Day 19: "El nino" is Spanish for "The Nino"

The Email:

Tabata pro it is boss... But running? Get excited. Here's your set up - open the app and set the following 
Prepare 0:10
Work 2:15
Rest 0:45
Cycles 10

I want you to start off on a run and never stop. You are going to jog (silent j) for the work interval (2:15). When your timer goes off to rest I want you to run hard! Almost a sprint but you need to maintain the pace. When timer goes off return back to a "jog". I know you're going to be slower immediately following the sprint but dig deep my man NO WALKING!!! Stay tough for thirty short minutes beast

GS


The Equipment:

New guy is Aaron, he is the driver in the conspiracy. Sitting down, he is hard to size up, but the tattoos will give him away.

I'm glad I was able to pickup a few recruits this week, the exercises were absolutely brutal, and today was no exception. We left the house, the noobs running WAY faster than they should have  to start (like they were running away from someone???) and upon making the first corner, our "sprun" (that's a sprint that is also a run)began and off we went. It was smooth sailing for all of us until the 7th round. During the run phase, I got the biggest cramp in my stomach I've had in forever. when we got to the jog, I wanted so bad to stop, but the two 20-something workout partners with way too much energy and free time made sure I didn't stop. I made it to the last round with the cramp and absolutely had to stop and walk before sprinting the final leg to the house. 

While I've enjoyed my time by myself proving that I could do this challenge, I was overjoyed to see these two show up this morning and even more thankful that they understand what I am trying to do and appreciate pushing me to my limits. I probably would have quit early today given the circumstances. The humidity was there again to make this run that much more difficult. After just 30 minutes, here is my shirt (No bottled water, sprinkler, or precipitation other than my sweat was used in the taking of this picture):

Just 30 minutes!I like to imagine what is on that shirt and what that sweat is comprised of: 2 pints of Chicken chow mein? 8 bowls of Strawberry ice cream? Half a handle of vodka (this one is most likely)? My efforts are being noticed now too. People have told me my face is thinner, I fit back into a size 38 pants (not my goal but a good start), and my chest looks stronger, not as fat and flabby as it did just 3 weeks ago. I feel more confident in my body, I've stopped snoring, and even my allergies seem to affect me less. The list goes on and on...

The one drawback is that I always feel hot. I can't take hot showers, only cold. I sleep with as few blankets as possible and crank the ac up to 11 (why not make 10 colder? Because My AC has an 11!) I'll take that issue all the way to the bank.

Before leaving today, I'd like to thank heart song yoga for adding the blog to their Facebook page! The message is beginning to resonate and each reader we add to this page is one step closer to our goal. Together, let's educate the world! Thank you again.

I'd also like to formally and personally thank my long time friend Geoff for being totally involved with this challenge. I have tried way too many times to start getting back into shape and each time the smallest things throw me off track. Your commitment to this program has helped me to stay on track. Oh, and I'm sorry for running you over with my car back in high school, kinda by accident, mostly on purpose. (Phew, glad that's behind us now.)

Tomorrow is an off day and then its on to the Falmouth road race. After 19 workouts, I feel ready to take this challenge on and kick it in the ass. Corey is off for his final run today too, Cadence has the day off to rest. They were just at Disney to meet the Wiggles, A wish granted to the family through the Make a Wish foundation. Being a non verbal CP child, the Wiggles have always been one of 2 things that would calm her in any situation. I'll get some video and post it next week after the race, because the expression she has when meeting the group is priceless. BTW, I'll be representing CPC with my shirt and skull cap that arrived today! I'm sexy and I know it; I workout! 

Until the next reading, be about it! BOOM.

Day 18: Second verse same as the first!

The lame email with little thought: 

Repeat day 1:

1. I want you to try to get the monkey bars this time 

2. I want you to increase the time to 36 minutes

GS

The email from Day 1 (for those of you , like me, that forgot what that was): 

Set the timer for 30 minutes. You objective is get through as many rounds as you can in the 30 minutes of time.

round 1 is 1 rep of each exercise, Round 2 is 2 reps of every exercise and so on.

This workout will start at the first bench that we used to demonstrate burpees off of.

1 side to the other monkey bars (NOT RINGS but bar)

Pushups

Burpee

Box jump (onto bench)

Run end of your walkway where it meets the sidewalk.

Rest when needed and send me how far you get. 


The Equipment:

Hey everyone, Meet Francis: 

Francis works with me at the restaurant and has been wanting to join the PG challenge. Today he made the 7 am meet time. Notice how Francis is wearing gloves. You're one smart kid Francis.

