Moving On

Check ride day is always great because (a) I haven't failed one yet and (b) it serves as another milestone on the million-mile journey that is flight school. Today was my first check ride in the M-model Blackhawk and it went really well. My new stick buddy is one of the most motivated people I've ever met and I've really had to step up my studying to keep pace with him. We both kicked ass and will be starting our next phase of training on Monday. Tomorrow we have a class on Instrument procedures, which is flying in the clouds, and then we have a day off on Friday. Amazing. I'm going to use the free time to move my stuff out of my current house and into my new house. Pictured below is my new roommate Dominic. He's awesome and helps me when I'm missing Urijah and Emi.

My leg felt pretty stiff today and I meant to go running but never got around to it because I was at the library for most of the day doing the next two weeks of homework. I like to do all of the homework for a certain phase at the beginning of the phase so that I get a heads up as far as what to expect in school and I also don't have to worry about doing it on nights where I just don't feel like it. I did 150 pushups, 50 at a time, as my only fitness for the day. I swear my arms are getting weaker and my shoulders feel sore non-stop. Are they ever going to get used to daily pushups or am I going to have to start making it a routing to go 500 a day and then take 2 days off? If things aren't better by May, I may have to do that.

Pushups: Today-150 YTD-17475
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-120
Running: Today-0mi YTD-225.15mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 01Mar - 203.4
Mon, 01Apr - 203.6

Tue, 02Apr - 201.4

Wed, 03Apr - 203.0

Booooorrrrring

This blog has gotten boring as shit. I've been studying hard in flight school and haven't really had much time to do anything interesting. I think I'm going to start incorporating one photo per day to liven things up. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand boring ass words.

I did random sets of 50 today for 200 total. I'm really focusing on my form and going lower than necessary and it's tiring me out a lot faster. I'm also feeling like being a pansy so I'm stopping when it gets sore. I didn't run today because I was studying for the majority of the day and also wanted to give the hammy a bit of a rest. I have a pretty important check ride tomorrow and I'll take a celebratory run afterwards. Wish me luck!!

Pushups: Today-200 YTD-17325
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-120
Running: Today-0mi YTD-225.15mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 01Mar - 203.4
Mon, 01Apr - 203.6
Tue, 02Apr - 201.4

3-month mark

I'm pretty pleased with the way the first 3 months have gone. I'm in a lot better shape than I was on January 1st and I obviously felt good enough to book 2 marathons in October. The hamstring pull has me down a bit but I'm confident that it'll just be a minor setback.

Yesterday, I ran 4 miles on it but I did 2 miles then stopped and stretched and then 2 more miles. My style of running isn't real hamstring intensive so it doesn't reallly hurt until I try to run hard and then I feel it tighten up. I ran 4 today without stopping and it felt real tight for a while, loosened up in the middle, then felt tight again toward the end when I tried to sprint it out. I'm trying to baby it a bit for obvious reasons but hopefully I'll be back to normal within a few weeks. I'm definitely afraid of the track now and I'll probably just do intervals during my normal runs from now on. Blah.

One thing that sucked is I talked to two people who have run multiple marathons and they both said, "the way you described that sounds like a textbook hamstring tear!!" Here's hoping they're wrong.

I did 300 pushups yesterday to push over 17k in 3 months. I'm pretty proud of that number because this challenge really feels like a grind at times. I'm moving in with a guy who just maxed his PT test and is just as competitive as I am so hopefully I'll have someone to put the fun back in. I only did 120 today because my shoulders hurt but at least it's something. I don't know how Dookie does it with his kids and remodeling that he does. His feat is probably more impressive since it's my job to run and do pushups.

I'm pretty thankful that April 1st is here because it gives me an artificial date to start eating healthier. I think I'm going to make a pact and eat zero processed sugar this month. I can drink beer once a week but sugar has to be from fruit or else I can't eat it. Boom, sugar free April is born. I like it already.

Pushups: Today-420 YTD-17125
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-120
Running: Today-8mi YTD-225.15mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 01Mar - 203.4
Mon, 01 Apr - 203.6

Sluggish

I'm trying to get out of this funk I'm in and it's taking considerable effort. It's funny how quickly inertia can build up. I also have been eating like crap and drinking too much. Fitness and good eating go hand-in-hand for me so when things go downhill, they go downhill quickly.

I ran 2.2 miles today with this awesome group called Team RWB. You can watch a video about what they do here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUIEk_6-lU0

It was a pretty good re-introduction to running and my leg responded pretty well. It was really tight and I was limping noticeably at first but after the first half mile or so it loosened up and I stretched it out afterwards. I'm going to try to run a little more tomorrow, slowly, and keep stretching it out. Yoga on Monday will be fun as well.

I did 300 pushups yesterday but only 120 today. I got hammered on Friday night and felt pretty sluggish all day today, despite the nice little 2.2-mile jog. I'm going to make sure I get 300 tomorrow so that I can go over 17k in my first 3 months. I'm pretty proud of that number despite the piss poor week that I've been having. April 1st I'll get back on the fitness bandwagon, promise.

