Fremont Oktoberfest 5K Recap

Yesterday, to celebrate my one-year running anniversary, I ran the race that started it all — the Fremont Oktoberfest 5K.

My goals were to see just how far I've come since I ran this race one year ago, and to update my 5K PR of 26:25 (set in February). Oh, and I also aimed to have fun!

WHEEEE!

Missions accomplished!

Official time: 25:04
Average pace: 8:04

This race began about 1.5 miles away from my front door, so I ran to the starting area as a warmup. I had never run to a race before, and I think I went a little too fast since I was running (ha) late. I was worried I'd wear out my legs, so I walked for the last little bit.

Packet pickup was exciting, as usual.

This doesn't look exciting at all.

I looked around for Courtney, who had informed me via The Twitter that she'd be there, but I couldn't spot her in the sea of people. This was the first time I had gone to and started a race 100% alone!

This 5K is billed as "a race to the beer garden," so of course we all clapped and cheered as the announcer counted down to the start. There were no pace groups, so I just positioned myself near the front and away from any runners with dogs — it's no fun to get tangled in a leash. Then we were off!

I started off a bit too fast as I made my way around slower runners and tried to find a good pace. My plan was to run the first mile at about an 8:00/mile pace, but I kept seeing numbers in the 7:-- range flashing on my watch and attempted to slow down.

We is runnin'.

I remembered that this is why I'm not a huge fan of the 5K distance. It's so short of a race that you pretty much have to run fast the whole time! The trick is to do it without burning out halfway through.

According to my Garmin, I ran the first mile in 7:56. ("According to my Garmin" is the key phrase here.)

I'm really not used to running sub-8:00 miles, so I felt tired early on. I was excited to get to the turnaround point and start heading back toward the finish line. At this point, I really wished I was this guy.

Yes, you are faster than me and I'm taking your picture.

I was determined to keep up a good pace and not walk, although I really wanted to walk at least every minute or so. The difference between this year and last year is that I didn't. At all.

I tried to focus on the interesting costumes around me to take my mind off of how far I had left to go.

Cute! Relevant!

My legs felt fine, but my lungs had trouble keeping up with my pace. I've been training for a marathon, not a 5K, so my body was kind of pissed off that this was happening.

According to my Garmin, I ran the second mile in 7:53.

Here's what I looked like around mile 2.5.

I like to call this one "Dying.jpg."

This is what happens when I decide to run with my phone.

It was at this point that I really wanted to walk, or at least slow down and chill for a bit. I'm used to running "comfortably" (9:15-ish) or "comfortably fast" (8:45-ish), but not "holy hell, this is fast-fast" (7:50-ish).

According to my Garmin, I ran the third mile in 7:50.

I finally just thought, "You know what? Running is hard. If this didn't really suck sometimes, everyone would do it. Finish the damn race."

It was glorious to complete mile three and know that there was only 0.1 mile left.

Or was there?

Either I ran the course a bit long (by weaving, although I tried to keep that to a minimum) or the course was genuinely long, but the last 0.1 seemed to take forever. And according to my Garmin, it was actually  0.19 mile. So that's fun.

There's some wrist sweat going on here. I'm sorry.

I thought I'd surely finish with a sub-8:00 average pace, but thanks to that extra little bit of distance, my overall pace ended up being slower because my time was based on a 3.1-mile course, not 3.19. That doesn't seem like it would make a big difference, but my average pace according to the Garmin was 7:51, while the official race results clocked it at 8:04.

Sorry, I get a little too concerned about pace sometimes.

Anyway! I finished the race strong and really gave it my all. I know that because I almost fell over as a volunteer cut the timing chip off my shoe. I feel like it's asking a lot of runners to do this balancing act immediately after finishing a race.

I'm surprised that more people don't take a plunge.

Oh, hey, that's Courtney!

Courtney ran with her roommate as he completed his first race. Woo-hoo!

I'd like to say I was able to relax and enjoy my free beer after this race, but instead I gave my beer ticket to Courtney. And then I went and ran 10 more miles.

But that's a story for my Week 9 marathon training recap, which will be up tomorrow.

***

I've now been running for a full year. In that time, I've run seven 5Ks, one 10K, one 15K, two half-marathons, a mud run and a triathlon. I've run nearly 500 miles so far in 2011. I've shaved 8:28 off my very first 5K time. It's crazy to recall that this time last year, I wasn't even sure of my ability to run three miles in a row!

If there's anything I've learned from running, it's that we are all much stronger than we think. You'll never know how far you can go until you have the courage to push yourself.

