Perfect

'Twas a good day in Hawaii, sun shining, birds chirping.
I rode to the band hall at a steady pace to warm up the body.
I arrived at 6:26am, ran around a bit, went through my whole stretching routine, then went inside to put on the PT uniform and have a crap.

At 7:00am, we did warm ups as a group, which was stupid. I refused to participate in most of them.

Then we began the PT portion. Neff, the guitarist and unit leader in the rock band (who's also one of my trainee's), asked to be my partner. I responded with a high five.
He wanted to go first, so I obliged. We started with situps. He just turned 30, and did 89. Good for him! I went next, and was surprised to find how much easier it is to have someone hold your feet, and to keep the angle of my knees closer to 90, rather than spread out more. I did well.

Then he did pushups, and did well again. 82. He was disappointed (maybe because he felt like he needed to compete with me), but I gave him some congratulations and tips for next time. He wanted to pace himself as in situps, but I countered, saying it's better to crank out as many pushups as fast as you can, then do small sets of 3-5 until times up. I went next, and did well.

Next came the run. I gave everyone high fives before the start to hopefully encourage, or maybe transfer some speed. I think it worked because many of them came up to me afterward and said they'd improved by a minute or so. That's awesome! One guy reasoned that the overall pace was faster since I took off like a bat out of hell. Usually, the lead time is in the 10 minute range, and so they base their pace off of positioning. Since I went faster, everyone else did too. Good for them! I did okay. The first half of the 1.5 miler, I was quite ahead of schedule, so I slowed down a bit. Plus, I kind of felt nauseous as I didn't eat anything for breakfast. No food in the room. :-(
Anyway, I crossed the line right at my slowest goal pace. Crazy!

So, the morning scores were like this, with goals for perfect score following:
Situps: 107 goal: 105
Pushups: 103 goal: 87
Run: 8:30 goal: 8:30

I forgot to do pullups 'cause I was trying to get people to stretch, then gave up and went to Planet Smoothie (like a juice stop) on the Airforce Base with Neff. (Brian Nefferdorf is his name). It was good. I enjoyed it very much.

So, all in all, it was a pretty decent morning. Ran a total of about 2.5 miles.

Happy Halloween

The Real Pre

So today is the real Pre-Meet. I am the real du Prefontaine. It will happen.

Yeah, I don't know what that means.

Anyway, went for an nice 3 miler today. Felt good. Did three strides. They also felt good.

Got a Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki Sub. I'm excited.

I'm an idiot

Went to bed shortly after 10 last night to get just under 8 hours for this morning's test. Woke up at six feeling refreshed, relaxed, and energized to go kick some ass.

Got to work around 6:40 for the PFA, only to find that it's on Friday. I'm an idiot. Figured I'd go for a run anyway.
Warmed up 1 mile, did a three mile tempo, then 1 mile cool down. Felt great!
35:36 (8:19, 6:29, 6:15, 6:23, 8:08)

Then, I hesitated with Charles's input in doing a big pyramid (20, 30, 40, 50 and down Pushups, double situps). Then I stopped whining and being a pussy and just dropped down and starting pumping them out. When I was at the top, colors went down, so I had to stop and either stand at attention or go inside. Rehearsal started in 20 minutes and I still had to shower, shave, iron, etc. So I left it hanging at the peak.

At lunch, I went back to my spot and finished it my coming down. It felt okay, but the situps take so LONG! Anyway, I'm glad I did it. Thanks Charles!

Then I did 5x5 all pullups. Those sucked. I'm weak.

Totals:
280 Pushups
560 Situps
25 Pullups

I felt the "Pump" like Arnold in Pumping Iron.

Pre

Today was pre-meet. I had planned on running 5 miles, but the VOG was so bad, I cut the run to 3. VOG is volcanic fog, really hazy, supposedly bad for your health, and it was irritating my throat and nose after about 1 mile.

I still felt good though, so I guess that's the most important thing. Tossed in 3 strides in the last mile...those fell awesome!

After the run, I did 5x20 pushups and situps in prepartation for tomorrow's competition. Again, my goals are as follows:
Pushups: 87 (that's the perfect score for my age...I might do more if I feel like it, but won't get bonus points or anything.
Situps: 105 (again...the perfect score for my age)
Run: 8:30 (perfect score for my age, I'll try for faster)

For the heck of it, I'll throw in some pullups after the test. Aiming for...uh, how about 15?

