-10 and hopefully counting

Today was a milestone of sorts. Weight after exercise was 235. That's minus-10 from 1/1/10. At this rate, I'll weigh 125 pounds by 12/31/10. (I'm motivated, folks, but not THAT motivated).

Three miles today, one running. Ran on laps 2, 3, 5 and 7, walked the other eight. The last one running my legs felt really heavy, but when I got home and walked up the stairs, they felt pretty strong, like I was pushing the stairs down instead of lifting my legs up them, if that makes any sense.

YTD mileage: 64. Intake for the day: Honey Bunches of Oats, coffee, tuna salad sandwiches and water for lunch and beef stroganov for supper.

Soundtrack was 1976 from the Time/Life 1970s series:

Steve Miller, Rock'n Me
The Doobie Brothers, Takin' It To The Streets (IMO, one of the best bass lines in pop music. It has held up really well).
Elvin Bishop, Fooed Around and Fell in Love
Hall & Oates, Sara Smile
Fleetwood Mac, Say You Love Me
Wild Cherry, Play That Funky Music
The Bee Gees, You Should Be Dancing
Peter Frampton, Show Me The Way
Elton John, Don't Go Breaking My Heart
The next one was Rod Stewart, but I skipped it. I just can't listen to him for some reason. The females in my house disagree.
Donna Summer, Love to Love You Baby. This song is just about raunchy.
Orleans, Still the One. "You're still the one, to scratch my itch." Wish I'd written that line.
Eric Clapton, Hello Old Friend

I circled the track with a more or less empty mind (that's teeing it up for the peanut gallery, but I'll just roll with it) but I did muse about the shoes. I'm a New Balance man, and it's getting close to the time when I have to get some new ones. I go NB because, way back when, they were the only manufacturer that routinely offered wide sizes. Everyone else has half-heartedly followed suit, but none of the others really fits me very well. Not Nike or Reebok. Asics feel really good, but they're more expensive than I want to pony up for. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with the New Balance. I've had three pairs of 473 blacks, and now I'm in a pair of 479s, and they've got probably 300 miles of just exercise on them. If I go much longer without changing, I'll start having sore knees, ankles and hips.

My experience has been that you don't necessarily have to be highly technical about buying shoes. I do fine going to Kohl's and catching them in a sale, which happens a lot. The 473s I can usually get for less than $40. The last pair I got at The Sports Authority off their clearance rack for $29.99. Again, none of this has to be expensive. As long as you spend your time and effort, the amount of money you spend on it -- and I'm sure some people would differ, but this is my experience -- is immaterial.