Michael & Liz are Bloggable

Well, "Go Till Failure" Month has come to an end. It was certainly a success but I'm a little disappointed in my effort. I'll reveal the numbers and then my opinion because that's probably the order people would care to read it. I did set records on the last day, so that's awesome:

	Push-ups	Plank
02/01	25
02/02	30	:54
02/03	33	:55
02/04	33	1:09
02/05	35	1:11
02/06	32	1:17
02/07	37	1:20
02/08	35	1:11
02/09	37	1:24
02/10	34	1:27
02/11	12	1:42
02/12	43	1:19
02/13	45	1:26
02/14	42	1:24
02/15	44	1:35
02/16	45	1:52
02/17	35	1:30
02/18	35
02/19
02/20	45	1:41
02/21	42	1:23
02/22
02/23	40
02/24	47	2:02
02/25		1:42
02/26
02/27	46	1:09
02/28	50	2:11
Totals:	902	31:44
Avgs.	38	1:27

So it was definitely a success going from 25 push-ups to 50 and then more than doubling my plank. But I'm disappointed that I didn't stick to the month and do both activities every day. There were some days where I didn't realize I forgot until I was already about to fall asleep. I just wish I made it more of a priority and really succeeded in doing it EVERY day.

I had a conversation with John at the beginning of the month and he made a good point, that the month was more about mental will than physical strength. It made me think, sure I did 25 push-ups to start, but was that really all I could do? Did I really give it my "all"? I think I've gotten more mentally tough than physically as the month has progressed. I think that's really what the plank is all about.

You think you can't do it, but you can. It's not necessary fail month as much as it is quit month. You can always go one more second or one more push-up.

So while February is over, I think I'll continue trying to increase my limits with both push-ups and plank. Maybe I'll post an update at the end of March.

Last weekend I finished expanding the attic. This was 1 job out of 4 I had to do for my New Years Resolution #2. That was confusing, just click the link if you care. The work doesn't actually look like it was that big of a deal, but it was much harder than meets the eye. Plus the attic fluctuates between cold and hot so quickly, you never know what you're going to get when you open that hatch. Last weekend I was dripping with sweat due to the heat. All in all, I ended up adding about 40 square feet of space. That about doubles the room we had before.

We actually don't even have a lot of crap to put up there, right now it's just Christmas decorations. It was just becoming unmanageable to keep that stuff up there without infringing on the space for our heater. I feel like there should be a nice big bubble of free space around it, so the need for expansion was necessary.

It has been a series of ups and downs lately with Fail Month. Today I ran 3.5 miles in the morning with Liz, spent all day in the attic putting in more floorboards, and then ran a super fast 5 miles in the evening. So I was exhausted and I think my numbers show it. I also forgot to do the challenge on Saturday so I missed one day. But I think I've made a lot of good progress.

	Push-ups	Plank
02/01	25
02/02	30	:54
02/03	33	:55
02/04	33	1:09
02/05	35	1:11
02/06	32	1:17
02/07	37	1:20
02/08	35	1:11
02/09	37	1:24
02/10	34	1:27
02/11	12	1:42
02/12	43	1:19
02/13	45	1:26
02/14	42	1:24
02/15	44	1:35
02/16	45	1:52
02/17	35	1:30
02/18	35
02/19
02/20	45	1:41
02/21	42	1:23

I think my goal of hitting 3 minutes for the plank is starting to fade. I only have a week left. I still think I can get to 50 push-ups though.

I have really enjoyed this daily challenge and I might continue it into March too. What has stunk is when it gets to be 10PM and I'm getting in bed and realize that I forgot to do my push-ups and plank for the day. It has happened two or three times, and I've ended up just doing it on the floor of our bedroom. If I do continue into March, I probably will just ignore doing it those nights.

I read this article today that highlighted protests students held regarding the high price of tuition at their college. Check it out. It got me thinking.  

Last year, Liz and I were talking and discussing donating a certain amount of money to charity. She mentioned Virginia Tech as an option, and my initial reaction was to nix it completely. It brought to the forefront an opinion I've held for a long time. Is there any less worthy cause to donate to than a college?!

Maybe a political party? You might as well shred your money in that case. You're not changing the world, you're not starting a movement, buy a bike instead.

But back to colleges, where to start?

• Who is less fortunate than a 20 year old in college? Absolutely no one. 20 year old's who are succeeding in life are in college. They neither need your money to be there nor will they leave if you don't give it.
  