Recovery

Nice and easy 5 miler today. Started Week 1 of Charles's 100 mile plan.
Left from the band hall a little after 11 and went about a mile past the Missing Man on Hickam.
Felt pretty good, quads and calves a bit tight.

Last half mile, did three long strides. Felt awesome! On the 3rd one, I got up on my toes and was going so fast that if I raised the flaps, I could have taken off.

Taking a break from PT today.

Follow through

Remember back in the day when dad was teaching us to pitch? He'd always stress the follow through. It made fastballs more accurate, helped with efficiency so we could last through all 9 innings, and made you look cool.

Today, I actually followed through on the plan I laid out yesterday. I got up a 6:30am to go to a new church with one of the singers from the Honolulu Opera, sang with him to lead the worship, and had a wonderful time chatting with the congregation. I even got paid! Unexpected.
Anyway, the point was, we had a nice lunch of this really good ramen soup at the club house, and I returned home feeling nice and relaxed. Then I thought, "You know what? What if I actually DID carry out the plan of the day? What would that feel like?"

So I dropped to my knees and started supersets. By the 5th set, my triceps were discharging an immense amount of weakness, but I showed them who's boss and kept going. 10 sets. 10 reps. 300 each. Awesome.
20 minutes. Nice. Quick. Simple. Organized. Then I tossed on my running shorts and singlet (the green ones that went through both marathons) and decided to run down to Waikiki to meet friends for dinner. I mapped it at about 11 miles. It was only 10.5. But that's okay. I felt awesome! It was overcast, kind of humid, and I had the problem of wanting to go too fast. That's a good thing compared to Thursday's 10 miler where I wanted to sit down in a small puddle and curse myself for going 10 unprepared.

I even wore my red Nike ACG backpack with a change of clothes, some sandals, a cliff bar, and a 32 oz. gatorade bottle half filled with water. It didn't hinder my movement at all, and it didn't seem to effect the pace either. Plus after the supersets, my arms looked like Rambo, so the traffic along the way was kind of intimidated to see a warrior running haphazardly along the shoulder.
Too much? Maybe. I guess this should be called "vanity" instead of "follow through." I apologize for being conceited. But I digress.

It felt awesome, and I was really surprised after Thursday's post-run stupor. Not having been running regularly, nor doing anything longer than 4 miles, these two 10 milers in 4 days have really been a confidence booster!

I think I'm ready to begin the 100 program.

Like my bag used to say:

"JUST DO IT!"

Num#ers

Took Thursday off after the long run. Stretched a lot.

Yesterday, we had weigh-ins in the morning in preparation for the PFA next week. I was 158. That's about 30 lbs under my max weight. As you can probably tell, I'm worried about going over next Wednesday.
Afterward, Taylor was going running, so I accompanied him on an easy 3 miler, 25:00. Felt great, so we did some strides afterward. That was weird...I haven't done strides forever, and I could tell. It felt good flying across the field, but my heart kept flying when my legs weren't moving. Neat.
Then, I did that Pushup variation workout Charles sent: the 10x11 thing. It's getting easier. The one arms are still the biggest challenge, and they're getting past half-assed and almost to three-quarter assed. What? I did them in groups of two, so like 10 rotationals followed immediately my 10 spidermans. Then 20 situps between sets.
Totals: 110 PU and SU

Today, I ran a steady 6 miler in the rain! NICE! Found a trail that paralles the freeway underneath, and the GPS didn't like running under the road; or the rain. Either or, it kept saying I was running at 23:00 pace, but kept clicking off mile splits at around 7:30. What a douche.

Anyway, that felt great, and the legs are fully recovered.

Then I did 2:00 max for PU and SU. Pushups, I did 100 in 1:30, then bridged the last 30 sec. Situps: 95 in 2:00. My goal is 105. It took 25 more seconds to get the final 10. I doubt I can cut that off in 4 days, but I'll give it my best shot.

Tomorrow, I'll probably do some supersets and just kill everything. Then I'll rest Monday, do some light sets on Tuesday, and test on Wednesday. The running plan, maybe do 10 again tomorrow, then stick with 6 all week. Wednesday, I'll warmup for a half mile, run the 1.5 mi in 8:30, then continue on for a 4 mile cool down.

