Week 4 - Day 2.5

Thursday came and went. For all of the ups and downs it had, none of them were push-ups.

For some reason, Thursdays seem to be my 'CRUNCH' day, where I end up pulling extra long shifts (15 hours this time). I did get home before midnight, but had to pack, as I was going on a business trip. Got to bed around 1am Friday morning. Just 10 hours later (half a hour before I headed for the airport), the trip gets canceled. Such fun. I'm beat and going to bed.

The plan is to finish Week 4 on Saturday before Dojo. Then the fun begins - Week 5 is gonna be a cast iron you-know-what...

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Week 4 - Day 2

Today’s total was (21/18/28) on a spec of (21/18/25+).

Once again, before Dojo, we did push-ups. Once again (in the final set), I stalled at 22 and had to hold in the 'up' position while I gathered my energy for the final push. Still, it's nice to be able to push beyond the minimum and move on.

I'm still a little under the weather (I hope so, at least - today's sets were brutal - took a lot out of me). Hopefully I'll be feeling better by Thursday. We'll have to see. I may skip until Friday or Saturday, just for the recovery time.

Still, the short term ache didn't really impact my performance at Dojo, and (if things hold as they have been), it will not be much of a problem tomorrow either. If that's not the case, well, ... Isn't that why they invented Advil?

I've been lax in my stretches for my pecs and my work on biceps, so I'll get on that tonight and tomorrow. Need to try to keep symmetrical, at least a little bit.

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Week 4 - Day 1

Today’s total was (20/17/28) on a spec of (20/17/27+).

Just barely got thru the end of it. Worked really hard to get to 20 in the first set, but the second set went easier. The third set stalled briefly at 22 again, but a brief mental reset at the top was enough to get me on to 27. Then, I insisted I do one more, and almost didn't make it. I was surprised, as I thought I'd stall out on the way up, but made it up (and safely back down).

I didn't end up as tired or fatigued as I thought. Having completed the push-ups as soon as we got to Dojo, I was pleased as to how little impact it had on either class (we do a sword class and Tai-Jutsu class on Saturday). No real problems, just a little stiff. Still, I don't really look forward to the push-ups, but I am at least a little excited about the prospect of getting to 100.

The kids and wife are keeping busy with the program. The kids only one "day" behind me. They will probably do the program again, once they finished it and have had a chance to perfect their 'form' - they wobble like a scarf in the breeze when doing their porpises, I mean push-ups. My wife has her own schedule, and works out at a gym (she likes the treadmill - don't ask me why, it makes no sense at all), so she keeps her own notes. She says she's doing well, and she isn't necessarily tied to the idea of 100, she's just looking for a bit of a challenge and some increased bulk and strength.

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Week 4 - Day 0

Today’s total was ... zilch!

Another barrage of excuses. There's a stomach flu running thru the household, and I was at work until after 9pm. Hopefully we'll get back into the swing of it on Saturday...

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Week 3 - Day 3

Today’s total was (22/20/27) on a spec of (22/20/27+).

Didn’t think I’d make it to Day 3 without a failure, but plan to just keep on going. In the 3rd set, I hit the wall at 22 and had to stop briefly in the ‘up’ position and take a deep breath and focus, in order to pound out the last few. Again, despite chanting “30”, “30”, “30” to myself, got to 27 and locked up. Having a hard time fooling myself. I may need to update my “do” sheet to list bigger numbers, that way I’ll be working from the higher number from the start. Hopefully the next ‘week’ won’t be as long, and will include a steady stream of successes.

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Week 3 - Day 2

Today’s total was (19/15/26) on a spec of (19/15/25+).

Just barely got it in on Saturday. 11:53pm, to be precise. We’d skipped Dojo & did yard work and watch the Olympics (and Phelps winning more even more gold). My son was thrilled to see an guy with ADHD do well. When he got the diagnosis (my son), he thought he was done for, but has some hope now. On the pushups front, I must aim a little higher than ‘one over’, because that’s all I have been doing of late. Recovery has been quick, and not too sore, even with such large numbers.

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Week 3 - Day 1.5

Today’s total was… nothing.

Ready for the excuses? I worked a 15½ hour day and got home just after midnight, so I couldn’t have done it Thursday evening even if I wanted to (and after that day, I didn’t want to). I’ll try to get it together and move on.

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Week 3 - Day 1

Today’s total was (17/15/26) on a spec of (17/15/25+).

Getting started a day early, due to the heavy load (of pushups) this week – get an extra day of rest & recovery before doing Thursday’s sets. Not sure how well things will go with next time – could be a really long week as I’ve only gone beyond 17 twice now, and once just barely… And that 26 was closer to 25.875 – didn’t quite get all the way to elbows straight, and didn’t lower myself as much as land softly… But the psychological boost of going over minimum is not to be diminished. Now I just need to aim for +2 or +3 – yeah, right. Not the way the reps are increasing.

Got busy last night (worked late, hurried home, worked on the computer (overheating nVidia 9800 GXT), watched some Olympics, …) and forgot dinner, so I got up at 1:30am and dug out an old jug of protein milkshake mix and had a glass. It held me over till morning, so it did it’s job – just not sure if the ‘protein’ aspect of it is worth squat. We’ll see – I’ll try to use it a couple times a week to make sure my body has all the ingredients it needs, and to see if it helps…

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Week 3 - Day 0

Today’s total was … oops.

Now that was a brain fart. Finished at the Dojo, but had to scoot over to my daughter‘s Dance place and get her signed up for the fall classes (Ballet 2, wow!). Completely spaced the pushups. Yeah, right. Got some prime oceanfront property here in Tucson for sale, cheap! No, really. I did forget, but it does sound a bit suspicious.

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Week 2 - Day 3

Today’s total was (12/12/16) on a spec of (12/12/15+).

That’s a little better than spec, but I should have done better – got to 16 & thought “that’s enough” and suddenly, I was out of energy. Next time I need to aim for 2 or 3 over spec, not just one…

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Week 2 - Day 2

Today’s total was (11/11/18) on a spec of (11/11/15+).

Prepped with plenty of stretches and counter-exercises (curls and shoulder-blade squeezes) over weekend & Monday. Still not too stiff, tired or otherwise having problems.

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Week 2 - Day 1.5

Forgot (smirk) – got busy – Dojo had a seminar w/ Sensei Rudy of Colorado (improvised weapon fighting – defending against attacker with nothing more than magic markers – lots of pressure point activation and joint manipulation) and just blew it…

I was also a bit sore in right shoulder from shuriken throwing Friday night. On the flip side, we went (w/ Sensei Rudy) to a neat Japanese (traditional: order, sit, served) restaurant – about a half hour away, new to us but 5 years old. My wife and son had bento boxes, I had Chicken Curry & my daughter had noodles. We’ll get back with the program on Tues…

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