Aroo!

Hi All,

Since I have last blogged I've passed a few milestones.  The first being with the push ups.  I have now exceeded the 50% mark and have completed over 30,000 push ups since I have started this venture.  Additionally, I am down about 10 pounds since I started this craziness, though I have also started running 20 miles a week so that has helped as well.

 I finally competed in the Spartan Race at Miller Park.  It was a pretty cool experience, they had obstacles set up all over the stadium.  You started out by running from the bottom tier to the top tier.  Then had to complete 50 skips with a 10-15 pound jump rope.  There were obstacles that had you walk up and down the steps in the top tier with 30 pound water jugs and then sprint around the top of the stadium.  Then you worked your way down the stadium to complete some obstacles in service areas of the stadium.  This led you outside to complete some more.  While out there I had to complete an obstacle that was a barbwire army crawl.  I started out by doing the army crawl but that was rough on the knees, and this was about 20 yards in two different set ups.  I found that rolling through worked better.  Except, when I finished the second one I was a little dizzy, so I stood up and thought I could start running, to which I did, but started falling to the left and tripped over the curb and busted through the Spartan tape.  After everyone finished asking if I was all right I continued on with the rest of the course.  Now we headed back into the stadium which was pretty cool because we went through the players locker room did some push ups, then had a few things to do in the Brewers bullpen then on to the rope climb.  I thought I would be able to do it no problem, but there were three tough arm obstacles before it and I did not complete.  That will be something I target for my next race.  None then less I finished the last few obstacles and completed everything in 57 mins.  Which was good as I was targeting a less than an hour.  Though, after going through it I felt I should have finished in 45 mins.  The biggest challenge is you end up bunching at the obstacles and actually stop which costs you time.  I passed as many people as I could, but it still cost me time.  The next Spartan Race I will compete in is the Super, probably in Chicago.  That is double the length of the Sprint races (which is what Milwaukee was).  So I figure it will not be as congested.  It was a lot of fun and I would recommend it to anyone.

None the less, my next round of athletic achievements to come are:

- Winter basketball league
- Cellcom half marathon in May
- Streetball in June
- Spartan Super in Sept.
- Fox Cities half marathon in Sept.

A lot of training a head!


Push up stats:

Push It! Push It Real Good!

Hi All.  Its been a while since I last posted.  Things have been a little crazy over the last few months.  Since the last time I have blogged I have started a new job, started some home renovation, and completed a half marathon.

My goal in completing the half marathon when I started training was to finish in under two hours, once I started training I realized I could do that and my new goal was to finish at an 1:50.  Fast forward to the race.  To start with, it was crazy at the starting line as all racers started there vs. having half marathoners start elsewhere, etc.  My first race like this so I didn't know.  Then the race started in waves, and I was part of the third wave.  So the race started, and I waited with anxiety building.  Each racer had a chip in their bib so you don't have to worry about when you start, that was one less thing to worry about.  Finally, I was able to get started.  The problem was the walkers and very slow runners seemed to create an impenetrable horizontal line making it very difficult to get by them.  It took me almost 2 miles to finally clear out from the crowd.  That caused my first mile to be over 9 minutes, which was much higher than I wanted my first mile to be.  Once I cleared the crowed I was able to make up some time, actually my 3rd mile was under 8 minutes, which was 20 seconds faster than I had practiced for.  That had me a little worried, so I slowed it down a little.  Finally at about the 5 minute mark I caught up to the 2 hour pacers, once I passed them I knew I was getting back on pace.  As I was chewing through the miles I must have passed hundreds of people and Mapmyrun was telling me my pace was better than I practiced for.  Once I hit the 10 mile mark I was under an 8:20 pace and I was feeling good.  I thought about it and said to myself screw it, only have a 5K to go, lets push it.  A good idea until I hit mile 12, the last mile was tough given I pushed my pace well above what I practiced for.  The last three miles I was faster and faster and was pacing under 8 minutes a mile.  Finally, I came down the finishing stretch and just put my head down and ran.  Crossed the finish line at 1:48.  Beat my goal by 2 minutes!  So, now that I have that bug, I am training for the Celcom in May and targeting less than 8 minute miles and a finish of 1:40-1:43.   So far in training things are going well.  I have done an 8 mile and 9 mile run with about 7:48 miles.  Just need to keep adding the distance and keep that pace and I will be there in May!

