Pushups and more pushups

Week 2 of the hundred pushups challenge is in the books.
Day 2 (earlier this week) was pretty tough, though I made things harder on myself by inadvertently taking only 60 seconds rest in the first four sets, then a few minutes as usual before the max effort.

Day 2 totals: 16/13/11/11/max(20)

Day 3 today was even harder. I'm sore in muscles I didn't know I had, and the soreness grew with each set. Sets 3-4 required virtually all-out efforts to reach the minimums.
Day 3 totals: 15/15/12/12/Max(18) =72 pushups

I'm through Week 2 and now the program calls for a new exhaustion test. At the risk of sounding like a slacker, I'm thinking of taking a few days off, doing the exhaustion test, then a few more days off, and starting with Week 3 after that - basically taking one "easy" week. I want to be fresh for the test, and fresh for renewed training. I'm fine with hard work and sweat. Soreness in the same muscles every day? That suggests my body is not catching up with new stresses, and I'm already recovering from other physical issues.

I enjoyed another spinning session indoors yesterday and pushed myself a little more, increasing the rpms and getting out of the saddle some more. Twinges in my right Achilles told me this might be too much. Sigh. It had been doing so well too. It's looking like I won't be crossing any finish lines on July 4 and will have to settle for cheering on the other runners.

Can lawn mowing count as cross training?

I passed the lawnmower test this evening. That is, I walked behind my lawnmower in the warm, humid Florida air and my Achilles (injury #1) was fine. It's been just fine walking, including going up stairs. Even better, the ball of my left foot (injury #2) is improving. I forgot about it until I was done mowing. It had sustained some kind of impact injury, possibly from dashing across a parking lot in the rain in my work shoes about 10 days ago. Bad idea! Looking in my journal, I've traced my Achilles problem to the road run following my 11 mile trail run in May. According to this source and others, running on sand can aggravate your Achilles. That presents a dilemma as the trails around here (north central Florida) are sandy and quite soft in some places. Hills are also tough on the Achilles, and I had been running hillier courses too - in fact I noticed the problem on hillier road courses during the week with my fleet-footed local running group. The articles also referred to Achilles injuries as common in less flexible middle-aged runners. Ouch! Time to do more stretching - can't do anything about my age. I like the line from Indiana Jones: it's not the years, honey, it's the mileage.

This wasn't the extent of my cross training today. I also fit in a spinning session, going slightly harder than last week, and my Achilles was fine, and my left foot was no problem.

I also completed Week 2/Day 1 of the hundred pushups training program: 12/12/9/7/max (21). I'm not claiming great form. I'm taking 2-4 minutes of rest before the max effort (equal parts rest, psyching myself up, and helping kids with something around the house). The psychology of this is interesting. Each time on these max efforts, I've felt like 5 or so is probably all I can do before I start, but I refuse to stop until the arms won't go, and I've managed to exceed the minimum each time (granted, I was doing some pushups once a week before this program). Maybe it's the rock 'n roll music. Andrew's blog got me started on all this (100 pushups, not rock 'n roll) and he's doing well. Ellie has also signed on. Anyone else game?

I hope to get back on the roads and trails soon. I'm eager to run a 4-miler on the 4th that I've run twice before, but it's somewhat doubtful now. I hope my biking is safe on my Achilles and this strange forefoot problem. If anyone has any experience coping with these things and has any cross training ideas, feel free to chime in.

How to ruin a marathon

No, I haven't entered one yet! I just came across a funny running-related article in The Onion that is good for a laugh. This one is family-friendly I think, which is not always true for this site. I like The Onion, but it is not for everyone, so fair warning if you try their other articles.

In cross training news, I enjoyed my first spinning class ever yesterday. 51 minutes of high (for me) rpm work. Took it somewhat easy so as not to hurt the quads while I recover from running injuries. It was neat to be able to see my heartrate, rpms and mileage constantly updated.

I also tackled Day 2 of the hundred pushups challenge yesterday: 12/12/10 (getting tough)/10/max=19 (exhaustion). Oddly less sore today than yesterday.

Cross training time

If you've been tagged with a running meme recently, see below....

I haven't been posting about new trail runs because there haven't been any. I'm still recovering from 2 problem areas in my lower legs/feet. I'm trying to stay positive and think that this is my body's way of telling me it's time to start cross training. I've been easing (so I don't destroy my quads) into some outdoor biking to get some low impact aerobic activity. I'm as weak biking on hills as I was at running them several months ago, which is to say pitiful.

I'm also going to try the Hundred Pushups Challenge I saw listed on Andrew's blog. I don't think I've ever done more than 40 or so consecutive pushups, even in my younger, lighter days, so this should be "fun". I have done 1-2 sets a week this year and my initial exhaustion test this weekend was 33 straight pushups.