Grooved to Run

Today was Week 2 Day 1 of the One Hundred Push-ups training plan.

My sets for this workout were: 9, 8, 6, 4 and then max out (doing at least 7). Seemed easier tonight, and I was able to max out to 15 on the last set. Not bad, but it gets a lot harder from here on out.

Music for tonight was The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus – Don’t You Fake It.

Sunday was my last day of my second time through the HH10K plan. The schedule had me doing a 10K race, but instead I went for a slightly longer run with Eric, Nate, and Bill.

We hit the York Heritage Rail Trail for a slow 8 mile run, starting at Brillhart Station and ending at Hanover Junction.

Total distance was 8.01 miles in 1:25:48 (10:42/mi pace) with an average speed of 5.6 MPH and a max of 9.1 MPH. My 1-mile splits were 10:48, 10:29, 11:09, 11:00, 10:52, 10:45, 10:33, and 10:03. Burned about 1200 calories.

It was definitely one of the more enjoyable runs that I’ve done lately, and sure beats running solo loops around my development. Running with others always provides me with a huge motivation boost. Good times!

MB

Today was Week 1 Day 2 of the One Hundred Push-ups training plan.

My sets for this workout were: 10, 8, 8, 5, and then max out (doing at least 10). I was pretty surprised that doing the initial sets of 10 and 8 seemed awfully easy. The next two sets were a bit tougher, and I struggled to get 12 on the last set.

Is it possible I’m actually improving that quickly? I’m inclined to think it was just having a good day of rest yesterday helped out a lot.

Soundtrack for today was Black Light Burns – Cruel Melody.

There was a 2-mile run on my HH10K schedule for tonight. So I decided to combine that with my current fascination with the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) and to head over to the local high school track and take the test.

I walked a lap, and then jogged a lap, and felt decently warmed up. Hit start on the Garmin and ran harder than I have in months. Basically kept it sub 7:00/mi for the first lap, and then started slowing down a bit. Ended up running 2.00 miles in 16:13 (8:06/mi pace) with an average speed of 7.4 MPH and a max of 11.2 MPH. Splits were 7:46 and 8:26. Burned about 300 calories.

So how did I stack up against the APFT 2-mile run standard?

You must score at least a 50 in each event in order to graduate Basic Combat Training. Active Duty soldiers will need to score at least 60 to pass the APFT.

I scored 73 points out of a hundred, easily meeting the BCT standard and passing the Active Duty standard by 13 points. Even though my time was slower than my 15:51 PR, I’m quite happy with it.

There was also some strength training on the schedule for tonight, but I’m putting that off until tomorrow. I have to do OHP W1D3 anyway.

Last night was Week 1 Day 2 of the One Hundred Push-ups training plan.

The five sets were: 9, 8, 6, 5, and max out to at least 7. I was still really sore from W1D1, so the first two sets of 9 and 8 were painful. The next two sets of 6 and 5 seemed surprisingly easy, but when I tried for 11 on the max, my arms gave out and I was done. Still, I’m happy with 10.

This is definitely one of the most challenging plans I’ve tried so far. It should get interesting.

Soundtrack for the night was Filter – Short Bus.

I recently checked out the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) standards, and it looks like a decent way to gauge basic physical fitness. Here’s how they describe it:

All soldiers in the Active Army, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve must take the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) regardless of their age. The APFT is a three-event physical performance test used to assess muscular endurance and cardio respiratory (CR) fitness. It is a simple way to measure a soldier’s ability to effectively move his body by using his major muscle groups and CR system. Performance on the APFT is strongly linked to the soldier’s fitness level and his ability to do fitness-related tasks.

There are three main components of the test: push-ups, sit-ups, and a two-mile run. Each component has age-adjusted standards based on a 100 point scoring system. You need to score least a 50 in each event in order to graduate Basic Combat Training, and Active Duty soldiers need to score at least 60 in each event to pass.

For my age, that means I need to be able to do 36 push-ups in two minutes, 42 sit-ups in two minutes, and run two miles in 17:42 or less (8:51/mi).

How well do I stack up against that right now? Well, my current push-up max stands at 16 (39 points), so I’m not passing that one. But my two mile is PR is 15:51 from back in October (76 points). I’m a little slower now, but I’m sure I could still easily beat 17:42.

I haven’t tried doing timed sit-ups in a long time, so tonight I set the timer for 2 minutes and gave it a shot. Surprisingly, I was able to get in 45 decent sit-ups before the time ran out… a passing score of 64 points. I’m pretty happy with that.

It’d be cool to be able to pass all three APFT test by the time I run the Army Ten-Miler in October.

Tonight was Week 1 Day 1 of the One Hundred Push-ups training plan. Based on my baseline test last night, I decided to do the “middle” track for this week.

I did 5 sets: 7, 7, 5, 4, and maxed out to 8. That’s a total of 31 pushups, and my arms were spent. Finished up the night with some more lifting after that including the usual arnolds and such.

Tonight’s lifting music was classic Rage Against the Machine – Evil Empire. Nothing better.

I’m still working my way through the HH10K plan:

W6D7 – 6.21 miles in 1:10:50 (11:23/mi)
W7D2 – 3.11 miles in 33:55 (10:54/mi)
W7D3 – 1.18 miles in 13:10 (11:10/mi)
W7D4 – 2.00 miles in 21:38 (10:49/mi)

The W7D7 schedule had me doing 5.5 tonight, but whatever. I did 6.22 miles in 1:12:05 (11:35/mi pace) with 1-mile splits of 11:27, 11:24, 11:48, 12:21, 12:21, 10:50, and the last quarter mile at an 8:38/mi pace. I’m sure spending an hour mowing the lawn right before the run didn’t help those split times, but it was still an enjoyable run.

I’m starting the One Hundred Push-up training plan tomorrow, so I figured tonight would be a good night to get a baseline. I was able to crank out 16 well-formed push-ups before my arms crumbled under me.

That’s a score of 39 on the APFT.

Pretty sad, but that’s about 10 more than I thought I’d be able to do.

I just upgraded the site theme to K2 Release Candidate 6. It adds some cool features like avatar support and image galleries.