With all this craziness I have been keeping up with the push ups.  I am about 2 weeks away from hitting the 50% mark!  Stats below.

Be sure to check out this group, Post Modern Jukebox.  Outstanding talents!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXYWDtXbBB0&list=TLpvGSeBMY0EhJL-bt-r8oxPrIFdEvCwFH

Grinding

2000 more push ups completed since my last blog post.  I have also completed my second Monday's worth of 200 consecutive burpees.  This week was tougher than last week to finish.  Probably due to not enough recovery time.  Though my philosophy is to keep grinding through things vs. just "resting".  It's interesting because I subscribe to a lot of different exercise type of feeds and they all have different advice on how to stay healthy.  At the end of the day I find whatever gets you out of bed each day and staying active is what works, from there tweak and keep it interesting.  The thing I need to tighten up on now is my eating, especially at night.  My weight has steadily been dropping but I am to the point now where I need to improve my diet so I do not let all my heard work go to waste.

Along with keeping up with my push ups I have been able to stay consistent with my running finishing up an 11.4 mile this week on Saturday with an 8:29/mile pace.  This weekend we'll be out of town so I'll be able to get a little extra rest before the final push to the half marathon at the end of September.  I'm feeling pretty good that I should be able to finish in under two hours.

Great speech from Steve Jobs at the Stanford commencement in 2005:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

Update on the push ups:

Burpeeeeesssssssssss!

Had a few weeks from off from blogging, but not working out!  First and foremost I have been keeping up well with the push ups.  The last three weeks on Monday's I have adjusted the type of burpees I have been doing.  Now I just do regular burpees vs. the suicide burpees.  Two Monday's ago I did 3 sets of 50 and then a regular set of 50 push ups.  Then last week I did 1 set of 100 burpees, 1 set of 50, and 2 sets of decline push ups.  Today, I was shooting for 100, which I achieved, but I figured I can do more so I pushed it to 150 continuous burpees then 50 regular push ups.  Next week I may try to push it to 200 continuous push ups.

On the running front things have been picking up there as well.  The last two weeks I have ran courses that I complete last month.  The first course was 7.8 miles.  The first time I ran it I paced at 9:22 per mile.  This time I ran it at 8:44.  Then last Saturday I ran the 8.5 mile course.  The first I ran it was around the 9:22 mark, then this time I ran it at an 8:33 pace.  This week I will be running the 10.5 mile course for the second time.  I think I ran it around 9:30 or 9:40 mark last time.  If I can get in around 9:00 or less I will be on my way to pacing 2 hours or less for the half marathon!

July has been a busy and fun month.  We have been to Green Bay for a 1K kids fun run, T-Rats game, down to Milwaukee to see the Brewers play, the Dells for a nice family vacation, and down to Madison to see some friends, visit the Capitol, visit the New Glarus brewery, and of course see the Toy Train Barn (http://www.whrc-wi.org/trainbarn/)

Video of the week:

Work out with Jimmy Fallon and the Rock:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rVNzu7smmw

Push up stats:

Over 27% of the way done!

Fun in the Sun

Well, made it another week getting through the push ups.  52 days thus far.  Last week was also the most I have ran in a long time as well.  Ran 23 miles including 8.5 miles on Saturday.  The weather was mild and low wind, felt like I could have ran 10 miles.  We'll see how this Saturday goes, I may try to push it to 10 miles and see how that goes.

This past weekend we went to the Wisconsin Dells and stayed at the Wilderness Resort.  Pretty phenomenal place, massive hotel structure with a lot of different water parks in the resort.  On Monday I spent a lot of time in the pool, specifically laying on my belly.  I lubed up a few times with sun tan lotion, but found later in the day I should have worn a swim shirt too.  Monday night was rough with chills and achy feelings.  I think it was sun stroke. Here are the symptoms:

• Hot, dry skin
• No sweating (usually)
• Skin is first flushed, then pale or purple
• Hyperventilation (rapid, shallow breathing)
• Rapid, bounding pulse (alternates between a higher intensity than normal, then disappears quickly)
• Body temperature rises rapidly to 40°C or higher
• Headache
• Muscle cramps
• Dilated pupils
• Signs of mental disorder may include incoherent speech, disorientation, confusion, aggressive speech or behavior, agitation and hallucinations.
• Lethargy or stupor (reactions become extremely slow and sluggish)
• Convulsions
• Loss of consciousness

 Nope, must have just been the sun combined with a 42 oz margarita!

