Activity 06/02 - 06/08

I had a pretty good week activity-wise. 

Monday - Morning spin. I spun in the morning doing 25 rounds of 1 standing and 1 down.  Good and sweaty. 
Monday - Walked 1.5 miles after work.
Tuesday - I walked on the gazelle in the morning for 35 minutes. I have no idea how to estimate mileage on that type machine.
Wednesday - 46 minutes spinning. Nice steady zone 2.
Thursday - I took the day off from exercise although I went to the blood center and donated a double of platelets (big double - 8.8). I am trying to catch up after 3 months off (2 months deferred and then trouble getting scheduled).  I still want to donate at least 12 times this year if not more.
Friday - 3.9 miles. I took the day off Friday for a variety of reasons.  I walked to the grocery store in 100% humidity. 
Friday - Tree sawing.  I sawed down 3 trees and chopped up the branches.
Saturday - I meant to work out but it just couldn't fit into the day.  My wife was sick all day and I spent the day doing errands and housework and then the guy came to install the garage door opener and I couldn't leave while he was there all day.
Sunday - 3.8 miles walking.  I walked to the store again in light rain and then home with groceries. I picked up recycling on the way home again.

Fitbit steps:

Monday - 12,249
Tuesday - 17,115
Wednesday - 12,116
Thursday - 12,083
Friday - 20,090
Saturday - 12,465
Sunday - 15,450

Total: 101,568

Exercise 05/05 - 05/11

I am in a TDY  today and can't get my picture to upload which is really sad because it's a good picture. I have color on every day.  48 miles today for the week. 


Monday - 1.5 miles walking. I walked after work with ChocolateDaughter on her scooter until she fell. She was fine and it was a nice time with her.
Tuesday - 1.25 miles walking. I walked during some work breaks.
Tuesday - Spin 13 miles in 60 minutes.  I spun while watching Mad Men.  5 x 3 standing hills and 1 recovery. Then 15 x 1 standing hills and 1 recovery.
Wednesday - 1.65 miles walking.  I fit this in between meeting the washing machine repair guy and ChocolateWife leaving for work.  It was hot out.
Thursday - 12 mile spin. Steady zone 2.
Friday - 2.2 miles between afternoon walk at work and 30 minutes after dinner while trying to help the kids across the street get their dog back from following me.  Said kids have neither supervision nor a leash.
Saturday - 12.5 mile biking.  My first ride in months. I got down the bike and aired up the tires, oiled the chain, tested the brakes, etc. Then went for an easy ride.  Quite fun and warm.
Sunday - 3.9 miles walking to and from the grocery store.  It was warmish and the groceries got heavy but I love getting to walk to the store rather than drive.


I've lost a few more pounds from my all time high.  Continuing to work on it in a healthy way. 




Steps:
Monday - 9,254
Tuesday - 6,435
Wednesday - 10,020
Thursday - 7,096
Friday - 9,697
Saturday - 8,557
Sunday - 14,030 *


Total:  65,089


ChocolateWife got me a FitBit for Mother's Day.  I have been considering one for a long time but haven't wanted to spend the money but she went ahead and got it. I am quite excited about it although it did not log as many steps as my phone app on the way to and from the store on Sunday. I actually know my approximate step count per minute and it undercounted that count.  So... we'll see.

Activity 3/24 - 3/30

I took lots and lots of steps this week.  I'd say that most of the week I did a great job just fitting in what I could fit in. 

Monday - 3.6 miles in 1:15.  My wife had been out of town all weekend helping her folks so I told her on the phone that I needed to go for a walk when she got home.  It was lovely to just breathe deeply and be alone for that time.
Tuesday - 2.5 miles in 50 minutes.  It's a combination of lunch time walk to meet a friend, afternoon break walk, and walk with the family and dogs after work. 
Wednesday - Spin biking.  1 hour interrupted: The traditional... Warm up, 10 x 2 minute standing hill 1 minute recovery,warm down, stop, put the kids to bed, lay down with the 6 year old, get up, ride 20 minutes mostly steady seated resistance.
Thursday - Walk 2.55 miles in 55 minutes.  Walked on break at work and also with the family after work. 
Friday - 4.15 miles in 1:15.  I walked on my morning break and then left work early to enjoy being outside. I walked to the store for food for dinner and just barely beat the rain and hail home.
Saturday - 3.65 miles in 1:05.  Early morning walk.  Crisp and clear. 
Sunday - 1.5. mile walk. I woke up all stuffy and with a sore throat.  I took an allergy pill but still felt like crap all day.  Still, I felt too still so I took a 30 minute walk. 