Pushups: Today-420 YTD-16705
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-120
Running: Today-2.2mi YTD-217.15mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 01Mar - 203.4
Fri, 08Mar - 203.4
Fri, 15Mar - 200.4
Fri, 22Mar - 200.2
Fri, 29Mar - 201.0

Being a Baby

Been lazy as hell, moping around like my life is over. My leg is actually feeling a lot better, it's just amazing how much I miss running. I'm still feel a decent amount of pain when I push too hard or do too much but I need to loosen it up and stretch abit afterwards. I think I'm gonna jog 2 slow tomorrow and stretch it out and evaluate.

I've also been eating like crap and not doing pushups. I did zero yesterday and forced myself to do 120 today. Don't know why I let this injury affect my mood the way it did. I can't imagine how miserable I'd be if it ended up being more serious. I'm hoping that by writing about it and being self-aware, I'll have a healthy, productive weekend. We shall see.

Pushups: Today-120 YTD-16285
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-120
Running: Today-0mi YTD-214.95mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 01Mar - 203.4
Fri, 08Mar - 203.4
Fri, 15Mar - 200.4
Fri, 22Mar - 200.2
Mon, 25Mar - 205.4
Tue, 26Mar - 201.4
Wed, 27Mar - 201.4
Thu, 28Mar - 202.6

Fuck

Strained my hamstring pretty badly last night. I was running 200m sprints and on my last one I pushed too hard and my hamstring felt like it was a rubber band, stretching too far and then snapping back. It made a loud snapping sound and immediately hurt like a bitch. It's pretty stiff this morning and hurts when I do certain things but at least it's not torn(I don't think). I'm going to rest for a few days and see how it feels after the weekend. I've never had a running injury before and it's extremely disheartening. I didn't get any more pushups done yesterday and I don't know if I'm going to do any today. I will get a lot of sitting on my ass done today and my flight line academics will thank me. I'm seriously bummed but I have to look at things on the bright side because a tear would have been so much worse. If Sunday rolls around and I'm still hobbling around then I'm going to be extremely pissed. Right now I'm just a little annoyed but still hopeful that things won't be too bad.

Pushups: Today-130 YTD-16165
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-120
Running: Today-1.5mi YTD-214.95mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 01Mar - 203.4
Fri, 08Mar - 203.4
Fri, 15Mar - 200.4
Fri, 22Mar - 200.2
Mon, 25Mar - 205.4
Tue, 26Mar - 201.4
Wed, 27Mar - 201.4

Zombie Life

I need to start writing these at night, my morning are packed enough as is. I was just too tired last night to put anything up. I ran 3 miles before yoga and then got my butt kicked for an hour by some hot chick with big shoulders. I only did 120 pushups but I'm at 130 for today already and should get to around 300. This afternoon I have to run 9x200m which is going to suck balls but I have a need for speed. Lastly, it's comical how easily my weight fluctuates. I weigh at the same time every day, right when I wake up, and it always amazes me how different Friday, Monday, and Tuesday are. I'm sure no one else really gives a shit but it's my blog and it entertains me. So screw you.

Pushups: Today-120 YTD-16035
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-120
Running: Today-3mi YTD-213.45mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 01Mar - 203.4
Fri, 08Mar - 203.4
Fri, 15Mar - 200.4
Fri, 22Mar - 200.2
Mon, 25Mar - 205.4
Tue, 26Mar - 201.4

Tired

I had to drive home from Tampa yesterday and it was pretty exhausting. I did 75 in the morning at Jimmy's place and that's all I did for the day. I did get a nice 8.2-mile run in so the day wasn't a total physical fitness waste. It was a cloudy day and my watch wouldn't pick up any satellites so I just used it to keep track of my time which was 67.5 minutes. I noted what cross street I stopped on and mapped the run on google here: Bayshore

I'm going to miss running along that bay. The weather was pretty ideal, other than the stiff humidity, the scenery was great, and the females were plentiful. It was also cool to see seagulls flying along the shore crabbing into the wind to maintain their ground track. I never noticed little things that birds did until I started flying and now I can't help but notice little things like that.

4 AM came way too early today. I got 60 knocked out before breakfast but I'm just looking for ~180 today. Hopefully I'll be in bed by 19:30 tonight so I won't be a zombie all week. Also, I put on 5.2 lbs this weekend, not bad!!

Pushups: Today-75 YTD-15915
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-120
Running: Today-8.2mi YTD-210.45mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 01Mar - 203.4
Fri, 08Mar - 203.4
Fri, 15Mar - 200.4
Fri, 22Mar - 200.2
Mon, 25Mar - 205.4

Clearwater 500

Had an awesome day today with Jimmy and Jenn. Jimmy got called in to take care of some shoulder surgery so Jenn and I got lunch at an awesome little Vietnamese joint. I don't get much of that kind of food up in Bama so I really enjoyed it. After lunch, we picked Jimmy up from the hospital and drove out to Clearwater beach. It was absolutely gorgeous and we all got a little sunburnt. We're calling it an early night and may rent Life of Pi on Netflix. This is what old people do.

I woke up at 7 and went for a 5-mile run along the bay. The weather was absolutely perfect, although the humidity was a little high. I didn't go all that fast, probably 7:45 miles. I'll post the map and graph tomorrow night once I get home. Tomorrow I'm supposed to run for 70 minutes and I'm going to try to take the same route. It's nice and flat and there's a pretty decent breeze that feels great. Wish me luck.

I did 180 pushups in sets of 60 this morning and then Jimmy wanted to play a card game when we got home. He quit after like 5 cards but I was able to finish and got 265 pushups done. It would be so great to have someone around to play these games with back home. Actually, I do have a number of friends back at home who might be down, I'll put out some feelers. I'm going to do 55 more before bed and round it off at 500. I'll take credit for them now so I can finish the blog.

