Miracles, and Freakin' Sore Armpits

I did the first day of the 100 pushup challenge today. O.U.C.H. I didn't expect it to be that hard. I did 20 on the initial test, so I saw the instructions for the first day and thought "Tchuh! 10, then 10, then 8 then 6?! That's going to be a cakewalk!"

Um, it wasn't a cakewalk. It was bloody difficult, and I can tell you right now I will be amazed if I can EVER do 100 consecutive pushups. BUT I WILL SOLDIER ON. No quitting for me. I'm taking tomorrow off then I'm doing it all again on Friday. I think I may do Day One again because I had to do the last two pushups of the third set (the set of 8) on my knees. But I managed 10 for the last, maximum-rep set, anyway.

And now for something really extraordinary: I got an email from a reader yesterday. This woman reads my blog but doesn't comment, and lives in Chicago. The email is as follows:

When I first read about the theft of your bike, I thought, "Hey, I wonder
if she'd like Sam's old bike." Then I dropped it, because, well, because. I have a nice quality mountain/hybrid bike in my basement, about 3 years old. It is sturdy and well-made.... Contingent upon not-outlandish shipping costs, would you like it?

And that, my friends, is what is known as "God closing a door and opening a window".

100 Push-ups Challenge

Is anyone interested in doing the 100 push-ups challenge? It's simply a 5-week schedule for training yourself to do 100 push-ups consecutively, vastly improving your fitness and muscle tone at the same time.

It takes thirty minutes per week - ten minutes on each of three days, with a rest day in between. Not much time commitment, but we all know that push-ups are a great fitness tool.

I started out with 20 on the initial test (just do as many as you can, with good form, and no cheating) which puts me in group 3. So my first week of pushups will follow a schedule like this:

Day One:
10 push ups
60 seconds rest
10 push ups
rest
8 push ups
rest
6 push ups
rest
As many push ups as I can do
End

Day Two:
12 pushups
90 seconds rest
12 pushups
rest
10 pushups
rest
10 pushups
rest
As many as I can do
End

Day Three:
15
120 seconds rest
13
rest
10
rest
10
end

I think it'll be interesting, though I might have to do them on my fists because I am troubled with wrist pain.

So is anyone else In?