One Hundred Push Ups

Week 2 Day 2 of the 100 push ups programme.

My sets included 14 , 16,12,12, and 20 push ups for a total of 74.


 Being injured and not doing any running I am feeling tired after 5 days of Juneathon. Today was the least that I have done but you certainly feel it in the arms and chest.

Swimming and Walking at Holkham Norfolk

No cycling or running today instead on day 4 of Juneathon I did some swimming, walking and week 2 day 1 of the 100 push up challenge. It being such a lovely warm day we set off for the coast up to Holkham Bay in Norfolk.

Once you park the car at Lady Anne's Drive at Holkham you then have to walk a mile to reach the sands. It is a lovely walk along duck boards through pine trees It must be another half mile or so of sands to reach the sea!  There was a good breeze to keep the temperatures down and more comfortable. However you can't come to the sea and not go for a swim so after setting up base in some sand dunes I walked down the beach wandering how cold it was going to be. It was actually warm partly because you had to go a long way out to get to any depth. The shallow waters were more easily warmed by the sunshine. This was my first swim of the year, probably for a year since swimming at Southwold. If you just want a beach Holkham is ideal however you should note there are no commercial outlets such as food vendors or toilets which is fine in my book.

After this we went down the road to Wells Next the Sea a busy small town where there was very limited parking. We found some parking out of town and walked back in for a mile. This is worth a visit to a traditional fishing port with boats and plenty of fishing for crabs on the marina. Wells has the commercial attractions such as fish and chips, ice creams and amusements but go to Holkham if you want a good sandy beach.

After a day out in which we walked 4 miles approximately and did some swimming I still felt I hadn't really down enough for Juneathon so I returned to do week 2 day 1 of the 100 push up challenge. My session included 5 sets of press ups which were 14,14,10,10 and a final set of 20 for a total of 68 press ups , 4 miles walking and some swimming.

A short 2.5 mile run

A bit of a trial to see what what happen when I ran 2.5 miles and would the pain in my heel flare up again? I really enjoyed the run as a short taster of what I am missing.

I ran the 2.5 miles in 21.18 though it was entirely pain free as I could my heel. So 2.5 was as far as I dared run in case I do any more damage. As i write this I am not limping but I can feel my heel and I probably did a little too much too soon.

When I returned from the run with my exercise craving unsatisfied I started Day 2 week 1 of training on my push ups my session included 5 sets and I did 10,12,8,8 and 23

I then did a session of sit ups or crunches five sets included 15,18,10,10 and 20

Now I have got to wait and see if there is any reaction and I how I feel tomorrow morning

Hundred Push Ups

This was a rest day for me but I still did some push ups.

My first push ups for a week and it showed! I decided to do week 6 day 2 programme again and did sets of 14,14,15,15,10,10,14,14 and a final set of 30.

I am not sure how many will be running the Stowmarket Half Marathon I am doing at the end of March but it won't be anyway near the number who have entered to take part in the the world's biggest halfmarathon, the Great North Run in Newcastle England. The 2010 race has attracted a record number of applications to take part in the 30th anniversary of the event.

More than 100,000 have entered  to run on September 19 - and the organisers will stage a ballot this week to confirm the 54,000 entrants.

Hundred Push Ups Week 6 - Day 3 and Where Was I - Four Years ago

Today was a rest day in my half marathon training so time again for more push ups.I am repeating week 6 training and have reached day



Today my session included sets of 13,13,17,17,16,16,14,14 and a final set of 50. This I managed comfortably though I I don't feel I could many more.


At this point you are expected to have a go at the big 100 push ups. So in a couple of days I will give it a try and see just how many I can do.


I know I can't do 100 and I think I will have to invent my own schedule to take on from the current plateau of 50 to gradually get to 60 as a starting point.

I was recently asked whether I had noticed any physical difference since taking up push ups in the upper arms and chest. I have to say after one months training  I would be lying if I was to say I now have a six pack and upper arm muscles. However I have made some progress and I am confident of being able to do 50 push ups whereas at the beginning of the year when I started this I could do only 17.

Push Ups are a great form of exercise being totally free. Over time push ups are said to be good for developing your chest and  defining your abs, triceps, shoulders and torso. I would hope it would help with shorter races where you tend to use your arms a bit more when sprinting and there should be more body strength to run against  the wind.

I just wanted an exercise which was different from running but would improve my running by developing my core strength. If I keep up the training on push ups for say 6 months then perhaps I will really start to feel the benefits come the summer and then I can kick sand in the face of others on the beach!

Where Was I  Four yours ago 

From my training diary in 2006  this is a post about a run I took in Claudia Schiffers backgarden in Feb 2006..........

11.30am 12 miles in 1 hour 36 minutes 15 seconds.

Week to date mileage 37

Month to date mileage 66

Average weekly rate 34.4

Average Monthly rate 150

Weather: Steady rain.
Finally we have had some rain for what feels like the first time this year. It has been extremely dry and we could do with continuous rain for a month.

