Ben Signs Up for Ultra, Charles Thinks About AP

First of all, congrats to Ben for signing up for his first ultra! He is doing the North Face Endurance 50. The funny thing is, Ben has already run this distance...even farther! Once he did 75! What a crazy mo-fo!

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My upper body is a little sore right now from the workout I did yesterday. It is a good feeling, though. Pain is when all that crappy weakness that clings to your muscles decides to leave the body. Get out, weakness!

Pullups are going really good. I found a new tree in the side yard that will work as a bar when I don't want to go to the school or park.

On the pushups, I am making sure to get all the way up. I think my form was slipping a little, so when I did supersets yesterday I usually dropped my chest to the ground, and then fully extended the arms.

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I have this idea about running the Appalachian Trail (AP) sometime. It would definitely be very grueling and demanding, both physically and mentally, but I think it would be the best way that a summer could be spent.

Trek dates? Maybe start next May after school gets out...that will allow me 3.5 months. What would be awesome would be to finish in 3. For me, that is about as fast of a goal possible. 47 days is the record...Karl Meltzer did it in just about 56 days.

90 days, I think that would be a very challenging (and I would like to think do-able) goal. That is 24.2 miles a day.

Wow! Do you realize that anyone who does the AP is more badass than Dean Karnazes and his 50/50/50?

26.2 miles a day for 50 days...come on, Dean! How about 46 miles a day for 47 days (like Andrew Thompson in his 2005 AP record).

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I also found out that Tom Unger has a goal of trekking the entire AP too! Sure, he has not been running that much, but he is a tremendous athlete and I am sure that in 11 months he could train and be ready for such a trek.

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Yes, all of this seems very ____ (I don't know what word I am loooking for), but being out in nature for all that time just seems like a good idea.

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Other cool trails include the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail.

Pegasus, 50 miles, Video?

For the new shoes, I got the Nike Pegasus. I got my first pair in 2004, and have sort of primarily used them, other than trail shoes and a couple other road shoes.

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Running is going good this week. I should be at just about 50 for the week, which is a good showing, considering that last week I only had 6 miles!

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I also thought up a really sweet workout that would be very challenging. Should I unveil it now? Or, I was thinking of making a video thing to post on youtube...the video, maybe that would reach more people?

And the huge ab workout, that really isn't mine Ben...it comes from Stew Smith's book Navy SEAL fitness...I like how you called it by my name though...when I do it, I always think of it as "That one really big challenging ab burning monstrosity workout that Anton showed me."

Blech

I felt rather blech last week. I only ran 6 miles total.

:(

What the heck? What is with this low mileage for the week? I thought I was adding more mileage, and then I pull off a 6 mile week.

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I ate part of 2 donuts tonight. They were spectacular!

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Rogueing starts soon. I will be ready for it. It will be good exercise, walking up and down the rows.

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Had some good, but infrequent PT sessions this past week. Pullups are going good. Did some supersets...they were all easy. Felt like I hadn't done anything.

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This week will be the week when I start running everyday. It will be glorious!

Plus, I have some new running shoes...

OH SNAP!

Nebraska, Pullups, Running

I am back in Nebraska. It was a long journey back, beginning at 9 pm Hawaii time and ending 3 pm the next day Nebraska time. I don't want to figure out how many hours that was, but it was a long time. 15 hours or so, maybe.

On the trip over here, it was hard to sleep because my legs kept falling asleep. First, I had them propped up on the wall in front of me, but then I woke up about 30 minutes late with the legs tingling. Then, I brought both legs up on the seat, and buckled the ankles in to prevent the feet from slipping. It was actually really comfortable, and I could rest my head on my arms if I put the arms across my knees. But then I woke up about 30 minutes later with the legs feeling asleep again.

Then, I slouched way down in the seat, so that my back was pretty much on it and my neck was propped up against the back of the chair. This was alright for a while, but then my back started to hurt because it was being stretched or something.

So basically, I didn't get that much sleep. But it was all good. It is always all good.

*****

Pullups. I did a pullup workout last Friday after doing the supersets. The pullups felt sort of hard. It was all good though. Don't even worry about it. Don't.

Pullups are still my favorite though. I think. Abs and pushups are fun too...

*****

I have not been running that much, but right now I am not too worried about it. I had some quality runs last week, and then I had a couple days when I was getting ready to leave Hawaii and what not, so I didn't have much time to run, I guess. I could have pulled off a Dean Karnazes and have woken up at 4 am to go running, but I was not that worried about getting the miles in.

I guess I have sort of mellowed out. Mellow. That is a good word. This one girl at the Shave Ice place, she used that word. It sounds like a word you would use to describe the world when you are smoking pot. Marijuana.

