Week 6 Day 1 - Here We Go!!

I have a lot on my mind these days:

• Work
• Learning and memorizing Body Pump 76 Choreography
• Run Training and preparing for the Houston Marathon
• Holiday Cruise logistics
• Keeping my plants alive
• Chores, chores, chores
• Finishing my 100 pushup challenge

While watching Monday Night Football and doing some on-line shopping, I remembered that I needed to do Week 6, Day 1 pushups. It's the last week of training before the actual challenge to 100 pushups. Having just practiced Body Pump with Elena H. last Sunday at the Y and a Pure Strength class at 6:00 a.m. Monday morning, my arms were a little worn out. But, per my calculations, if I didn't do the pushups Monday, I may as well forget about doing the rest of Week 6's pushups because this time next week, we will be on a boat for our cruise! My plan is to do Week 6 Day 2 on Wednesday and Body Pump Practice on Friday, Week 6 Day 3 on Saturday, and the Final Test on Sunday before we get on our cruise ship.

After a quick warm up, I got started.

• Set 1: 45 - I didn't think I could do this. I was counting in groups of 10. I found myself closing my eyes once I passed 30. I started to shed my layers of clothes.
• Set 2: 55 - I rested about 90 seconds because I didn't think 60 seconds would be enough for me to recover.
• Set 3: 35 - I could feel my triceps getting angry and when I finished, my chest was on fire!
• Set 4: 30 - What a relief for the sets to descend in numbers. I think it actually helped with recovery.
• Set 5: maximum of at least 55 - I originally set a target goal of 60, but once I passed the 50 mark, I just kept going and even closed my eyes for a brief moment and I was at 56. At this point, my OCD kicked in and I had to get to 60. When I got to 60, I told myself, "5 more" and made it to 65!

I am following the position I discovered during Week 5 Day 3 pushups - feet about hip width apart. I also noticed that they follow this same position in the Body Pump 76 Training Video. Further validation that this position is by no means a form of a cheat.