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.

Sapphire & Steel: Escape Through a Crack in Time, Episodes 3 & 4

I am only four episodes in, but for me the delight of this show is the pacing and atmosphere, and making the most of a small budget. Case in point, the primary antagonists for these two episodes are rendered as simply disks of light on the wall or floor, probably projected by a flashlight or something similar. It is simple, effective, and surprisingly menacing.

The third episode has Sapphire pulled into a vision of the past, where she has to hold perfectly still while Steel executes a rescue. His method is surprising, to say the least -- he somehow makes use of a freezer in order to aid himself in dropping to near absolute zero, then he strides into the room that is the epicenter of all of the time shenanigans and touches the various objects that are aiding in the time incursion. He succeeds in rescuing Sapphire but is completely drained in the process. The way it plays out is really magnificent, and very imaginative.

During the fourth episode, with Steel pretty well sidelined as he warms up, another of their associates named Lead arrives. He is a giant of a man, towering over everyone but maintaining a jovial attitude. Since the catalyst for both major time incursions so far have stemmed from reciting nursery rhymes and poems, Sapphire starts burning all of the books. One of them, though, resists being torn up and tossed in the fire, and the episode climaxes with the page dancing about the room and causing a tempest inside the house. It is intensely creepy how it plays out, with Sapphire and the little girl Molly caught up in the center of the storm. I loved every minute of it.

Only two episodes remain in this first story, and I am very keen to see how it resolves. This is a totally different vibe than the last show I watched on the Time Treadmill, and I am totally digging it.

STATS:

Episode(s): Sapphire & Steel: Escape Through a Crack in Time, Episodes 3 & 4
Steps Walked: 7,068 today, 5,045,349 total
Distance Walked: 3.00 miles today, 2,601.78 miles total
Push-ups Completed: 0 today, 12,458 total
Sit-ups Completed: 0 today, 7,865 total
Weight: 276.68 lbs (five day moving average), net change -30.68 lbs