Jelly arms & a milestone
I did day 2 of the 100 pushup challenge today and it was tough!
Day two calls for 5 sets of pushups (12, 12, 10, 10 and max (min 10)) with at least a 90 second break inbetween each set.
I have to admit that when I woke up today my pecs were sore. Yesterday they were fine funnily enough. Anyways, I did the first set no worries, the second set I started to get worried and by the third I was thinking uh oh. I nutted out a fourth set somehow and then had a two minute break to recover. I was determined to beat Bill who did 13 for his max but today I have to admit he was the victor. I had jelly arms by about pushup number 6 and it was all I could do to do the minimum 10. Nonetheless I did it. I’m thinking I may be having to repeat a week or two here and there but I’ll keep plugging away at it.
In other news, my gym was holding a mini sprint triathlon today and I’ve always wanted to participate but have always been too unfit too self-conscious to do it. However, my confidence levels are so much higher nowadays so I jumped in and had a go.
The way it works is you have to row for 1000m, then cycle for 2000m and then grind for 1500m. Your cumulative time is what counts including changeover. I haven’t been on the rowing machine or the grinder in well over a year so I thought it would be quite tough as it’s a hell for leather kind of event.
Well, the rowing wasn’t too bad. I decided that I would settle into a rhythm and try and stick to it rather than go hard out and fade rapidly. For the last 250m I pushed it a bit and ended up with a time of 3:42.
I then jumped on the bike and cycled 2000m. In hindsight I went too easy on the bike as I think I could have pushed quite a bit harder. Cumulative time 7:20.
The grinder was tough. About two thirds of the way through my heart rate was above 200 bpm but I stuck to it and finished with a total time of 9:41.15.
That put me in second place behind last years winner! Before you get too excited I was at the gym bright and early and was only the 3rd person to compete. 
I’ll go have a look at the final standings tomorrow. I’m just really pleased that I got the gumption to give it a go this year. And I know I’m not going to be last! 
And a big shout out to my lovely wife who started C25K today! The running bug seems to be spreading.
Comments
23 Responses to “Jelly arms & a milestone”
Daily Mile
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RoadID
Andrew,
Doesn’t the program call for only 3 days a week with a day in between each workout ideally? Might be good to rest those pecs.
That sprint gym thing sounds tough! That’s quite impressive getting through those excercises. Nice one.
It’s already Wednesday here in New Zealand. So I had my rest day yesterday.
I’m doing it Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Twitter: AndrewENZ
It was lots of fun.
Twitter: AndrewENZ
The sprint thing at the gym sounds like a really cool idea, and it sounds like you did great! I’m glad you realized your potential as an inshape athlete and jumped in!
Doh! I tried to figure out what was up. My bad.
Joe Thorns last blog post..The Runner’s Guide to the Meaning of Life
The push-up thing looks pretty cool. I think I will give it a try. I have week arms and a week chest so I may not be able to do much.
Nice job on the mini tri.
Dear Andrew,
Just wanted to let you know that I have just quoted you in my latest blog, basically quoting some of the best comments from my readers.
Your comment of 26 May now appears in my latest blog today:
http://goodbyetoallfat.blogspot.com/2008/06/what-my-readers-say.html
If you object to me using your comment in this self-publicising way, just let me know, either in a comment or e-mail and I will remove yours and leave the others.
Thanks + best wishes,
Sharon
P.S. I did look around your site for an e-mail addy but could not find one, but did come across your before photo in the About Andrew section — I am very impressed with your progress!
No worries Sharon. I stand by my words.
Twitter: AndrewENZ
That sounds like HEAPS of pushups to me! Wow!
I saw the opera of ‘Dead Man Walking’ earlier this year and the male lead appeared in one scene doing pushups and singing opera at the same time. Mad skills!
That is such good news about your wife doing the C25K, it will be awesome for the two of you to be able to run together ! You are very lucky !
Mini triathlon sounds great fun!
Well done on the push ups. The main thing is you made it through and can move on to Day 3 after a day’s rest.
Good luck..
–Steve
Steves last blog post..Extended Kara Goucher NIKE+ Endurance Workout
Andrew I am going to try the pushup challenge after the Gold Coast half. Sounds good.
Quick question do you know of any good half marathons in New Zealand for next year? Either island would be good. Where are you located?
I was thinking of visiting Christchurch next year, and of course combining my holiday with a race LOL,
Thanks
Kristy
a BIG shoutout to your wife!
I need to go back and reread and see if Ive missed mentions of her before?
yours in push up soreness,
Miz
Whoo hoo! that is awesome! Congrats.
I’m so excited for your wife to be starting C25K. She’s gonna get hooked!
Hmm, depends when you are coming over. SBS Marathon in Christchurch is normally Juneish. I’m probably going to do that one as my dad is quite keen.
Auckland Marathon is normally early November.
Rotorua Marathon (apparently the toughest) is around April (give or take a month or two).
Twitter: AndrewENZ
Good work on those push-ups! I’m getting ready to start the challenge myself — yikes! Doing even 2 push-ups for Day 1 / Week 1 is going to be tough for me. Thanks for sharing the link to the Challenge.
Well done!!
Twitter: dtsnake
i agree, day 2 was harder than I thought it would be—but I am determined to make this work!I found that the last set was tough, but I really think my form was better than my first set.
a mini sprint tri at the gym? what a neat idea. Sounds very tough–great job!
workout mommys last blog post..Vanity sizing and the little black dress
Thanks Andrew I will look into the SBS Marathon next June. That would perhaps give me enough time to save etc…Whats the weather like at the moment over there?
Never been to NZ, but am looking forward to it. Might convince my Mum to come with me
Cheers
Kristy
Love the 100 push ups challenge! I might start doing this too! Thanks for the idea.
I don’t even know what a grinder is! Nice job, though!
I found your blog on Google. I’ve bookmarked it and will watch out for your next blog post.