Also, there's a post from Thursday that never got published. Go back and check it out. Tomorrow we're heading to a Yankees-Rays spring training game, can't believe baseball is almost here!!

Pushups: Fri/Sat-680 YTD-15840
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-120
Running: Today-5.1mi YTD-202.25mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 01Mar - 203.4
Fri, 08Mar - 203.4
Fri, 15Mar - 200.4
Fri, 22Mar - 200.2

Tampa

Drove to Tampa today to see my old college buddy Jimmy. I didn't get my run in this morning so I have to go tomorrow. It's a shame because I'm gonna be real hungover. I did a set of 60 this morning, a set of 60 when I got here, and a set of 60 just now for a total of 180. I'll work on the total at a later date, goodnight.

30% of 50,000

15k feels pretty good in less than 3 months. I've been doing random sets of 50 a little slower than usual and feeling for the form that works my muscles the most and my joints the least. It feels pretty good but it isn't as easy to put up huge numbers. Regardless, this has to be better for me in the long run and soon I'll be able to squeeze off slow 60-rep sets.

I'm planning on getting to 200 miles for the year tomorrow which is obviously way ahead of the 500/year pace. And if I'm going to run 2 marathons in October, I'm pretty sure the final total will be closer to 1k than 500 miles. It's kind of nuts to think about 1,000 miles but I just need to keep at it and avoid getting hurt. I really believe that adding yoga will help a lot.

Here's a link to today's run. I went around noon with my roommate Brian and he was sore so we didn't set a blazing pace. He's 6 weeks ahead of me in school and he's moving home in 3 weeks. I'm really going to miss having him around. He's a really smart dude and works his ass off and loves teaching me Blackhawk stuff when we run. He's in the Oregon National Guard and lives in Portland so I'll definitely be making a trip down there whenever I'm home. Anyway, here's the link:

Running with Roche

Tomorrow I have a pretty long day ahead of me. I want to be able to take Saturday off so I'm going to run 5 miles at 5:30 AM and then go to Simulators until 11:30 and then hit the road to Tampa to visit my friend Doctor Jimmy Dang. It's a 6-hour drive and hopefully I'll be down there by dinnertime. We're going to drink on the beach all day Saturday and then head to a Yankees-Rays Spring Training game on Sunday. That's a pretty nice little weekend if you ask me. Blog post may have to wait until Monday.

Pushups: Today-200 YTD-15160
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-120
Running: Today-4.85mi YTD-197.15mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 01Mar - 203.4
Fri, 08Mar - 203.4
Fri, 15Mar - 200.4
Sun, 17Mar - 202.4
Mon, 18Mar - 202.6
Tue, 19Mar - 199.4
Wed, 20Mar - 202.2
Thu, 21Mar - 202.2

Premature

The dream of 15K didn't come to fruition. I'm tantalizingly close but I just don't want to do anymore pushups tonight. The day off from running felt good and yoga felt even better. Hopefully I get a good pace going tomorrow and can post a fast time.

The simulator isn't as bad as I thought it would be. The Mike model Blackhawk has a brand new cockpit layout and it's light years ahead of anything we've experienced. There's so much to learn, it would be criminal to be bored in that thing. Pretty excited to go back for the rest of the week. And then flying the thing on Monday is going to be insane. Life is good.

Pushups: Today-250 YTD-14960
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-120
Running: Today-0mi YTD-192.3mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 01Mar - 203.4
Fri, 08Mar - 203.4
Fri, 15Mar - 200.4
Sun, 17Mar - 202.4
Mon, 18Mar - 202.6
Tue, 19Mar - 199.4
Wed, 20Mar - 202.2

Grindin'

I had my first day back at the flight line today and life is back to being hectic. Today was just an intro day so we didn't get the reward of flying, just the pain of homework and early mornings. The next three days are simulator days so the payoff won't come until next Monday. Life is so rough.

I did 250 pushups today in a few easy installments. I did 60 right when I woke up and thought I could do more but decided to save my energy post-shower. Then, around 35 I felt clicking in my elbow so I stopped at 40. All these joint pains are really chapping my ass. I stuck to sets of 50 at lunch and dinner and feel pretty good. Tomorrow I will go over 15k, how exciting!

I also ran 6x400m with a friend and put up some decent times. I wasn't real happy with them until I looked at my times from the 5x400 and there's a definite improvement there. Anyway, here's the shitty graph:

6x400m

I ran a half mile to warm-up and a half mile to cool down so I'll take credit for 2.5 miles although it seems like it should count for more considering the pain I was in. Tomorrow is a rest day and there's yoga at the gym at 6:30. Can't wait.

Pushups: Today-250 YTD-14710
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-120
Running: Today-2.5mi YTD-192.3mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 01Mar - 203.4
Fri, 08Mar - 203.4
Fri, 15Mar - 200.4
Sun, 17Mar - 202.4
Mon, 18Mar - 202.6
Tue, 19Mar - 199.4

PR Day

This morning I decided to go for a pushup PR and did 85 in a row. I didn't think I had that many in me and it felt pretty good. I think I'm going to make Monday my PR Day and try to do one huge set a week. I did 85 straight situps right afterwards and then did 60 more pushups after I showered. The day is just so much easier when you start off with a healthy number. I was able to do two more sets of 60 before lunch and dinner and a set of 75 after dinner for 340 for the day. It didn't feel much like work and I like it that way.

