Pedometer woes

Got involved in a number of projects last night and did not post.

Had a successful visit with folks from the campus ministry at Virginia Tech.

But also had my pedometer die. Since one goal is 10,000 steps a day, that is a problem. The one silver lining is that I have made it to 10,000 steps enough days in a row to have a pretty good sense of what that takes.

I ordered a new pedometer anyhow.

Exercise (treadmill in gym): 5 days in a row
10,000+ steps: 5 days in a row
Eating well: 9 days in a row
Blood sugar readings: 13 normal in a row; 74% normal since the start

Watched a movie based on Susan Cooper's book The Dark is Rising. An okay movie - well barely. A much better book. Different media as I always say. But compared to other movies - still barely OK.

Random Ws

Worshiped at Church of the Covenant. A small congregation. Good spirit. Reminded me of Shannon City United Methodist Church which in Iowa.

Watched part of Ravens-Chiefs game but really took a nap.

Went to the gym. Walked on the treadmill. Seven days in a row of eating right. Three days in a row - feet are starting to feel better. Blood sugar reading starting to be consistently normal.

Washed clothes. Dried them, too.

Watched Packers-Ravens game on the treadmill.

Watched Bordertown, a rather harrowing look at events in Juarez where women are being killed way too often.

Wondering about rematch between Steelers and Ravens.

Will see you along the trail.

Oops

Well I have not done as well at blogging as I had hoped. I have done well in terms of eating and exercising. I have now lost track of the number of days that I have walked more than 10,000 steps. We are talking a couple of weeks or so - but still.

Packed for another trip tonight. On the way to Lake Erie Presbytery.

10,632 steps today. And got to gym.

The big news

Finally saw a rattlesnake - of course it was behind glass and in the Downtown Aquarium in Denver, but it was a rattlesnake.

Started the day on the treadmill with The Last of the Mohicans. Good stuff. I saw the last of the movie. Daniel Day-Lewis was amazing as always. I once walked a short distance with Russell Means during a demonstration in Cleveland. He's a big guy.

First stop for the day was the Downtown Aquarium. Since we planned to go to the Colorado Rockies baseball game, we parked near the stadium and walked to the aquarium. Had lunch, checked out the critters. Noticed a distinct lack of octopi. Hmmm.

Great night for baseball - a well played game. Lots of fun. $1 hot dog. Baseball should show up on my to-do list more often.

All of that was great, but the big news is that the step count for the day was 21,294. That's right. Over 20,000. That is the second time that happened. Once last summer at Ghost Ranch, the count exceeded the 20k level. So I don't know if this is a record or not. But it is the highest in over a year. And it is pretty darn good. I also managed to eat well.

Tomorrow marks the end of the vacation and the return to the Shire. Ah well. Until the next one.

See you along the trail.

Back on the treadmill

Hit the treadmill this morning at the hotel. We are headed to the Denver Aquarium and a Colorado Rockies game so I am not sure how many steps there will be. This got me over 5,500! A good start to the day - the last day of this vacation.

The Shire is empty

Tricia and Eric headed for home today. It's just me and assorted insects here at the Shire.

I had the great honor and wonderful joy of baptizing Ethan Alejandro Chan Craft, son of my friends Amanda Craft and Omar Chan. It was truly a blessing. He cried pretty much constantly - he's 13 months. Of course, he was exhausted - he fell asleep very quickly when Amanda took him and walked with him. He had also bitten his lip when I first met him. He was standing by a church pew with his dad and I went to talk to them. He fell down and the rest is history.

Painting continued at the Shire upon my return. The kitchen is painted. It remains to be put back together but that will be tomorrow night's task.

I ate out for breakfast (with Tricia and Eric - Panera's - they put the calorie count on the wall - very helpful) and for lunch (Moe's - they put the calorie count online and actually allow you to figure out the calories as you make your meal your way - helpful but one needs to know it in advance) as the kitchen is pretty disrupted.

Even with the eating out, my eating came in at the goal. I went to the gym and did 40 minutes on the treadmill. 10, 477 steps.

Movies - Three Kings and Tombstone. Neither are classics. Each has issues. But they are entertaining.

A good day.

See you along the trail.