Steps:Monday - 17,123 *
Tuesday - 11,308
Wednesday - 8,296
Thursday - 13,804
Friday - 16,005
Saturday - 16,701
Sunday - 8,451
Total - 91,688 **

* New one day record!
** New one week record!

Activity 03/17 - 03/23

This was the first of a few very busy weeks for the family.  Busy weeks that don't really lend themselves to a lot of exercise.  Add to that the fact that the treadmill seems to be broken and ...

Monday - I took a lunchtime walk of 2.5 miles and then 1.6 after work with my little girl on her bike. All in all I managed to put together > an hour of walking so I was pretty happy with that.
Tuesday - I walked for about 30 minutes while a co-worker was at the doctor's appointment I drove her to.  It was nice out. Employees kept asking if I was having trouble finding an office.  Later, I did a spin workout for an hour.  I really burned my legs doing 5 sets of 3 minute seated hills with 1 minute recovery. Then I did 5 sets of 2 minute seated hills with 1 minute recovery.  Ow.
Thursday - 55 minutes of steady easy spin.
Friday - 2.0 miles walking during lunch and then afternoon walk to the bank.
Saturday - 1:05 spinning. I found a good and free spin class on YouTube and tried one.  Really hard interval work but then the internet connection hung up at about 35 minutes so I finished it out sort of emulating those intervals.
Sunday - 1:10 spinning.  I did 1 and 1 intervals.  5 sitting, 5 standing until I was done.  Hard but not killer. 

I tried to keep my steps up throughout the week whether it was pacing while cooking or laundry or walking to the mailbox. 

Steps:
Monday - 14,705
Tuesday - 10,334
Wednesday - 9,182
Thursday - 7,016
Friday - 12,212
Saturday - 10,674
Sunday - 8,170
Total - 72,293

Activity 03/10 - 03/16

Last week was not nearly as impressive as the previous few weeks.  I was hit really hard by daylight savings time which has never happened before.  In the past, I've always woken up extra early in the weeks following both time switches.  Not this year.  I felt exhausted all week and even woke up to the alarm three times last week (usually I wake to the alarm about 1-2 times a month).  My summary:

Monday - 2 miles walking including a short break at work and walking while the kids rode their bikes after work.
Tuesday - 2.25 miles including a short break at work and then walking on the treadmill while cooking dinner. 
Wednesday - 45 minutes on the spin bike.  22 rounds of 1 standing hill and 1 recovery.  Good workout.
Friday - I walked downtown with a friend at lunch time.  1.5 miles.
Sunday - 3.5 miles in the morning. It was crisp and cold but not drizzly so it was quite nice. 

Steps:
Monday - 13,058
Tuesday - 11,131
Wednesday - 10,703
Thursday - 9,749
Friday - 10,168
Saturday - 5,924
Sunday - 12,182
Total - 72,915

Step summary - So even though I didn't get as much formal exercise in, I did manage a respectable number of steps (55 more than the previous week). 

Activity 03/03/ - 03/09

Another good active week.  I managed more consistent steps I think but we'll find out when I total the steps below. 

Monday - Good spin. I warmed up, then 20 rounds of 1 minute seated climb, 1 minute recovery, then warmed down.  Got a very good burn going.
Tuesday - Another good hard spin.  After warm up, I did 5 x 3 minutes standing hill with 1 minute recovery. Then another 5 x 2 minutes standing hill and 1 minute recovery.
Wednesday - Walking an hour on the treadmill and 15 minutes during my afternoon break at work.  3.5 miles combined.
Thursday - Walked on the treadmill and also 20 minutes while waiting for an appointment.  For some reason I don't see it on the graph.
Friday - 2 miles on walking to lunch and another 10 minutes around the building on break.
Saturday - I went for a walk in gloomy and sprinkling weather. After about 30 minutes it poured and I got soaked walking home.  It was around 2 miles in 40 minutes.
Saturday part 2 - Spin about 14 miles in 1 hour.  I did 25 x 1 minute hill and 1 minute recovery and alternated sitting and standing for the hills.  Very hard and good.
Sunday - Steady spin. I went 40 minutes steady. 

