0 to 250

Last night after work I suddenly developed a random inspiration to complete my 1000 pull up challenge.  This challenge was something I came up with in late July 2014.  The premise was simple, record 1000 pull up reps on video.  Cindy started a 1000 push up video challenge at the same time. (not complete either yet)

The idea was to maybe film sessions of 50-100 reps until I reached 1000 which I thought might take a month or two to complete.  Well obviously that plan didn’t quite work out.  Between a multitude of life events and other distractions the 1000 pull up challenge was pushed to the background.  As of last night I had completed 750 reps of the 1000.

Well I decided this had gone on long enough, I was going to finish, no matter what.  Up until this point in the challenge the most reps I did in one session was 100 reps which is about all my hands could take before they started to get ripped up.  Jumping up to 250 reps was going to take some hand protection and time.  I threw on a pair of wide receiver gloves I had in the hobby room.  They are a good mix of grippiness, without adding much bulk.

I started off with one set of 15 reps and then dropped into close to 50 micro sets of 5 reps with brief rest periods in between.  The first 50 reps did not feel particularly strong, I questioned how I was going to be able to get all the way to 250.  Somewhere in the middle of the pulls I had a second wind where the reps actually felt stronger before fatigue set in again later.  Once I got to 200 reps there was no turning back even though I could feel that I ripped open blisters on both hands despite wearing the gloves.

I felt a wave of relief as I pulled up for the 250th and final time.  My upper body, which was already worked hard at my lunch time bench pressing marathon, was pretty much wrecked.  So although the 1000 rep challenge took far too much time to be considered anything remotely close to impressive, finally finishing it felt good, especially doing so with a chunk of reps that I never took on before.

Since Cindy left the conventional work force several weeks ago she has been quite busy around the house.  Not only was she integral to the eventual success of the flooring project, she now has been pulling triple chicken caretaker duties, taking care of the two sets of chicks that are residing in our two bathtubs and the two adult hens outside.  I told her last night that I really like that she is home both for my sake and for hers.  The hope is this will be the seed that allows Cindy to get her personal trainer certification which will grow into a flexible career where she gets to use her various personal strengths and positive energy to help others.

Both set of chicks are doing well.  The older chicks, despite being around us for a week longer, seem more easily freaked out when Cindy interacts with them.  The new set of 5 seem more friendly at this point.  Cindy has a favorite in that group that we named Jaina, who seems to like being held and played with.   In total we have only named three of the eleven new chicks, Jaina, Kathy, and Cutie Pie.  It’s too early to name most of them to me until more distinctive physical traits and personalities emerge.