And anything is possible.

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Valentine's Day Dash! PRs, bags and burgers

The Valentine's Day Dash 5K is in the books! Aaron and I both scored PRs:

Aaron — 21:26 (6:55 pace)
Me — 26:25 (8:32 pace)

I'm proud of my time — sub-27:00, baby! — but holy crap, Aaron runs fast. He killed this race!

We both felt nervous beforehand because we both wanted to improve our PRs. The course around Green Lake is almost entirely flat, so we knew we could do well if we ran smart. Luckily, my nervousness died as soon as we headed to Green Lake. The weather was great — cool, but not cold, and partly cloudy, but not raining — so I was psyched that we wouldn't be running in the rain like I thought.

I always make Aaron drive to races because his classic Mini can squeeze into parking spaces that most cars can't fit into. (I may look like I'm driving here, but the steering wheel is on the right side of his car.)

Once we got to the starting area, Aaron lined up with the super-fast people in the 6:00-7:00 pace group, and I hung out with my 8:00-9:00 homies. I usually start farther back, which is why I tend to have trouble passing slower people, but this time I actually started where I belonged and had a great beginning to the race.

I felt awesome for the first mile! I took it easy at about a 9:15 pace and just enjoyed running. I stayed to the inside of the course (which makes for a shorter run) and didn't weave around people (which wastes energy). I kept looking for the one-mile marker but never saw it, then realized I must have missed it after seeing that more than 10 minutes had gone by on my watch. The two-mile marker came up before I knew it, and I looked down at my watch and realized I was on track to beat my goal!

My stomach started to hurt around this point since I was going a bit faster (trying to stay under 9:00 pace). I really didn't want to take any walking breaks, but I did once I convinced myself that I could walk briefly and still beat my goal time. I walked two or three times to try to relieve my crampy stomach. Finally, I realized the end was so near and just poured on the gas.

I fully sprinted the last 0.1 mile and seemed to be the only person doing that, so I had to weave through other runners. I heard Aaron yell encouragement to me and saw a guy from my work watching for someone at the finish line (hi, Jason!). I finished strong, then promptly found a curb to sit on. The curb of life!

Aaron brought me a bottle of water and all was well. We then pillaged the food booths big time.

And then headed to South Lake Union to do some shopping at Aaron's favorite store ever.

(The parking lot across the street is surrounded by a barbed-wire fence. Creepy?)

We each bought this camera bag and perused all the super-nice, expensive lenses. Maybe someday I'll be back for an upgrade?

Next, it was time to satisfy The Hunger with the best burger in Seattle! Don't even talk to me about Red Mill, people — Lunchbox Laboratory is where it's at. They even have a swanky new location in South Lake Union, too!

New location, same great taste. We split a regular Kobe-beef cheeseburger and tots because neither of us was feeling all that ravenous after the race, and Lunchbox Lab does BIG burgers.

Delish! This bun is the greatest thing you've even tasted. Lunchbox Lab gets its buns fresh from a bakery every morning, and they're toasty and buttery and nom nom nom. Seriously.

The last of my favorite race-day moments is very quickly approaching: Giving in to The Tireds. After a very fun first half of the day, it's definitely time for an amazing nap!

###

Race day

The Valentine's Day Dash 5K is tomorrow morning at Green Lake! I always get excited for races, but this is the first one that I've actually followed* a training plan for.

*The term "followed" has been used loosely. I "followed" an eight-week plan by jumping straight into week five, shifting runs around, adding some yoga and randomly replacing a 7-mile run with an 8-mile run. Click to view the weirdness:

My 5K PR is 28:51 (set at the Green Lake Gobble 5K in November) and one of my goals for 2011 is to break 27:00. Should I make sub-27:00 my goal for this race? Why the hell not?

I'm getting kind of nervous since I really want to do well, and there are supposed to be more than 3,000 people running this race! I think my nervousness will disappear once I get to the starting corral.

There are so many great moments in a race day, including — but not limited to — finishing the race itself. Here are my favorites:

Lining up at the start
It might seem weird to be crammed into a small area with hundreds or thousands of strangers like cattle in a pen, but it's actually pretty fun! The energy is great at the start, and it's fun to watch people warm up, ready their iPod playlists and show off their costumes. (There's always a guy in a thong. Hide ya kids, hide ya wife... just stay away from him.)

