Week One, Day One: January 12th

Workout
Prescribed Workout:
Running: 2 miles, 8:30 pace (17 minutes total)
Pullups: 3 sets of 3
Situps: 4 sets of 20
Pushups: 4 sets of 15

Actual Workout:
Running: 2.25 miles, 22:21 total (just under 10 minutes pace)
Pullups: 1 set of 2, 7 sets of 1
Situps: 2 sets of 20, 4 sets of 10
Pushups: 2 sets of 15, 2 sets of 10, 2 sets of 5

Eating
Lunch (12:00)
Mixed green salad
Two small chicken breasts
Five baby corn
One egg

Snack (4:15)
One Special K bar

Dinner (6:00)
Carne Asada
Mexican Rice
Black Beans
Diced Chicken
Guacamole
One Special K bar

Thoughts
A mediocre first day, to say the least. First, the eating: I didn't have breakfast, or even a small piece of fruit. This has to be remedied immediately. My lunch was good and healthy, but I think I went a little overboard at dinner--I could have done without the second Special K bar, for instance.

I went to the gym at about 10:00 p.m. for some running. Even at my most lazy, I've always been a decent runner, boasting better endurance than sprinting speed. At my most fit, I was running miles at times lower than 7:30, so I felt that two 8:30 miles were in reasonable reach. I started off well, going .75 of a mile at a 8:27 pace on the treadmill before taking my first break. I walked for about .05 of a mile, then ran again until the 1.15 mark, walked for .05, ran until 1.55, walked for .05, ran until 1.95, walked for .05, then ran until 2.25. I went over the recommended total because I wanted to account for the .20 of a mile of walking that I did, and an additional .05, just for good measure. The running was easily my best success of the day, even though I went close to 5:30 over the prescribed pace. For a first day, I'll take it.

I then moved over to the pullup bar, where I watched a lanky kid do 10 with relative ease. I figured that I could at least do my 3 sets of 3. Wrong. I was able to do two on my first set, but couldn't pull myself up for the third. After that, I couldn't do more than one at a time. Cue the humiliation--fortunately, most people were too absorbed in their own workouts to notice.

I returned back to my dorm room for the pushups and situps, which I figured would be the easiest part of the night. Again, incorrect. I focused on doing proper pushups and situps, so I tried to keep my form as strict as possible. I started with the situps, and was immediately struck by the toll it took on my abs. I struggled through the first set of the 20, and then the first 10 of the second set. At that point, I had to take a short break before finishing the final 10. I switched to pushups, which were difficult at first until I got the hang of it--my first two full sets came at the end. I concluded the day with my last two sets of situps, as I powered through the final one, despite a now burning midsection.

I underestimated how hard the first day would be. On the surface, it's fairly simple, but trying to acheive all of the tasks within reasonable bounds proved to be quite difficult. I need a change of mindset tomorrow, when I first take to the pool.