I am typing this awkwardly, because I have been trapped under a cat for the past hour and I can't wait any longer to write today's post. The cant is still on my lap and I am twisted sideways to get at my keyboard. This will probably be very brief. So, today's workout: I had to cover the treadmill controls in saran wrap to keep my sweat from shorting out a button again, as I once again focused on varying speed instead of incline. When I first tried that two days ago, the longest I could manage a 5mph sprint was about 90 seconds. Today I did a 3-2-1 pattern (3 minute run, 3 minute walk, 2 minute run, two minute walk, 1 minute run, 1 minute walk). I completed the entire sequence three times during my workout, with a five minute walk before each sequence, plus a cool down at the end. The first sequence I ran the entire collective six minutes. The second sequence I managed about four minutes of running, and the third was about three minutes. Overall that was a dramatic improvement over my first attempt on Saturday, while also leaving me plenty of room for growth. It felt amazing. I also had a great weigh-in, and my moving average is indeed moving in the right direction. I should have moved over to this whole running thing ages ago. I am totally stoked. I also finished the first story of Sapphire & Steel, which I will talk about below the fold.

I tried something totally new today, with both positive results and unexpected difficulties. For more than two and a half years on this ridiculous project, my time on the treadmill has focused on a steady speed with variations in grade (incline). I would seek to increase the speed from day to day so that my pace and step count increased, but it was always with a focus of trying to maintain a particular speed for the duration of the workout. Today, instead of that, I kept a steady 1% grade but alternated between running and walking. For the first half of my workout it went really well, although it turns out when I am going at a jogging pace I also fling out droplets of sweat all around. The dog loves it, the rest of the world not so much. In particular, apparently some of my sweat got underneath the button controls and caused one of them to read as being continually pressed. The circuit board for my treadmill only recognizes one press at a time, and will not recognize any other button until the first one is released. The side effect was that for the second half of my workout I was trapped at a walking pace of 3mph with no ability to change it in any way. I guess the good news is it got stuck at the walking pace and not the running pace, because I would have had to abort the workout since on Day One of trying this method I can only maintain a running pace for about 1-2 minutes. It is telling to me that despite the fact that I had to spend the second half of my workout at well below my normal pace, I still finished with over 7k steps and 3 miles. I felt really good, and could have continued to alternate more running time, but I will happily take what I got. So, a positive day overall. As for my viewing, check below the fold.

I had a late workout today because of childcare issues. I got it done, but it was over lunch instead of in the morning before work. The workout itself was good, the fastest pace all week, so that was nice. The numbers are what they are, kind of a mixed bag. If you look just at the five day moving average, it ticked up very slightly. But if you look at the one week change from the moving average last week, I finally show a loss of nearly a full pound, instead of a net gain week-over-week. So, you know, I try to focus on the good and not let the bad bother me too much. That chart over there on the side of the page is frustrating to say the least, and I won't feel really positive until I see an actual visible trend line in the right direction.  As for my daily viewing, I am taking a three week side trip from the Whoniverse to delve into a weird little show from the late 70's and early 80's recommended to my by my friend Rik Hoskin. Check it out.

Missed a day yesterday, sorry. Paid the price today, sincerely sorry. I don't have any motivational thoughts. Much like Quint and Hooper, I'm tired and I want to go to bed. So let's get this done.

So let's see, what did I say yesterday? " I expect tomorrow to be a slight bounce up in weight for the daily (I was definitely dehydrated this morning) but to still show another drop in the moving average." Well, guess what? I had a slight bounce up in weight this morning, but my moving average still dropped by a half a pound. It's almost like I've been doing this for over two and half years and know how my body works. Astounding! As for Doctor Who, I watched the 2009 animated story Dreamland. I wasn't especially impressed. Check out below the fold if you want to hear all about it.

Don't Bury the Lede, Part 1: As I had hoped, today my cumulative weight lost based on my five-day moving average went back above 30 lbs. In fact, I weighed in more than 5 lbs lighter than my peak weight several days ago. That, of course, is not a sustainable rate of weight loss. That being said, it is in my experience a normal amount of movement in the first week of really getting back into a workout routine.  I expect tomorrow to be a slight bounce up in weight for the daily (I was definitely dehydrated this morning) but to still show another drop in the moving average. Yay me!