Running the first mile

On regular runs, the first mile always sucks. My legs aren't warmed up yet and it just feels kind of blah. But during races, I feel great during the first mile because of all the excitement in the air. The downside of the first mile is that it's the most crowded, and it can be frustrating to weave through slower runners and dodge people who run with their dogs. I don't mind people who run with their dogs on a tight leash, but I've found myself unable to pass a girl, her dog and three feet of the dog's leash. (Note to that girl: There's a great race for dogs up in Alaska. It's called the Iditarod.)

Running the last 0.1 mile

Please let it be over. Please let it be over. This is what I'm thinking when I give it my all in a race. Even though I can see the finish line, the short distance I have ahead of me will really suck, and I fully envision my swift death on a dirty curb. But dammit, that curb will be on the other side of the finish line.

Crossing the finish line

Obviously, this is great because I can now stop running. Also, I usually realize that I am not, in fact, going to die on a curb. I can let my heart rate go back to normal, drink some water and then...

Pillaging the vendors
...steal politely take as much of every free food/drink sample as I possibly can. Boom — I now have breakfast and snacks for the entire next week. Hey, I didn't die — I earned it!

Satiating The Hunger
Once my adrenaline dies down a bit, I begin to feel The Hunger. I usually crave something warm and terrible for me. Papa John's pizza is a favorite, but a grilled cheese sandwich, macaroni and cheese, or anything else involving hot cheese would also be splendid. Aaron and I craved fish and chips after the Resolution Run 5K. Here he is at Paddy Coyne's, waiting for his food. Look into his eyes — do you see The Hunger?

Giving in to The Tireds
Once The Hunger has been quieted with delicious, greasy food, The Tireds set in. A 3.1-mile race isn't very long, but the effort is still enough to make me feel completely wiped out. I like to do the whole, "I'm just going to close my eyes for a minute..." thing, then nap for four hours and wake up not knowing if it's morning or night. The naps I've taken after races have repeatedly ranked up there with the best naps of my life (infant years excluded). I can't even imagine what I'll feel like after running a 15K, a half-marathon and a marathon. I will sleep for years.

That's it! And it's all going down tomorrow! If you're one of the 3,000 romantic souls running the Valentine's Day Dash, good luck to you... and save me a spot on the curb.

###

1/1/11 in photos, plus 2011 goals

The Resolution Run 5K and Polar Bear Dive...

Fish and chips and beer at Paddy Coyne's...

Aaron doing something I cannot do in front of a random apartment building...

Not pictured: a delicious nap, a ridiculously cheesy grilled cheese sandwich, watching Easy A and watching episodes from the first season of Dexter.

A solid first day of the year.

As for the rest of the year...


Devon's 2011 Goals


Running

- Run a sub 27:00 5K — 2/12/11
- Run the Warrior Dash — 7/16/11
- Run a 10K (Bellevue 10K) — 4/17/11
- Run a 15K (Seattle's Best 15K) — 5/21/11
- Run a half marathon (Seattle Rock 'n' Roll) — 6/25/11
- Run a marathon (Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll) — 12/4/11

Writing

- Develop a regular posting schedule for this blog (3x a week; M/W/F?) — Ongoing attempt!
- Be honest — Ongoing
- Be myself — Ongoing

Finances (i.e. the thing I've gotten lazy with lately)

- Write a budget before each payday (twice a month) — Didn't do this!
- Go back to using cash for discretionary spending — Nope
- Save bonuses, as well as a portion of each paycheck — started automatic savings account 7/1/11
- Have one year's worth of salary in savings by the end of 2011 — YES! Allowed me to quit my job 11/30/11

Health

- Get at least 7 hours of sleep per weeknight — HA! I was terrible with this
- Eat more fruits/vegetables/whole grains — I did well with fruits/veggies and AVOIDED grains for stomach reasons
- Eat less dairy (cheese in moderation, especially) — Success
- Eat even less meat (I hardly eat it anyway) — I ate MORE meat (still not much) for protein during marathon training
- Find and stick to half-marathon and marathon training programs — Very successful!
- Do more outdoor activities (like hiking) — I hiked, biked, skydived, learned to surf, swam and ran my little heart out

Random

- Go skydiving again — 3/2/11 on the North Shore of Oahu
- Learn how to wakeboard — Nope
- Go rock climbing (even just at REI) — Nope
- Have coffee with Nicole Brodeur — I emailed her and she agreed, but I failed to follow up. Oops.
- Visit New York City — 10/7-10/10
- Have regular lunch/dinner dates with my dad — Not as many as I would have liked!
- Buy a digital SLR camera and use it — 2/9/11
- Buy a new laptop — 1/29/11


That's all I could come up with for now. It'll be nice to revisit this list and be able to cross things off, or check back on it when I'm in a rut and see what I need to work on achieving.

