Busiest I've ever seen the Rec. Couldn't believe it when I found an empty Stairmaster.

20 min Stairmaster - course 8, +2 levels
25 min on track - 3 miles

Ten Weeks Later

44 min on track - 5 miles

Weigh-in: 173 lbs - 2 lb drop this week. That'll work.

20 min Stairmaster, course 8, +2 levels
3x10 - 95 lb incline press
3x10 - 130 lb crunches
3x10 - 75 lb leg extension
35 min on track - 4 miles

30.5 min treadmill - 3.5 miles, 1% incline

Track and Stairmaster again.

27 min run - 3 miles on track
15 min Stairmaster - course 7, +2 levels

Busy place, so I ran on the track instead of the treadmill. I'm not a big fan of the track; it's so small that it becomes really monotonous - 14 laps for 1 mile. But the music helped keep me going, and I actually ended up with a much better pace than I expected.

36 min run - 4 miles on track
20 min Stairmaster - course 7, +2 levels

Nine Weeks Later

15 min Stairmaster - course 7, +2 levels
3x10 - 70 lb abductor/adductor
3x10 - 95 lb incline press
3x10 - 120 lb crunches
28 min treadmill - 3.1 mile

Weigh-in: 175 lbs - 5 lb drop in 9 weeks. Not great, but it's forward progress.

30 min treadmill - 3.1 mile
3x10 - 120 lb crunches
3x10 - 95 lb incline press
3x10 - 75 lb leg curl
15 min Stairmaster - course 7, +2 level

Quick workout before going to Sandy's office party.

30 min treadmill - 3.1 miles

Got some new shoes at Runner's Flat. I really like the shoes, and I thought the store was excellent. They definitely know their stuff.

30 min treadmill - 3 miles
3x10 - 120 lb crunches
3x10 - 100 lb incline press
15 min Stairmaster - course 7, +2 levels

30 min treadmill - 3 miles, 1% incline

Big workout today.

28 min elliptical - wt loss prog, resistance 8/13
3x10 - 120 lb crunches
3x10 - 80 lb leg curl
15 min Stairmaster - course 7, +2 levels
3x10 - 100 lb incline press
19 min treadmill - 2 miles

Weigh-in: 178 lb

Longer workout today.

28 min elliptical (Cybex) - wt loss prog, level 10
3x10 - 120 lb crunches
3x10 - 100 lb incline press
3x10 - 75 lb leg curl
29:30 run on treadmill - 3 mile, 1% incline


My Shuffle stopped working in the middle of the run. It's done this a few times to me - I wonder if it's getting too wet from the sweat. I wear it inside my shirt, because I don't like it swinging around. I may have to check into an armband.

Place was busier than I expected.

28 min elliptical (Precor) - wt loss prog, incline min/max: 8/15, resistance 8/13

15 min Stairmaster - course 7, +1 level

Had to cram a workout in between everything else happening today, so it was a short one.

15 min Stairmaster - course 7, bumped up 1 level
9.5 min run - 1.1 miles on indoor track

Weather sucks, so it's back to the Rec. I feel bad for Ruby, who really wants to go with me.

28 min elliptical machine - wt loss prog, incline 8 min/13 max, resistance 8 min/13 max
3x10 - 115 lb crunches
3x10 - 100 lb incline press
3x10 - 75 lb leg curl
15 min Stairmaster - course 7, bumped up 1 level.

Seven Weeks Later

Rec Center again. The weather forecast looks like I'll be spending a lot of time here instead of outside in the near future.

34 min elliptical - weight loss program - level 6
3x10 - 115 lb crunches
3x10 - 110 lb lat pulldown
3x10 - 80 lb leg extension
15 min Stairmaster - level bumped up by 1
9 min run on track - 1 mile

So, seven weeks after I started, let's weigh in: 176 lbs. Now that's what I'm talking about. Finally forward progress. My wife says that she's noticed a visible change in the past, but this is the first one that's shown up on the scale. What a relief.

Another Rec Center workout.

