May 22, 2014

Push-ups challenge

Yesterday was so humid all day, it was really tough to get in my steps. Ever since I got my Fitbit, I've been doing whatever I can to get in 10,000 steps a day. Yesterday was a rest day, so I didn't run. And normally, Jerry and I go for a walk (just a mile or two) in the afternoons, but it was ridiculously humid. We walked to the bus stop to get the kids, and I was already sticky with sweat.

The kids had baseball practice in the evening, and the coach was sick, so my dad ended up coaching. Since he was with the kids, I walked around the parking lot a few times--I was already sticky and gross, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to get stickier and grosser ;) Anyway, when I went to bed last night, I had 10,011 steps on my Fitbit. Just barely made my goal!


I was worried the humidity would be just as bad today, but when I checked the weather last night, it showed that today was supposed to be pretty nice. After the kids went to school, I ate breakfast, and then headed out for my run. Today was a four-mile "steady state" run, which is a little faster than easy pace and a little slower than tempo pace. According to the McMillan calculator, that would be a pace of 8:45-9:09 per mile for me.

My legs felt heavy today, probably because I ran faster than I should have on Tuesday. It was a tough run! With the exception of the first mile being a few seconds too fast, the rest of the splits were on target.


I burned 100 calories per mile--usually I burn 80-90! So my heart rate was definitely a little higher than normal.

Through the whole run, my shoulders were killing me. It took me a while to figure out why... last night, I did 10 push-ups. I never do push-ups, but Noah came home from school very upset that he only was able to do 5 push-ups for his fitness test (he was "supposed" to be able to do 17). I told him that he could certainly do 17 if he practiced! I said that I am a good runner because I practice a lot, but I'm terrible at push-ups because I never do them. The only way to get better is to practice.

So to get him motivated to work on his push-ups, I challenged him to a contest. I said we would each practice every day, and the first one of us to be able to do 20 push-ups at a time would win. And to make it interesting for him, I said that if he won, I would give him $5 for every one that he beat me by. So when he can do 20, if I only can do 15, then I would owe him $25.

To get a starting point, I told him I'd see if I could do more than 5 (which is how many he did at school). I was surprised to see that I was able to do 10. Noah didn't want his old mom to beat him, so he pushed himself to do 11 ;)  I forgot how awful it is to run after doing push-ups, so he is very likely to beat me!

I went grocery shopping after my run, and saw THIS on the shelves at Kroger:


It's like Biscoff spread, only one is with vanilla sandwich cookies, and the other is with almond cookies. I actually haven't had any issues with keeping nut butters (and even Biscoff spread) in the house lately, and I really wanted to try these, so I bought both of them to give them a taste.

When I got home, I took the tiniest little spoonful (probably just a 1/4 teaspoon) of each, just to taste it. The Almond Cookie Spread was okay, but I wasn't totally wowed by it. The Vanilla Cookie Spread was very good! It tasted just like I expected it to--like vanilla sandwich cookies. I'll probably have some on an English muffin tomorrow.

I bought a ton of fruits and vegetables, because I've been going through fruit like crazy lately. Dinner tonight ended up being a total bust--Italian sausages with sautéed peppers and onions. It sounded so good, but I am just not a big fan of Italian sausage unless it's removed from the casing, browned, and mixed into other foods. Jerry and the kids weren't fans of the sausage, either. I did broil some asparagus and Brussels sprouts, which turned out really good, so we filled up on that.

Now the boys and I are going to head out for a walk. I've still got a couple thousand steps to get in today!

8 comments:

  1. That's what's cool about pushups....if you do them consistently you can progress pretty fast. When I worked in Alaska we used to do them while we were at the helipads waiting for the helicopters to cool down. We got up to about 40 or 50. It's amazing how sculpted your arms get from just pushups.

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  2. So cool about the push ups! I have terrible upper body strength and keep telling myself I need to do push ups or something but I never do lol

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  3. aw that is so cute about the push-up story. adorable! he is going to worth his buttocks off so his mama doesnt beat him! haha

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  4. I'm actually starting a push up a challenge as well. It's called the 100 push ups challenge. There's actually an app for it. By the end of the program you should be able to do 100 push ups consecutively. Now I don't think I can get to 100 but I think it will definitely help.

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  5. LOVE the push up challenge! I actually do a lot of push ups in my work outs that I do and I can hardly ever do more than 15 at a time without getting really shakey. 17 is quite a few for them to say the kids "should be able" to do. I used to really hate those tests when I was a kid. I still have never done a pull up in my life. They always made me feel like such a loser because I couldn't do them, when in fact they never really did anything to help us build up to being able to do them.

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  6. Haha I like how he did double what he did at school just because he couldn't stand his mom beating him. :P

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  7. I'm wondering if you use an app to get your cool graphic that you show us for your run each day?

    I hated those tests as a kid - I'm much better at them now!

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  8. AnonymousMay 31, 2014

    I love the idea of you doing this push-up challenge together. I hate push-ups, but I know they are one of the best exercises you can do, so I struggle through them anyway. It would be great to have someone to help keep me motivated, so I'm definitely gonna find a push-up buddy! :)

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