I parked the car at the Red House at Hoggards Green which is about 6 miles south of Bury St Edmunds towards Sudbury. The Red House is both a pub and a village shop.

I wasn't sure where I was going to run to as I set of in the rain. The first footpath I followed ended up at Yewtree Farm on the busy A134. As this was a deadend I retraced my

steps back to the Redhouse Pub. I set out on a B road hoping to pick up a footpath. I passed a very nice methordist church really in the middle of nowhere surrounded by fields. This road took me back to the A134 so again I retraced my steps back to the Redhouse. It was a good thing I wasn't popping into the pub each time I passed, though I was sorely tempted.

I again set out from Hoggards Green and this time picked up a road which took me into Stanningfield. The name apparently derives from stony field .

I passed the church of St Nicholas and then picked up on part of the St Edmunds
Way. However I was somewhat uncertain as to whether I should carry on as there were many imposing signs saying private besides the right of way pathway signs. This is somewhat intimidating and you feel a bit like an intruder. The private signs made reference to two private halls Coldham Hall and Rookwood Hall.

I never saw a soul on this run and decided that I was in my rights to follow the path. I soon reached Coldham Hall and its large grounds. It has a very long driveway and lots of a breed of Cattle in the grounds that
might be Highlands?

At the end of the driveway I couldn't see a way out there were some locked gates and I began to wonder again if I should be here and whether I was trespassing.

So I again retraced my steps but instead of going back to Stanningfield I decided on a quick visit to Lawshall along the wonderfully named Donkey Lane. I then took a visit in the opposite direction along Old Lane to the Little Rockwood Farm.

Before finally returning back through Stanningfield and into Hoggards Green . It was only when I returned home and had a look at Coldham Hall that I found out more about a very interesting history. The manor of Stanningfield and Lawshall was in the hands of the Rookwood family since Edward the 1st. The Rookwoods were members of parliament and staunch Catholics. Ambrose Rookwood inherited Coldham Hall in 1600 and soon turned the hall into somewhat of a secret retreat for catholic priests to practice.

However Ambrose Rookwood didn't enjoy his inheritance for very long as he was executed in 1606 as one of the conspirators involved in the Gunpowder Plot. he was executed along with Guy Fawkes. Could it have been at Coldham Hall that the plot to restore catholicism to England by  blowing  up the Houses of Parliament were hatched?

The last heir to the Coldham Hall estates died during the 1st World war and it is now owned by the German supermodel Claudia Schiffer. In 2002 when she married nearby in Shimpling apparently the locals who had gathered at the church were disappointed when Claudia Schiffer arrived hidden in blankets and she was roundly booed.  I can now undertand the security around Coldham Hall which is aptly named. She has been stalked in the past and I guess my run through the grounds was probably recorded and watched on CCTV!

Still it is not every day you take a training run in Claudia Schiffers back garden!

Hundred Push Ups Programme Week 6

Today was a rest day from running after yesterday's tempo training. So time again for more push ups.I am repeating week 6 training at the easiest level as I reached a plateau last week for the first time. Whereas up to now each week I have been able to do a few more push ups I suddenly couldn't.


At the end of week 6 you are expected to then be ready to do the 100. My max is still around 50 hence I will be repeating week 6 for a few weeks.

Today my session included sets of 14,14,15,15,14,14,10,10 and a final set of 46. This I managed comfortably though I was experiencing the arm burn at the end of the 46.

Seven Miles around Fornham Suffolk

I ran tired today. I felt tired before I started but still get myself out of the front door which was the biggest battle. The weather was cool,grey and damp with a hint of rain. I was back to wearing a hat and gloves for this session which was day 1 of week 4 of my Half Marathon  training.
I am following the Runners World SMART Coach training schedule which this week calls for another increase in mileage from 36 to 39 miles all told if I do it.

My shortest run now is 7 miles where as that was probably my longest distance for most of the 2nd half of 2009.

Todays 7 miles saw my do a time of 1hr 2mins 31 secs. Not quick and at a slower pace than yesterdays 11 miles but not surprising as I have 30 miles in the last 4 days.

However I again ran within the easy 9.20 pace that was called for on the schedule.

It being a Music Monday a phrase coined by Kenley at the Essence of Running  I listened to the album by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs  - It's Blitz and it being such a dull day my track of the day is Dull Life



It was also time for me to do another session on the One hundred push ups programme. After my last session I have retreated a bit and decided to do  Day 1 of week 6 again and to choose the easiest of the 3 options available.

So I did a 25, 30,20,15 and then a 40 . Wow that was hard.

Six Mile run at the Saxongate Water Meadows Bury St Edmunds Suffolk

It was a cloudy grey morning as I set off for an easy 6 mile run. I decided to run around the Saxongate Water Meadows in Bury St Edmunds.