More than planned

Went running at lunch today. Planned on an easy six, but ran into another dude on the trail and he seemed nice, so I stuck up a conversation and ended up going 10. It felt okay for the most part, but my legs started getting really tired in the last mile. Could've been the heat, or the lack of a big meal beforehand, or the absence of a long run for a while, or the long bike rides yesterday, or a mix of all. I think water would've helped, and better preparation.

Here's the funny part. We only ran about 5 miles together, but I must have made a good first impression. He approved me to date his daughter. I don't even know her. She's 18, going to school on the Leeward side. That might be too young for me, but that's awesome that I have that option. It's like I had a first date with her dad to clear me for the first date with the daughter. Random, but cool. It was because he said his policy for boyfriends is that they have to be able to outrun him. He's 40, good runner, but I'm better. ;-)

What was I saying?

Oh yeah, long run. It was nice to do something like that for a change. Sucked, but nice. Now I'm sore.

And then the Jeep. Peace of shit. Blew a gasket. It might cost more than planned to fix it. Damn.
Maybe I'll date his daughter, then have him pay for it when I marry her next week.

Reliance

This weekend I had some troubles with the Jeep. Overheating, not quite, but red-zoning. Machines are weak. It's good to be self-reliant through fitness. Even though I couldn't drive home, or to pick it up, I can still run and bike like it's nobody's business. That said, "F U Jeep!"

It's probably just a weak hose connecting the radiator and engine.

Running has been okay, but riding the bike again has brought soreness. It's just too small for me. PT has been good too. Did some random stuff over the weekend in between gigs, supersets on Saturday followed by some weak-ass pullups. Did a bunch of bridges on Monday, and yesterday I completed the massive situp workout with another band guy who used to be in the army, so he can actually handle "real" PT. If you don't know this workout, you should try it:
40 x regular situps
40 x regular crunches
40 x reverse crunches
40 x right obliques
40 x left obliques
40 x leg levers
50 x 4-count flutter kicks
40 x half situps
stretch 1 minute, repeat

Total of 660
Feels good.

Today, I led command PT again. I let Chief lead dynamic warmups (a bunch of random, almost wanna be calesthenics, but not really), then explained how to do pyramids. We left out pullups, but did 1-10-1 pushups, x2 situps. Most of them did really well! This is living proof that most of it's mental. Whenever I say "We're gonna do 100 pushups in sets of 10," they freak! But, all I said was to work from 1 to 10 and back, and they all did it for the most part! Good for them. Again, proof that PT is mental.

Possibly

Today I didn't get around to running, but went on a nice 4 mile hike.

If I get around to it, I might possibly do some PT in my room. Maybe a superset. That sounds fun. Haven't done one for a while.

I'll let you know tomorrow if it actually happens. I did 20 really slow pushups and situps earlier when I was bored, and although they were screaming when I was doing them, I didn't feel much afterwards.

I guess that's a good sign.

I might be a wuss...

It's good to read the posts of Charles and Ben. Charles continues to be a strong inspiration leading and pushing all of us, and Ben helps alleviate my doubts over struggling to keep up. I've run every day this week so far, 3-4 miles at a time. The knee feels good, and I plan to stay away from the bike until I get it fitted to my specifications. It costs around $90 though. Bastards.

I've done some sort of PT every day too, but all together they only amount to a warm up for Charles. I know the point of this is not to compare, but I can't help it. He's my little brother! ;-) But I'm immensely proud of him and his ability to exceed WAY beyond expectations, which really have no bearing anyway. He's the type of person that can accomplish anything once the mind is set. Good on ya! He serves as my continuing inspiration, and I look forward to matching him again.

With respect to Ben, we can do it too! I'm not in school, but the band is kind of my first priority. However, I'm getting better at the balancing act. I just have to keep to a regular schedule without interrupting it for ANYTHING. It's a slow climb back to the top, and sometimes there are new obstacles that we create when bouncing down the cliff, but just as before, we have to keep looking forward and upward and simply find the best route to regain control. Or if the best route is invisible, just nut up and conquer the blockade head-on.