I also ran a slow 3 miles with my roommate. I told him I wanted to go slow and stretch a lot for tomorrow's track day and he had to keep yelling at me when I started to go too fast. I think your legs get into some sort of rhythm and it actually felt harder sometimes to maintain the slower pace. It was also incredibly humid so we got good and sweaty despite our snail-like pace. Hopefully I'll be able to put up some good times at the track tomorrow.

Tonight, I went to my first yoga class ever. It's insane how tight my lower body is and it felt great to stretch out my hips and hamstrings. I was also the only male with 12 females; at only $3.50/class, I'll definitely be back.

I'm considering doing something a little crazy, which is nothing new for me, but I want Dookie's feedback this time. I'm thinking about running the Twin Cities Marathon on October 6th and then running the Marine Corps Marathon in D.C. on October 27th. Is that insane? I'm thinking that if I get in good enough shape for one marathon, I should be able to knock out two. I've never done a full before, obviously, but this just seems like the right thing to do. What do you say, Dave? The Marine Corps Marathon is offering a 15% discount for Active Duty Military if I sign up before March 24th...

OK, I just looked at the website and last year's marathon sold out to the general public within 2.5 hours of opening. It's not open to the general public yet so I just registered my brother and myself. BOOM that felt good. He'll be surprised when he finds out he's running a marathon but I know he'll be down. He'll probably want to do the Twin Cities as well but I have to decide if I want to do the double or not. Thinking out loud while I blog is fun.

Aaaand I just signed up for Twin Cities. Dave, I really did want your input but some sort of craziness has come over me. Holy crap I'm excited.

Pushups: Today-340 YTD-14460
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-120
Running: Today-3mi YTD-189.8mi
Marathons Registered For: Today - 2

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 01Mar - 203.4
Fri, 08Mar - 203.4
Fri, 15Mar - 200.4
Sun, 17Mar - 202.4
Mon, 18Mar - 202.6

St Patty's Day

This was easily the most low-key St. Patty's Day of my life. I've spent many of these in Vegas going nuts but I kind of liked sitting at home and studying. The past week was really rough on the brain and body and I'm enjoying this calm after the storm. I managed 240 pushups in sets of 60 and feel pretty good about it. I'm going to try to make sure I do some rip deck sessions this week and put up some bigger numbers. Sobriety will help.

My roommate and I ran for an hour today and it was pretty miserable. I realized about halfway through that I haven't been eating much over the past week and was getting most of my calories through alcohol. I quit the alcohol on Saturday but didn't replace those calories with food. The entire second half of the run it felt like my stomach was trying to turn inside out and we ended up with a pretty slow time as a result. Another factor for the slow time may be the fact that I don't have the female running partner to impress anymore since they went home on Saturday. Also, it's heavy running around with a broken heart. ;) Anyway, here's the run:

7-mile run

I think this watch and website are kind of lame. It's hard to glean much good information from that graph. It was cheapish on Amazon and I might like it more if I used it every time I ran so I'll try to do that for a while.

After running I slammed a coconut water and ate a gigantic Greek Salad for lunch. For dinner, we had ribs, green beans, and mac & cheese. I'd say I'm doing a pretty good job replenishing those calories that I was worried about.

Pushups: Today-240 YTD-14120
Pullups: Today-5 YTD-120
Running: Today-6.95mi YTD-186.8mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 01Mar - 203.4
Fri, 08Mar - 203.4
Fri, 15Mar - 200.4
Sun, 17Mar - 202.4

New Low

Only did 100 pushups yesterday in 2 sets of 50 and didn't make it out for a run. Today I'm going for a 7-8 miler and will try to do 60 pushups with every meal. I'm kind of ruining this nice cushion that I had for myself but I guess that's why the cushion was there in the first place.

Pushups: Today-100 YTD-13880
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-115
Running: Today-0mi YTD-179.85mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 01Mar - 203.4
Fri, 08Mar - 203.4
Fri, 15Mar - 200.4
Sun, 17Mar - 202.4

Lazy Days

Did 180 yesterday in 3 random sets of 60. My shoulders are feeling a lot better and I know they're appreciating the rest. My body does ache but that's because of the booze. I did run a slowish 4 miles yesterday and the plan is to run 4 hard today. I'll try to get my watch to work and get something uploaded tonight. I'm somewhat surprised that I weighed 200.4 yesterday morning but I think it's more muscle decay than fat loss because I've been lazy as hell. It'd be nice to turn into one of those people who need to keep their weight UP, a totally foreign concept to my former fat self. I think I'm going to take it easy for the weekend, rehydrate and whatnot, and then crank out a bunch next week. I'm realizing that my final PT test is only 2 months away so I'll also need to work on my rip deck sessions. Fitness is so fun!

