“It’s got to happen, happen some time.
Maybe this time I’ll win.”
–“Maybe This Time,” Cabaret

Miles Last Week: 47
Total Miles: 708

In this world, there are two types of planking.

The first type looks a bit like this:

It’s really simple. You just lay there, face down with your arms at your sides and your legs together, very much like a plank of wood–hence the name. Planking in weird places kind of became a big thing a couple of years ago, but it’s pretty much over now. If you don’t remember the movement, don’t worry. You missed a couple of chuckles and “That person is crazy for doing that on a billboard,” and that’s about it.

The second type of planking looks a bit like this:

This one’s a bit trickier. You have to hold yourself up on your elbows and toes while keeping the rest of your body straight. If you’ve ever done it, you know that you really feel it in your core and it’s usually only about ten seconds before your whole body starts shaking from the effort.

When a friend of mine recently posted a 30-Day Planking Challenge on Pinterest, it was unfortunately the second type of planking that was challenged.

My reaction to this pin came in three stages:

1. Oh, planking for thirty days. Maybe I could do that.
2. YOU GET UP TO FIVE MINUTES?! Oh, no. I definitely can’t do that.
3. Well… maybe I can…

So, yesterday I did that second type of planking for twenty seconds, and I’ll do it again today. Tomorrow, I’ll do thirty seconds, and I’ll keep going until I can perhaps get up to five minutes on September 1st.

I’m sure there will be several points at which I will wish that I can substitute the second type for the first type of planking, but, unfortunately, that’s not what Pinterest dictates. I’m ruled by the Internet.