• Let's say you don't donate and they didn't get that biggity scholarship they were hoping for. They are going to borrow the money anyway, after all, it's the American way. Who is more prepared to pay off that debt than a very fortunate 24 year old college graduate? Your money that goes towards that scholarship doesn't benefit them now (although who's to say it doesn't go towards beer). It benefits them in 4 years when they are equipped with a salary that can pay it off anyway.
  
• You are not benefiting the football team. They are doing just fine without your donation. A good football team doesn't attract the best and the brightest. I'd actually argue it attracts the exact opposite students.
  
• When was the last time colleges charged a reasonable amount for a student to go to school? Virginia Tech is now up to $10K per in-state student and $23K per out-of-state student. You know what it costs for a Vet Student after they are done with their undergraduate degree? $160K. They've got a pretty good cash-cow working for them already.
  
• I guess this portion of my argument is partly why I think voting is worthless, but unless you are a millionaire, whatever you give is a drop in the bucket and probably doesn't matter anyway. Believe me, $500 is a lot more important to you and other charities, than it is to that college. 

Alright, so those are the reasons why donating to a college is worthless, but let's flip the coin. Do you honestly think it's the best use of your money? There are county SPCA's that are killing their dogs because they can't afford the food. That pales in comparison to the situation at Sayulita Animals, the rescue shelter we visited in Mexico.

Every Christmas, Liz and I create boxes for Operation Christmas Child. Kids in Africa are given shoe boxes full of gifts. Let's say no to those children in order to send an already fortunate teenage to a college so they can make millions once they are done.

I'm being harsh, but I'm being real. When it comes down to it, there's almost no comparison between causes. Colleges just aren't the logical choice when it comes to donating money.

A little progress and little regression:

	Push-ups	Plank
02/01	25
02/02	30	:54
02/03	33	:55
02/04	33	1:09
02/05	35	1:11
02/06	32	1:17
02/07	37	1:20
02/08	35	1:11
02/09	37	1:24
02/10	34	1:27
02/11	12	1:42

Last night I started to do push-ups and I had a pain in my elbow and stopped. It happens sometimes so I'm not too terribly concerned about it. Maybe a day off from push-ups will be a good thing. I'm still wondering if I'm going to be able to get to 50 push-ups by the end of the month, that might be too lofty of a goal.

I'm feeling more confident about my plank. During this past 1:42 I told myself, "myself, you can do this longer than 1:27! Just keep going", and I did. But then when I was done, I thought "oh I can do better than that!" So I think getting to 3 minutes by the end of the month is manageable.

I really should count the number of hours I must have wasted watching these shows this month, and then seen how much better at woodworking or running I would be if I spent an equal amount of time at that. Although it seems like no matter how busy life gets or how many extra tasks I take on outside of work, the one thing I am not willing to give up is a little relaxation time.

The sheer quantity probably makes us look really bad, but Liz doesn't watch all this with me. For example, she watched hardly any of the Man v. Food episodes. Those are 20 minutes each. I always have exactly 30 minutes during lunch when I come home so I can watch 1.5 episodes at that time. Plus with the adoption of "Instant Streaming", we no longer have to get all these movies shipped. Only 7 of the items below were watched on DVD. 

So anyway, here are the movies and shows for January, it was a month full of awesome movies:

• The Invention of Lying (2009) - 3 stars - Saw this the first time while donating platelets, second time at home. It's cute, but predictable. I like Ricky Gervais, he's funny.
• Date Night (2010) - 4 stars -What could go wrong? It's Steve Carrell and Tina Fay! Actually, these kind of movies stress me out. Being so cheap, I naturally end up starting to count up the amount of money it would cost for them to get out of the situation they are in. It seems to always work out in the end.
• Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) - 3 stars - Allow for the ridiculous to be funny, and it's pretty funny. Although I still hate John Cusack.
• Iron Man 2 (2010) - 5 stars - I will never get tired of Ironman, I am loving this series.
• It's Complicated (2009) - 4 stars - Much funnier than I expected. Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin are hilarious. It's also hilarious how crapped on Steve Martin gets. But the star of this movie is John Krasinski (Jim from The Office). That dude has got to be in more movies, he's so funny.
• Green Zone (2009) - 4 stars - It has Matt Damon.
• The Karate Kid (2010) - 4 stars - OK, They pretty much copied the entire plot from the first Karate Kid, which is fine. But they left out one of the most important parts. Ask me what it is and you'll get me going.
• Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire (2009) - 3 stars - This movie was a downer. I gave it 3 stars because the acting was phenomenal. But it's too depressing to say it was great or wonderful.
• Man v. Food - Season 1 (2008) - 5 stars - I can't believe the things that this guy stuffs down his throat. I'm jealous because he gets to try many many awesome foods. But he has got to be doing damage to his body.
• The Bounty Hunter (2010) - 3 stars - I watched this because a critic ranked it the worst movie of the year. I can see why an arrogant critic might do that, but what did you expect? You need to suspend reality when it comes to romantic comedies.
• Man v. Food - Season 2 (2009) - 5 stars - I tried that little "Backyard BBQ" place in Durham, and it was nasty. The BBQ just wasn't up to snuff, and yet here comes Adam Richman who highlights the place in his Durham episode. Who does this guy's research?
• Dhani Tackles the Globe - Season 1 (2009) - 5 stars - Dhani Jones is a breath of fresh air when it comes to athletes and reality shows (you know who I'm referring to). He's smart, articulate, well-mannered, respectful... I could go on and on. But beyond that, he's a phenomenal athlete who can compete in any sport against anyone. He went to Iceland and got 3rd in their local strongman competition. Who does that?!? He does a fantastic job on the show. I'm also very jealous of his job, because who doesn't want to travel the globe?
• Brothers (2009) - 4 stars -Tobey and Jake actually do look like brothers. The acting in this movie is incredible. Highly recommend it. Come to think of it, I bet it's pretty realistic too.
• Man v. Food - Season 3 (2010) - 5 stars - Puerto Rico has got to be the most disgusting challenge I've ever seen. No human should be able to finish that plate, only pumas.
• The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009) - 2 stars - I watched it because Will Ferrell was in it. His part was small.
• The Office Special (2001) - 3 stars -Ricky Gervais is funny, fortunately the American version is better.
• Beyond the Movie: Return of the King (2003) - 3 stars - I just wanted to see more of New Zealand and hobbits.
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) - 1 star - Awful. There's only one Star Trek movie that has ever come out that doesn't require you to have previous knowledge, and that's the latest one that came out 2 years ago.
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) - 3 stars - They were skilled and daring, but legends shouldn't die at the end of movies.
• Shutter Island (2010) - 4 stars -Great movie. It's more intense and suspenseful than scary. As Justin put it, there are no cheap scares. I highly recommend this movie.
• Dhani Tackles the Globe - Season 2 (2010) - 5 stars - Dhani Rocks! (we still have 2 episodes left, so I thought I'd just include it in January.

In my previous post, I created the challenge of every single day, just once a day, doing push-ups and the plank until I couldn't do them anymore. Sounds like I got Jake, John and Justin to join me in the challenge which is awesome. John dubbed it "Fail Month", which I like, so I commandeered it. It's also nice to find any practical way to use the term "commandeer".

Here are my numbers so far:

	Push-ups	Plank
02/01	25
02/02	30	:54
02/03	33	:55
02/04	33	1:09
02/05	35	1:11
02/06	32	1:17

I'm the kind of person that can't stand not making progress. So today I wasn't happy when I reached 32 and couldn't push up off the ground after that. I'm probably just tired from the every day challenge, but it would be nice to see a steady incline of numbers.

I am thrilled with my planks so far. Today it wasn't very difficult at all until after a minute. I remember on the first day I was shaking like crazy from the start. Now it's not so bad.

I still don't think Mike's prediction of being able to do 100 push-ups is going to happen. I'd love to just hit 50 once. That's about as high as my expectations will go.

Two things I have never been very good at is push-ups and the plank. Even at my fittest, which would probably be junior and senior year in high school during soccer and basketball season, I could really only ever do about 30 or 35 push-ups without stopping. It wasn't until recently that I had ever even tried the plank. I thought 30 seconds is about all I could do.

I was thinking of doing an experiment. What better way to get better at something than to do it every day? So yesterday I decided every single day during February, just once a day, I would do push-ups until I couldn't do push-ups anymore. Sadly, I only made it 25. Then today I was thinking, why stop at push-ups? I suck at the plank too!

So every single day, I will do push-ups until I fail and then the plank until I fail, with a decent break in between. I'm just curious what I could be doing by the end of the month. 50 push-ups? 2 or 3 minutes for the plank?

What this is not, is a daily workout routine of killing my muscles day after day. Yes, I understand that you should not lift your arms for 28 days straight or run 5 miles a day for a month. Just once a day should be enough to improve.

So here are the numbers so far:

02/01: push-ups: 25
02/02: push-ups: 30 / plank: 54 seconds

Anyone else interested in doing this as well? 

I wanted to make February "The Perfect Day of Food" month, but I never did the proper research for it. Maybe March?