Steps:
Monday - 4,455
Tuesday - 15,090
Wednesday - 10,790
Thursday - 11,027
Friday - 12,683
Saturday - 10,260
Sunday - 8,555
Total - 72,860

Activity 2/24 - 03/02

I had another good week this week.  I know that my steps were lower than last week but still a good week:

Monday - 60 minute spin while watching our Monday evening silly ABC Family TV shows.  I cranked up the resistance every 2 minutes for 3 separate cycles but still felt like it as a bit blah.
Tuesday - 3 mile walk in 60 minutes.  I got up in the morning to walk with Coach Jeff as he ran 24 hours to raise money for his medical treatment. 
Wednesday - Really good early spin. I watched the end of Food Inc., then a bit of Friday Night Lights on Netflix.  I did 15 x 1 minute standing hill/1 minute recovery. Then 5 x 2 minute standing hill /1 seated recovery.
Thursday - I have no memory why I have nothing on the day or what the day looked like...
Friday - 1.6 miles in 28 minutes. I walked to the library to return a book and check a few out over lunch. I was just gorgeous outside.
Saturday - 3.5 miles in 1:05. I went for a walk in the fog and drizzle and it actually felt wonderful. We have a ceramic space heater and I find that when I wake up in the morning I am quite stuffed up.  I had been running the humidifier but then it got warmer and I put it away... 
Sunday - 1.9 miles in 34 minutes. I walked to the store.  I planed to walk both ways but on the way the wind blew and the temperature dropped 20 degrees (no exaggeration) and then it started to rain as I was at the store.  The family came to pick me up and it all turned out for the best because we had company in the afternoon and I could help clean the house.
Sunday #2 - I spun in the evening while watching the Oscars.  The awards shows are not quite the same thing if you haven't seen most of the movies. Still a nice evening.  Between warm up/down I did 20 x 1 minute seated hill and 1 minute recovery.  Wow. My legs burned.

Steps:
Monday - 6,249
Tuesday - 12,425
Wednesday - 7,871
Thursday - 5,576
Friday - 8,213
Saturday - 11,331
Sunday - 9,955
Total - 61,620

Activity 2/17 - 2/23

I had another good activity week. I notice that since I've given myself permission to work just any activity into my day, since I've said it's ok if it's just 10 minutes, I've been able to be active nearly every day.  And most days I'm not getting interrupted at 10 minutes.  It's sort of magical. 

Monday - 3.8 miles in 1:04.  I walked to the store and back to get stuff to make dinner.  I love doing that!
Tuesday - Treadmill walk of 1.75 miles in 35 minutes before making dinner for the kids and I.  Then spun while watching the Olympics - 40 minutes.  I did 15 rounds of 1 minute seated climb and 1 minute recovery. 
Wednesday - Busy day with kid well checks and wife chiropractic and working part of the day at home.  I hit the treadmill to get in 3.1 miles walking in an hour. 
Thursday - Awesome spin!  An hour with 3 rounds going 3 minutes standing hill, 3 minute recovery, 2 minutes standing hill, 2 minute recovery, 1 minute standing hill, 1 minute recovery.
Friday - Lunch time walk on an errand.  2.2 miles in 40 minutes.
Saturday - Neighborhood walk sandwiched into a busy day. 3.09 in 58 minutes.
Sunday - Early morning neighborhood walk.  It was lovely out and I waited for the sun to come out and then enjoyed the stillness.3.52 miles in 1:04.

Every week when I go to print that picture above, I notice that some of my workouts are listed on the wrong day and I have to change.  This week it occurred to me that maybe dailymile thinks I'm in another time zone.  Sure enough that was the issue.  Of course now, it shifted my workouts again...

Monday I made my 4th blood platelet donation of the year.  I went for a triple and unfortunately that was a bit too long.  I felt sick and they had to pull the needle quickly.  On the upside, it was a valid donation and my platelets helped numerous patients.  On the downside, I'm now deferred for 8 weeks. 

Steps:
Monday - 11,463
Tuesday - 10,438
Wednesday - 13,759
Thursday - 4,845
Friday - 10,470
Saturday - 12,720
Sunday - 15,148
Total - 78,843

Exercise 2/3/2014 - 2/10/2014

I haven't posted an Exercise log in a long time but I've been feeling like it's time to get back to it.  I'm trying to make sure that I get some activity every day or if not every day, 5-6 days a week.  Some days it's 30 minutes walking, some days spin biking.  I re-installed a walking counter on my phone last Monday.  I know that the counter is not accurate (under counting, not over) but it's still a good measure for me and motivates me to go just a little farther every day. 

