I posted my highest step total since the Disney trip last week, despite 2 days falling short of my 6000 step goal. Things got off to a slow start on Sunday, as I barely hit 3500 steps. Things picked back up on Monday and Tuesday thanks to normal work activities. Wednesday had a pretty good total, good enough for my 14th highest total to date, thanks to a post-work trip down to US Cellular Field for a pre-game session with White Sox GM Rich Hahn followed by a tilt between the Sox Red and White. Thursday also had a decent total due to post-work activities, this time a trip down to the Adler Planetarium for an exciting science lecture with Val. Friday, I failed to hit the 6000 step mark after working from home then making a return trip to US Cellular Field to watch batting practice and then a tilt between the White Sox and the Twins. Saturday’s regularly scheduled baseball game enabled me to surpass the 6000 step mark for the day and 54,000 steps for the week.
My third straight week over 50,000 steps also saw my streak of days above goal hit 19 before falling by the wayside on Saturday. The week got off to a decent start thanks to baseball on Sunday, where the White Sox completed their 3 game sweep of the Rangers. Monday, my third consecutive over 10,000 steps, benefitted from some good weather, as I took a walk after work before checking out the newly-opened Five Guys in town. Tuesday through Thursday were just your normal work days. Friday was spent volunteering at Bernie’s Book Bank. Saturday was a cold, rainy day, which is why I failed to reach 6000 steps.
A good week, and my first with all 7 days above 6000 steps since I got sick in early March. Things got off to a good start on Sunday, when, with the weather finally starting to turn, I took my first walk around the neighborhood of the season. Monday broke past the 10,000 step plateau as I headed down to US Cellular Field after work to watch the White Sox fall to the Angels. The weather turned again on Tuesday, but, thanks to the afternoon coffee run, I managed to stay above 6000 steps, as I did on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday lacked the coffee run and almost didn’t reach my goal, but managed to just sneak by. Saturday was helped along by another trip to the ballpark.
A few weeks back, I headed out on a road trip to Florida and Disney World by way of Virginia. To say things did not go as planned would be an understatement. This is the story of that trip.
Friday
The plan was to leave work around noon, thanks to a meeting I had with the fine folks in AF. Our first stop was across the street at Mariano’s, to get lunch, snacks for the trip, and a opaque container that would allow Jeff to drink during the drive outside the view of law enforcement. An hour later, we were on the road, with Val behind the wheel, me in the passenger seat, and Jeff and a case of Blue Moon in the back. Our destination, Roanoke, Virginia, lay 700 miles away, with an estimated arrival time of 11:30 PM. Jeff, thinking this road trip was taking place in the early 2000s, had brought along a collection of CDs for us to listen to, which lasted through much of the Illinois portion of the trip. Eventually, though, we switched to the playlist I had put together, which led to the first amusing tale of the trip.
When Lily Allen’s hit song Fuck You came up on the playlist in Indianapolis, a not-so-slightly inebriated Jeff instantly took to its charms, seeing it as an anthem against his perceived work antagonists. As the song played, he dialed it up in the iTunes store on his phone, passed it up front to make sure it was the right one, and then purchased it. More on this later.
Speaking of drunk Jeff, his plan on drinking throughout the drive had an unintended consequence: our estimated arrival time. He made the cardinal sin of breaking the seal, after which we needed to stop for him to use the bathroom practically ever hour. Once you added in his smoking time, we spent approximately 20 minutes of every hour standing still, which pushed our expected arrival in Virginia well past midnight. During one of these stops, in the lovely town of New Castle, Indiana, we even had to find a WalMart in order to replenish the supply of Blue Moon. Eventually, we made it out of Indiana and into Ohio with Val still behind the wheel. However, around 7 PM, things started to go wrong.
We were starting to go through some mountainous terrain when Val suddenly started to feel sick. She pulled off at the next exit, found a driveway next to what appeared to be a trailer park, and stopped to walk around and catch her breath. Meanwhile, Jeff, claiming he was now sober (but lying through his teeth) decided he would drive once we got back on the road. I tried to stop him, but he had the keys, it was his car, and Val was in no position to back either one of us, so he won out. Eventually, we tried to get going again, but had to pull off again at a gas station before we made any real progress.
