Audaciously working toward a goal of 100 simultaneous push-ups - Part I
Thursday, 23 July, 2009 at 11:45 AM You heard me: I intend to do 100 good-form push-ups. By... sometime.
Thing is, it's tricky to know how to pin down this particular goal, in terms of timing. But that's not stopping me from training. More on the goal setting part, another time. Why don't I tell you, instead, about my mean friend Dena how Dena Harris threw down a challenge and how the timing of her challenge was perfect for me.
While Dena is one of the most competitive people I know (which is to say she runs marathons and stuff,) and therefore the One Hundred Push-Up Challenge is something that has her name written all over it, me... not so much. I'm one of those people who dreams of being lithe and svelte and athletic, kicking higher than your head and dancing my way around a room with the kind of grace and ability that has people standing back in awe just to get a glimpse of my smooth moves as I pass (in a good way, stop laughing,) this is merely my fantasy life. While craving The Spark Of Motivation that will make me actually get off my booty and take the first step toward achieving greater fitness, most days...? Well, most days my life has been a fairly sedentary one.
On July 10, though, the stars must have been aligned just right. Dena blogged about her fun new personal goal of doing 100 simultaneous push-ups and wondered who would join her. My initial reaction was a hugely snarky one. I sat, fingers poised over the keyboard, ready to write some tongue-in-cheek comment along the lines of "as if" and then some, but I kept pausing. What, I wondered, would it take me to actually become motivated to do such a thing? All morning long, I contemplated this question, unable to avoid thoughts of what such an accomplishment would feel like.
I tooled on over to the official website where people are signing up right and left to take the challenge. I started reading. What was involved? If they're serious about actually training people to work toward this goal, starting small and working steadily until they're able to actually achieve such a thing, then how could it hurt to try?
My first answer was related to pride, of course. I mean, what if all these people jumped on board with Dena and they could start in a much more advanced column than I would? They have charts, see, to make sure you start at the right point and don't end up hurting yourself. Or becoming disallousioned. That must be factored in, too. Something like this needs to offer rewards along the way. Even if those rewards are merely mental. Merely. Heh.
So yea, I had to begin with a very humble starting point and I realized my pride wasn't really that affected, after all. It's attitude, you know? Like so many other things. Not like I'm fooling anybody, anyway. It's fairly clear that I am NOT an athlete. That doesn't mean I can't work toward improving my fitness, one tiny step at a time. Tiny. Heh. I'm doing push-ups several times a week now. This is SO not tiny.
Part II - coming soon...
Reader Comments (5)
Mean? Competitive? MOI???? Yes, good friends see even our bad sides. ;) SO excited you're taking this journey with me. And your updates are more fun than anyone's. I'm not doing too stellar on the challenge at the moment but myself but (best Scarlet O'Hara voice) Tomorrow IS another day....
It's not bad to be competitive. So you know. I'm excited too. And how cool are you to like my updates? There's so much to say when this is such a big deal, I guess. (As if I wouldn't have so much to say anyway, eh?) And as far as not doing too stellar on the challenge, may I remind you - in a southern accent, as well, if you care to imagine - that you did start "in week 3" of all things! Good luck! And thanks, really...
you are all crazy. :)
fortunately, i have (-clears throat-) back problems that prevent me from doing push-ups. that's my story and i'm sticking with it
good luck?!.
;) Thanks for wishing us luck! Some of us will need it more than others... (And isn't crazy really beside the point, hmmmm????)
Hallo, ich habe seit 1 Woche einen Internet Zugang. Ich weiss das hört sich komisch an, aber ich hatte das bisher nicht gebraucht.
Man hat mir gesagt , das ich eine billige Versicherung für mein Auto finden kann wenn ich die Versicherer im Internet vergleichen tu.
Ich habe nun die Seite Versicherungsrechner gefunden.
Kann mir jemand sagen, ob das ein guter Vergleichsrechner ist?
Ich bin euch sehr dankbar.
Mit freundlichem Gruss Hans