Speaking of crossing things off... here's my completed (and very short) 2010 list of goals:

1. Pay off my credit card by my birthday.
2. Pay off my student loan by July 1 (actually July 16).
3. Move out of my mom's house by the end of January 2011 with no debt and more than $10,000 in the bank.

The final portion that I just crossed off the list — in bold — was moving out of my mom's house. I moved into a townhouse with two of my great friends on December 26. I love it so far, and I'm so glad I was able to start 2011 out on my own.

2010 was the year of getting my finances straight and becoming independent. 2011 will be about maintaining and adding to what I achieved financially in 2010, plus tackling new athletic challenges, embarking on more adventures, embracing new hobbies and overall becoming a healthier person.

Bring it on.

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Winding down 2010, gearing up for 2011

Dear blog,

I'm sorry that I've been ignoring you. But guess what? After a year and three months of living with my mom, I'm house hunting!

Finally!!!!!

When I was in the midst of paying off all my debt, I wrote a list of specific financial goals — ones that I needed to accomplish before I could move out. I'm happy to report that I have only half of one goal left to cross off, and that is moving out itself:

1. Pay off my credit card by my birthday.
2. Pay off my student loan by July 1. (OK, technically it was July 16.)
3. Move out of my mom's house by the end of January 2011 with no debt and more than $10,000 in the bank.

(A year ago, the last half of the last goal seemed impossible, but here I am. It wasn't easy to accomplish, but everything has been worth it.)

Looking for a place to live is exciting, but time-consuming and a bit stressful. Mostly exciting. I'll let you know when my future roommates and I nail down a place and get the details worked out.

Until then, posting on Answering Oliver will be light since I'm a perfectionist and like to spend way too much time writing these posts. It's a sickness.

In the meantime, you can keep an eye on my running blog, where it's much easier on my psyche to throw up quick posts that I don't have to obsess over. Plus, I'll have tons of stuff to write about there since I need to start training for my next 5K and another little race that I'm registered for...

Oh, yes. It's happening.

I'm ridiculously excited for 2011. The half marathon is just one of many adventures I have planned. Let's finish 2010 strong, and then go get it!!

Notes from the Caribbean and beyond

The answer is yes.

It. Was. AWESOME.

The cruise hit Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos...

San Juan, Puerto Rico...

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands...

And Half Moon Cay, Bahamas...

We were pretty tired by the time the ship stopped at Half Moon Cay, so this is about the most exciting picture I have from there. I was also really sunburned, hence the hat. I had done a pretty good job of keeping my sunscreen on (went through a whole bottle of SPF 50!) until we went to St. Thomas.

Watch out for St. Thomas. The rum will sneak up on you.

We were able to do all the excursions we wanted to do: clear-bottom kayaking in Grand Turk, where we searched for conch shells and held non-poisonous jellyfish; ziplining in San Juan, which is something I've always wanted to do and had a lot of fun doing; and snorkeling in St. Thomas, which is pretty much the greatest place in the entire world, ever.

Fun fact: our snorkeling guide was from Woodinville! He graduated from my high school a few years ahead of me. I'm thinking the whole leave-Woodinville-and-move-to-St.-Thomas thing sounds pretty good. Or move to any part of the Caribbean. The weather was sunny and warm — upper 70s and low 80s — every single day.

Did I mention that it snowed the day after I got back to Seattle? Did I mention that it began snowing about 10 minutes after I crossed the finish line at the Green Lake Gobble 5K? Did I mention that I thought I would never cross that finish line since I had just spent a week eating and drinking to my body's capacity nearly every day?

Oh, man. Was I ever happy to cross that finish line.

How to look like a giant nerd while... you know.

I was only back in Seattle for a few days before I was off to southern California for Thanksgiving with my dad, his fiancee, my brother and our extended family — my 91-year-old granddad, his partner, my aunt and uncle, and my cousins/their wives and kids.

The goal of the trip was to spend time with my granddad, as his time left on Earth is growing shorter. I was able to hear more of his great stories, fill him in on my recent adventures and tell him some things I wanted him to know before he passes.

