Belated Wednesday weigh-in

So, I forgot to post this on Wednesday. I'm to 211. Hooray for me.

Been a light running week, but I did give blood on what would have been a running day. Somehow running three miles when one is down a pint doesn't seem like a good idea. I should be back at it tomorrow though.

Challenge accomplished

Well, I did it. I walk 3,000 steps each day his week. Sunday's count 3,861 steps.

In total this week, I walked 28,826 steps, which works out to 4.118 steps per day.

My aim is to keep up walking between 3,000 and 4,000 steps per day. We'll see how it goes. No challenge for now.

I did not run today, had no energy from waking up at 4 am. But, I should be good to go tomorrow.

Challenge: Day I fail at math

I think its day 6. I can't remember. Anyway: 3,684 steps thanks to a walk in the morning and a walk in the evening. Not a busy day on the homestead, but I got my 3,000 steps.

The week is almost up. Will our hero make it? I hope so, for I have no idea what happens if I fail a challenge.

Also, tomorrow would be running day, but I think I may give my legs another day to get back to feeling normal. If I do go running, it will be a shorter route. Perhaps a mile and a half.

Off to Map My run!

Alan

Challenge update

Just as I was going to post last night, my Internet became epic fail. Long story short, I was short of 3,000 steps, walked to the pub for a beer, and magic! I had my 3,000 steps. 3,373 in fact.

Today, I was a bit more mobile, thanks to a trip to the grocery store at 5,096 steps. And yes, I was about to call it quits earlier, but saw I was 5 steps away from 5,000. So, I wore it around the house for a little bit just to get over the hump.

I also did another 3 mile run today. Don't know if my legs were fully recovered from the last one, as I felt a bit sluggish. Still ran the whole time and smelled absolutely terrific at the end.

Hey, the blog is titled "My Sweaty T-shirt" isn't it?

Till next time,

Alan

A little bit of everything

Today's post has a little bit of everything. So, lets get to it.

I walked to the IGA to get lunch before heading to work today. Its a nice little jaunt. So little, that I had about 2,000 steps before I even got to work today. Thanks to some grocery shopping, that total got up to 4,614 steps, which works out to 1.93 miles.

After work, I went for a run, but decided to take on an additional mile. Before my usual 2-mile run, I ran my one mile loop. I've only ran it once, but I did post it here. The two runs work together fairly well. Put in a good 38 minutes of work. I'm not blowing past anything, but I had a good workout. Though it got darker before I thought it might. I'll need to invest in a reflective vest. Still, I was pleased with the run.

Somewhere along the way, I realized that today is Wednesday. That means weigh-in day. I come in at 212 pounds, meaning I've lost 8 pounds in the slightly less than 2 months I've been writing this blog. I'd call it success.

And since I've done everything else, I'll give you an iPod it. (Language NSFW)



Another Incubus song? Yes. I've adopted Make Yourself as my sort of anthem during this. Its up to me to get in shape for the half marathon, its up to me to watch out for my health. Thats my story.

I promise, no more Incubus for awhile though. But I like the two songs.

Till next time,

Alan

The Challenge: Day 2

Not only did I get to 3,000 steps today, I walked right past 3,000 steps.

5,191 for the day, thanks to some errands, plus having to walk to the courthouse to get the day's happenings. Some other various walking jobs today, but yeah. Over 5,000 steps. 2.37 miles if you're counting at home.

The challenge: Day 1

Earlier, I posed the question of "does work make you unfit?". In fact, that was the title of the post.. So, this challenge of getting 3,000 steps, each day for a week, was going to be hard, given that my work week takes up 6 days of the 7.

I made Monday the first day of the challenge because, after my cat kept me awake all of Saturday night and I did a morning shift at work with no sleep, I wasn't in any mood to walk around. I did get in a run though, so it worked out.

So, on day 1 I made it, but barely. 3,007 steps on the day. That works out to 1.37 miles. He are the things that make this challenge fairly, well challenging.

~The most common fitness tip for people on the go is "take the stairs!" Hard to do when you work in a building with no stairs.

~I live near work, so I walk when I can. Its about 400 steps. A round trip doesn't even get me 1/3 of the way there. I made 2 round trips today, which helped.

~Like most jobs, I sit there. All day. Unlike most jobs, I don't really have anywhere to go in the building and not look like a crazy person. The station I work at is a small place. Its not like making constant trips to the water cooler is going to get me major steps. The water cooler is right near my desk, actually. Its maybe 8 steps away.

Still, I made it the 3,000 steps for day 1. Its going to be challenging, but if I can make it work, I'll be better for it.

Update coming tomorrow, hopefully with more steps.

