It looks like 113 YC is proving to be a very good year for many people.
One of my corp mates, Alex Polokov, has decided he wants to man up and be publicly accountable. Alex is a great guy, and I look forward to personally working with him at this. He has a bit of advantage in that he knows me directly, so hopefully we’ll have some great progress pictures to show in three months!
As I’ve said before, it takes a lot of courage to show where you’re at to the universe, but I believe it’s the first act of determination needed in order to transform your life.
Well done, Alex. I’m excited for you.
ROC'S RAMBLINGS 
Glad to have you on board mate, and congrats on your decision. Hell at this rate the four of us might be able to keep fanfest permanently in minnie territory with our pushup points alone :p
Welcome aboard sir, good to have you with us.
Thank you, sir. I look forward to Day 1, Day 90 pic, and the road between!
Day 1: Judgement Day
I enter the gym. It’s quiet. The Roc is there with me; sizing me up. A fire in his eyes is telling me that this is not going to be an easy ride. The enthusiasm is contagious. I am excited and frankly a little scared. But then I get thinking: “How hard can this be?” I heard stories from his former subjects about them puking their guts out at the feet of the Roc. But hey, this is me we’re talking about. I’ve hit the gym before. Hell, I even ran a full marathon a couple years ago. Puke? Bah.
20 minutes later…
“Roc, I got to puke!” I say, as I ‘stand’ on all fours of the gym floor, slipping around in my own sweat like a doomed eel out of water. I was silently praying for ANY moment of relief from the pain between the challenges at hand. He was pushing me. Punishing me for my wicked deeds I had bestowed upon my body; a punishment I had brought upon myself. And you know that the pain is as pure as it gets when the moments of relief is orgasmic, almost a religious experience.
This was by far the most gruelling athletic session I have ever had, the marathon included. After I was ‘done’ I left the gym picking up the pieces of whatever was left of any self-reassurance I previously held that I had some preparedness for today from my previous achievement.
Alas, I failed the Roc today, as I barely managed half of the challenges he had set out for me for today. It wasn’t for lack of encouragement, but rather that my ass had spent more time floundering on the floor in my own sweat than actually doing the challenges. He broke me. God damn, he broke me! And tomorrow, I’m coming back for more…
Alex, you didn’t fail anyone, especially me. I made one rule very clear when you walked in, “For the next 30 days, I own your body. When I say do, it does. Your mind has no say in this.”
You kept that rule. You kept going. Even when you had nothing, you kept going.
Was your form perfect? No. Was it a walk in the park? Hell no.
Am I proud of you for telling your body that you’re sorry for what you’ve done to it and that you’re going to make it all better? More than you realize.
The first 30 days are the hardest, a test of human endurance, will, and determination.
We have 29 more days together to see if you’re truly ready for this. If you think I broke you today, wait til we get through the basics…
In this endeavour you have no one to fail but yourself. And If Roc says you didn’t fail.. then.. well, you didn’t. Floundering in your own sweat on your first day isn’t failure. It’s acclimatisation. Hell, you might even get used to it :p .
I have to say though, with Col. Wieler pushing you that hard each day, you should have some awesome progress by day 90. Still, I don’t know whether to envy you or not.
Either way, keep at it.