Running in a Monochrome Gray World

C -  5 miles, 1 dead watch

Um, problem...

So, as I was getting ready to go running this morning, I put on the same watch that I've had for 4 years now, and I realized something wasn't right.  My watch was dead.  I went to show my father, but he was more concerned with my "gaudy" nail polish (apparently he's not a fan of Luminous Tulips).  I blame the dead watch on D, since he finally convinced me to use the "Chrono" setting a few months ago (kidding D!).  As for the colorful nails, I blame that on the weather.  After about a week of running in a monochrome gray world, I will start seeking out color with reckless abandon.

New Arm Warmers!!
(and no, I don't run dressed as a ninja, just had to
show off my final Christmas gift)

I promised yesterday to talk about my push ups.  I've only been doing them for about 2 months, but considering that 3 months ago I'd never done a "real" push up in my life, I'm quite happy with them.  I started out doing knee push ups (the type where your knees are bent rather than straight) or as we called them in my school, "girly" push ups.  Not a huge fan of that name.

Anyway, now I do push ups every other day.  I start out by doing as many "real" push ups as I can (my PR is the 6 that I did on Christmas Day), then I do knee push ups- I do 15 x 10 x 15 x 10 x 15.  Yes, I stop and stretch where all those "x"s are.  I have a weak upper body, but I'm trying to fix that.  After I started, Runner's World came out with a piece about runners needing whole body fitness for quality running, and they suggested some exercises that you can do to achieve this- here.  They suggest that women should be able to do 10 push ups and men should be able to do 20.  I can't do 10 yet, but I will.  Qualifying for Boston is hard enough without my legs having to do all the work.  Once I can do more than 10 push ups, I plan to start working on some of the other muscle groups that Runner's World suggests strengthening.  Hold me to that plan, will you D?

Meanwhile, my mom's final Christmas gift to me came last night- arm warmers!  I can't wait to start running with them.

(P.S. this is a Friday post, I just uploaded the picture of the arm warmers last night.)