You know what push ups are? Repetitive is what.

I won't lie. Last time I was here I was talking about the 100 Push Ups program. While I'm sure it's a great program by the time I was up over 80 push ups I was bored with it.

You know what's boring? Staring at your carpet while you hump up and down on it... yeah... you know... when you say it like that it doesn't sound as bad as it was.

But that's not the point! The point is that doing any repetitive exercise that many times in a row is repetitious and repetition is, as I've said repeatedly, the hobgoblin of boredom. And boredom is, without being repetitive, not something that makes me want to repeat something. Especially if it's something that's repetitious. You see what I'm doing here right? Repeating repetitious over and over again repeatedly to make a point?

So, I did lots of Push Ups. I never made it to 100, but that's OK. I don't really believe I care about making it to 100. I did increase the number I could do so I'm more fit than I was before. But also was more bored. So, trying a different program starting next week. I firmly believe I need to do some cross training stuff. I just am working on finding some that I don't hate. There's a deck of cards work out that I think might be good. It won't be too repetitious and will work a variety of muscle groups. I'll tweak the system as I do it and post what I settle on in here as I do it. A friend of mine told me about it when I was talking about doing the 100 Push Up program and how boring it was. He suggested that while this one wasn't super exciting happy fun time at least it was mixed up a bit.

100 Push Ups

I'm running but it is less thrilling than it was. Some of that is that it's summer, hot, and stormy. Seriously, there's waaaay too much rain lately. The yard's got mushrooms growing in it. The basement's got water in one corner. The ditch is full of water. The creek near the house is almost over the bridge. I'm sick of rain.

So, my running has suffered. I'm not ready to give up any fitness gains I may have made though so I'm starting, finally, the 100 Push Ups program (talked about it here). When I say I'm starting I mean I just finished the test on Day 0. I'd sent a copy of the program to a friend of mine that violated probation or is it parole? Whatever... he was out of jail and supposed to behave. One of the things he was supposed to NOT do was drink and drive without a license or insurance. Guess what? Yeah. Exactly. Great Guesser. So... I've been writing him letters. He's a good guy. A dummy for doing that, but a good guy, and I can't see that 20 years in jail or whatever is the answer here. He used to be in good shape and took care of himself and I imagine there's lots of time where he's at now and gets bored. So. I sent him a copy of the 100 Push Ups program and he started it! So, now I have an accountability exercise buddy. And he, I believe, has back fat. He said he did. I'm pretty much hoping he's kidding because really... that's pretty gross.

I'm not sure yet how I'll track this stuff. There's a logging site that I can use but I'm not sure if that's what I'll use. I might use my running log book in writing, and maybe find a way for the dailymile.com to track it as well. I'm a real fan of the dailymile for my running, which I'm still doing, just not as good as I was before it got so hot. If you bike, run, walk, or hike I recommend dailymile as a great online log alternative.

Anybody want to join me doing the 100 Push Ups program? It's not like you don't have time or need special equipment. No excuses people. C'mon. You can do it during commercial breaks!

Off days…

I’ve talked about intentions of things I intended to do on my off days. I’ve talked about cross training and yoga and spinning and biking. I’ve talked about the 100 push-ups program and I’ve talked about all sorts of things that I intend to do on my non-running days.

The thing is… I’ve been running consistently and that’s it. My off days from running are made up of either nothing or some biking at the gym. I just don’t DO the other stuff. I need to. I know I do. I somewhat want to… but not enough to actually DO it. This is where discipline comes in and I’m short on it.

A big part of me says that I’m doing the running I love, and that’s more than I was doing before and I’m getting better and faster and longer and I’m doing good so why mess up a good thing?

But everything I read says to do the stuff I keep talking about intending to do. I have a jump rope and intended to use it here at the hotel but I found almost right away that it’s too short of a room. I keep hitting the ceiling with the rope and that’s no good.

Cross-training thoughts

I've been running for weeks now. I'm starting Week 6 of the Couch to 5k program soon. I've just finished Week 5 and I'm feeling really good about it so far. I'm enjoying myself and haven't petered out yet. Winter will be the real test and I want to do something on my non-running days. I'm not experienced enough of a runner yet to run every day and I worry about injury and an injury would stop me from running and I may not pick it up again so I don't want that. I'll do it every other day just like the program tells me to.

So, I'm looking for something to do on my off days and all the things I've read tell me that runners should cross train some anaerobic exercise along with their aerobic exercise of running. Here's the thing. I travel and I'm not buying any stuff. I won't lift heavy things. I won't carry them around with me and I feel ridiculous with a bag of rubber bands. Don't ask how I know. I just know.

So, that leaves me with the Internet as a way of working out. Yes. You heard me right. I'm going to lift the Internet! OK. That's not what I meant at all. I found the Couch to 5k program online and I figure I should be able to find another exercise program online as well that meets my criteria. And I have found two of them. 100 push ups and 200 sit ups. Both of those things are free, shouldn't take a terrible amount of time, won't work muscles I need for running and won't involve huge monetary investments.

So, I'll start one or both of those soon and my exercise regime will be complete and I'll have so much time taken up with chiseling this body into an Adonis like condition that I'll have to quit my job and live off the land. Not really. Just seeing if anybody was still reading this far down. So, time to go over to Google docs and make with the tracking sheets for all these work-out plans. I need a tab for running, push-ups, and sit-ups it appears. I look forward to it.