who Won the World’s Toughest Race

Character, as they say, makes the man.

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.