Water meadows in Britain are an endangered shrinking habitat constantly under pressure from road and housing development. The Saxongate Water Meadows depend on volunteer support for their general upkeep and well worth it is as it home to many wildlife species. The water meadows here surround the River Linnet and once belonged to the Church and the Abbots in the Benedictine Monastery in Bury.

Wildlife to be found here include

• great crested newts
• palmate newts
• smooth newts
• frogs
• toads
  

Wildfowl:

• coot
• mallard
• moorhen

Mammals:

• water shrew
• water vole
  

Birds in the area include:

• blackcap
• great spotted woodpecker
• heron
• kingfisher
• coal tit

I ran slowly this morning and felt tired from the off. The Runners World SMART schedule is leading me to increase my mileage every week and I am already at 36 miles a week if I complete  my long run tomorrow with no problems. Last year in 2009 I only ran higher mileage than this on 2 weeks of the year. I average 23.5 miles a week last year so the schedule I am following  is a significant increase. No wonder I am a little tired.

My 6 mile to day were run in 54 minutes exactly 9 minute miling so it certainly wasn't quick for me. My splits show 8.19,9.02,9.11,9.20,8.56,9.10

The 3rd photo on my post shows a lost childs umbrella probably dropped and then blown by the wind into the water.


I also completed the 1st session of week 6 of the hundred push ups programme. I stuggled a bit with this as well today and did sets of 40,30,25,25 and 40. I was supposed to do 50 on the 2nd and last set so I will need to repeat this session or go back a week before  I move on again.

Exhaustion Test week 5 for the hundred pushups

Today is another rest day from running after yesterdays tempo run. Tonight I did my exhaustion test at the end of week 5 of the hundred pushups training programme.

Basically the exhaustion test is to test yourself to do as many pushups as you can safely. At my absoloute limit I did 51 which is a new record for me.

I now start week 6 training in a couple of days and the number of push ups again increases. I may have to start repeating a week or two before I can advance with the aim of doing 100

Hundred Push Ups Programme Week 5

Today was a rest day from running after 4 consectutive training days however I did complete a core strength session of pushups. I am continuing with the 100 push ups programme and I have reached the end of week 5.

In week 5 the big difference is that the no of sets has increased from 5 to 8. On the last and 3rd set of the week my session tonight included 20, 20, 24,24,20,20,22 and then the final set called for a minimum of 50. I had started the 5th set and got to 15 when the phone rang. So I had to stop and it was a wrong number!. So should I have started from where I left off or start the set again? It wouldn't have felt right to split the set in two so I started again and just managed to get to 50 which is a new record for me. It certainly shows with practice that I can and I am sure anyone can improve their ability to do press ups.

Talking of running on consecutive days  you may have heard of Ron Hill. I believe he holds the record for having run at least a mile every day since 1964 over 45 years ago! He has logged over 150,000 miles. Of course Ron Hill is not your average runner having once been at the top of the world marathon standards back in 1970. He lowered the record for the notoriously tough Boston race by three minutes to 2:10:30 in April that year and three months later at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh he did 2:09:28, the first sub 2:10 marathon.

For 26.2 years he ran twice a day and once on Sundays. You can catch up with Ron Hill's blog here 

I don't believe there is a Running streak association in the UK but in the USA there is a site listing runners who have run every day. The United States Running Streak Association indicates  the US record  to be held by a Mark Covert since 1968

Hundred Push Ups Programme - Exhaustion Test

Today was a rest day from running however I did complete a core strength session of pushups. I am continuing with the 100 push ups programme and I have reached the end of week 4. At the end of each week you complete an exhaustion test basically doing as many push ups as you can without going over the top and doing harm to yourself.

I managed 45 which is a new record for me! But sadly lacks behind my son Tom who hit 60 though I think he has been doing some secret training! When I look back at the last 4 weeks my progress is as follows:-

Exhaustion tests

• week 2 16
• week 3  36
• week 4  45

 Press Up Sets every other day a session consists of 5 sets these have progressed from week 1 where I did a total of 53 to 160 in week 4

According to the Guinness Book of Records the record for non  stop push ups is 10,507 by Minoru Yoshida of Japan back in 1980.  The reason why this record has stood so long is because this record was dropped from the records books in favour of a 24 hour record where any athlete can have as many rest breaks as they like.

The new 24 hour record is held by Charles Servizio (USA) 46,001 in 1993 However this has been beaten by Jeffrey Warrick (USA), 46300 though the new record claim has not yet been verified.


The one year record is held by Paddy Doyle of Great Britain who did  1,500,230;  in 1989. If you have not heard of Paddy Doyle take a look at his records. He is said to be the world fitness endurance champion

There are loads more push ups records at recordholders.org

So what do push ups do for you ?

The push up is actually what is termed a 'total body' exercise. While it is known as an upper body exercise, it works more muscles than just the chest and the arms. You work your chest, shoulders, triceps, back and abs.

The following video is worth watching and shows just how much your form can suffer when you try and do multiple push ups. Full credit to the girl in the video  who shows great determination to do 100 push ups much more than I can do at the moment !