Monday - I walked for 30 minutes (1.75 miles) at lunch time.  Then spun 45 minutes/9 miles (estimate) in the evening. I was super stressed and upset in the evening so the spin was a matter of mental and emotional health.
Tuesday - I spun an hour while watching Food, Inc. I haven't finished it but am close.  What a very good movie.  Warmed up. Then 15 x 1 standing hill, 1 recovery. Then 5 x 2 standing hill, 1 recovery. And warmed down.
Wednesday - My friend and I walked down to Chipotle for lunch.  30 minutes and 1.75 miles.  Then I got in another 1.5 miles/30 minutes on the treadmill between dinner and kid bedtime.
Thursday - No activity but my normal walking around and folding laundry because I donated platelets.  It was my third donation of 2014 and 2nd triple of the year.  I'm very happy with my donations so far this year.
Friday - Treadmill walk of 3.05 in an hour. 
Saturday - I went for an outside and sunny beautiful walk.  3.50 miles in 1:05. 
Sunday - I again went for a walk on an even more beautiful day.  Chocolate Daughter went with me to start but she has been sick and we didn't want to tire her out.  Total was about 3.25 miles in 1:05.

My step app shows:
Monday - 8,190 but I only installed it around noon so assuming I walked 2000 steps in the morning, I was over 10,000 for the day. Also I did a spin in the evening.
Tuesday - 7,385 steps plus spin.
Wednesday - 12,430
Thursday - 5,980 (platelet donation)
Friday - 13,766
Saturday - 13,648
Sunday - 12,876
Total: 74,275

Activity 06/10 - 06/16

Monday - 1.5 miles walking while ChocolateDaughter rode her bike.  Fun walk.
Tuesday - 10 miles Cycling in 48 minutes.  A very refreshing and good but hot bike ride. I came home before an hour because I thought I would ride with ChocolateDaughter but she was busy.
Wednesday - 4.05 in 1:00 on the treadmill. Mostly walking. I wanted to run some but just felt too hot. 
Saturday - 15.7 miles Cycling in 1:13.  Nice ride with high humidity.  Got home and CD was riding around so she and I rode another 1.5 miles.
Sunday - 2.06 mile walk in 32 minutes while both kids rode their bikes.  They did really well taking turns leading.


Steps - 53,182
My steps weren't as good as in previous weeks.  I can't post the daily steps because Noom rolled out a new app called Noom Walk and I don't see that I can access daily totals any longer.  So I only see weekly steps. Still, I should be getting >= 70,000.

Activity 06/03 - 06/09

I feel like there are some things not showing up on this pic but ... 

Monday - Strength training workout. Coach Jeff's set up. 
Tuesday - 1.6 walk to library.
Tuesday - 3.56 walk/run in 1:00. Tried to do a treadmill run in the garage. I turned on Doctor Who for the kids and set my watch to zone 2.  It was hot.  Very hot. Extremely hot.  I ran for about 15 minutes.  Then later another 3-4.  Mostly it was walking. 
Wednesday - 2.0 in 40 minutes in the garage.  Ok. Tuesday it was so hot I was afraid I would pass out.  The garage faces West.  So I brought home a thermometer a friend has at work and put it in the sun/out of the sun by the treadmill (half in/half out at that time of day).  Here are the results:

Yeah... we moved the treadmill into the house on Thursday. I think that will be more sane.
Wednesday -  20 minutes core. I usually do 30 minutes but between the heat of the treadmill and getting the kids fed and being hungry myself, I cut it at 20.  Good work though.
Thursday - Cycling 15.5 in 1:17.  I took time off work to donate blood platelets but my iron was low (37). It was my first time in a while to fail the crit check.  Since I was off anyway (and using leave time) I rode my bike.  As I turned onto our street, there was ChocolateDaughter pedaling away on her bike for the first time! 
Sunday - Cycling 12.5 in 1:03.  I got up early to fit a ride into our busy day.  Glad I did too as it was a total downpour shortly after I got home. 

Weight - ?? I don't know. I've been frustrated and feeling blech so I've done no calorie tracking and didn't weigh this week. I will get back to it.

