The long awaited update

Hello to all three of you that read this blog. I've neglected it the past few weeks, so let's get caught up.

First off, I did make it a month without eating fast food. Nice to accomplish that goal. However, I didn't lose as much weight as I would have liked because I wasn't overly active this month.

Not that I wasn't active. I ran five miles yesterday. That's the furthest I've gone so far in my prep for the half marathon. The good news is I'm not overly sore this morning. A little bit, but nothing bad. Hopefully I can keep that going and get into a good groove.

I've also started riding my bike. I've had a flat tire for a while and only recently got it fixed. I've taken the bike out a couple times and hope to use it on days I don't run. Despite some sore leg muscles (and waking up at 4:30 for work) I plan on riding this afternoon.

Since I've left you alone for awhile, here's some Muse to make up for it. My bad.



More postings to come later...promise!

The new challenge

So, on Saturday, I promised a new challenge the next day. That would infer Sunday. Its now Tuesday.So, I reckon I should put this up.

The next challenge is not exercise related. Its fitness related though.

I'm going with fast food for a month.

Technically, I'm a week into this challenge, as I posed it to myself for when I got back from my trip to Texas. I stopped at a Hardee's on the way home and had my last fast food in a month last Monday. However, if I can make it to August 22 without eating fast food, then I'll be pleased as well.

There is one exception to this rule: Subway. Those subs are healthy, plus sometimes when I have to go cover a meeting, I need some quick foodage. there's quite a difference between a ham sandwich at subway and, say, a Double Whopper at the Burger King.


I might also allow myself the occasional Blizzard, but not often. Hey, that girl scout cookie one is good...ok, I'll lay off those too.

Will keep you posted,

Alan

(if anyone gets the die-t Garfield reference, then you may be my new best friend)

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.