"Dude, that's mellow," is what you would say.

So, I guess I am saying that I am like someone who smokes weed, except I don't.

Last Days in Hawaii, Mammoth Abs

I only have a couple days left here in Hawaii. It is sad!

:(

I have a sad face!

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I posted a workout a bit back...the Mammoth Abs...maybe I didn't word it clearly enough...

This workout only has TWO sets. Each set is

Situp
Crunch
Reverse Crunch
Left Crunch
Right Crunch
Leg Lever
Flutter Kick
Half Situp

with no rest between each kind of ab exercise. So, if you do 20 of each, you do 160 abs without any rest! That's why it starts to burn. After you finish your last situp, immediately go into the Reverse Crunch, without any rest at all!

Then you take a 1 minute break and then do the 2nd big set...

This workout is, for me, one of the toughest...you can fell the burn like no other!

Tempo Runs, Nuts...Again!, PT, Frosty.

Hello. This post was actually posted on Thursday night. But, it says Friday. It is because I didn't change the time zone when I came here to Hawaii.

I have been running. It has been good.

About a week ago I did my first tempo run in a while. Warmed up 2, tempo 3, cool down 3. It was hot out. It was in the afternoon. The tempo run went better than expected! Finished about 40 seconds faster than my goal time!

Did the same workout this week. Finished the tempo run 19 seconds faster than last week! Perhaps this is a sign of good things to come?

Ran some hills on Monday. Actually, it was one big hill. After about a mile, turned right on Aiea Heights road and ran for about 22 minutes. Could have gone another half mile to the park...where the incline keeps going and going. A big hill, it was! I guess some people refer them as mountains...but I think the highest peak is maybe 2,000 feet. Is that a mountain?

It was a week ago exactly when I had a nut binge. I bought some more today and ate quite a bit again. My stomach is sort of blech right now. When will I learn moderation?

PT is going good. Throwing down workouts like they are nothing. Did the same workout Monday and Wednesday. 2 big sets of abs. Ben, you know which one I am talking about. For you, Abby, here is the monster ab workout. You could cut the numbers in half, but try to do 2 sets, with a minute of rest between:

40 regular situps
40 crunches
40 reverse crunches
40 left side
40 right side
40 leg levers
50 flutter kicks
40 half-situps

That is 330 in one set! Just don't think of how many you are doing.

Now, do it again.

My hip flexors were really sore on Tuesday, but when I did the workout again on Wednesday they felt okay.

Getting excited for another PFT in about ten days! The run, I think it will go awesomely! I'm thinking I can improve by 30-40 seconds...

Anton brought home Frosties from Wendy's. Boy, are they good! They soothe the stomach. They soothe the intestines.

I am not worried about the amount of sugar in the Frosty. It is good, and it is the only thing that is appetizing right now. I ate some ice cream earlier. The stomach needs cooling, sweet stuff.

Nuts = bad.

But I am going to eat more tomorrow...

PFT, Nuts, Exciting

Hello to you, people who read this blog! Hello!

Yesterday I decided to get serious and started up the 12 week program again.

The first workout was a PFT...and it went SPECTACULARLY! Is that "spectacularly" correct? Don't you use an adverb in this case? Who even knows...

The swim went pretty good, having not swam since last summer. 500 yards, it was. My triceps were really burning the last 100 or so, but that is all good. Pushups, Anton and I busted out some pretty huge numbers! I actually got the most pushups in 2 minutes that I have ever gotten! Although, some of the last ones may not have been perfect...situps were pretty good...felt the burn...pullups went good too! Kept cranking them out even though I was tired. The run, that went pretty great also! It took a little while to get into the faster pace, but after the turn-around, I felt really really good! Am looking forward to more PFTs to come...another in a couple of weeks, right before I come back to Nebraska, so then I can tell you how much progress I have made!

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For some reason, whenever I buy a can of nuts, I end up eating the whole thing within 24 hours. I take a handful here, a handful there. (To be grammatically correct, it should actually read "take an handful here, an handful there).

And then, last night, I was playing xBox and wanted some snacks...so, I grab the can of nuts. Before I know it, the whole thing is pretty much empty!

Basically, the story goes like this: this morning's run was not that fun. Roughage...it will really tear you up!

So, today I am staying away from the roughage. Just little changes: ate Honey Bunches of Oats instead of oatmeal for breakfast...a quesadilla and green beans for lunch...cereal as a snack, made some tortillas later...

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I should be posting more often now...I think that I will! I will try to think of exciting things to say!

Here are some exciting things from Tuesday's run: saw a gecko on a stone wall; saw a bunch of Bird of Paradise plants.

Exciting, no?