Steps - A lot of either not carrying my phone or it not tracking while I'm on the treadmill but here are the numbers anyway:
Monday - 10,018
Tuesday - 13,379
Wednesday -  7,953
Thursday - 9,980
Friday - 3,087
Saturday - 1,862
Sunday - 8,801

Activity 05/27 - 06/02

It was a bit of a strange week as part of the family was still out of town and then they got back and it stayed a strange week.  I got in some workouts:

Monday - 3.08 Treadmill walk in 1:00.  My son was not very patient. We had an agreement to go get FroYo and he nagged me about when we were going. He also asked if the Santa Claus myth exists just to get kids to go to bed. 
Tuesday - Core work.  30 minutes of good core work on the floor and ball.
Wednesday - 5 miles in 1:15 or so at Walnut creek.  A good mix of running and walking.  Did 1:00/1:00 ratio and sweat like a pig in 86 degrees.  Joy was the portopotty in the parking lot at the end of this one.
Wednesday - I did a short chest/back/legs workout. Basically I did the Coach Jeff workout but skipped the core work since I had done full core the day before.
Friday - 4.0 miles.  I got off work early on because of was our company picnic.  I walked to the store and back with a little bit of food.  Very hot - 90. 
Saturday - Nice bike ride.  15 miles in <1:15.  I didn't push it and it felt great.  I fully intended to do strength training later in the day but had a bad experience at lunch and my stomach did not settle well after that.
Sunday - The best laid intentions and all that...  I woke up with stomach cramps like heartburn and it lasted all day (literally every moment of the day).  The family took a short (30 minute) walk/bike ride around the neighborhood but that was it.

Weight 
My weight was up a few ounces to 167.8.  Arggghh.

Steps
My step count was plagued by times that I didn't have my phone in my pocket and one day that the phone clearly didn't count steps well.  But here are the numbers anyway:
Monday - 11,192
Tuesday - 7,160
Wednesday - 13,107
Thursday - 4,863
Friday - 11,625
Saturday - 6,057
Sunday - 5,901

I'd like to get those counts back up this week. 

Activity 5/20 - 5/26

A pretty good week:

Monday - 1.25 mile walk. I did a quick walk at lunch.  It was hot enough that I actually came inside and walked in the tunnels a bit.
Tuesday - 4.0 run and walk in 1:00.  Jesus it was hot and humid out.  I did my walking warm up and then started 2:00/1:00. Then 1:00/1:00. Finally I just switched to running between the zone 2 beeps on my watch and then walked back to the office.
Tuesday - 30 minute Core Workout.  Such a good core workout.
Wednesday - 1.5 walk.  I would have done more but a hard day at home left my workout out of the question. While the wife laid down with our daughter to put her to bed, I went for a neighborhood walk.
Thursday - 3.3 in 1:05 walk.  I walked to the dry cleaners and back to drop off the clothes.  Very hot out 88 with 85% humidity.  Nice to do an errand.
Friday - 3.05 in 40 minutes run (13:06) plus 1.00 walking warm up/down.  First chance to use the new/used treadmill.  It was too hot and still in the garage so I cut the running short.
Saturday - Strength training. I did the Coach Jeff total body workout for the first time in months.  Very challenging. I need to start doing some strength training at least 2x a week.
Saturday - 3.05 walking in 1:00.  Treadmill walk in the garage. My son watched an episode of Doctor Who, then came out to nag me to stop.
Sunday - 4.5 in 1:00 (12:53) plus .5 walking warm up/down.  A good run at 2:00/1:00 with the fan moving the hot/humid air around. I don't know if I could do this in temps 15 degrees warmer without passing out. I wanted to run longer but my son nagged the entire time for me to stop.  I was not feeling supported at all...

Weight:
Sunday 167.3 so I'm down .3 for the week and 2.7 overall.  Obviously I'd like to be seeing better results....

Steps:
Monday - 10,073
Tuesday - 10,829
Wednesday - 9,600
Thursday - 13,663
Friday - 12,387
Saturday - 8,032*
Sunday - 18,579

* Saturday I checked the step count while I was on the treadmill for an hour.  It recorded around 1000 steps.  By my calculation it should have gotten around 7200.  So that should be well over 13,000 or even 14,000 steps.