So Adding the Monkey bars throughout killed me! I forgot how tedious it was to push through, it.We started off well, kicking out the first 3 rounds without much fatigue. I did change the box jumps to high steps because my calf is still showing signs of being tweaked a bit. My favorite part of today was knowing that Francis was struggling something fierce, telling me later that the urge to blow chunks was there for a good part of the back half of our workout. We also caught some cool awkward glances from the construction workers in the parking lot, though being town workers, I'm sure they were quickly distracted by their union break on the horizon. 

We finished 9 rounds, 1 more than the first go around. I take it as a win, because even though we added 6 minutes to the overall time, I completed more monkey bar reps than last time and killed the pushups and Burpees section. The fatigue came from the run and step ups. 

This is Francis on the final run:

You did it Francis! Good job! You get a gold star.

So here is the rest of the week for me:

Tomorrow- day off 
Friday- workout
Saturday- day off
Sunday- 7+ mile Falmouth Road Race
Monday- Memorial services for me

Oh yeah, Francis doesn't know it yet, but he is also the designated fall guy in the event a child from the area goes missing, so remember his mug shot. Memorize it. Height, weight, facial features, etc. 

This will make a good mugshot:

BOOM! Here comes the story of the Hurricane. The man the authorities came to blame.

Day 17: Tomato, Tabata

The email:

The assignment:  (edited slightly bc you're broken)

The twist - There is no break until you're done.

The exercises are going to be matched up so that you'll do 20 seconds of #1, break for 10 seconds, 20 sec of #2, break 10, 20 sec #1... you get it

#1 - Jumping jacks (or wall sit)

#2 - Swing pushups

#3 - Burpees (one leg if needed)

#4 - Crab walk

#5 - Hanging leg raise

#6 - Bench step ups (jumps if the calf will take it)

Toughest combo is going to be the end due to fatigue + you will have to spend some of your "rest" going between the two stations. Great news is that just 24 minutes you will be completely done with this one. 

~GS

The Equipment:

 

Now I know why they have ice pools in locker rooms at high performance areas. 2 ten minute rounds of icy water on the leg, a review of the Chinese alphabet with my toe (this should be funny because there is no true alphabet in China, rather a series of characters that represent words and sounds. See, the original Chinese alphabet was a girl, so China shipped it over here to America where it developed into combination dinners and long tables of food where people could take as much as they like, later called the Buffet) a couple of Motrin, and maybe a small glass of Vodka, and I was out like a light. I woke this morning feeling much better, still sore, but far more manageable than yesterday.

Before leaving the house, I made sure I stretched real good:

Leaving the house, I drew my focus on my calf, wanting to push myself as far as I could go with the understanding that I had a very tight rubber band inside me that could snap again at any moment. I made sure I was on the mulch for the jumping jacks and Burpeed with 2 legs for 3 sets then switched to the one leg approach. I crab walked around the playground, only stopping to reassure my janitor friend that it was an exercise to get me in shape, not a decoy practice used in luring kids to the grounds in the early morning.

I finished exhausted again, and nearly defeated, but my calf held up and though sore, it will better. And hopefully in time for this Sunday's run. To make sure, I plan to eat a big fruit and plenty of vegetables:

 

Clearly, he is about it (It's like a sick, twisted, and vegetarian version of American Beauty right there)

 BOOM! (I think I might have just thrown up a little in my mouth)

Day 16: Pop goes the Weasel

The Email: CM,

We got a nice little run workout for the AM. I want to to start off by jogging a mile away from the house. Please do the rest of the worlds mile distance and not your own... 

Yesterday you declared the "belly crawl" was over a mile. Total distance you crawled was 550 yards or 1,650 feet. 1 mile is 5,280 feet so captain dramatic it was .31 miles. Still proud of you but just saying. 

Once you complete the warm up choose two telephone poles to sprint between. Do 1 sprint between the two poles and rest 20 seconds. Repeat sprint in the opposite direction then rest 30 seconds. Add 10 seconds after each sprint until we hit 10 total sprints then jog home. 

BOOM

The Equipment:

Yes that is a 5 gallon bucket of ice in the equipment area. Yes, its Monday. Yes...I hurt myself. 

Is it me or are Monday's this crappy for everyone? Maybe we should just eradicate them altogether. Quick run, couple of sprints, and quick run back. 

Since our baby was born, I have elected (voluntarily I might add) to sleep on the couch. The thought was to allow me to get a full night's rest while the cradle was in our room, and allow my wife to get as much sleep as possible without me snoring in her ear. Well, after only 2 weeks on this program, I'm snore free and back to helping out when applicable. Needless to say, I was unprepared last night for a 2:30 am feeding and 5 am feeding and got off to a late start this morning, pushing my workout to this evening. 

