Monday, Week 3.....PFT Spectacular

Today I did a PFT, minus the timed run. I did not plan on doing one, but I felt really motivated or something in the afternoon and decided that I needed to see how much improvement I have made since last time I tested. Here is how I did last year compared today:

July 10, 2007:

Pushups: 69
Situps: 84
Pullups: 8


October 27, 2008:

Pushups: 108
Situps: 98
Pullups: 22


39 more pushups = (57 % more)
14 more situps = (17 % more)
14 more pullups = (175 % more)

I am very surprised how much the scores went up in the past 15 months! Here is how much I improved:

Pushups: 2.6 a month, 0.65 a week
Situps: 0.93 a month, 0.25 a week
Pullups: 0.93 a month, 0.25 a week

As you can see, I improved very slowly...but it added up...so DON'T GET DISCOURAGED WITH YOUR GOALS! Over time you will improve greatly if you just keep at it...consider my pullups: I didn't even improve by ONE a month, but over a 15 month period I was able to build the strength to do 14 more!

So today was a pretty good day for PT. I am very satisfied and glad that I have somehow found motivation to keep doing it even though my main focus is running. Thanks to Anton for getting me hooked!

During the PFT, the pushups felt pretty good until the last five seconds, and then my arms pretty much collapsed on what would have been 109. Situps felt okay until about 70, then it was a struggle to keep the pace going. Pullups felt hard, but did better than I thought I would. Next time I will shoot for 110, 105, 24...situps will probably be the hardest.

Other stuff:

30-25-20-15-10-5 dips = 105
2 x 85 arm haulers = 170
2 x 30 all abs = 540
2 x 35 neck = 70
2 x all pullups = 100 (1 minute between each, 10 minute break between sets)

Pullups were sort of hard. In the last two sets I had to drop down so my arms would actually have strength to pull me up. Nice...that's they way it should be...pain and exhaustion...bring it.

Totals for today:

Ab = 658
Pushups = 368
Pullup = 122
Dips = 105
Arm Hauler = 170
Neck = 70

•••••

Later on I went feezy (five easy)...it was sort of cold, and I had to put my hands in my shirt. I wasn't about to wear gloves because only pansies do that (just kidding...it wasn't cold enough for a hat, so I figured it wasn't cold enough for gloves). During the run I threw in 50 pushups at each mile...twice I was able to finish all 50 without taking a break. That is good news. Good stuff, that's what it is. Plus, to make things even better, my left hip didn't bother me at all! The large amounts of stretching last night and the pre-run warming of the hip definately helped...I stretched a lot after the run, also...I need to make sure to stretch regularly...maybe get back into doing some yoga...that's good for the body AND the mind. It makes things more relaxed and seems to make the day slow down...

Today I decided that maybe I will try to eat no meat this week to see how it affects me. Ben is a stud, and he doesn't eat meat (I don't think). It's not like I am going to go vegetarian or anything, but I just want to see if a vegetarian diet would be more kind to the body. So for lunch I made some kind of Irish dish made from cabbage, potato, onion, garlic, and milk. It was pretty filling, even though I didn't eat that much. For supper my mom and I made udon noodles, and made a peanut butter sauce for it. Here are the recipes:

Irish Dish

1. Boil some potatoes to make them softish.
2. Sautee equal amount of cabbage in a large skillet with olive oil.
3. Add some onion and garlic to the cabbage.
4. Mash the potatoes, but not too much. Keep some chunks in there.
5. Add the potatoes to the cabbage and other stuff.
6. Turn the burner up to Medium High.
7. Put some milk in there.
8. Add some spices.
9. Let it sit there and get all brown and crispy on the bottom.
10. Eat.

Noodles and Peanut Butter Sauce

1. Cut up some veggies and throw them in a skillet with some oil.
2. Boil some noodles. Udon noodles are really good, so maybe get some of these.
3. Put a glob of peanut butter in a small bowl.
4. Throw some hoi son sauce in there. Use some soy sauce and honey if you don't have hoi son.
5. Mince some garlic and ginger and put it with the peanut butter and hoi son and mix it up.
6. Add a little water to make the sauce more saucier and liquidy.
7. Drain noodles and throw them in the veggies.
8. Throw the sauce with the noodles and veggies.
9. Mix it all up.
10. Eat.

I hope you like these recipes. There are both good sources of carbohydrates, and the noodle dish has good protein in there. Eat it sometime. I guarantee you will like them!