What can you do for a year straight?
My father was a man with man hobbies. He had firearms, an old jeep, and an airplane. He would get really into these things, spend a lot of time and money on them, but over time they would fall into the depths of the basement or garage and eventually be sold. However, once he retired he decided to pick up piano. He took lessons and played everyday for a year straight, rewarding himself with a tattoo of a treble clef on his arm. And since he did one year already, why not keep going for another? So he did and got another tat. After 2 years of piano everyday, he decided to switch to bass guitar. More lessons and practice and a whole year of that and a bass clef tat followed. Only after 3.5 years of daily music did he miss his streak when he was out for a wedding.
Inspired by my father, I took on a challenge this year as well. Flashback 18 months ago:
At a Christmas party, people started doing pushups (as they often do - what do your Christmas parties look like?) and a decree was made. With the holidays coming and people traveling, exercise often dips while food and drink intake spike. So, it was announced we would do 50 pushups a day for the duration of the holiday. Now, I do not remember this being said (that kind of party I guess) but when I heard about it the next day, I was in. Over break I did my 50 a day while traveling through Germany, France, and Switzerland. It wasn't always easy as we were in cars, skiing, dog sledding, and hitting Christmas markets, but I did it.
When I got back to India, I kept going. I figured, why not keep it as a regular part of my routine? People often ask how I get in my running and I am always confused by the question. It is just something you do every morning before you do anything else. It just is part of the routine, like breakfast and a shower. I started out with 15, 15, 15, 5 and worked up to 25/25, and occasionally 30-35 in a go. Sometimes I would forget to do a 2nd set and have to cram them in before bedtime or do them in an airport, but I did them.
This went along without a hitch until the first week of June, 2018. I was bounding through the Grand Canyon and things went a little south. I crawled out, literally, and ended up in the hospital. I missed a couple of days while laying in a bed and once I was released from the hospital, I needed a few days to recover. After a week or so, I started back up with the pushups. Day in and day out I did them, but my clock had reset to day 1, and I had a new end date.
For the next 365 days I did 50 pushups a day, without fail. No matter the day: hangover, post-race, traveling, after an Insanity workout - I did them. I did them on the starting lines of marathons, I did them at the finish lines of ultras. I did them when sick and when I injured my ankle and toe and had to do them inverted off a couch. 365 days times 50 pushups a day is 18250 pushups. It was probably a bit more because I did about 60 a day for the last 8 weeks or so. If you count the work done before "the incident," it was more than 27000 pushups. I got stronger, sure, but the real strength gained was in the mind, the commitment of doing something everyday, even if I didn't want to.
Now that the challenge is over, I am looking for the next goal. I picked up Duolingo because I regret not being better in another language. I started working on that everyday and plan to do a year of it straight. Work the body, work the mind.
And speaking of the body, I have kept the pushups going, even after the year mark, just because, you know, it's part of the routine.
My father was a man with man hobbies. He had firearms, an old jeep, and an airplane. He would get really into these things, spend a lot of time and money on them, but over time they would fall into the depths of the basement or garage and eventually be sold. However, once he retired he decided to pick up piano. He took lessons and played everyday for a year straight, rewarding himself with a tattoo of a treble clef on his arm. And since he did one year already, why not keep going for another? So he did and got another tat. After 2 years of piano everyday, he decided to switch to bass guitar. More lessons and practice and a whole year of that and a bass clef tat followed. Only after 3.5 years of daily music did he miss his streak when he was out for a wedding.
Inspired by my father, I took on a challenge this year as well. Flashback 18 months ago:
At a Christmas party, people started doing pushups (as they often do - what do your Christmas parties look like?) and a decree was made. With the holidays coming and people traveling, exercise often dips while food and drink intake spike. So, it was announced we would do 50 pushups a day for the duration of the holiday. Now, I do not remember this being said (that kind of party I guess) but when I heard about it the next day, I was in. Over break I did my 50 a day while traveling through Germany, France, and Switzerland. It wasn't always easy as we were in cars, skiing, dog sledding, and hitting Christmas markets, but I did it.
When I got back to India, I kept going. I figured, why not keep it as a regular part of my routine? People often ask how I get in my running and I am always confused by the question. It is just something you do every morning before you do anything else. It just is part of the routine, like breakfast and a shower. I started out with 15, 15, 15, 5 and worked up to 25/25, and occasionally 30-35 in a go. Sometimes I would forget to do a 2nd set and have to cram them in before bedtime or do them in an airport, but I did them.
This went along without a hitch until the first week of June, 2018. I was bounding through the Grand Canyon and things went a little south. I crawled out, literally, and ended up in the hospital. I missed a couple of days while laying in a bed and once I was released from the hospital, I needed a few days to recover. After a week or so, I started back up with the pushups. Day in and day out I did them, but my clock had reset to day 1, and I had a new end date.
For the next 365 days I did 50 pushups a day, without fail. No matter the day: hangover, post-race, traveling, after an Insanity workout - I did them. I did them on the starting lines of marathons, I did them at the finish lines of ultras. I did them when sick and when I injured my ankle and toe and had to do them inverted off a couch. 365 days times 50 pushups a day is 18250 pushups. It was probably a bit more because I did about 60 a day for the last 8 weeks or so. If you count the work done before "the incident," it was more than 27000 pushups. I got stronger, sure, but the real strength gained was in the mind, the commitment of doing something everyday, even if I didn't want to.
Now that the challenge is over, I am looking for the next goal. I picked up Duolingo because I regret not being better in another language. I started working on that everyday and plan to do a year of it straight. Work the body, work the mind.
And speaking of the body, I have kept the pushups going, even after the year mark, just because, you know, it's part of the routine.
