Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Closing on the century mark...

Sunday, November 9, 2012
Ninety down...ten to go.  That’s how many more reverse plank push-ups I need to do to reach my goal and move onto some other kind of torture.  I’ve found that doing push-ups with my toes elevated above my head causes the blood to flow downhill as you might expect and cause a heavy pulsing in my temples as I struggle with the final repetitions.  As I approached my old pr of 86, I kept thinking I need to get to 100 so I can be done with this madness.  At 90, I dropped my feet from the rail and stayed on all fours trying to catch my breath.  It would be another couple of weeks at least before I reached 100...and most likely longer.  Well...I don’t know what I’m going to substitute for this version of a push-up, so I suppose ‘what’s the hurry?’

I hit another 21 stations before finishing the Survival Workout.  My arms were leaden, but I felt good about the effort.  I texted Kim, who would be home for Thanksgiving and doing the workout with me, that I was getting too huge to get back in the Honda at the conclusion of the workout.  She replied “I told you to lay off the cookies.”   Smart ass.  In any event, I’m getting stronger again and reaffirming to myself that even in my late fifties, I can improve my fitness.  Kim will get hers when she arrives.

I’d already put in four hours of painting before arriving at the park.  John’s trying to rent out the house they lived in before moving to the one I spent countless hours painting last fall and he knows my penchant for painting, so he asked for my help in getting it ready.  It’s not strenuous, but it burns more calories than sitting on the sofa watching football would have, so what the hell.  I got to help a friend and burn off some energy.  The only downside was not getting on the bike for a long ride on a picture-perfect Indian Summer fall day.  In fact, when I arrived at the park for the workout, I had trouble finding a place to park.  People were everywhere, probably thinking this may be their last chance for a hike before the snows set in.  Now, don’t get me wrong...I love that people were getting out and doing some form of exercise...but I don’t appreciate their taking MY parking spot in MY park without checking with me first.  Well...they’ll be gone tomorrow when the grey skies and temperatures in a seasonal forties returns.

Survival Workout: 60 minutes. Painting: 4 hours.
Training Heart Rate: 100-150 for SW and 75 painting.
Calories burned:  600 for SW and 1000 painting.

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