OK Fine. I’ll Do It Too.

I have over 150 running blogs in my Google Reader because I like to pretend that I have my fingers on the maxed out pulse of the running blog community, and lately I have been noticing a lot of running blogs talking about the one hundred push ups challenge. It has been like one of those viral memes that occasionally spread through my reader like this wicked, burning rash that I have. Being the egomaniac that I am, I assume that you’re all posting about the one hundred push ups challenge just to give me the hint that I should get on board. I get it. I’m reading you loud and clear and I’ve decided that I’ll join in the fun.

Initially I was going to join the challenge without mentioning it here on Half-Fast because it just seems so unoriginal and copycat to do it now when so many of you are already on the second or third week of the program. Also, I figured if I didn’t mention it then no one would be able to laugh at me or call me a slacker when I wash out in 2 weeks. However, I wasn’t sure what to post today and this seemed like the easy way out.

When I first heard about the one hundred push ups challenge I was pretty excited, but that’s because I thought that it had something to do with the push up bra, or as I prefer to call it the big let down, which is what happens when it comes off, both physically and emotionally. Anyway, I’m still excited about the challenge just not as visibly so as I was before. The first step as you all know is to do the initial test and see how many push ups you can perform before exhaustion. I’m a little unsure about how this works though, because I started this test last night and I’m still going strong. It’s true, I’m actually doing one handed push ups right now and typing with my other hand. I hope it’s not considered cheating to do the push ups one handed.

Finally, if anyone has any good home remedies for an itching, burning rash please post them in the comments. If need be I am happy to provide pictures of the infected area.

UPDATE: My apologies to the ladies for the boobies up there, if you like you can go visit Frayed Laces for a little dose of Matthew McConaughey. SWOON!

Stride Rate

I ran 5 miles last night and the ankle felt a little sore but generally pretty good, I even did 3 tempo miles at an 8:54 minute mile pace. I played around with my stride rate a little which is something that I’ve been considering doing anyway after reading this article.

The article claims that almost all elite distance runners have a stride rate of roughly 180, which means that every minute they take 180 strides or steps. For the mathematically challenged among you that equates to 3 steps per second, or so my calculator tells me. I personally don’t put a lot of faith in that calculator because just the other day I asked it what 1,329,502 * 4 was and it told me “BOOBIES,” which is the answer to many of life’s questions and while it caused me to giggle like a schoolboy reading Moby Dick for the first time, I’m quite sure it’s not the right answer.

Getting back on track, my natural stride rate is around 160, which is a good indication that I’m not an elite athlete. Also a good indication: body fat percentage of 22%, a diet that includes hot waffle sandwiches and feet named 'slow poke' and 'molasses'. Despite all these inadequacies, I have on a couple of occasions shortened my stride and managed to get to 180 strides per minute. I was able to do this for a couple of miles at a time and it resulted in significantly faster times, the downside was that my legs got tired a lot quicker and felt sore in places they don’t usually. I doubt that 5 days before a race is a good time to start messing with your stride, but it’s definitely something that I’m going to look into after the Bolder Boulder.

*tee hee* BOOBIES and Moby Dick all in the same post. *snicker*

Alright, how many of you grabbed your calculator and multiplied 1,329,502 by 4?