My granddad once wrote in a Christmas card that he wished he knew me better, and that broke my heart a little bit. I grew up in Washington and only visited him every few years, and never had in-depth conversations with him. There obviously wasn't time this Thanksgiving to catch up on all 23 years of my life or all 91 of his, but there was time to tell him about this past year, during which I've been able to catch my footing in life and figure a few things out. I also printed out several entries from this blog that I thought would help him know me better, and I'll never forget how delighted he was as he started to read them.

Most of all, I just wanted him to know that I'll be OK. That we'll all be OK. That he's been an amazing father and grandfather, and that he's helped create a thriving family of slightly weird people who really love him a lot.

I know he's visited some fantastic places in his life, and I told him that I'd like to see the world. He said he thought that was a fine idea. "I really hope you do that," he said. "You'll never regret spending the money."

I said yes, I will do that. And when I do, I will think of you.

###

How to look like a giant nerd while running a 5K

Click to make the giant nerdiness more giant.

I need to make this an ongoing "how-to" series. I really excel at looking like a giant nerd in various situations.

Tomorrow morning I'll be running the Pumpkin Push 5K at Seward Park and trying to break 30 minutes. You can find out what happens here. The suspense!

Considering that my food intake today included pizza, Halloween cupcakes, more Reese's peanut butter cups than I care to divulge and one giant Santa mug (you heard me) full of beer from the office kegerator (YOU HEARD ME), it'll be a miracle if I break 30.

No matter what, I'll have a heck of a time. Plus, my very favorite holiday is this weekend! It just doesn't get better than this.

Which reminds me... How to look like a giant nerd on Halloween (2009 style):

Awesome/exhausting weekend

It started with a hike.

My friend Aaron, a knowledgeable and talented photographer, was cool enough to go on a hike with me Saturday and show me how to use his ridiculously nice Canon camera. Most of our conversations went like this:

"So, if I want to make the water look flowy, the number needs to be high so that the shutter speed is... slow?"

Typing that now, I have no idea if that's right. He taught me about ISO and aperture and other stuff and my brain just does not grasp it all very easily. But, I know way more now than I did before (I think??) and I'll only learn more with time, reading and practice.

Best of all, there was a super sweet waterfall at the end of the hiking trail, which Aaron swore he did not know was there, but it made for some cool pictures.

This photo was taken with my phone. There's Aaron playing a fun game with his camera practically in the water. He's much more adventurous/brave than I am!

I'll post some actual pictures I took when I get them and we'll see if they're any good.

Today was the Dawg Dash 5K at my alma mater, the University of Washington. The race started and ended in Husky Stadium, which was also where I started (Dawg Days orientation) and ended (graduation) my college career. I'm sure that's symbolic somehow.

You can read about my super awesome 5K playlist (played on my gangster iPod mini, which worked wonderfully), the rain magically clearing up for the race and my new personal best 5K time here.

Yes, that's a plug for my new little running blog. I figured I wouldn't bore you with a bunch of running stuff here. I'm too busy boring you with other stuff!

Side note: How cute is my mom?

Speaking of other stuff... I've been slacking on my push-ups. But, as so often happens at my house, a random push-up challenge commenced on Saturday and some personal-best records were set. My mom did four — she had never done even one before. I did 10 — the first seven pretty easily, then numbers eight through ten with great, head-bursting effort. Aaron did 50, but he's a guy, so whatever.

Also, I'm doing another 5K next weekend. Also, I really need to construct my lobster costume for Halloween (meant to start today, took an epic nap instead). It should be a good week leading up to another fun weekend!

Side-side note: Congrats to my dad on his engagement yesterday! I don't write a lot about my dad here, but we're very close and I'm so happy he's found a wonderful woman who loves him [almost] as much as I do. We don't always agree on everything, but he's the most important man in my life.

He's always in the front row of every event I participate in, from my pathetic attempts at junior high track meets and random award ceremonies to high school and college graduations. He's right there, filming everything and snapping photos like it's the Olympics. He's listened, given advice and cried with me over multiple heartaches and heartbreaks. He never hangs up the phone without saying, "I love you." And I'd need all the fingers and toes of an entire army to count the number of times he's said the words, "I'm proud of you, Dev."

I love you, and I'm proud of you, Dad.

Tequila shots that don't kill you will only make you stronger

What I failed to mention in my skydiving post was the violent ear-popping I experienced while hurtling through the air toward certain death. It didn't occur to me that this would happen, but in hindsight it makes perfect sense.

It didn't detract too much from the amazing overall experience, but I had a headache for the rest of the night. I was also completely exhausted — all the heart-racing anticipation, last-minute adrenaline pumping and insane flipping through the air while free-falling can do that to you. So I went to bed around 9:00 that night, content to sleep in and take it easy the following day.