Pushups: Today-180 YTD-13780
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-115
Running: Week-4mi YTD-179.85mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 01Mar - 203.4
Fri, 08Mar - 203.4
Fri, 15Mar - 200.4

Slackin'

Getting bad at pushups and bad at updating this thing. Did 150 on Monday in random sets of 30, 120 on Tuesday in 2 sets of 60, 180 yesterday in 3 sets of 60 and 200 today in 4 sets of 50 for a total of 650 in 4 days. Feels like I've been horrible but it really isn't the end of the world. Some Pilot buddies have friends visiting them and I've been more motivated to hang out and booze with them than do any severe pushup workouts. Their trip coincides with an academics week for me so there are no rules as to drinking before flying or whatever. It's the perfect storm for a shit show of a week. One of the females is a pretty strong runner so I logged a fastish 4 miles on Monday and then a fastish 3 miles yesterday and today because she quit on me before the end of the loop, haha.

Tuesday was track day and I uploaded the workout here:

8 x 200m

My splits were 32, 34, 34, 34, 36, 36, 36, 34 and my rest times ranged from 1:48-2:23 as I walked around the track. I don't know if I should try to standardize those times to ~2 minutes but I didn't realize I was spending 30 extra seconds walking toward the end of the workout. I ran 2 laps to warm up and 2 laps to cool down so I'm going to call it 2 miles. Tomorrow is supposed to be an off day but I like running with this female and it's their last day in town so I may make it out again.

I haven't been weighing myself but I have been drinking a ton of beer and eating poorly so I have that going for me. I'm going to make sure I get my Friday AM weigh-in tomorrow morning and see where I'm at. Don't feel like it's going to be too bad actually because of the consistent running.

Pushups: Week-650 YTD-13600
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-115
Running: Week-12mi YTD-175.85mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 01Mar - 203.4
Fri, 08Mar - 203.4

I'm the worst

Honestly, there are times where I feel like the dumbest person in the world. I lost my phone somewhere in Panama City Beach this weekend and I seem to lose something every single weekend. It's just ridiculous.

I only managed 120 pushups yesterday and 120 today. Looks like I got 1879 for the week, not too far off the 2k goal. Hopefully my left breast won't feel torn tomorrow morning and I can go for 2k next week. I did managed to run 4 miles on Saturday morning and 3 miles along the beach today so that was nice. Not really looking forward to stepping on the scale tomorrow morning but that's what it's there for.

Pushups: Today-240 YTD-12950
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-115
Running: Today-7mi YTD-163.85mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 01Mar - 203.4
Fri, 08Mar - 203.4

Sore sore sore

I thought today was going to be a total waste but my roommate's birthday party was pretty chill and I managed to take it easy with the booze. I'm heading to Panama City Beach tomorrow so I'll definitely make up for it down there.

This morning I did 61 pushups after breakfast and then did 60 and 30 at lunch and then managed 60 and 60 around dinner. Each set was pretty damn painful and I might take tomorrow off. My chest is in a constant state of dull soreness followed by a sharper pain as I try to crank out sets of pushups.

We're leaving at 0800 and I'm going to try to get my 4 mile run done on or around the beach, before getting all sorts of hammered. Maybe I'll take pics, holla.

Pushups: Today-271 YTD-12710
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-115
Running: Today-0mi YTD-156.85mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 01Mar - 203.4
Fri, 08Mar - 203.4

Great day

I got my 500 pushups and my 30-minute run, holla! Just finished a 52 pushup set that rounded out a 208-60-60-60-60-52 day. My arms are quite sore and I have no idea how Kennedy can do 1k in a day or even double ripdeck sessions. The man is an animal. I woke up 15 minutes early today and knocked out a ripdeck session which made the rest of the day a lot easier.

My ripdeck time actually went up to 10:39 but I think I ran about as bad as you can run. Early on I got black(situps) 2-5-R2-4-A-A-K-9-8-R3-7-T for 86 situps and only 5 pushups and then at the end I got 5-9-8-Q-6-T-A for 64 pushups. My beloved Ace of diamonds took me 33 seconds to complete! I also think my reaction time was slower because it was 0545 in the morning. My times were Pushups 4:01 Situps 6:38 after having Pushups 3:29 Situps 6:57 last time. I refuse to believe that my pushups got that much worse. Anyway, next time I will PR. For sure.

My 5k training schedule called for a 30 minute run today and my time was decent. There are a few hills that suck and 30:28 isn't too bad. I think I'm going to set my goal at 20 minutes for the 5k so that's 4 minutes per km so that's 48 seconds per 200m so that's 1:36 per 400m and 6:24/mile. Hmmmm. May be a bit ambitious but I guess it's better to set your goals too high than too low. I love that sentence where I do math as I type. Lol.

Ughhhh just added up my numbers and I'm 61 short of being 1/4 of the way to my 50k. Ummmm nope I'm not gonna do it. I'll just get 61 in my first set in the morning and be happy with it. Goodnight.

30 minute run

Pushups: Today-800 YTD-12439
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-115
Running: Today-4mi YTD-156.85mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 01Mar - 203.4
Tue, 05Mar - 203.2
Thr, 07Mar - 203.4

Beast

The other guy in my 50k pushup bet decided to do 1k yesterday so I'm feeling a little inadequate. I got 300 done today but forgot to blog and now I'm in bed blogging from my phone. I'll get the numbers added tomorrow. I'm planning on waking up early and getting a morning rip deck session out of the way tomorrow and aim for around 500 done in addition to my 30-minute run. We'll see. I'm feeling a tad worn out, but no one ever died from doing too many pushups.