I left the house ready, M&M on Pandora, hating on the world. Somehow, a comedy skit about having sex with a minor and not using a condom broke in (no pun intended) about 1/2 mile in; not really sure who it was either. It distracted me enough that I ran past my predetermined "its cool, your under 10 minutes for this mile, why don't you walk a bit" spot and I made the first mile in 9:50; almost 30 seconds faster than my best. The mile marker was a perfect spot too. Huge sidewalk in front of a warehouse closed for the night. I stopped my jog (Silent J), did a last minute stretch, and hit my first sprint hard. It felt good. I rested the 4 minutes Sully suggested (just kidding Sul, it was a walk to the last pole, turn and sprint) And was back on it. Half way between poles on this sprint, I felt a strong "POP" and the sensation you get from being shot by a pellet gun (yes, having the friends I did as a child, I know what that feels like) Rang through my right calf, hitting me with such force, I nearly lost my balance and fell to the ground. My first though was of the runner CPC posted about a few days ago, and a quick fear that I really hurt myself ran through me (probably at a faster pace than my sprints were!) I quickly called Geoff and was told to go home, Ice bath the leg and take some motrin.

Now, healing and recovery are all covered at CPC pretty well, but explanations may need to be worked on for future virtual subscribers; For example, here is a string of texts to consider:

CM: Ice bath, Check. 2 Motrin, check

GS: When ice bath is over do passive range of motion... alphabet with your toe.

CM: Do I need the ice anymore?

GS: Yes. Again in 1 hour.

CM: Ok. Wait, Uppercase letters or lowercase?

GS: 1 of each now you *explicit*

CM: lowercase hurts more, if that helps with your analysis

As you can see, there is a difference in writing the alphabet with your toes. I didn't even bother to suggest cursive! So my night is now being spent soaking in my makeshift ice bath, scribbling the writing of Plato with my toe, like Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot:

(its an old photo, taken before my recent Pedi)

Oh, and I met the werewolf from the other night again:

Turns out it was a Puggle, with big fangs, like a werewolf Puggle, or a werepulggle. I hear they grow 6 feet tall when approached by strangers after dark.

Tomorrow's workout should be interesting considering today's circumstances. I'll be sure to report earlier than these last few posts, as my schedule should be back to normal.

Till then, BOOM!

Day 15: Operation Awesomeness

The Email:I know you can not prevent getting sick but just so we're clear these two workouts were not intended to be back to back... There was going to be a nice recovery run in between. Not that you or anyone else cares and you're going to assume I'm just a sadistic SOB that I am....so whatever, Our friendship will be fine.

 

Go to the football field (which I understand isn't lined). Drop your water bottle at what would be the goal line and begin taking large, not exaggerated, steps and drop a cone every 12 steps that you take. Drop10 total cones and you will have now constructed your field for today.

 

The workout:

Start on your stomach and army crawl (use of arms only! lower limbs including one hip must remain in contact with the grass at all times. You may help push off with your knee but no crawling) to the first cone. once there 10 pushups, 10 air squats pick up the cone and sprint back to water bottle.

Hit the deck and repeat to the second cone. 9 pushups, 9 air squats pick up the cone and sprint to the water bottle.

End once you can descended down that ladder to the final cone and 1 rep of each.

 

Kill it!. I mean... don't come back until you're dead! 

~Sully

The Equipment:

Before I begin, I must warn you that this story is not for the feint at heart. It is a tale of heroism, sacrifice, and a story about crawling around on your belly. It is a rescue mission of sorts. I am Captain Christopher Mark of the Imaginary black hawks, An elite infantry unit deployed on this particular evening to rescue 10 hostages from the grasslands of Cranston. The twist to this story was that the grasslands in Cranston are unlike any place our unit had be deployed before.  It is filled with in ground sprinkler heads, always eager to spit its venom in your direction. The locals are always curious into your every move, often needing a moment of flamboyancy to misdirect before resuming their daily activities, most often consisting of walking while staring, a strange phenomenon known only to this area. On this particular night, my first objective was to deploy my home base within the targeted "End zone". My intel suggested that our hostages were staged in the grasslands, held in captivity in equidistant zones and would need to be extracted in waves, one at a time.

My first extraction, I belly crawled up to the holding facility. Strangely I came to an apparatus that needed push ups and squats to open, Which I did in quick succession before finding hostage 1 and sprinting back to the LZ for extraction. quickly back to my belly, I crawled to the second holding facility where I found a similar lock to the first, but requiring one less of each to open. This continued throughout my mission at each holding facility. Now the details of the hostages and their reason for captivity are still highly classified but I will tell you that they were all beautiful women and all shared a first name, Barbie. Must have been a sick maniac hard up to capture all the barbies out there. 