Alan

The run

Well, today's run wasn't very good. I think it boils down to a hydration problem. Something I need to work on. Pace wise, it felt good, but I was forced to walk at times. Hopefully the next run will be better. Also hopefully, that will come tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the pedometer hasn't gotten a good workout, so this is my challenge for myself. Each day this week, I want to talk 3,000 steps, independent of any running workouts I do.

3,000 steps is not a lot, but it would be a lot more than what I'm doing now.

iPod it! The Warmth-Incubus

Since making my proclamation of running a half marathon in November, I have yet to do some actual running. hence the neglect of the blog. I'm going to go running in a little bit, thanks to some musical awesomeness from Incubus.



Is it the rockingest song they've recorded? No. But, its got a nice pace to it. I'd run to it. Has a nice message to it, its fairly uplifting actually.

Will let you know how the run goes, plus a challenge to myself for the next week.

Does work really make you unfit?

There's the thought that we, as Americans, would be incredibly fit, lean mean, Tour de France riding, marathon running machines if we just didn't have to sit behind a desk all day. Those people might be on to something.

The pedometer, which is slowly getting reviewed in steps, has a nifty little feature that allows you to recall previous days. Its quite telling.

Monday-1,387 steps
Sunday-2,820 steps
Saturday-3,639 steps

None of those are huge totals, but....

Saturday I had the full day off, was able to mow the lawn and do some grocery shopping. Sunday was a half work day, and Monday was a full day at wok.

The steps you take, and the calories you burn without thinking about it count just as much as the one's that you actively try to annihilate. Though its quite possible to go on a quick walk around the block or something, its quite telling.

Perhaps in terms of fitness, we're more productive when not at work?

Injury update

After talking to my friend Nick, I decided to go get my toe looked at. He pointed out that my toe might have been broken. So, after work, I limped to the hospital (ok, I drove) and got it looked at.

After waiting forever, I finally got x-rays done. Long story short, no break, just some soft tissue damage. It'll heal in a couple days. It hurts though, so I won't be running for awhile. But, at least I can hit the road again soon, possibly this week, rather than in a month or whenever it would have been had the toe been broken.

Bruised toes and pedometers

Since my declaration a week ago of training for a half marathon I have done....

Jack.

Its embarrassing how inactive I've been. And now, I might not go running for a few more days.

I stubbed my toe Friday morning. It hurt all day, which I thought was bizarre. After work, I headed down to Carbondale to celebrate a birthday. By the time I got home (3 am), my shoe had been on my foot for quite sometime. I took off the shoe and sock on my right foot. My little toe was a nice purple color and a bit swollen. Seems I stubbed it pretty good. It still hurts pretty good, so I don't want to push off on a running stride with it.

Walking is fine though. And it just so happened that today was lawn mowing day. Also, my pedometer arrived in the mail, so I was eager to put it to use. After setting it up, I clipped it on and set out to mow the lawn. A fairly warm, humid day, so worked up a good sweat.

Final totals: 1,762 steps. 0.8 miles. Not bad, not bad at all.

The pedometer is pretty nice. The belt clip slipped a few times, but it eventually got corrected. I like the device so far, and I'll keep you posted on how the pedometer works. An official review coming up later on.

A new goal...and a gizmo

My sister and Dad completed the San Diego Marathon earlier today. Afterwards I sent my sister a congratulatory text message, as that was her first marathon. In her response she thanked me. Then asked "Do you want to run the Seattle Marathon in November?"

Yes. Yes, I do.

I have a quasi goal of getting fit for this blog. I say quasi goal because, well, what defines fit? I've lost five pounds so far. Direct me to the nearest Aircraft Carrier. I have a "Mission Accomplished" banner ready to go. Now, I have something to shoot for. Its not just get fit...its get fit for a half marathon.

I may have mentioned that I have tangoed with the Seattle Half Marathon before. The very race that made me shy away from running for awhile. Its time for round 2. I have my eyes set for the day after Thanksgiving, where myself and who knows how many fellow tryptophan ODers will be out in force on the Seattle streets.

I'm excited. I have something to build for. Before, it was "go run for two miles, get a little work in, just sweat a little." Now, its "work towards building up miles, get stronger, gain more stamina, prepare to run triumphantly into Memorial Stadium."

Yup. Its going to be awesome.

In the meantime, I've got a new gadget. Its an Omron HJ-112 Digital Premium Pedometer, which is a fancy way of saying "badass step counter". My mom gave me one of these once, and it promptly got lost somewhere Hopefully it doesn't happen with this one.

I heart gadgets, and if a regular feature of this blog is me reviewing things...I will be a happy blogger.

Alan

Good luck

I'd like to wish good luck and happy racing to my sister and dad, who today are both running in the San Diego Rock n' Roll Marathon.

Rock n' Roll AND running? Sounds like a fantastic combination to me.

For the record, my two siblings will have now run marathons. I hope to run one someday. For now though, I'm still working on my short runs.