Activity 05/13 - 05/19

Yeah... that's what it looks like.  Let's detail:

Monday - Walked 3.15 in 1:00 during lunch. I came in early to take an hour lunch but it is getting too hot to do that until Fall.
Tuesday - Core Work - 30 minutes.  A good session. I was home with the kids all day and all evening. That's very unusual for our family. I think it may be the first time ever in fact that I've had both kids for 12+ hours.  ChocolateWife had a conference, we met her for dinner, and then she saw clients in the evening.  So there was no chance to do any other exercise.
Wednesday/Thursday - I woke up Wednesday feeling crummy with some sort of stomach bug, went work, worked 2 hours and came home. Spent the rest of Wednesday and all Thursday at home eating a lot of starches which were the only thing that sounded/felt ok and hanging out. 
Sunday - 4.5 in 1:25 hiking/running. Finally felt back to normal.  I went for a hike/run at Walnut Creek Park.  It was very humid and I was just enjoying being out and burning some calories.  Did 2:00 walking/1:00 running. 

Weight:
167.6.  I gained 1.8 pounds this week which doesn't surprise me at all.  The carbs/no working out combination is doom to losing weight.  I'm ready to get back on target though. 

Steps:
Monday - 13,247
Tuesday - 8,272
Wednesday - 1,530
Thursday - 4,638
Friday - 4,556
Saturday - 7,455
Sunday - 15,786

Total: 55,484

Also, I bought a used Treadmill on C r a i g s l i s t.  It was $100 and the guy actually brought it over in his car because I would have had to go home and take out the car seats from mine.  It's in the garage and I bought an extension cord.  Basically I want to have more flexibility to fit in a run or even just 20 minutes of walking when leaving the house isn't an option. 

Activity 05/06 - 05/12

I have a very medium week.  No big spectacular workouts but no crashes and burns either.  Not enough steps...

Monday - 1.6 mile walk at lunch time.
Tuesday - 4.0 mile walk at lunch time. I should have run but my stomach was not of the good from the moment I woke up and I didn't want to chance something ugly.  A very nice walk and good pace (17:00 miles).
Tuesday - 30 minute core work.  Very good work.  All the usual suspects.
Wednesday - Bike ride 13.37 in 59.  (13.7 mph). That's fast for me.  Now that I've got my mechanical issues resolved (for a few days) I am riding a bit faster. 
Thursday - 4.0 walk with running in 1:00.  Very slow.  Mostly walking with a bit of running.  I did not feel well before I set out.  Still, I'm amazed at how slowly I'm moving in these run/walks. 
Saturday - 5.05 in 1:20.  I intended to ride my bike but had a hole in my tire and tube so switched to a walk/run.  Felt run down and slow and I was slow.  Again, I find it shocking how slow I am.  Part of me doesn't care about speed because I'd prefer to walk but want the calories burned from running but another part wonders if I'm actually doing "damage" by doing it this way. 
Sunday - I went and volunteered at a race in the morning rather than working out in the morning. And then the family was going to hike but we decided to just not.  Instead we celebrated Mother's day by crafting while watching Downton Abbey and then visiting our friends. 

Weight:

4/8 - 170.0
4/14 - 169.5 (-.5)
4/21 - 166.7 (-2.8)
4/27 - 167.6 (+0.9)
5/4 - 166.2 (-1.4)
5/11 - 165.8 (-.4)

So it's moving and in the right direction.  I think I need to be more active and also eat less candy to lose more.  15.8 pounds to go!

Steps:
Monday - 10,614
Tuesday - 14,304
Wednesday - 7,095
Thursday - 12,613
Friday - 3,933
Saturday - 13,641
Sunday - 4,166

Total - 66,366

Exercise 04/29 - 05/05

Not too pressing but it was a nice week for me. 

Tuesday - 3.9 miles walking in 1:10.  Again I forgot my sports bra and had to walk instead of run.  I printed up a list and will attach it to my gear crate so hopefully this will be the last time.
Wednesday - 11.5 bike in 58.  Lovely ride in a lot of sunshine but having some mechanical issues. I called my brother and asked him about it. From my description he suggested either user error or bad bearings in the rear wheel.  Not to keep any (I don't know if there are any) readers in suspense - I took my bike to the shop Saturday and user error is the answer.  The brake thing was not pulled far enough so it was rubbing and causing issues in tightening down the wheel.  I'm looking forward to riding without dealing with that. 
Thursday - 3.6 miles in 47 (13:03) plus walking warm up/down.  I did 2:00/1:00 throughout and felt really good about it. I was able to keep my HR down throughout and keep it up.  Not fast but felt good.  Oh and it was 53 degrees out with a 14 mph wind.  In Texas! 
Saturday - 30 minute core work.  Then a 4 mile walk to the grocery store and back. 
Sunday - I was feeling somewhat lazy and didn't really want to go for a long bike ride or run so it was perfect when a friend texted to say did we want to hike.  ChocolateDaughter and I met the friend and her dog for an easy hike before gathering the rest of our families and going to a birthday party.  We probably only went about 2 miles but it was lovely. 