Some fun pictures from vacation:

None-the-less, feeling better now, just putting on some aloe and trying not to be too much of a baby about it!

Back to push ups, because of the burn I did not do push ups yesterday so I skipped basketball (thus eliminating the possibility of an errant hit to the back) and did the Murph today.  I have redesigned the Murph to start with a 3 mile run, then do 20 sets of 5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 body squats, then finish with a 1.5 mile run.  Though, because I missed push ups yesterday the 10 push ups became 20.  It was intense, but felt really good afterwards.  

Push up stats over 11K done!

Value Golfing

I crossed the 10K mark today!  It has taken 45 days to get this far.  Right now pacing 101 push ups ahead of schedule.  At this point it has just become part of my daily routine to the point that I don't think about it, I just do it.  I am sure there have been changes in my physiology but I think with the pace and gradual nature of this routine I am not seeing dramatic effects.  Anyway, still have my eye on the Spartan race in November and ensuring I can handle the upper body strength obstacles.  I do test myself at the playground with the boys, but not being in proper gear and not being prepared to grunt out my movements I am not sure I am getting a good reading.  Though I do handle the see-saw pretty well.

One a separate note I went golfing last week at Chaska.  My dollars per stroke was exceptional!  The front 9 I shot a 74, clearly a little rusty, but back 9 was much better shooting a 54.   128, ouch.  But, if you take my fees of $32 and divide it by my total strokes of 128 my cost was $.25 per stroke.  I can say I am not sure that many people are getting much more value that I do.  In any regard, it was a perfect day to be out golfing and the master himself, Duc Correa taught me a thing or two about ensuring having a good follow through.

Lastly, I am starting to transition my training to prepare for the half marathon for the Fox Cities Marathon. This passed Saturday I pushed a 7.7 mile run, which is the longest run I have ever done at one time.  My average pacing was around the 9:30 per mile.  Rested yesterday and today I pulled off a 6.5 mile run (9:10/mile).  I'll need to confer with an expert in marathoning that I know (Angela Bilbrey) regarding a training strategy. Right now I would say I could probably get to 9 or 10 miles if I pushed it, but will need to keep training to get to the magical 13.1 level.  I still would rather put a 0.0 sticker on my car just to be ironic!  Interestingly after my run on Saturday and today my weight was down to 225.5 lbs.  I have not been that low in 6 years and puts me 30 pounds down since my ACL repair.

Awesome video leading up the US Men's National Team game tomorrow against Belgium:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaTmXuQr0LA

A few stats on my push up routine:

So far the majority of my push ups have been completed at the Y, 25%.  A combination of at home and at the Y round out the rest. 

Here is an update on my overall progress:

Just shy of 20%.  52K all the way!

Go Plank Yourself!

Well the ankle is starting to return to a normal color and size.  Tough week having to alter my workout, no basketball, or running.  Also, I missed boot camp last week and it looked like a fun one doing many different routines plus running up and down the parking ramp.  Hopefully they will come back to that one sometime this summer.  On the plus side I did a lot of planking (good overview of planks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvxNkmjdhMM), push ups, and pull ups last week.  Thinking a head to the Spartan Race in Nov. my biggest concern are the monkey bar type of obstacles.  I am thinking I need to up the amount of pull ups I am doing to help get me through those obstacles.  But, before that, I need to get my ankle better and train for the half marathon in Sept.  Thinking I might be able to go for a longer run this coming week.

One thing I have started to notice is that the push ups are becoming easier and easier.  What I am going to try and focus on is how many continuous push ups I can do.  Last week I set the base line for myself at 56 at one time without stopping.  My goal is to try and get to 100 consecutive.  By the time I get done with these I would like to get to 200 consecutive.