Intervals

Dave told me how to run my intervals but unfortunately couldn't make me competent at operating my watch. The first lap didn't get recorded but I'm certain that it was my fastest lap. I figured the watch out while walking a lap and got some good data for the last 4 laps. Then I forgot to turn the watch off and it recorded a sick fast time on my drive home. And now it just took me an hour to learn how to upload the run and I'm not sure how to link it here. I'll get better at this but for now, I consider it a bit of a fail. Here are the numbers regardless:

Lap 1: ???
Rest Lap: ???
Lap 2: 1:17
Rest Lap: 3:47
Lap 3: 1:19
Rest Lap: 4:04
Lap 4: 1:20
Rest Lap: 4:03
Lap 5: 1:20

Pretty good times overall, next time I'll be able to link a graph and it'll be more interesting. I did run 3 laps as a warmup and then stretched so I'm going to count this as a 2-mile run.

Today was a bit of a bitch because we had class from 0730 until 1600 with an hour of lunch in between. I had to do pushups in my full uniform which always sucks and people love to make jokes when you work out during class. I got 4 sets done today, 240 total, and I feel like I might be able to start extending my sets to 65 or 70 pushups. So that's nice.

Pushups: Today-240 YTD-11639
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-115
Running: Today-2mi YTD-152.85mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 01Mar - 203.4
Tue, 05Mar - 203.2

Running fast

Got my ripdeck time down to 10:26 but my abs are really slowing me down. They're usually pretty fast, hopefully they wake up soon. I also did 2 other sets of 60 to get to 328 for the day. Add in a 3 mile run and I'd say it wasn't a bad Monday. Tomorrow I'll go for another 300 or so and I get to run 400m repeats which is a lot of fun.

Pushups: Today-328 YTD-11399
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-115
Running: Today-3mi YTD-150.85mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 08Feb - 203.8
Fri, 15Feb - 200.4
Fri, 22Feb - 203.4
Fri, 01Mar - 203.4

Boring

Did 60 on Saturday and 180 today. Pretty uneventful weekend, just got drunk and didn't work out. My foot is finally feeling like it can handle a few miles so I'm gonna hit the road tomorrow. I'll also get a ripdeck session in to get me jumpstarted for the week. I'd like to get 2k/week while I'm in classes and not waking up at 0350 every morning. I'm also going to try to follow this schedule and hopefully be fast by May: http://www.halhigdon.com/training/50935/Advanced-5K-Training

Pushups: Weekend-445 YTD-11071
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-115
Running: Today-0mi YTD-147.85mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 08Feb - 203.8
Fri, 15Feb - 200.4
Fri, 22Feb - 203.4
Fri, 01Mar - 203.4

Montgomery

Passed my check ride, hanging in Montgomery for the night. Did 120 for breakfast, 60 for lunch, and then 25 tonight. The 25 were done in this weird yoga style that's supposed to be better for your shoulder joints but it actually hurt my shoulders more than usual and worked mainly triceps so they were much harder. Anyway, 205, I'll sum them up when I don't have to blog on my phone. And I'm definitely going running tomorrow despite my sore foot. It just needs to happen.

Abs

It's insane that my abs were still sore today from Monday's ripdeck session. I decided 3 days was enough rest and knocked out another session, improving to 10:50 for the 208 pushups and situps. If my abs ever get back in shape, I'm gonna kill that workout. I guess this is what happens when you ignore a muscle for over 2 months. That's probably the reason why I can't do pullups either. Sigh.

Tomorrow I have my Instruments Check Ride. That probably doesn't mean anything to the 3 readers of this blog but it's just another flying test. These tests are stressful but they represent another step toward graduation and getting the hell out of Alabama so I welcome them with open arms. Wish me luck tomorrow.

Pushups: Today-268 YTD-10626
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-115
Running: Today-0mi YTD-147.85mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 08Feb - 203.8
Fri, 15Feb - 200.4
Fri, 22Feb - 203.4
Mon, 25Feb - 207.8
Tue, 26Feb - 206.4
Wed, 27Feb - 201.8
Thu, 28Feb - 203.2

Paying the price

Bleh, woke up today feeling sore all over. My foot is the most troubling, feels like a bit of a stres fracture in the top part. I decided to take the day off and have been stretching it out. It hurts to do that but the more I stretch it, the less I think it's a fracture. Hopefully it feels better tomorrow. My arms felt weird as well and my abs still hurt so I did just one set of 60 pushups for the day. I'm happy with 10k in 2 months but I was hoping for a bit more. The past week or two have been pretty brutal but I guess that's what happens when you binge drink like a 19 year-old. Oh, also my weight fluctuated down like crazy. I think I was dehydrated and maybe that's why my foot felt/feels like crap. Let's hope that's all it is.

Pushups: Today-60 YTD-10358
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-115
Running: Today-0mi YTD-147.85mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 08Feb - 203.8
Fri, 15Feb - 200.4
Fri, 22Feb - 203.4
Mon, 25Feb - 207.8
Tue, 26Feb - 206.4
Wed, 27Feb - 201.8

Grindin'

Fitness really is quite the grind. Especially when flight school takes up so much damn time. A lot of people come down here and get super fat by the end and barely pass their final physical fitness test. I'm pretty proud of what I've done and hopefully it'll continue. My abs were pretty sore today but I'm looking forward to round 2 of ripdeck tomorrow. Today, I did 60 pushups per meal and ran 5 miles with my roommate. The run was intense and we finished a semi-hilly course in 37 minutes when we normally do it in 40-42 minutes. I think I'm addicted to running and it feels pretty awesome. 3 of my toenails are dead/dying and soon I'll be one of those running weirdos with no toenails. I love it.

