One thing I've learned from my two years of pitifully attempting to run is that shoes are everything. When I first started running, I simply picked up some random and fairly moderately priced training shoes. New balance, I believe they were. Big mistake. They didn't fit quite right, and generally made running a horrible experience for me that first year. A sore knee and hip finally convinced me to try new shoes. My next pair I got from a store called "The Running Room". The were very helpful, and did a gait analysis and took a look at my arches. That sort of thing. Eventually I purchased a pair of Saucony's, which were much better. The Saucony's were heavy, though. And wore out pretty quickly. Eventually I found the perfect shoe. Asics Gel Kayano 15's (then later, 16's). For anyone with low arches who needs a moderate stability shoe, this is a fantastic choice. The downside? It's spendy. 130 bucks or so.

Run Time: 26 minutes

Run Distance: No clue

So today is day 1 of tracking my exercise via blog. Huzzah. Being a Tuesday, it means I'm due for a run. I've got a head cold today that I picked up over the weekend, so I'm surprised that I was able to run fairly well today. I ran on the indoor track at the Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center (heretofore referred to as the DAHLC) as opposed to running outside or on a treadmill. I hate treadmills, I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere, and I never am able to get a natural stride going. It always feels like I'm a little too slow or a little too fast. Outside is not really an option for me right now either, as I'm asthmatic, and asthmatics don't run well in the cold and wet of a Minnesota March. Also, I'm kind of a wuss like that.

You may have noticed that I don't keep track of my run distance. I've come to the conclusion that it's a somewhat meaningless number. Unless it's an interval run day or some strict training plan for a marathon or something, distance doesn't indicate how hard I ran, or even how good of a workout I had. I used to track my distances religiously, but some guy who's way smarter than me wrote in a Runner's World article that it's a good plan to just track running time. Not distance. The other reason I don't track my distance is because the DAHLC running track is 1/10 mile, and I lose track counting laps...

So this may seem narcissistic but I'm also planning on posting pictures of myself here to track how I look, and how I change as a result of exercise. Along with that, I'll try to post some of my lifting stats and measurements in case someone out there on the world wide internets wants to know how much awesomer they are than me.

My Stats:

Height: 5 foot 11 3/4 inches.

Weight: 190 (taken around noon. I weigh more in the evenings)

Waist: 35 inches

My Pic:

So I had the thought that I wanted to track my exercise progress via blog. I find that I have a lot more success when I rigorously track my workouts, plus it's nice to be able to see what I've accomplished over the weeks, months and now years. Initially I was going to make a new blog, but I realized that I have this old one sitting around, so I may as well re-use it for my new purpose. Besides, it's likely that I'll wimp out and give up on blogging my exercise stuff within a week or two anyhow. No need to create blog-bloat, if you catch my drift.

Anyway, my general workout schedule is as follows:

Monday - Lift

Tuesday - Run

Wednesday - Lift

Thursday - Run

Friday - Lift

Saturday - Run

Sunday - Rest

Hopefully I'll be able to catalog my results and thoughts here, and get them out of my tattered old gym notebook. Time will tell.

Some pictures from the 70's day we had at work. Check those bells out. I made those myself! (With some help from my Aunt and my Aunt's friend. So I guess I didn't really make them myself, but I did have the idea!)

Heres a close up. Those glasses are about the coolest thing this side of David Bowie.

So I haven't written anything here for over a year, which is a shame. Mostly I've been working and getting ready to get *gasp* married. Its a longer process than I'd originally thought, and kind of expensive to boot. Totally worth it though, because my fiance is the best thing that's happened to me. Hopefully I'll get some pictures up sometime.

Some pictures from our misc. travels.





One of my uncle's dogs was nice enough to find a hedgehog for us. They're cute, but quite sharp. They're also alive with lice and fleas...



Yesterday we headed out to Castle Rising. This castle was built in the 12th century and home to Queen Isabella. You can see my grandma down there by the castle.



My cousin and I walk through Rising Castle. This is the small passageway leading up to the Priest's chambers.



My uncle sitting in the same passageway.



Me outside the castle. The castle has fallen into disrepair, but its still pretty impressive...



This is the main entrance to the castle. The archway my cousin and I are standing in was formerly the entrance to the great hall, but the floor of the great hall caved in a few hundred years ago. The entrance was then turned into a fireplace.



The large chasm we're looking over was formerly the great hall. The square notches in the walls once held crossbeams which held up the floor. On the very SPOT that I'm standing Queen Isabella may have very well thrown up after a night of heavy drinking. Isn't history cool?!



A group photo in my uncle's living room after returning from Castle Rising.

So today I shaved my head. Not for fun, not for style, not even to be rebelious.

One of the guys at work recently was diagnosed with cancer, so the folks from work held a fund raiser. The prize for every hundred dollars raised? One shaved head. All total many many heads were shaved. Unfortunately I am on vacation right now in England. Of course, I couldn't shave my head with my coworkers, so I'll have to make do here in the UK. Anyways, lets get to it.

My shaved head....

Before I started...


Half way.... I figured I may as well try out a mohawk before it all went away....

The completed product... Wow, I look... different.

Check out my sassy new hat...

ENGLAND: Day 1, morning.

So I got up at about 5:15 am with the light. A person doesn't normally realize how far north England is, but its quite a way up there. Hence long days during the summer. Anyway, I got up and decided to go for a little jog. I left around 5:45 and decided to pick a direction and run that way. The direction today was "uphill". This took me to a large old cathedral in the dead center of Ely. One thing I noticed on my jog uphill; the roads in England aren't the straight, block-style roads I'm used to. They twist, turn, circle and snake their way around in a most perplexing manner.

Ely is a fairly small town, with the large cathedral dead center. The cathedral is also on the top of the hill the city is built on, which makes it visible from most places in town. Anticipating getting very lost, I memorized the way from the cathedral to my uncle's house. I did indeed get lost on my jog, but was able to head to the cathedral and find my way back.