On a separate note, maybe not a motivational video, but very well done by John Oliver.  Especially during the world cup:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlJEt2KU33I

Push up update 17.25% done 9,101 push ups completed!

I Believe That We Will Win!

Well, the good news from last week is that I had 101 bonus push ups completed due to getting a head during the week and then cranking out a bunch more in outdoor boot camp.  By the way, something very fun to do, outdoor boot camp.  We did this routine with a deck of cards.  Each suit represented a different exercise and then you had to do the corresponding amount of reps as the value of the card.  Every five cards you sprint a certain distance and then do another five cards until you complete the deck.   That was a nice little routine.

The bad news is street ball did not go as planned.  Day one went well with going 2-0. Though, in the second game we were blowing the team out 14-4 and I jump up to catch a pass and a guy on the other team under cut me.  When I landed my left foot somehow was stuck in the ground and I severely sprained my ankle.  I iced it all night and wrapped it, but I couldn't get any lift on my shots and was basically playing one legged on Sunday.  The frustrating part is we had the team to win it all this year.  Same thing happened 3 years ago when I blew out my ACL.  None-the-less I will be back next year.  Not smart enough to give up.  Going to win that damn tournament!

Here is my award for my efforts this year in street ball:

Next up on the agenda for summer achievements is the Fox Cities Half Marathon.  I am hoping at some point this week I will be able to get back to running as I would like to do the long distance runs on Saturdays to get ready for the half.

US Men's National Team has put out some great promo videos.  Here is another one prior to the win over Ghana today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DGByZjKkSI

Pacing a head on push ups!  Over 15% done already!!

Fight or Flight

30 days in, 13.46% of the way through, and 7,000 push ups completed.  Only 45,000 to go!  Actually, I am surprised at how fast the last 30 days have gone since I started this endeavor.  While there is still a long way to go, I feel I have made a pretty good dent in the amount, well, at least the bar chart has some noticeable difference as seen below.  I still get asked from time to time how its going and if I am sticking with it, so its nice to see that some people are thinking about it.  My hope is it will help inspire others to do some thing that seems a bit crazy or far out.  Last week I read "Spartan Up!" by Joel De Sena the founder of the Spartan Race.  I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the book but it actually was pretty solid.  Essentially the book is about inner drive and motivation.  Joe discusses examples from his past as well as from others how they overcame different challenges in their lives, especially at points when it would be much easier to give up.  He gives a good perspective on food and diet, though I will admit I have a ways to go when it comes to food and self control.  But, I aspire to do and be better when it comes to that area, baby steps I guess.  Ultimately he talks about how we as humans usually tend to give up or give in too soon as that is how we are wired with the fight or flight mentality.  When in wrestling I always thought of it as the, "its easier to lose than it is to win" mentality.  Basically said, its easier to give in to another's will than it is to impose yours.  At least that is in sports, in a relationship or at work its easier to jump to conclusions or let ones emotions get in the way than staying even keel and reasoning through the situation.  All stuff that takes a lot of mental determination and discipline to work through.

This up coming weekend I have one of my main nemesis sporting evens coming up, Neenah Street Ball (https://www.streetball3on3.org/Default.aspx).  This will be my 8th year competing with last year being my team's best finish losing in the semi-finals.  All the years I have played the couch potato division and still struggle to win.  I think that is what fuels me on even more to win.  And win I will, this is the year!  My vision for winning is taking the winning bracket with the Richmond St. Pub team being victorious, and having it hung up at my Dad's bar.  This will be the year to do it.  I have a good team, we've been playing basketball 3 days a week all year.  We are ready!  Not to mention, if this little guy can bounce his face off of playground equipment, receive three stitches in the lip, and the next day be flailing himself around the house with reckless abandon, then I can Spartan Up and handle some basketball!

Interesting video of the week in honor of the up coming World Cup:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy1rumvo9xc

Australia's obesity problem worst in world: Report

First full week back was interesting.  Was like I was off for a month!  Felt good though.  The biggest challenge last week was the pull ups for the Murph.  It was the first time in two weeks I completed that routine and I could feel every back muscle sore, but at least it was a good sore.  We'll see how I go tomorrow for this week's Murph.