Just kidding! I did go to bed early, but got up at 7 a.m. on Sunday to the sound of buckets of rain pounding the skylights above my bed. We had a 5K to run, people!

Don and I dressed for a theme we thought appropriate for the Fremont Oktoberfest Brew HA-HA 5K: partying! His subtle-yet-effective shirt is from the 70s; my "This Girl Can Party" shirt was purchased at the mall shortly before my 21st birthday specifically to make my mom cringe.

It totally worked.

It rained so violently the entire way to Fremont that we thought the 5K run/walk might morph into a swim/paddle. Luckily the storm subsided right as Don, my mom and I parked the car. God smiled on Fremont that day, and the sun even started shining later on as the beer garden festivities kicked off.

Don had been training for this 5K for months and left my mom and I behind right away, as expected (he finished in 28:15). I stuck with my mom until about two-thirds of the way through the race; then, at her vehement encouragement, I pulled ahead to finish on my own. She came in a mere two minutes (35:34) behind me.

There were several people dressed up in Oktoberfest outfits, plus a trio of true American patriots (crazy wigs, shorty American-flag shorts, cropped tops with beer bellies on full display). Then there was the very talented guy who dribbled two basketballs while running the entire 3.1 miles; the group of guys dressed like Ghostbusters; the guy who ran in a full polar-bear suit to raise awareness for... something; and the guy who ran only wearing a sheer, pink thong.

The front view of the latter was beyond horrifying. Watch this video and check him out 25 seconds in.

I was definitely not one of the top finishers, but I thought I had a decent time (33:32) for my first 5K and for sticking with my mom most of the way when I probably could have gone faster. I have not always liked to run, and in fact have hated it more often than I've enjoyed it, but this was a lot of fun. I'm already working on running faster for the next 5K (or two) that I'm planning to do near the end of October.

It ain't where you start, but where you end up! Which brings me to the tequila story.

Over the summer, I played on a softball team. I was also working out more than I ever had before and building up unprecedented strength and endurance (for me). I could do — get this! — an all-time personal best of four consecutive push-ups. I was pretty darn proud of that.

One evening, during a post-win celebration with the team at the Ravenna Alehouse, I was gifted with a few shots of tequila by a creepy nice man as a thank-you for getting out of his way as he played pool (I was sitting directly in the way of most of his shots). My enablers teammates encouraged me to accept these gifts, and I did.

I can get a bit competitive after a few drinks, and, in the great tradition of Festivus-style Feats of Strength, I have been known to challenge people to arm wrestling matches. Usually I challenge someone who is much, much stronger than me, with the full knowledge that I will lose. But everyone likes to pull for the underdog, right?

This evening in particular, I decided to challenge a much-stronger (i.e. male) teammate to a push-up competition. After all, I had four solid push-ups in my arsenal! How could I go wrong?

I shocked everyone, including myself, by knocking out 12 push-ups before I collapsed. My opponent not only kept going, but started doing one-handed push-ups just to rub it in.

Defeat aside, I've interpreted this event as irrefutable scientific evidence that tequila makes me 3X stronger. Obviously.

However, tequila is inherently evil, and I now refuse to drink it (or shots of any kind, actually). The stench alone is repulsive, and only bad things (or really fun things — but mostly bad) come of its consumption. Leo Babauta of Zen Habits even includes this fact on his list of 20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life (item #18).

Instead, I've turned to a different method to improve my upper-body strength and my ability to do push-ups. Enter the One Hundred Push-ups training program. I found out about it — where else? — via the Art of Non-Conformity, where I read that Chris Guillebeau had managed to do 100 consecutive push-ups "by doing the final exercises in the Ulaan Bataar airport in Mongolia this summer, waiting to fly back to Korea."

Naturally.

My living room is a little less exotic than Ulaan Bataar, but it works just as well for doing push-ups. Before starting the program, I could only do three (with great, great effort). Now, at the end of week two, I can do eight solid push-ups. No tequila required!

I've got a long way to go until I reach 100 push-ups, but where you end up is much more important than where you start. And starting something is always much more effective than just thinking about it and doing nothing.

I don't want to be able to do 100 push-ups just for the bragging rights. I want to be able to 100 push-ups because it seems, to me, to be impossible.

I know from experience — from paying off my debt, for example — that once you accomplish something that you previously thought was impossible, the world becomes a much less scary, much more fun place to live.