While Jeff and Val came in and out of the gas station, I started looking for local hotels. It was obvious at this point that we would not be making it to Virginia, so this was as good a spot as any to stop for the night. The closest Hampton Inn was about 10 miles back in the other direction, so, after purchasing some Pepto-Bismal, we slowly reversed our course and found the hotel, where Jeff decided he and he alone could help Val, leaving me to babysit the car which he had left in front of the door. Unfortunately for us, the hotel did not have any double rooms, so, after a bit of finagling, we ended up with 3 rooms for the night in Chillicothe, Ohio, a mere 300 miles short of our intended destination.
Saturday
Waking up in beautiful Chillicothe, I showered and headed down for the free breakfast in the hotel lobby, where I ran into a now sober Jeff. The day was off to a great start, as he had thoughts about this Hampton Inn and how it did not live up to his expectations for the chain. I had a bed to sleep in and was able to make my own Belgian waffle, so I was content. Neither one of us had heard from Val since the night before, so we were both anxious to see how she was holding up, hoping, of course, for the best.
A troublesome week got off to a slow start on Sunday, barely surpassing 3000 steps. Things improved throughout the work week, though most days were lower than what we have been used to. Friday was opening day for the White Sox, so I got a big boost from the trip down to US Cellular Field. Saturday’s numbers are truncated, as I somehow managed to lose my Fitbit while at the White Sox game. A trip to Target after the game got me a new one, but the steps I acquired during the game and after are now lost forever.
A momentous week, as I passed 3,000,000 total steps since starting with the Fitbit a year and 9 weeks ago. The week got off to a slow start on Easter Sunday, barely surpassing 4000 steps. Things picked up as I headed back to work on Monday and continued throughout the week. Saturday was another disappointing weekend day.
A bit of a bounce back this week, though there were still some rough patches. The week got off to a slow start on Sunday, falling nearly 1500 steps under goal. Things got better Monday and throughout the work week. Friday started a slow down, as I headed out on the big road trip to Florida and spent most of the next 2 days in a car travelling east.
The week got off to a nice start, but quickly fell apart as I fell victim to a flu bug that knocked me down for a few days. Sunday started off well, with nearly 7000 steps. By night time, though, I was overcome with a nasty flu bug that kept me home and in bed for most of the next 2 days, leading to low totals, my first time finishing below goal since the end of January. Wednesday was back to work time, but I ended up leaving early and finished the day just under 5000 steps. Thursday and Friday were back to normal and back over the 6000 step threshold. Saturday was a lazy day spent trying to fight off the last of the illness.
Another great week as 5K February comes to a successful end and March gets off to a good start. Things got off to a good start on Sunday, where I made a trip up to Rosemont to see The Revenant and traipse around the entertainment district they’ve built there. The work week was tremendous, with 4 days above 8000 steps and my worst day, Wednesday, still finishing near 7500. The low point of the week was Saturday, but it still managed to break 6000 steps and the 3.1 miles needed to keep 5K February going into March.
As 5K February continues, last week turned out to be my best week overall since early October. Things got off to a good start on Sunday thanks to Danny’s basketball game followed by Angelina’s skating exhibition. Monday was my second 10,000 step day of the year, thanks mostly to running around the office. Tuesday and Wednesday were also very successful, finishing near or well above 9000 steps. Things slowed down on Thursday, but still made it above my goal. Friday was the worst day of the week, thanks to spending most of the day in a car travelling to and from Kalamazoo. The week ended with a nice day weather-wise, which led to my first outside walk of the year.
I posted my highest step total since the Disney trip last week, despite 2 days falling short of my 6000 step goal. Things got off to a slow start on Sunday, as I barely hit 3500 steps. Things picked back up on Monday and Tuesday thanks to normal work activities. Wednesday had a pretty good total, good enough for my 14th highest total to date, thanks to a post-work trip down to US Cellular Field for a pre-game session with White Sox GM Rich Hahn followed by a tilt between the Sox Red and White. Thursday also had a decent total due to post-work activities, this time a trip down to the Adler Planetarium for an exciting science lecture with Val. Friday, I failed to hit the 6000 step mark after working from home then making a return trip to US Cellular Field to watch batting practice and then a tilt between the White Sox and the Twins. Saturday’s regularly scheduled baseball game enabled me to surpass the 6000 step mark for the day and 54,000 steps for the week.
Saturday