Weight:
4/8 - 170.0
4/14 - 169.5 (-.5)
4/21 - 166.7 (-2.8)
4/27 - 167.6 (+0.9)
5/4 - 166.2 (-1.4)

Steps:
Monday - 8,517
Tuesday - 12,189
Wednesday - 8,110
Thursday - 11,655
Friday - 9,712
Saturday - 16,017
Sunday - 9,734
Total - 75,934

I donated a small triple of platelets on Thursday.  Not coincidentally I learned that it is a bad idea to get very cold before donating platelets.  The run done in 53 degree weather immediately before and combined with the cold temperature in the center made my donation very difficult. I will not make that mistake again.

Exercise 04/22 - 04/28

I had another good week although I felt like I ate more (and worse) than I should. That probably shows in my weekly weigh-in (I gained 0.9 pounds at weigh in Saturday).  Still:

Monday - I feel like I probably walked around at lunch hour but I'm not seeing it on the graph.  I also did a 30 minute core workout. I combined exercises from pre-dawn and the box of cards I got. 
Tuesday - 4.2 in 50 (11:54) plus walking warm up/down.  The phone GPS showed less but it was obviously off so I mapped it and came up with slightly more than this. I sort of split the difference.  Ran 1:30/:45 intervals on the hills by the university.  Very humid.
Wednesday - 11.5 in 1:00 biking.  Easy heading out and then hard coming back. Either I hit the wind or was having trouble with my bike again.  Or some combination of the two.
Thursday - 4 miles in 1:00. Mostly just walking with a few minutes of running. Very tired legs. 
Saturday - 4.2 miles in 1:20. All walking.  Very humid out. 
Sunday - 16.28 in 1:20 biking.  Very nice ride but the ground was wet. I hit one spot of mud and started to skid out. I kept myself upright and was quite impressed. 
Sunday - 30 minutes core work.  Very challenging. I mixed the Pre-dawn and the box of fitness cards.  I was already feeling too hot in the house and was pretty much drenched by the end of the core work.  Later ChocolateWife wanted to try some core exercises and noticed that the box shows a few other core moves mixed in. 

As I said my weight was up .9 pounds as of Saturday. But I had worse diet as well as getting my period on Sunday so that probably had some effect. 

I'm still using my phone and Noom to count my steps. I find it very motivating but I'm also aware that it is not all that accurate.  I went for a walk on Saturday and did a few spot checks.  My actual step count was about 120 steps per minute and the phone was logging 70 steps per minute (a very big difference).  Still, it's fun to sort of note the steps and strive to reach the (increasing) goal every day.

Monday - 7,808
Tuesday - 15,320
Wednesday - 9,305
Thursday - 11,652
Friday - 9,502
Saturday - 12,013
Sunday - 9,007

Total: 74,607

As you can see, it is obvious that it's not an accurate count and it awards some steps for bike rides (Wednesday and Sunday) but it's still fun to look at.

Exercise 04/15 - 04/21

Monday - 1.82 miles in 30 minutes. Easy lunch time walk.
Tuesday - 3.7 miles in 1:10 walking. I was going to run but my stomach was very iffy so I walked instead.
Wednesday - 3.6 miles in 45 minutes (12:30) run/walking plus .65 in 15 walking warm up/down.  I started at 2:00 run/1:00 walk but ended up dropping to 1:30/1:00 and finally 1:00/1:00 because of the humidity.  I've got to acclimatize.
Thursday - 2.5 miles in 45 minutes walk to and from lunch.
Friday - Core work for 30 minutes. I combined the exercises from the Pre-dawn runner routine from the ones in the the cards I ordered last week.  It was a nice workout (or as nice as a core workout can reasonably be) and gave me some new exercises. 
Saturday - 20.4 cycling in 1:42.  Lovely ride. I feel like my legs are getting stronger. I'm riding more in 12th and even 13th than a month ago.  I think this was my longest ride ever. 
Sunday - 5 miles hiking/running at Walnut Creek part in 1:40.  Not fast but it was hiking so that's to be expected. The first hour I did 2:00 walking/1:00 running, then I just walked (hiked).  I was going to meet up with a friend and her dog but some days our phones/texting don't play nice together and this was one of those days. 

