Pushup Challenge : week 1 day 1

Plan : 10, 10, 8, 6, at least 7
Actual : 10, 10, 8, 6, 20

Started out the pushup challenge this morning after my run. I know at least a few of you have told me you're going to do it too, so let me know how you're getting on and we can pull each other through. I plan on making my pushup days Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Everything felt pretty good this morning, but I know the program ramps up pretty quickly so we'll see how it goes.

Yesterday was the memorial run for Rick Gastelum, a club member and ultrarunner who died in a flash flood during a night run on the greenbelt a year ago. About 10 of us met up at the hill of life and ran to spyglass where we met up with another group, making about 25 people in total. We all ran/walked to the spot Rick's body was found. It is a secluded place off the main trail, and some club members had erected a memorial - a large cross with his name and a photo. It was very moving. I never knew Rick, but I wish I had - many people spoke about him with a lot of affection.

I fell in with Ryan and Carl for much of this run. They are both really strong runners and we pushed a good pace throughout. Carl is another Welsh guy I met on a Saturday morning run a few months back, and I know Ryan from the Rocky Hill Ranch race. I managed to get in a good 14 miles, which I was happy with and was not tempted to go back for more.

Then this morning I was supposed to meet up with some folks to do a hilly road run at 5am, but I overslept and missed it - whoops. I did show up for the trail portion of the run at 7am and got a lot of stick for my non-appearance. We did a double Ken's loop and it was hot, humid and still. Did the second loop with Gabe and Henry and we had a good time - it was the last big weekend of running for both of them before the Headlands 100, which looks like a really nice race. Maybe one for next year?

In completely unrelated news, I made a loaf of "son of the bitch" bread last night from my sourdough starter. This starter has been a lot more successful than my other one, and the bread was very flavorful. I reproofed the rest of the starter and fed it some more this morning to make pizza dough for tonight. The remainder will be fed again and refrigerated. I will post pictures later.

And finally, a quick mention of cricket, the official summer sport of us Brits. I've been listening to the England v South Africa test match on the internet. Just when we thought England were coasting to victory, the South African batsmen put up a real fight to save the game. This is good test match cricket, and I like the South Africans - they have some interesting characters.