Three at Three for Three

I have now made all three of my goals for three days in a row: eating well, 30 minutes at the gym (32 on the treadmill today - I am slowly building the number up), and 10,000 steps (10, 079 today 0r yesterday now as the case may be).

Going to the gym in the evening seems to be working. Overeating at night has been less of a challenge than in the past.

I passed on the movie in the Cardio Theater - they seem to be in a Ricky Gervais phase. I am not. I listened to my iPod.

Spartacus was the movie of the early evening. Great stuff. Great back story - Kirk Douglas helped to break Hollywood's blacklist by crediting Dalton Trumbo be credited with writing the screenplay. An act of courage in helping to create a movie about courage. Among other things.

Stagecoach - John Ford's version with Claire Trevor and John Wayne - is on now - another classic.

I also put in a brief amount of time readying a room at the Shire for painting. Lots to do.

See you along the trail.

Two in a row

Three for three accomplished once again: eating well; 32 minutes on the treadmill; and 10,040 steps. It is start. It has been a long time since I did two days in a row. Hopefully this is a trend.

The movie in the Cardio Theater was "The Invention of Lying." I only saw the end, but was not impressed.

Back to the Shire where I am watching Basil and Nigel in "Dressed to Kill" which is quite different from the 1980 DePalma film of the same title with Michael Caine and Angie Dickinson.

Three for three - finally

After a long hiatus - longer than I can remember - I got back into the self-care mode, at least for this day.

I made it to the gym and hit the treadmill for 30-minutes.

I ate well.

And I walked 10,056 steps.

Three for three!

It has been a long time since I did that. Hopefully it will not be that long again.

See you on the trail.

Why don't he write?

"I'll bet someone back east is going, 'Now why don't he write?'"

(Bonus points if you can name the character.)

It has been a while. The trail has led astray. I have been to the gym a few times since my last post. But I have had a couple of weeks of eating pretty much everything in sight and going to find things when nothing was left. Lost pounds have been regained and must be lost again.

Today was designated as a day for a new beginning - a return to the trail - recognizing that we fall down, in part, to learn how to pick ourselves up - and doing the picking again.

So far it has worked. I made it to the gym - 2.16 miles on the treadmill. I have eaten within the limits that I have set to lose weight. And I have made 10,007 steps.

One strategic change on this return. The movie at the gym today was Troy. Tomorrow it will be Last of the Mohicans. I decided to use the treadmill in the cardio-theater and was pleased at how engaging the movie was - how easy it was to walk while viewing. So, when the movie is one I want to watch I will do that and earn the right to listen to audio books through the walking.

I am in The Fellowship of the Ring. Frodo and his friends are in Buckland, aware and frightened of the black riders and preparing for a quick escape.

The journey continues.

An evening without a computer

Computers had to be left at the Presbyterian Center today to receive new security patches. That allowed some extra time at the gym which coincided with the second half of the Duke-Boston College basketball game. Duke won handily.

Time on a couple weight machines followed time on the treadmill.

The step count for the day totaled 10, 795 steps. A few too many nuts were eaten afterward.

A lot of steps left on the dresser

This morning began a bit later than recent days, sleeping in until about 9:30. I headed over to the gym not too much later. This time, I knew I would pass on the movie (Wedding Singer). I listened to the new cds from New Orleans. Great stuff!

On our Christmas trip to New Orleans, there was music everywhere - at least in the French Quarter. Music blared out of bars and various other institutions of entertainment. But there were also street musicians. It was like having a soundtrack for the trip.

Since it was a weekend, I stayed a bit longer on the treadmill than usual and did 2.6 miles. A blister seems to be developing on one of my feet so tomorrow's trip may be a bit shorter.

In the afternoon, a friend and I went to Costco. I have discovered a need for new blue jeans (the one pair I own is too big - I have enough pairs of what pass for dress pants in my life) and a belt. There are issues keeping my pants up. An intriguing problem to have on this journey.

Blue jeans and a belt were not found, but a number of other items were ranging from salmon burgers to pistachios to drain opener. Lots of walking took place - but the pedometer - and all those steps - had been left on my dresser. Sigh. I totaled 7,148 without them and would have probably exceeded the 10,000 goal had I worn it.

This evening I went to watch the Cowboys with friends - who are Cowboy fans. A good time for them!

Eating went pretty well. Chili in the bar.