Run Faster

I started something new this week - the hundred pushups training program put together by Steve Speirs of Run Bulldog Run. The ultimate goal of the hundred pushups program is to be able to do one hundred consecutive pushups, but us mere mortals will probably be satisfied with just increasing our strength.

The hundred pushups program is a six-week program which starts you out by testing your strength by having you do the maximum amount of pushups you can do at once while still maintaining good form. For me, this was 15 pushups. Given my age, that started me in a rank 3 out of 7.

After the initial test, there are 3 training sessions a week over a period of six weeks. Each training session involves 5 sets of pushups with varying amounts of rest in between each set. The number of pushups required in each workout varies depending upon how many pushups you managed during your initial test. If at any time during the program you don’t complete the week successfully, you repeat that week until you do. So far, I’ve successfully completed week 1 by doing the following:

• Day 1: 10, 10, 8, 6, max (7 for me) with 60 seconds rest
• Day 2: 12, 12, 10, 10, max (10 for me) with 90 seconds rest
• Day 3: 15, 13, 10, 10, max (17 for me) with 2 minutes rest

I’ve noticed that many runners in the blogosphere are doing this challenge. However, there don’t seem to be very many women, with the exception of Corey from See Corey Run and Marcy of I Signed Up for This??. I’ve also managed to convince a few folks from Plurk to sign up. Come on ladies (and gents), won’t you join us? Almost all of us could use a little increase in strength!

In other news, this was a much better week of running for me than last week. I was back in the groove, with 27.28 miles of running, including a 10 mile race today that I ran more as a training run than a real race. My foot felt good and my confidence is back.

I hope everyone has had a great week!

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Most of us would like to eat better, but don’t always know where to start. This week’s links should help give you some ideas:

• From Mark Bloom Running, the 45 best foods for runners. No huge surprises here, except perhaps that where meat is concerned, Mark says darker is better because it’s more nutrient-dense. There are some tasty, healthy choices listed here that might give you some ideas for adding more variety to your diet.
• From Runner’s World, the healthiest chocolate. If you’re going to eat it anyway, why not choose a healthier version? The article tells you what to look for on the chocolate bar label and gives three of the best choices.
• From Men’s Health, the the 20 worst foods you can eat at various chain and fast food restaurants. Click the links at the left of the article to see the worst choice in a category and a better alternative (example: in the drink category, Jamba Juice Chocolate Moo’d Power Smoothie vs. the Jamba Juice Fruit Smoothie in the smaller size).

To those of you that celebrate it, I hope you have a Happy Easter!

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