Other notes about the week:
* I'm really enjoying the combination of the meditation bell reminder to move around and the pedometer tracking.  It's hard to track at much at home because I don't wear pants with pockets that often and it's strange to carry my phone in my hand to get the laundry or get a drink.  Still, my steps according to the phone were:
Monday - 6724
Tuesday - 11,388
Wednesday - 11,199
Thursday - 12,001
Friday - 6,567
Saturday - 7,562 (biking not counted or sort of counted)
Sunday - 14,107

Total: 69,548

Obviously the goal is to get every day > 10,000. 

* I lost 2.6 pounds between my weigh-in 4/14 and 4/21! 

* My heel is acting up.  It gets tight progressively the more I've run and walked.  A day of rest helps tremendously but I don't want to rest my heel. I want to be active every day.  I actually suspect the issue is walking in my running shoes which are low (4 mm) drop shoes.  They are fine to run but I don't think good for walking. I need to just go buy new/more traditional shoes.

* As a part of the running community and the community of Americans and humans, I'm upset by the Boston Marathon bombings.  I think it's particularly scary because it could be anywhere: a race, a little league game, an art show-- any place people are gathered.  Nonetheless, I'm impressed and proud of the running community's reaction that the way to go is to be strong and proud and keep running and cheering. 

Exercise Report 04/08 - 04/14

Monday - I took a quick walk at lunchtime.  1.5 miles in 30 minutes and jogged up the stairs to end it. 
Tuesday - Walk/Run 3.5 miles in 55 minutes.  Again, I mixed in running with walking to do a 1:00/1:00.  I ran over at the track and it was just lovely. 
Wednesday - 1.7 mile walk in 30 minutes ending with the stairs.  It was 40 degrees and had just rained a lot but I walked over to the library to return some books and then to 7-11 for some bananas.  Perfect walk for lunch time.
Thursday - 3.5 miles running in 47 minutes plus warm up/down.  I went to Pease Park and ran on the trails.  Still a 1:00/1:00 so I'm not pushing anything but I'm increasing mileage and calories. 
Saturday - 17.5 miles riding in 1:28.  A lovely day for a bike ride. I adjusted my read wheel and cleaned the brakes so that it was a really smooth ride. 
Sunday - 15.1 miles riding in 1:15.  It was windier and sunnier than the day before but I had a nice ride.  I usually ride in 10-11th gear depending on hills and occasionally 12th.  I noticed that this weekend I was riding primarily in 12th with a few downshifts to 11th for hills.  So I have to assume that my legs are getting stronger. 

I'm maintaining my calories and calorie count. I think I went over calories one day last week by maybe 100 calories. Most days I'm under by 100-300 calories.  I get a baseline allowance of 1500 from the app and then whatever exercise I do, I get 1/2 those calories.  My clothes feel a bit more comfortable but the needle on the scale hasn't moved yet. 

One of my co-workers came by my desk the week before last.  She was one of the people really interested in the stand-up desk and she asked about it.  Then we were talking and she said that she read that you really should get up every 15 minutes - that even every hour is not enough.  Thinking about that I installed a meditation bell timer on my phone. On silent, it lights up every 15 minutes (approximately) and I try to stand up (at minimum) or walk around a few minutes (at best). 

I also started using the Noom app to count my steps daily.  That has some limitations including:

• Obviously the app only counts steps if you have the phone with you.  If you're going to the bathroom or shower or whatever, no counting.
• The step count does not seem accurate when on a run/walk.  One day I calculated that my steps during my lunch time run/walk should have been around 7500.  The app counted about 3500.  It seems to do better in a walk without any running and seems to do better if the phone is in my pocket than if it is on the armband.
• It adds some number of steps to the count when I ride my bike but it's not a # equal to my cadence.  My riding cadence is probably 170-175 per minute (10200 per hour).  It probably added 3500 - 4000 steps per hour to my counts. 

That said, I think for me the two things - meditation/move around reminder and step counting are good for me.  My step counts last week (such as they are were):

Tuesday (partial day) - 8689 (only about 3500 steps for the run/walk).
Wednesday - 7927
Thursday - 12,741
Friday - 7,586
Saturday - 8,482
Sunday - 5,029

So obviously you have to take the #s with a grain of salt when considering the bike riding as well but I think it's a nice measure and incentive, particularly when I'm at work.  Perhaps my goal should be 4000 steps while at work?