100 Burpee Challenge Complete!
5,050 down… with 0 to go!!!!!
So, here it is, the end of The 100 Day Burpee Challenge, 5,050 burpees later. I am very glad this is over, although I do not regret starting the challenge. To say that I finished this challenge is reward enough. It took from August 1st to November 8th to complete the challenge, which seemed like a very long time, but once the calendar turned November, I was glad to see the end in site.
I decided to do my last 100 burpees in one set instead of several throughout the day. I think it goes without saying I did this the only way a CrossFitter knows how… as fast as possible. It was Saturday and it was a scheduled rest day on the main site, but the burpees lurked. I finally decided to do them at 2:30 in the afternoon with Tom managing the watch.
After his purposely and torturously slow, “3, 2, 1… GO!” I was on my way. I was on 20 when I heard him call 1 minute, and was kind of surprised. When I got to 40, I was still on that pace. The shirt came off at 50, along with a couple deep breaths, and on I went. There was no 3 minute call, as there was an incident with one of the girls. Then the rest is a blur of “Get it done!” and, “I wish I could breathe!” I could not believe that I held a 5 minute pace for more than 1 minute, but was happy to get under 7 minutes with a final time of 6:51.
Post workout, I sat on the couch and tried to catch my breath, between the hacking cough and the wheezing. I finally dragged myself upstairs, grabbed my inhaler, took dose #1, stopped to e-mail Lou, took dose #2 of the inhaler, then hopped a steam shower in hope of being able to breathe normally again. It did work.
Lou nicely sums up his thoughts about this challenge on his blog. My favorite line: “Let’s never do it again.” He also saves me the time of breaking it down: “To put it another way, on average, she did approx 1 burpee each 4 seconds for 7 minutes. I did a pace of 1 burpee each 10 seconds for 16 minutes.” Lou’s final time was 16:08.
I think for the 3 people I am aware of that completed the challenge (the third is Rachel Lee of Colorado Springs, CO) I think it is remarkable that we actually stuck it out and finished the challenge. I have been contemplating something to do for the next challenge… I know some people are talking pull-ups, but you have to be near a bar for that to happen, and there is a push-up one that I am thinking about. I am trying to think more along the lines of equipment free, drop and do it wherever you are kind of deal. Suggestions are welcome!
Ann: Great job! Mine were 240-lb burpees? How about yours? haha
Thanks a ton for dragging me into this. Not sure about the 100 Days of Pullups until I get a bar hung in my house. That is not as “anywhere, anytime” as burpees are.