Pushups:- Today-180 YTD-10298
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-115
Running: Today-5mi YTD-147.85mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 08Feb - 203.8
Fri, 15Feb - 200.4
Fri, 22Feb - 203.4
Mon, 25Feb - 207.8
Tue, 26Feb - 206.4

Rip deck

I bought an iPad app called Ripdeck that uses a deck of cards and lets you customize what you want each card to mean. My buddies Ryan and Ryan use ripdeck and make 2 suits situps and 2 suits pushups with values 2-A ranging from 2-14. You end up doing 208 of each by the end of the workout and try to do it as fast as you can. I did it in 12:09 but one of the Ryans is down to 8:26 so I have my work cut out for me. My situps are really weak right now but they'll snap back into shape soon. I also did 60 at each meal so I managed 388 for the day. Surprisingly, my legs felt pretty good and I considered a short run before reconsidering. I'll definitely do 4-5 miles tomorrow, need to keep this momentum going.

Pushups:- Today-388 YTD-10118
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-115
Running: Today-0mi YTD-142.85mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 08Feb - 203.8
Fri, 15Feb - 200.4
Fri, 22Feb - 203.4
Mon, 25Feb - 207.8

New Orleans

Epic City. Great food, legal to drink in public, great music, etc. Having a half marathon on a Sunday morning is a little sadistic, however, and my legs were cramping as I stood in my corral before running a single mile. I ran the first 10 miles with my friend's wife and then did the last 3.1 a little faster. I kept a 7:24 pace for that last stretch but we were so slow for the 10 miles that I only managed a 2:01 time. In the nearish future I'd like to run another one and shoot for something in the 1:40s. For that race, I won't drink vodka/car bombs/sake allll day the day before. Pushups were a total bust due to the fact that I was either drinking or running all the time. I did 60 on Friday morning, zero on Saturday, and 100 today in 2 sets of 50. Tomorrow I'm going to try out the ripdeck card game app that incorporates situps with 232 pushups. I haven't done a situp since December so that should be fun. I'll also do some tomorrow morning to push myself over 10K.

Pushups: Weekend-160 YTD-9730
Pullups: Weekend-0 YTD-115
Running: Weekend-13.1mi YTD-142.85mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 08Feb - 203.8
Fri, 15Feb - 200.4
Tue, 19Feb - 207.8
Wed, 20Feb - 204.4
Thu, 21Feb - 202.2
Fri, 22Feb - 203.4

Great Day

Flew like a champ today and was very productive with my homework. I also managed to do 300 pushups and run 5 miles. These will be the last miles before my half marathon. I'm going to run this one socially but the training has made me want to train up and do one for time in the nearish future. My shoulders are still a little creaky but the pushups are coming a bit easier. Just in time for a weekend in New Orleans. Glorious.

Also, it's kind of amazing how weight can fluctuate like mine is right now. I had a huge Mexican dinner so I probably won't go down any further but gaining 7 lbs and losing 5 back immediately is pretty amazing. Let's see how many I can put back on this weekend. 7 lbs or bust.

Pushups: Today-300 YTD-9570
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-115
Running: Today-5mi YTD-129.75mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 08Feb - 203.8
Fri, 15Feb - 200.4
Tue, 19Feb - 207.8
Wed, 20Feb - 204.4
Thu, 21Feb - 202.2

Flight School

It's been rough this week. Went to class at 0500 and didn't get done with homework until 1800. Had a few small breaks but most of it was flight planning and studying. I did 100 pushups this morning but my shoulders felt like crap throughout the day and only was able to do another 100 at dinner. I really think NYC pushed my fitness back a few months. I did manage to lose 3.4 lbs of water or shit or whatever so maybe once I get back to a normalish weight I'll be able to run and pushup like I used to. The half-marathon this weekend will be good for that...Friday and Saturday nights in New Orleans, probably not so much.

Pushups: Today-200 YTD-9270
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-115
Running: Today-0mi YTD-124.75mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 08Feb - 203.8
Fri, 15Feb - 200.4
Tue, 19Feb - 207.8
Wed, 20Feb - 204.4

Feeling like a Fatty

Only did 120 pushups today, running my 5-day total to 540. Not gonna cut it. Maybe someday I'll recover from the endless vodka from the weekend. I did run 5 miles, making it 12 miles over the 5 days. Most impressively, I weighed 200.4 on Friday morning and 207.8 this morning. That seems pretty bad ass.

Pushups: Today-540 YTD-9070
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-115
Running: Today-12mi YTD-124.75mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 08Feb - 203.8
Fri, 15Feb - 200.4
Tue, 19Feb - 207.8

Turrible

Did one set of 60 on Sunday and one set of 50 today. My body aches from all the booze and travel. I did run 7 miles through Central Park on Sunday so there's that. I'll add the numbers on Tuesday, it's bedtime and I don't feel like firing up my laptop. Tomorrow I hope to get back to 120 per meal and running a couple of miles per day. Thank god all weekends aren't 3-days.

NYC

I'm in a secret location this weekend. Today, I ate my weight in food and drank my weight in beers. Went to some awesome bars and ate some awesome pizza. Yesterday I did 190 pushups and today I did 120. No running or pill ups, blah. Will add the totals later.

