I rubbed a raw spot on the back of my left heel this morning on the treadmill. So that's nice. I put some moleskin on it, and then proceeded to spend all afternoon walking around Epcot with my autistic son. At some point the moleskin came off without me noticing, and now I have a HUGE raw spot. So that's especially nice. On the upside, my daily numbers were good today even if my moving average looks awful. On the bigger upside, I had an inspiration today as to where I need to go with this ridiculous project, and I am truly excited. You'll just have to stay tuned to find out. I also finished Assignment Five of Sapphire & Steel, this morning, so there's that...

It's hard to write here with any punch or panache when my weight is exploding. You know the whole "two steps forward, one step back" thing? Well it feels more like one step forward and three steps back. Part of it, I think, is that I have been low-grade sick the past week or so. Not nearly as bad as my wife got, but definitely a headache mixed with lethargy. But that's mostly just an excuse. I am trying to will myself back into action, but just at the moment I am in "fake it until you make it" mode. On the upside? Physically I feel great (aside from the headache and lethargy). I remember how I felt before I started this ridiculous project, and I feel way better than that now. So this is mostly a mental game, and I am okay with that. Next week will be better. Tomorrow's gonna be a latter day! Mostly because after tomorrow I will be done with this stupid Sapphire & Steel story.

I don't even want to talk about it. Yeah, I worked out. No, it didn't do any good.

I missed posting yesterday, but I did work out. I also worked out today. The net result? I gained two full pounds. I keep saying that weight loss is an emotional bear trap. Well, today I very much feel like I might as well just gnaw my leg off. At least then I'd lose a little weight. I am extremely frustrated right now. In slightly better news, I edged my new (used) treadmill up to running speed today, and it seemed to hold up fine. I mean, I surely didn't, I ran like an asthmatic smoker with a canonball tied to my leg, but I did run. So I guess I'll take the small favors.

Sundays are rough, man. That's the morning I do my yard work, it follows Saturdays where I spend hours with my autistic son walking the Magic Kingdom, and on Sunday afternoons I do the same again at Epcot. I know, two days every week at Disney World, not exactly a rough gig, but I am here to tell you it is a ton of walking and even in late September it is uncomfortably warm out. So, yesterday I missed a day on the treadmill. But I didn't feel especially bad about it. This morning, though, I was right back at it  I inched up the speed slightly over Saturday, but still didn't try to push the new (used) treadmill up to running speed. It still felt occasionally like the motor was bogging down. I am hoping I can limp this thing along for at least a few months, but I fear I may burn it out sooner than that. We'll see. In the meantime, I wrapped up Assignment 3 for Sapphire & Steel. Who knew it would turn out to be a condemnation of veganism, four decades before it would become so trendy to condemn them?

It's been a bit of a week. I was in such a groove, locked into finishing up Sapphire & Steel and then starting a new second lap on the Time Treadmill. Everything was awesome. Then last Sunday morning I got on the treadmill, and five minutes in the household circuit blew. When I reset the breaker, my trusty Lifespan treadmill would not power up at all. I had hoped it was just the fuse on the motor circuit board, but after replacing it I discovered that powering up the treadmill just blew the household circuit again. After a phone call with the manufacturer, the diagnoses was a bad main logic board. Ordinarily that would be a $500 part to replace (ouch!), but that wasn't even an option. They had no more of that board in stock, and no future resupply. The average lifespan of a treadmill that gets daily use is about five years, and this one had more than six years on it. After more than five million steps, the Time Treadmill was dead.

Keep reading below to fold to find out how my week only got worse from there.

I figured it out today, exactly where I went so far off the rails. I mean, look at that chart over there to the right. Just look at it. It is blindingly obvious where the seemingly-permanent upwards trend happened. I just finally went back through my blog to pinpoint the moment, and I am not even a little bit shocked. On August 6th of 2018 I watched the (at that point) very last episode of Doctor Who ever broadcast. I crossed the finish line. And yeah, I mentally checked out. Although I spent another six months or so watching all of the various spinoffs, that was the point when I stopped watching Doctor Who on a daily basis. And what was my mantra for dang near eighteen months? 1. Drink More Water 2. Eat Less Crap 3. Get More Exercise 4. Watch Lots of Doctor Who.

Now, I will grant you, I have made forward progress in the last two weeks. I have changed up my treadmill routine, and started actually running for increasing periods of time. That's great. And I am focusing again on numbers 1 and 2, which is also great. But there is one more vital element that has been missing. By my count I have another 9 days of Sapphire & Steel (which I am thoroughly enjoying), and after that? After that it is time for The Time Treadmill v2.0: The Second Lap. That's right, another rewatch of the entire series from start to finish, this time in broadcast order. Which means no difference at all for the first 17 seasons, but then it means watching the various spinoffs interlaced with the main series exactly in the sequence they were originally broadcast. I am excited! I am pumped! Let's go!!

Also, let's talk about today's workout and viewing, below the fold.

I missed posting yesterday, but I did not miss working out. I just had a jam-packed day between work and then a birthday party in the evening that led to staying out much later than usual. As for my workouts the past two days, I am still seeing incremental improvements in my running. I have a loooong way to go, but I continue to fit in more steps and farther distance each day, if only by a little bit. I am also very pleased with my weight trend. I can actually see the downard trend on the chart. I just need to keept that trend going, which is always the battle at this point. In any case, I am in great shape going into the weekend. I am right on target with what seems like sustainable momentum, and I feel mighty good about that. As for my viewing, between yesterday and today I watched the second half of the longest (and apparently darkest) Saphire & Steel story. How dark?, Well, the ending kind of reminds me of how I felt at the end of Children of Earth....

Yesterday was a really frustrating day. I had a vexing code problem at work, a few other stresses, and I capped off the day by accidentally breaking the windshield on my wife's car while installing new wiper blades. It was not exactly my proudest moment. Today was much better. That vexing code problem? It turns out I was chasing a ghost. The code actually worked, the problem was with the tool I was using to examine it. It frustrates me that I lost six full hours to chasing that issue, but I am glad it at least got resolved. As for my wife's windshield, that will be replaced tomorrow and insurance is covering it with no deductible. I'm still embarrassed it happened, but at least it is taken care of. As for my workout today, I was able to sustain about another two minutes of running time beyond what I did yesterday. It is an incremental improvement, but an improvement none the less. My weigh in was good, my five day moving average crept down slightly, and I can almost see the downward slope at the end of that chart on the right without squinting. So it's all good. And as for chasing ghosts, I watched another episode of Sapphire & Steel during my workout. I didn't even have to wait two months to see it.

New running shoes today, and new knee braces. I had put about two thousand miles on my previous ones (I am not making that number up), and they recommend you change running shoes every 300-500 miles. I was a wee bit overdue. I could feel the difference immediately, much more cushion in my heels and better arch support. I worked the same running pattern as I have the past two workouts, alternating between running and walking at regular intervals, and managed several minutes more running time than yesterday. It wasn't anywhere near easy, but I can feel the increase in stamina. I genuinely am kicking myself for not taking this approach along time ago. As for my weigh in, it was also positive. The five day moving average dropped another half pound, and the one week change is hovering right around the rate I am shooting for. Looking at that graph over on the right, I can finally see the barest tick downwards. I have a good long ways to go before it really looks like a trend, but at least I am finally back on the right track. I just need to keep at it. As for Sapphire & Steel, I started a new story today. Check it out below the fold.