Traveling this week so I'll need to do a bunch of hotel workouts along with keeping up with push ups.  I found some good work outs on YouTube from Fitness Blender (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lvKyuhdAT0) this one happens to be a 1,000 calorie workout.  Good stuff as it gives you a type of boot camp you can do on the road or at home if you can't get to the gym, and its free!  As I have told my wife, one of my fitness goals is to avoid being the fat guy in b roll or stock footage for news reports.  For example, this article: http://www.cnbc.com/id/101708894

Anyway, making consistent process and still on track for 52K!

"Make Your Bed"

Finally, back in action today.  Had a 10 day layoff after my procedure which helped get my knee and shoulder feeling better but was really tough to take it easy.  Today my plan was to run to 4 different parks do 50 push ups at each park and complete about 4 miles of running.  First park was Peabody, wrapped out 50 there started on my way to Jaycee park but almost half way there number 2 started calling.  I figured no worries, I'll get to Jaycee and take care of business.  Get there and the bathrooms were still locked.  A slight amount of panic sets in as I had over half the run yet to go.  So completed my push ups and ran to Jones park.  By the time I arrived there I was almost prairie dogging it.  I get there and see a light on in the bathroom so I figured I was in good shape.  As I turned around the corner there was some guy sitting there smoking a cigarette with a laptop open telling me that the doors are not open yet.  I did not believe him so I went an pulled on the door, sure enough he was right, locked.  I got a glimpse of his laptop and there was a nice old picture of some lady bottom parts.  Nice to see our city parks being used for nefarious activities.  Anyway, I high tailed it out of there and ran right home with much motivation.  I wish I would have timed my miles as I am sure my run home was at least 7:30 miles.  So, I finished the last 100 push ups at home. Aside from the mud turtle it felt good to be back in the saddle.

Additionally, I have decided to give marathon running a shot this summer starting with a half marathon at the Fox Cities Marathon.  So, this summer will be exciting, Neenah Street Ball, Fox Cities Half Marathon, and the Spartan Sprint at Miller Park!  Can't wait to tackle all these.

5K down, 47K to go.

Here is some good inspiration to realize this stuff is all relative to what real effort and discomfort is:

http://navyseals.com/4234/university-texas-austin-2014-commencement-address-admiral-william-h-mcraven/

"Come on Brock, one more!"

Double up week in the books.  Knowing that I was not going to be able to do anything this week I did 2,000 push ups last week.  It was one of those weeks were your body wants to stop but you know you can do more.  Here is what the workout schedule looked like last week:

Monday - 1 hour of basketball, 120 Killer Burpees with push ups, 280 regular push ups

Tuesday - 600 push ups 300 body squats 300 sit ups 2 mile run (Awesome workout!!!)

Wednesday - 1.5 hours of basketball, 200 push ups

Thursday - 3 mile run, TRX, 300 push ups

Friday - Boot camp, 500 push ups

None-the-less I was happy to make it to the end of the week, had the surgery on Friday and have been sitting on my butt ever since. " Though, I am getting antsy and would have loved to get a workout in today, but I need to stay on shut down this week.  Probably for the best as the shoulder and knee were giving me a little issue anyway.  Can't wait to get back at it next week.  

My favorite motivational video about how we can push ourselves further than we think we can:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GYYle0hTUc

Command Some S#%t To Grow!

Three weeks down and still plugging away!  Aside from getting a good view at the floor things have been going pretty well thus far.  Interestingly, today at the Y someone asked me why I do all this stuff.  To put it in context, this gentleman usually only sees me do my Monday workout.  Monday's usually consist of killer burpees in the gym (this but couple it with killers down the basketball court: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc7VDvFD-wM).  So, each Monday he sees me doing these and today he asked me "why I was doing those?" I just said "to see if I can."  He gave me a bit of perplexed look, which I found interesting.  Do we need to do something because it leads to something?  Well, I guess I am still holding out for that Abercrombie gig, but as my wife pointed out I am a bit too old for that, so I said what about Eddie Bauer, and she rightly pointed they don't take their shirts off.  I guess I am back to just doing them to see if I can.