15 min Stairmaster - course 7, bumped up 2 levels.
3x10 - 110 lb crunches
3x10 - 100 lb shoulder press
3x10 - 80 lb leg extension
5 min elliptical machine - fitness test - hadn't ever done this before. Doubt I'll do it again, since it just has you go at a slow speed for five minutes then spits out some numbers that don't mean anything to me.
28 min elliptical machine - weight loss program - incline set to 8 min/13 max - resistance set to 10 min/13 max

Bitterly cold outside, so it was back to the Rec Center.

28 min elliptical machine - weight loss program, ramp bumped up to 12 max, resistance to 12 max
3x10 - 130 lb crunches (hard time with the last set - probably should drop to 120 lb next time)
3x10 - 100 lb shoulder press
3x10 - 75 lb leg extension
15 min Stairmaster - course 7, bumped up 2 levels

Same run as yesterday.

39 min run - 3.8 miles

Listened to Raging Bullets as I ran this time. Not the best thing for keeping the pace up, but it worked OK.

Ran to 12th and Union. Estimating the time, but it should be around 35 min. Could be off by a minute or two one direction or the other, but I feel pretty good about the 35 min guess.

35 min run - 3.8 miles


Trey Anastasio's Push On Til The Day was the big motivator for this workout.

Ran through George Wyth again with Ruby - same route as before, but went a little farther before turning around. Google Earth puts it at almost exactly 4 miles round-trip. I picked up the pace some in this run - I think running with Ruby keeps me moving faster.

35 minute run - 4 miles

Philadelphia came up again on the Shuffle; I thought I had taken it off. I skipped over it this time.

Ran while Olivia was at piano. That's not the best neighborhood for a run - not that it's unsafe or anything, but the streets are not well lit at all, and you're boxed in between University and Ansborough and the train tracks. Ended up sort of wandering the neighborhood, then took Ansborough over the river and turned around on the far side. Google Earth puts it at 3.5 miles round trip.

34 min run - 3.5 miles

When I load up the Shuffle, I put my entire workout playlist on it, then fill the remaining space with other random songs. This shakes up the playlist some, so that I don't just hear the workout songs over and over, but it runs the risk of getting some real stinkers in the workout too. Tonight, Phish's Sample in a Jar popped up, and it turns out to be a great running song - definitely getting added to the workout playlist. This was followed by Neil Young's Philadelphia. So not a workout song...

Back to the Rec Center.

26 min elliptical machine - weight loss program - ramp up four spots from default, resistance up to 12 max
3x10 - 120 lb crunches
3x10 - 100 lb shoulder press
3x10 - 75 lb leg curl
15 min Stairmaster - course 7 - level bumped to 4 spots, then halfway through the program I had to drop it down 2 spots.

Weigh-in: 180 lbs - While this is less than last week, it's such a small drop that it could just be part of the normal fluctuations in a person's weight. Still, I'll take what I can get, and count it as movement in the right direction.

Back to the Rec Center tonight, as I got home too late to take Ruby for a run. Listened to the Raging Bullets podcast as I was working out, which works pretty well for keeping the mind occupied as I go.

15 min Stairmaster - course 7 - I increased the difficulty level 2 steps above whatever the default is.
3x10 - 110 lb crunches
3x10 - 90 lb incline press
3x10 - 90 lb leg extension
26 min elliptical machine - weight loss program - increased the ramp's incline to 3 steps steeper than the default

Ran a different route tonight. Home to 12th and Union. Google Earth puts it at 3.8 miles. Ruby did a good job, though she wishes there were more lights along this path so that I could give her more room to run. As it was, I made her stick pretty close to me.

38 min run - 3.8 miles



Mike Oliveri suggests that my inability to lose weight as I've been doing this is most likely because I've been increasing my calorie intake to give me energy for my workouts. If so, I haven't been doing it consciously. But then again, I have not been watching what I eat that closely. He also refers to a Men's Health article that suggests that a gluten intolerance could be the culprit. Could be, but I'm going to be paying closer attention to my diet before worrying about that at this point. Either way, Mike's thoughts are appreciated.

Same run as yesterday. The Shuffle wouldn't work for me tonight, so I don't have a feel for how long it took, but it felt like less time than yesterday. Ruby's really taken to her role as pace car.

~33 min run - 3.3 miles