Don't Bury the Lede, Part 2: Allow me to tell you about the comedy duo Chris & Jack. I discovered them a couple years ago and I absolutely love their work. I will embed a couple of my favorite of their videos below the fold. Anyway, a while back they did a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a series of new shorts, which I decided to back. Late last night I got an email from them with my backer reward -- an audio sketch written and created just for me, in which poor Everyman Dave is once again abducted by aliens (it happens to him a lot), and his abductor turns out to be a fan of this blog. I laughed a lot. I don't know if anyone else will find this nearly as amusing as I do, but here it is:

Dave Learns About the Time Treadmill, and Also Eats Some Cereal

For reference, here is Dave's first alien abduction:

Check out below the fold for another of my favorite sketches from them, as well as my thoughts on today's episode of Doctor Who.

So, the trending numbers look worse today, but the daily numbers look great. Go figure. It's been a couple of months since I have strung together five consecutive days of actually hitting the treadmill (or working out in any way), and tomorrow I will finally buck that trend. Also tomorrow the first and highest of three really bad weigh-ins will drop off the moving average. So I think tomorrow I will inch back above 30 cumulative pounds lost, and that will be nice. Assuming that's how the numbers work out. We'll see. But today felt strong from a workout perspective, so I have high hopes for tomorrow's numbers - both daily and cumulative. As for what I watched, it was the very last episode of Blake's 7 and holy crap did it deliver. Massive spoilers below the fold if you, like me, are completely unspoiled on this forty year old show.

Don't Bury the Lede - Part 1: Today I took my five millionth step since starting this ridiculous project. How cool is that?!?

Don't Bury the Lede - Part 2: Today I crossed back below 30 lbs lost for the first time since the spring of 2017. How crappy is that?!?

There's just no tiptoeing around this, I am extremely frustrated with myself. I lost focus over a year ago, not coincidentally around the time I actually completed viewing the main series and started in on the spinoffs. Since then I have had a few false starts at making forward progress again, but then something happens and a slide backwards even further. I am honestly terrified that in a few more months I will end up right back where I started. I just can't allow that to happen. The past month has been particularly daunting, in that I was away from home for nearly three weeks, and then not long after I got home we had an incoming hurricane. For the better part of a week it seemed like Dorian was headed directly for us, before it took its right-hand turn and walked up the coast instead. We were thankfully spared any impacts here, although parts of the Bahamas were devastated and I feel awful about that.

Usually my post titles are quotes of dialog from whatever show I watched that day, but this one demanded the obvious H.G. Wells reference. I'll get to that in a bit. I also just noticed that for all of my up and down, this is the third August in a row where I have been within ten pounds of my current weight. Two years ago I was firmly on my way down. Last year I was inching back up. This year I am fighting valiantly to turn it back around. But here I am again. On the one hand it is a bit frustrating, but on the other hand it is kind of reassuring. Kind of. I unintentionally missed two days, on Friday and Saturday. The first because of an unplanned childcare issue that disrupted my morning, and the second because I spent the morning doing the yardwork that I had missed from three weeks of traveling for work. I figured it counted as a workout. But I was back at it again today, so here we go.

After taking nearly three weeks off due to work travel, this week I have been easing back into it. I started out back at 3mph on the treadmill and have been inching it up each day. Today I got back above 7k steps and 3 miles for the ifrst time since starting back, and that felt really nice. As for my weight, this is one of those days where the trend lines still look awful but the daily number was very good. My five day moving average will go up again tomorrow, but that will also mark the point where the number is accurate since it will have five days of true data. I fully expect the movement to go back downward on Saturday. Most importantly, I am a full five pounds lighter today than I was on Monday. Normally I would say that is too much -- in my (unprofessional) experience, about two pounds per week give-or-take is a healthy and sustainable amount to lose. But it is also my experience that when you first start working out after weeks of inactivity, your body responds by dropping a bun ...