1 Thessalonians 5:24
The One who calls you is faithful and He will do it.

I admit it. I’m captivated by the Olympics. Whether it’s the Summer Games or the Winter Games, I find myself staying up too late watching some of the most obscure sporting competitions ever held. Fencing, badminton, judo and handball make for some great late-night viewing, especially when they’re mixed in with the old favorites like basketball, gymnastics, swimming, and track and field events.

What really makes me enjoy the Games (and for that matter, any sports played at their highest level) is the way the competitors handle the pressure that comes with the events. Broadcast announcers have been sure to explain the pressure that the athletes must certainly feel when they have trained for years in order to compete in a event that can be decided in hundredths of a second. And yet, when the athletes themselves are interviewed about how they handle that pressure, they typically respond with, “Oh, I just think of it as another day in the pool/on the track/in the stadium, etc.” How do they not feel the pressure that the announcers tell us they should? I think I’ve got a simple answer: they know they can do it.

Think about it. You’re a professional basketball player standing at the free throw line with a second on the clock and down a point. Continue reading

Here are the workout results for Week 5 in the hundredpushups.com challenge. It’s the first week that I will have to repeat, because I couldn’t hit the numbers required on the D1 and D3 sets. D1 was my worst – I only hit the target number in my first 2 sets. D3 was much better – I hit all the targets except for the final set. Here is the damage:

100 pushups W5D1: 40-32-15(30)-15(25)-[11(40)] for a total of 113 push ups

100 pushups W5D2: 20-20-18-18-15-15-14-[40] for a total of 160 push ups

100 pushups W5D3: 18-18-16-16-14-14-12-[20(40)] for a total of 128 push ups

Throw in my “see how many push ups you can do without stopping” test at the beginning of the week (which was 67 if you’re curious), and I did 468 push ups this week. Next week I’ll wash, rinse, repeat Week 5. Hopefully with passing results.

I’m putting the push ups off until tomorrow, but I did head out early this morning for the longest run of my life: 5.37 miles in 54 minutes. So, even though it’s not a race, I just ran an 8k. I’m calling it the “Paul Didn’t Die 8k Road Race” and awarding myself first place. Next week I’ll finish up the One Hour Runner training with a 60 minute run without walking a single second of it. Pretty good for someone who only ran to the bathroom on occasion four months ago.