Intrigued:

I was recently reading on one of Sneaker Sister's blogs ( One of my favorite running blogs ) about a 5K race/bench press competition known as a "Pump N Run." Basically you bench press your body weight, ( 100% for men, 75% for women ) then run a 5k, with 1 minute subtracted from your 5K time for every repetition completed on the bench press.

After checking more into this, I found out these events are more common than I could have imagined, sort of like a different form of a biathlon. I had never heard of this before, but because I am an avid bench-presser, and a 5k'er, it sounded like something I would like to try out. The events have different rules, such as some only give you 30 seconds off for every repetition etc. depending on whom is coordinating the competition.

Bench-pressing is something that has always been a big interest of mine, it is probably a macho thing or something. Yes, I jump rope, do leg presses, and many of the other exercises, but when I go to the fitness center everyone always asks me "How Much Can You Bench?"

I have always thought it a funny question, because I notice no one ever asks "How Much Can You Curl?" or "How Many Chin-Ups Can You Do?" It is always "How Much Can You Bench?"

So I guess I workout at that the most, since I want to truthfully give them a high number. Not to brag, but I actually have drawn small crowds at my local fitness center to watch me workout on the flat bench.

I'll temper that by humbly admitting I would be a nobody at an amateur bench-press contest, but I am one of the stronger benchers at my workout center and combining that with running 5K's is something I think I could do very well at.

Not to put any runners down, God knows many of them are far-faster than I am, but most of them tend to be what I'll call "Bags Of Bones," with little upper-body muscle definition.

I'll continue to monitor this to see if there are any of these events coming up within driving distance. In the meantime, I'll continue to try to get stronger and faster, something that is actually hard to do in my opinion, I think that too much running volume can just drain you from the energy required for weight-related exercises.