Why cars are amazing

Today I hit a small milestone and spent more time running than walking in my workout. Run time: 21 minutes, walk time: 19 minutes. I didn't say I spent a lot more time running, just more. The newer treadmills in the gym have a cool feature on the bottom of the display where there are three buttons programmed to 2, 4 and 6 mph. This is convenient for intervals because I alternate between 4 mph walking and 6 mph running. I started thinking about the difference between 4 and 6 mph. In my car that's a barely noticeable difference. On my treadmill that's a huge difference. I would burn 324 calories at 4 mph for an hour, but 812 at 6 mph, and the cooldown went to 3 mph, that's 260 calories per hour- not all that much less than 4 mph. I ran 1.7 miles consecutively and then did some intervals to get to 2.1 miles run, 1.4 miles walked. A good start to the week! (until I got to the locker room and realized I left my sweatshirt at home, so I have to wear a t-shirt and jacket all day at work, thank goodness I had the t-shirt)

Our fitness center here at work has an annual N.E.W. You, Nutrition, Education and Wellness program. You can sign up for the weight loss, strength training or flexibility track. I signed up for weight loss at first but switched to strength. I know what I need to do to lose weight, I just have to do it. But I really want some help in setting up a strength program and making progress there. That will help weight loss, anyway. I've got that chin-up bar out in the backyard and my goal is to be able to do 2 unassisted pullups by the summer. That may sound really wimpy, but I've never been able to do a pullup, so it's a big goal for me. I have my pushup and pullup pretest one morning this week, probably tomorrow morning. I'll be lucky to do 10 pushups, on my knees of course, and I have no idea what I can do on the assisted pullup machine. But, you've got start somewhere, I should be able to make decent progress from this starting point.

We taped American Gladiators last night, it's Hot Wheels' favorite show. We're going to have a picnic in the family room and watch it when I get home. Hot Wheels has mentioned on multiple occasions that he wants to be on the show when he grows up. Quite a lofty goal for a 4-year old.