Today I rested a bit, PT-wise. Yesterday I did the 11 Variation pushups with 10 situps between sets. The pushups continue to get easier with higher reps, and the situps feel okay for the most part. I've been overloading a bit this week, doing 150-200 a day to get a solid base. Pullups are kind of difficult, but I welcome the pain again. It's been awhile and it'd high-time for some body/mind testing.

The running is a steady, quick pace at around 7 minute miles; looking forward to increasing distance.

Rock on Charles. Rock on Ben. Rock on me.

The Resurrection

Brother Ben and Brother Charles are always there for a new endeavor. Whosoever spawns the idea, our trifecta mercilessly pursues the given task until a better one comes along. No excuses. No if's, and's or but's. No man left behind.

The idea of putting goals in the public conscience is genius. Immediately upon revealing inner thoughts, I no longer have only myself on whom to rely, nor am I the only one offering encouragement to my meager human form, struggling to battle against time in an attempt to conquer the detraining effect and to reduce the effects of deterioration associated with aging. I'm not old by any means, but it's never to early to plan for it's inevitability. With each shared expression, the ability to reach soaring heights becomes possible through networking and exponential support.

With that said, Charles is a Genius, and Ben is a Titan. The Genius perpetually conjours up new and improved ways to network, perform, exceed, excel, and experience together. The Titan takes these to heart, and blasts them to levels far beyond the initial goal. Take for example the fact that he saw Charles and I exercising regularly and wanted to get in on it. His biggest doubt was his running ability, self-expressed only being able to run one or two miles before keeling over. We took this to heart, provided guidance, and as he became comfortable with his newfound love, Ben went beyond all expectations, including his own. Within two years, Ben completed several ultra runs (longer than 26.2 miles), the longest of which I believe was 75. It took me about 6 years of training seriously before I entertained the idea of a basic marathon. To those of you out there who have the same excuse/barrier for running regularly, if Ben is not a shining inspiration, you have no hope. A Titan in shattering expectations. A Genuis in providing and guiding towards expectations. And then me. I don't know what I am. I'll let the other two decide.

The Resurrection refers to me. I hope it's not conceded saying that I had a big hand in starting the whole body forging. A big hand, as in not quite a Royal Flush, but maybe a high Full House. That'll work...full house, full body, mind and spirit. The whole connection. This commencement began with my drive to be a special forces operative. First a Green Beret, then a SEAL, with the thought of becoming a field agent for the CIA or NSA. I began pushing my body farther, harder, and longer than I'd ever imagined. I hate lifting weights in the gym, so this path was perfect for me. Mostly running, swimming, and body weight manipulation. As a runner, I had only done maybe 60 pushups in a workout. Ever. Situps, maybe 100. Pullups? Fuck those things. The transition took me way beyond what I thought was possible for me. The first SEAL workout program I started was just a workup. 2 phases. 8 weeks. Then 9 weeks. It went up to 20x20 pushups and situps, and something like 60 pullups. At first, my mind melted. "That's impossible. I'll never be able to do it."

The key: one step at a time. A steady workup. Focus on the task at hand, not on the task in the future. Without completing the present mission, the future one doesn't even exist. Why worry about failing something that doesn't even exist yet?

Anyway, got to the 20x20 week. It was a breeze! I thought, "How far can I go with this? How much more can I do?"
The Stew Smith book Charles mentioned came into play.

We both worked up to 600 pushups and situps in a workout. No sweat. I worked up to 150+ pullups in a workout. Tough, but doable. Ben came along for the ride and dominated too.

With all three pushing together, we broke physical, mental, and spiritual barriers the full body, full house was won.

I've lost alot of that fitness in the past year. It's time to get it back. But I don't want to just do the cliché and "get back in shape." I'm already in shape. I want to go beyond that. I want to go beyond what I used to be able to do. I want to exceed all expectations (from myself and everyone else). I want us to exceed together.
Now let's try for the Royal Flush. Probability of earning this hand in poker: 1 in 2,598,960. Probability of us earning this hand together: inevitable.

This is my Resurrection. This is our Trifecta.

(as a note...refer to Charles's blog "cdupreezrun.blogspot.com" for a 100 mile training plan. I'm an uncertified trainer having studied exercise science and wellness, including athletic training, kinesiology, biomechanics, nutrition, etc. If this helps earn your trust and will to resurrect with us, please feel free to ask any questions and for tips on starting or boosting your own training plan)