My wife watched me on May 11th start the 100 pushup challenge and let me know my form was not as good as it should be. Then between continuing hamstring issues and being sick from allergies/asthma this time of year I was not able to continue.

That has changed. Tonight my wife and I started all three challenges together. We are going to support and motivate each other and work our way through all three.

I will not have the Maggie on my back this time around. Once I can pass the pushup challenge I plan to retake it with her on my back. This way I work my way up with a gradual pace.

For the pushup and situp portion for week 1 both AnnMarie and I started on Week 1, column 3. For the squats we both started on Week 1 were AnnMarie did column 2 and I did column 3.

Due to a reoccurring sciatica issue for pushups she performs the wall pushups as described as an alternate method on the site and she chose column 2 over 3 hoping to avoid any complications.

Eric is performing the usual method of each.

Tonight's results for AnnMarie were:
Pushups: 10,12,7, 7, 24
Sit-up: 15, 18, 10, 10, 21
Squats: 8, 8, 5, 5, 9

Tonight's results for Eric were:
Pushups: 10,12,7, 7, 15
Sit-up: 15, 18, 10, 10, 35
Squats: 13, 16, 9, 9, 50

Normally our sessions will be Mon, Wed, Fri with the weekend off to recover. This week is Tue, Thur, Sat because we fell behind last night on all we had to do.

My plan is to update the night of each session as a log for us to keep track and to share with others.

To learn more about each program follow these links:
http://www.hundredpushups.com/
http://www.twohundredsitups.com/
http://www.twohundredsquats.com/

~The Dad

I just got off the phone with my trainer Evan. I had used up all of the sessions I had purchased and have decided not to purchase anymore at this time. I plan on going back now and then for a tune up but for now I'm going to go it alone.

He brought it up the other day which gave me pause for thought. He feels I am ready and I agree. I am anxious but believe it is time to do my own thing.

He made going to the gym fun talking sports, ladies and all around joking between seriously working out. I told him if he ever needs a reference to freely use my name/number. I will give him a glowing report.

~The Dad

When I was losing all the weight I would set crazy hard goals and I hit every one of the. I am very competitive by nature and to compete against not only a goal but myself was a great motivator. I have a new one. I've decided to take up the One Hundred Pushup Challenge
with my own twist on it.

When I took the initial test to assess what level of fitness I was at to find out which work outs to use I qualified for the 4th rank. I hadn't hit my max but I could feel I only had a few left in me. Not enough to put me over the top.

I like to play around with my daughter by having her on my back when I do pushups so I tried to see how I would assess with her on my back. I was solidly in the 2nd rank. I decided that was how I wanted to pursue this.

Tonight I began the challenge with Day 1 in the third column performing the push ups with my daughter on my back. With roughly a minute in between sets I did 15, 10, 12, , 7, 12.

The first two sets Maggie was a too low on my back and I can feel it in my lower back slightly. Thankfully lesson learned early before I did a number on myself.

I am planning on posting every Mon, Wed, Fri to track how I do and my progress. I plan on sticking with column three unless I think it could become an injury and then I would drop to column two. Of course if I can't finish a week I'll just repeat it as the program suggests but my goal is to do the 100 with my daughter on my back.

Why I do this to myself I'll never know but damn is it fun.

~The Dad

Was given the green light today to use the elliptical and stationary bike. I feel mostly good walking around with my only problem with the hamstring being when I have to bend to pick things up or tie a shoe. It doesn't like being taut still.

Did 15 min on the elliptical hardcore, 15 on recumbent stationary bike and 8 and change on stationary bike. The angle the stationary bike works my hamstring started getting sore. Not looking to make it worse exercising like last time so I hopped off and called it a night.

Freshly showered, endorphins pumping, feeling good. After 4-5 weeks of cardio I need to get my crap back in gear again. From now on I will be doing elliptical nightly and lifting 2-3 times a week. With luck the angle my bike has won't be an issue and I can start riding.

It's good to feel like I'm making a difference and not rotting on the sofa. This injury has been a blessing in disguise. I now know if I get stuck sedentary for a month how I would handle it and more importantly how much I would WANT to go back to the gym and how I would feel once I did.

~The Dad

On 17 Feb 09 I posted Documentation 1
, this is an update.

Since the arrest Ferrell has not been able to raise bail and has been incarcerated. He has recently had a motion to lower bail be denied and has been found after psych eval to be fit to participate in his defense.

My wife and I have talked with the lady and her kids a few times since I last posted. Always on good terms. The daughter and youngest boy always perk up and say hello when they see me and I take a few to talk to them when I have time.

Today I was arriving home from an appointment when I saw the youngest boy across the street in my neighbors driveway petting his dog through the gate. The kid is over there often. His mom says he wants a dog but it is not in the cards for them.

I had time so I walked over and asked him if he wanted to we could clear it through his mom and he could play in my backyard with my dogs. Joey (name changed for blogging) ran over and asked his mom and I talked to her.

My wife and I have noticed before she hovers around him and seems nervous he will get her. More so then the other kids. I found out he has hearing problems which explained much.

So with mom's permission Joey age 6, my daughter Maggie age 4 and I went over to my back yard. I closed the gate, got the dogs and my book and went back outside. I set up my chair where his mom could see me from her front porch. The kids and dogs had fun.

Joey was a bit nervous since my dogs outweigh him but he was fine after a while. He and Maggie kept going up and down on her slide. I sat there listening to the unobtrusively. I know from Foster Kids growing up you need to keep an eye on things for both children's safety.

I think Joey is a great kid and don't suspect him of anything. He also has been exposed to a pattern of behavior that is picked up at a young age and kids being kids are known to duplicate what they know. So to keep everyone safe I was right there, reading my book while they played and had fun.

At one point Joey stops, looks at Maggie and matter of factly says,"You know Christopher beat up my mommy. He punched her in the face and she had to get stitches."

I knew this could happen. I also know we are going to take in foster kids and bad things happen in life. I waited to see how this would play out.

I am not going to swaddle my daughter in cotton and hide her from all that is bad. I wont let her see such things or go into detail but it happened and she heard it. This opens up conversation for discussion with her and I later. This can be used as a tool for discussion later.

There was silence from which I inferred she was just looking at him for a second. They where standing directly behind me within a few feet. Then in the same matter of fact voice Joey said he wanted to go back and play on the slide. That was all of it.

I plan on talking to Maggie some tomorrow about it briefly. She is at an age where brief descriptions work best. If she wants more info I'll keep the convo going but I know better then to be long winded so her eyes glaze over and she learned nothing from it.

What bothers is hearing how matter of fact Joey was when he said it. Up there with a kid telling you Dora is their favorite show or Big Bird is silly.

This kid is 6, plays by himself with a scared for his well being mom nervously checking up on him all the time. He talks a bit different due to hearing impairment and has a harsh family situation. From what I've seen there is not much of a positive male influence around.

I'll be inviting him over again. It will be good for all of us.