not quite

A huge storm last night woke me, so I considered having a rain-out of my last attempt at 20 pull-ups.  When my watch alarm sounded at 5:58, I saw the wet sidewalk with no rain falling at present.  I went straight out.  I ran immediately to Dewey Park, and an excellent pull-up bar.  The first 10 pull-ups were strong and I felt great.  About 14, however, I could feel my power wane.  By 16, I rested and the effort to push myself over the bar at 19 sapped the rest of my strength.  I’ll have to try in Tirana.

chin level

Up early, out at 6:50, greeted Peggy when she came to pick up Rhonda.  A fine run.  Perfect chin up bar at Dewey Park.  Perfect except for the fact that it is too low.  I had to keep my knees bent, but not very much.  I did 19 pull-ups; on the 20th, I got my chin even with the bar, but I could not move above.  I think I will reach my goal of 21 pull-ups by Moscow.  Maybe even by the time I leave the States.  My last opprty will be on Thursday morning.  We shall see…

20!

        I was sorting and cleaning the house.  Boys went with me to the storage unit a couple times, sort of helped me, sort of played around.  Their silly-goofiness led me to think they hadn’t been doing much exercise.  

The night before, we had a great time jumping on the trampoline, but we dismantled and stored the tramp after our final jumps.

“You guys want to go for a bike ride?” I asked about 5:30.  Maxim said, “Yes.”  Oskar said, “No.”  Oskar wanted to flip a coin.  

“That’s one way to make a decision, but I know what I want to do.”  Implying that I didn’t want the coin-flip to turn out the wrong way, so we weren’t going to flip.

We the route that we ran the first night.  Down past the fairgrounds and to the little league baseball fields.  All good.  At the play structure the monkey bars were at the exact height, and a fine diameter.  I did 20 pull-ups—the most since college.  Dad said it is because I weigh 30 pounds less.  Not true.  I’ve weighed this weight since high school.

I thought I might break the record for the sprint.  Wouldn’t that be a great book end—break the record on the last attempt?  I didn’t by .21 seconds.

gainer

I didn’t look at the 1/8 mile time until 10 feet past the 1/8-mile marker—that’s what I mean when I wrote 1/8+.  I think it must be the heat that stresses me out; it was 80 today.  I ran the 1/4 mile well.  After a energy-filled partial day at work, I picked up the boys at 2:00.  I’m not working as much because I want to spend more time with them.  We rode home and then I ran.  We ran to the pool, so I did a bit of working out there.  Some swim sprints and longer swims.  A young due was impressed by my gainer.
“When was the first time you did a gainer?”
“About 20 years ago in Newell, Iowa.  The first time I tried, I land flat on my back the next time, flat on my face.  The next time, I got it.  And that was from a high-diving board.”
“How do you do it?”
“Just Do It” is all I could offer.  I told him I expect royalties from Nike. They stole my line—I’d been using it for years when they came out with it.

Bloomington, old home of the Vikings

I drove the neighborhood at Mick and Patty’s until I found an elementary school, or some other place where I could do pull-ups.  I decided that I would do small sets to build up to 21 pull-ups.  It was a good run, without iPod unfortunately.  I had to listen to my own thoughts.   I ran for 1-minute three times during the run.  As you might notice, I added that column to the details table.  I stayed overnight at Mick and Patty’s place; I had a meeting with a professor at Hamline University.

vacation

            A quick run in the morning cool weather after what I am told was a pretty big rain. I ran 10 minutes along the river before doing a bunch of push-ups.  Then I remembered my quest/commitment to pull-ups.  I thought of the play structure going toward Lanesboro, while I was going the other way.  I backtracked and got to the bars.  13, then tried to attract a friendly cat nearby.  Then 11.  Then I ran 6 minutes before doing 11 more pull-ups.  These days I’m a bit tired and unexcited about pull-ups so I’m going to do smaller sets.  Once a week or so, I am going to max out and see how many pull-ups I can do.

            

pull-ups

The biggest part of this run was the pull-ups.  I did 18 again; this time not stopping to rest until after the 14th.  My spirit was trashed after 18.  The bar I found was at the elementary school.  It was of a large diameter so I didn’t get a totally comfortable grip.  Just the thought of 18 pull-ups is daunting.  Then to quit after 18 means that a guy MUST be exhausted.  Think of it.  To be at the position of having done 18 pull-ups!  If your goal is 20, you have just 2 more (obviously).  To get back to that position of having done 18 will take huge effort.  I have to continue with the pull-ups; my body is in a superb place right now.  I must maintain this level.  I wonder what I am going to find in Moscow—WAIT!  I will be in Albania for a couple weeks after I leave the US, and I KNOW there are plenty of pull-up places there.
My goal:  21 pull-ups before I arrive in Moscow.