This week will be interesting, I will be having some minor surgery on Friday that will probably limit my ability to complete the required push ups next week.  I have decided to double up this week and try to take of next week as well.  That's 400 a day.  I completed the first of them today and it was interesting to say the least.  Tomorrow is "the Murph" day but I think I am going to modify to focus on completing the push ups.  Thinking of doing a mile run, 200 push ups, a mile run, and 200 push ups, we'll see what's left in the tank after that.

If you need some motivation check this guy out:

CT Fletcher:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc6EePCSuSk

6% done! 52K all the way!!

3.85% Done!

Completed my first 2,000 push ups of this new venture, which puts me at 3.85% of the way done.  Thus far its been manageable to get through them.  I've been able to knock out a few push ups during my scheduled activities at the Y. Mondays I do suicide killer burpees with push ups, that knocks out 120 then complete the remainder during the day. Tuesdays the 200 are completed during my "Murph" (http://themurphchallenge.com/) workout. Wednesday is basketball day so I need to complete them during the day at some point, Thursdays is TRX and last week 45 were completed there 55, right after, and the remainder during the day. Friday was Boot camp day where I finished with 80 and did the rest during the day.  I play basketball on Saturdays so figured I would get some rest last week, but there was a large amount of wood I need to chop up from our oak tree that we had to take down.  That was about 6 hours of slinging a 10 lb sledge hammer.  Some rest on Sunday and back at it today.  

None-the-less, that brings me up to 2,000 thus far.  Sounds like a lot, but its all relative (see chart below). Its funny the comments I have heard the last two weeks while discussing this with different people.  To some it sounds crazy, others not that hard, and others are indifferent.  I guess as I get more into it it'll be interesting to see how things go.  Will there be more comments? Interest?  Indifference?  Regardless I continue to be excited to see if I can finish this off.  52K all the way!

52K All The Way!

My name is Eric Maloney and I have a problem.  I like to identify myself as an athlete, but in wrestling I lost more than I won, in street ball I have been injured more than I won, I have not been the fastest, nor the strongest, or accused of being nimble.  What I have had, and continue to have is a blind get back up and try again, and again, and again attitude.  I chalk it up to being Irish Catholic with a streak of German heritage that fuels my stubborn demeanor, or a lack of intelligence to know better, take your pick. Additionally, you sprinkle in a dash of hair brained ideas and this leads me into my next challenge I have now set for myself, and will not be able to shake until complete (this is why it is good I have never tried meth!).

This is my initial blog posting to chronicle my journey.  For some reason I have decided to see if I can do 52,000 push ups within a years time.  On the surface that may sound like a lot, but if you break it down its really not.  Its 1,000 push ups a week, or 200 push ups a day Monday - Friday.  There are a number of different ways to do push ups.  Recently, The Spartan Race (http://www.spartanrace.com/) had a monthly challenge of 30 push ups for 30 days.  Someone did a video blog each day showing different push ups that can be done.  My goal will be to do your normal elbows in chest to the ground push up 52,000 times in a given year.  Why you may ask?  Because, I want to see if I can do it.  Really no other reason than that. Maybe get a little more buff and have to buy a few new t-shirts, possibly land a gig with Abercrombie, you know, nothing big.  Additionally, I want to try and document my journey at least once a week to see how it goes.  Missing one day or multiple days of push ups will have an accumulating affect that will be very difficult to overcome, so it will take discipline and many days of referring to myself as a "pussy" to get through everything.  I do not doubt that I can do it, it will be a matter of trudging through it when I get board.  After I tore my ACL 3 years ago I was doing 1000 a week but I think after 3 months I decided to do some thing else.  This time I want to document my progress to help ensure that I stick with it.  Additionally, I still plan on doing all my normal workouts just to spice things up!  We'll see how it goes, actually, I already started last week.  Listed below is my journey starting.

Anyone wishing to join me feel free to post your updates and progress!  52K all the way!

Day	Amount	Where Completed	Push Ups to Go	Total Completed
Start			52000
4/22/2014	200	In Office	51800	200
4/23/2014	200	In Office	51600	400
4/24/2014	200	In Office	51400	600
4/25/2014	200	At @ YMCA	51200	800
4/28/2014	200	At @ YMCA/In Office	51000	1000