Commitment to Running!

A few months back I decided to make a lifestyle change and commit to a year of fitness. I set my sights on getting into shape by mid summer so that I can ride in the annual Seattle to Portland bike ride. As will all things I do, I jumped in head first and immersed myself. To prepare, I signed up with a multi club membership to 24hr Fitness, so I can workout without an excuse to my physical location. I also set myself up with a new iPod Nano, new running shoes, and the Nike+. Having used the Nike+ for a couple months now, I’ve really grown to love it. It really helps you setup goals and track your progress. Since oversize goes hand-in-hand with diet, I downloaded the “Lose It!” iPhone app. This handy application does a fantastic job of helping you track your daily calorie intake. I used it for a couple weeks to track my normal daily eating habits, and then started to follow a low calorie diet. It’s amazing how poorly I’ve been eating before.

With a full arsenal of exercise and diet tools, I started off on my path. I’ve been averaging 3-4 workouts a week, walk/jog/run for an hour, and making about 4 miles each time. I’ve also made it a goal to do as many local running activities as possible. I participated in the “Nike+ Human Race 10k” and just recently the annual "Clark County Turkey Trot". Next on the list is the “Rooster Rock Polar Bare 5K Run & Plunge”.

So far I’ve been making good progress without any injuries or major setbacks. I hope I’m able to stick with this and make it a permanent life style change.

Theatre Experience Revival?

I ran across this article today, it describes a new endeavor by Regal Cinemas to improve it's theatre experience by giving audience members the ability to inform management of problems without leaving their seat. Supposedly the device is given to a "random member of the Regal Crown Club Loyalty Program who's attending each movie". Sounds like they finally have a perk worth joining their club... SIKE! I don't think it'll really help any. After all if I push "Other Disturbance", how do they know what that disturbance was, or who did it? Unless there are a row of punk kids in the front row hollering when they enter. I do however think it's at least a good thought, a step in the right direction. This has been a pet peeve of mine for sometime. Something has to be done to save the theatre experience from the horde of irresponsible, oblivious, and self centered movie goers. Until then I'll be seeing all my films at the classy Cinetopia.

Reconnected

Approximately two months ago my Nokia 3120 cell phone went through a wash cycle in the pocket of my jeans. The phone was fried. The next day I stopped into a cingular store to see what could be done about the situation. I found that my only option was to buy a new phone, since I didn't have insurance coverage on my plan. Since I'm already a cingular customer, I don't qualify for any discounts on their phones, and would have to pay full retail price for a replacement. Full retail price on a replacement was $100+, for a bottom of the line phone they usually pay you to take at contract sign-up. And if I wanted anything fancy it would be upwards of $200-$300. Sorry, I'm not paying that for a piece of crap. Since then I've been looking around on eBay and craigslist to see if I can find a decent replacement or upgrade phone to use. Finally yesterday I got a replacement Nokia 6800, thanks to my good buddy Damon. He recently upgraded to the new Motorola V3 RAZR, and graciously donated his old cell phone. It's good to be connected again. So for any of you that need to, you can contact me at the same old cell phone number.