Mid mission, I was diverted away from my objective when a local approached me, looking to interrogate me and my intent. Using mind control tactics, I began to reminisce about the Vietnam war and how the next apocalypse was quickly approaching. I then explained to the woman that my "game" was simple training for the upcoming invasion. The mind tactics worked as the local quickly ended her interrogation and let me on my way. After rescuing 7 of the 10 hostages, I was discovered by the enemy and attacked. Their weapons were no match for me and I made quick work of them:

In total, I rescued all 10 maidens and returned them to safety. I did it in 52 minutes, most impressive given that each belly crawl was more than a mile. 

The After Story: In hindsight, this could not have been a better workout for me yesterday. after some last minute babysitter availability, Kerri and I had an opportunity to be kid-less (we did have the baby, but she still only eats, poops and sleeps, so she is still cool to keep around) and took full advantage of it. This meant another evening workout. I spent the day with this workout in my mind, trying to find a way to make the ridiculous over the top so that any possible embarrassment would be transformed into hysterics. I instantly went into Black Hawk Down mode, thinking of every possible item I had at home to make this as real as possible. Having 3 girls, there are an abundance of barbie dolls strewn about the house, making my pickup items easy to identify. packing my water and my dolls, I then shot out to reenact my version of Saving Private Ryan, Saving Barbie's privates. The old staring lady was there again, and I was happy to oblige again, randomly pretending to throw hand grenades and taking cover, even fireman carrying the dolls as if they were live people during the return sprints. The one woman brave enough to approach me to ask what I was doing might have been better off not asking. In my explanation to her, I may have channeled some Uncle Si from duck dynasty (A man I aspire to be when I grow old. Mostly because he is bat shit crazy!!) Here is how the conversation MAY have gone (this is the best clip I could find on Si explaining Vietnam):

All in all a good day. I laughed all night and even spent most of Sunday morning early laughing about what happened. Its one for the books...

Day 14:leapfrog is a solitare game?

The Email revisited:

Set you timer to 5 minutes:

Complete the following exercises as fast as possible (AFAP).

The faster you finish the more rest you get.... 8 rounds total.

8 pushups

8 bench jumps

8 hanging leg raises

8 Burpees

8 walking lunges (each leg)

8 frog jumps

Sprint to the front door and back to the bench at park

FYI- be ready for an ice bath and a full day of smelling like icy-hot

~Sully

The Equipment:  

So I must have been much sicker than I originally thought. I for sure thought this was going to be hell to accomplish, but how did I miss the jumping around like a frog?!?!? I headed out and did the exercises as quickly as possible to not attract any attention, making sure I dressed the part, a camouflage of sorts:

 

I also still wasn't 100% from earlier this week, so my 5 minutes may have been a minute or two longer... I wanted to finish as many as possible though and sweat through it to get this accomplished. Of all the exercises, the Burpees are absolutely KILLING me. My Abs (I think there are more than one in there) hurt every day, though today the walking lunges had me looking like I was mocking people taking a sobriety test, falling on several occasions and leaving me slurring my speech. It made the conversation with myself quite mundane; I hate when people can't form complete sentences. 

Now I'm exhausted again, in that over accomplished and a gooey kind of way... and watch out for me tonight! I have a full shift at the restaurant and feel like I'm walking around today looking like this:

Thanks for this Sully! Its all good and you know why???

See you all tomorrow.

The Prince of the Tidy Bowl

The Email:

Shirt got mailed today,

Set you timer to 5 minutes:

Complete the following exercises as fast as possible (AFAP).

The faster you finish the more rest you get.... 8 rounds total.

8 pushups

8 bench jumps

8 hanging leg raises

8 Burpees

8 walking lunges (each leg)

8 frog jumps

Sprint to the front door and back to the bench at park

FYI- be ready for an ice bath and a full day of smelling like icy-hot

~Sully

The Equipment I should have been using this morning: 

 

 

The Equipment I used instead:

So as you can imagine, I caught a stomach bug. Today's workout wasn't happening as I can't even sneeze without a concern something my be removed from my insides. This is how I felt waking up this morning.

So today is a day full of Lipton soup, electrolyte filled beverages and plenty of two ply. I am anxious to get back into today's challenge day, I'm liking the feeling of numbness and sore muscles each day. It's like the feeling I used to have back in high school, knowing we just played a soccer game, or spent 8 hours playing street hockey. I'm also excited because my soccer team is starting back up next month, and I feel like I've been able to get into a position where I can be out on the field and contribute instead of being stuck in goal (I am a superstar in net, though it gets boring from time to time.)

So tomorrow, we will be back and ready to take on the challenge, but until then I'll be stocked up on plenty of this:

BOOM!