Earndit Challenge Results and New High Mileage Month

First, an update on the Earndit Challenge that I mentioned in last week's post.  This particular challenge was $5 to get in, and was a challenge to see who could accumulate the most points over 21 days, with a daily cap of 76 points. This required me to either run or walk at least 7.6 miles, or cycle 25.4 miles each day with no rest days, since points don't "carry over" to subsequent days. Since this was also a bit more than I had been doing, it would push me that way as well.

Out of the sixteen people who joined the challenge, there were 6 of us who completed the challenge by gaining the maximum number of points possible. As such, we each got a piece of the pie, so I can now say that I've made money running & cycling. :-)  A whole $12, but it was an interesting challenge, and it really pushed me. I think I got a lot more out of the experience by having to step up my game for three weeks, than anything else. I had already completed an eight day streak of working out prior to the challenge, so this put me at 29 days without a break. By the last day, I was dragging and was certainly glad it didn't continue for any longer.

A nice side benefit to the challenge was that it set me up for the possibility to set a new high-water mark for monthly mileage. My previous record was 157.35 miles (May 2012), but with my run this morning (the last for this month) I managed a new monthly high of... 

167.38 miles !!!

On my personal 100 Days Without Soda challenge, I've completed 37 days as of this writing. I'm definitely settling into the routine and I've pretty much lost the desire for a soda...at least I don't sit around wishing for one. Just about blew it at lunch time though. My son filled his glass to the absolute brim at a restaurant, then needed a lid so he just handed it to me and walked off. I very nearly took a drink off the top to make it manageable, but caught myself at the last instant. That probably wouldn't be called out by some since it is just something parents do, but technically that would have violated the challenge and reset the clock. This may be trickier than I thought.

In my running this last week:

• (072312 - 0412)(79 degrees, S@9(G17), H68, clear) Although a bit warm, the breeze was nice when running into it, and everything just flowed along nicely. The effort didn't really feel tough this morning, and was a pleasant start to the day.

• (072412 - 0410)(77 degrees, S@9(G23), H80, clear) I did this route backwards from the way I have been doing it this morning. The entire run was just very pleasant, and running in the breeze was nice. Felt strong throughout the run, probably due to the extra bit of sleep I got last night, but who knows...sometimes a run just comes together.

• (072712 - 0408)(81 degrees, S@8(G21), H67, clear) After a day off, this was a really nice run. The pace felt easy, yet was a bit quicker than it had been. I enjoyed the challenge I was in on Earndit, but I'm glad it is over. 29 days straight without a day off was wearing me down.

• (072812 - 0551)(79 degrees, S@5(G13), H73, clear) Waited until it was light outside this morning, and got to run as the sun came up. Lots of people outside to greet, and it was nice to run through the nature trail towards the end. Great run, and I had a nice time.

This is what last week looked like...

Day	Activity	Distance (in miles)	Avg. Heart Rate	Max Heart Rate
Sunday	Cycling	26.24	---	---
Monday	Running	8.01	145	167
Tuesday	Running	8.09	146	163
Wednesday	Cycling	26.21	---	---
Thursday	Rest Day	---	---	---
Friday	Running	8.20	150	166
Saturday	Running	8.11	150	167
	Mowing Lawn (Walking)	0.26	---	---

 These are my time and distance totals for last week:

Activity	Time Total	Distance Total (in miles)
Running	4:47:39	32.41
Walking	0:23:38	0.26
Cycling	3:37:12	52.45
--------------	--------------	--------------
Overall Total	8:48:29	85.12

Day	Activity	Sets	Reps	Recovery Interval	Weight
Sunday	Pullups	10	6	2:00	BW
	BB Bench Press	5	10	2:00	90
	Crunches & Knee Raises	2	20	---	---
Monday	BB Squats	4	15-15-15-12	2:00	60-70-80-90
Tuesday	Rest Day	---	---	---	---
Wednesday	Rest Day	---	---	---	---
Thursday	Rest Day	---	---	---	---
Friday	BB Squats	5	15	3:00	50-70-90-80-70
	Crunches & Knee Raises	1	20	---	---
Saturday	Crunches & Knee Raises	2	20	---	---

I took a few days off in the middle of the week to rest....I was just spent after the challenge. In the coming month, we will be revisiting the 400 pushups in a month challenge, so I plan to shift away from the bench pressing and back to pushups for the month. The last time we did this in February, I believe I did 650 total, so we'll see if I can beat that this coming month.


Happy Running Everyone !!!