Check Ride

I have my first Blackhawk check ride tomorrow. A check ride is a test of your flying ability and oral knowledge. Obviously we don't need to know thaaaat much because we've been flying for <20 hours but it's still pretty stressful and I've been studying all day.

The sun came out and taunted me but I skipped running and only did 60 pushups with each meal. Tomorrow morning I'm doing 120 for breakfast no matter what and 120 for lunch no matter what. That way I'll have 240 in the bag if my travel day is too tiring and I don't get anything done at night. On Saturday I hope to get 3-5 miles in and then 9 on Sunday, one week before the half marathon. Also, I hope I can get some sweet pullup action on Saturday, hopefully I can find a park with pullup bars. I might not have any new blog entries until Monday but, shit, then again maybe I will.

Pushups: Today-180 YTD-8530
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-115
Running: Today-0mi YTD-112.75mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 08Feb - 203.8
Sat, 09Feb - 202.2
Sun, 10Feb - 204.0
Mon, 11Feb - 204.0
Tue, 12Feb - 202.4
Wed, 13Feb - 200.8
Thu, 14Feb - 202.0

Sore

My chest and arms are super sore today. I think I'm going to do that pyramid thing a couple times each week until I can get all the way up to 50 pushups and then work on getting faster times. I still managed to do 150 pushups with 60 at breakfast, 40 at lunch, and 25 on either side of dinner. I'm pretty sure I could have done more with those other sets but I was in pain and decided not to push it.

I also ran 4 miles on the treadmill in 30 minutes and felt pretty good. This half marathon is going to be a lot of fun. I'm pretty happy with myself today because I flew 3.1 hours in the morning and was feeling really drained. We usually fly 1.2 hours but we had to make up time so they flew the hell out of me. Flying is still so physically and mentally draining for me and I'm really proud of myself for making it to the gym. I was eating healthily all day and then my roommate dragged me to $0.25 wing night and my day was shot to hell. Maybe tomorrow I'll go a full day without any horribly unhealthy food.

Pushups: Today-150 YTD-8350
Pullups: Today-0 YTD-115
Running: Today-4mi YTD-112.75mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 08Feb - 203.8
Sat, 09Feb - 202.2
Sun, 10Feb - 204.0
Mon, 11Feb - 204.0
Tue, 12Feb - 202.4
Wed, 13Feb - 200.8

No Fly is No Fun

It's been thunderstorms and lightning for 3 straight days here so we haven't been flying. We still wake up at 0350 and show up to school at 0500 but we just sit around and get asked questions about the aircraft and aerodynamics. Normally the class is a pain in the ass but flying is your reward for putting up with it. Now, there is no reward and school is just painful. At least we get to go home by 9ish, work that's done by 9 AM isn't too terrible.

I did manage to do 120 pushups around breakfast, complete a 5-10-5-20-5-30-5-40-5-30-5-20-5-10-5 pushup/pullup pyramid before lunch, run 7 miles before dinner, then do 120 pushups around dinner. So the day wasn't a total waste. 400 pushups and 40 pullups and 7 miles might be my best day ever. Toward the end of the pyramid I was doing 2 pullups then resting then 2 more then 1. I videotaped myself for posterity and it's funny to see me struggle to pull myself up to the bar. I'll save the video and maybe post it later when I have a majestic one to show everyone.

It's pretty awesome having Dave blogging his workouts here. Daut, Ryan and I just had a Twitter conversation about being meatheads and it's so nice having workout "partners". This 50k pushups would be such a chore if I didn't have these other people along for the ride. Thanks, other people!! There's an app called ripdeck that Ryan uses for pushups and situps. It's a basic pushup/situp card game but it looks like fun and is easier than using a real deck. I'll probably start using it after the Half Marathon since I don't feel like destroying my abs while running these distances. I haven't done any situps since December 1st, hope the running has kept my core in some sort of shape.

Pushups: Today-400 YTD-8200
Pullups: Today-40 YTD-115
Running: Today-7mi YTD-108.75mi

Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 08Feb - 203.8
Sat, 09Feb - 202.2
Sun, 10Feb - 204.0
Mon, 11Feb - 204.0
Tues, 12Feb - 202.4

Imbalanced

I am having an incredibly tough time with pullups. I did 300 pushups today, easily, and figured I'd work on some pullups. One 6-1 pyramid and my chest is on fire and I'm quitting for the day. I don't really feel it much in my back but clearly my chest is imbalanced. It's mostly the upper part of my pecs that feel like they're going to tear every time I do a pullup. It's so weird because I used to knock out 8-10 randomly without any issues. On Thursday, I'm going to try a pullup-pushup combo workout that goes 5-10-5-20-5-30-5-40-5-50-5-40-5-30-5-20-5-10-5 and see how fast I can complete it, only resting as much as I need to rest. Maybe I'll do that workout a few times a week if I like it and shoot for lower times each week. It adds up to 250 pushups and 50 pullups which seem like nice numbers for a little upper body session. We'll see.

Pushups: Today-300 YTD-7800
Pullups: Today-21 YTD-75
Running: Today-0mi YTD-101.75mi
Fri, 01Feb - 204.3
Fri, 08Feb - 203.8
Sat, 09Feb - 202.2
Sun, 10Feb - 204.0
Mon, 11Feb - 204.0