Considering how long it’s been since I’ve been regularly exercising, I like that I’ve done a lot of improvement on my daily steps. I reported back in September that I hit multiple goal 9 out of 10 and 12 out of 15 days.

I’ve actually really been trying this past week or so to get my steps up and hit my step goal as much as humanly possible. I need to work it in and make sure it becomes habitual like it used to be. 

I feel like I’m writing announcements like this every year, but, yet again, another Fitbit has bitten the dust. 

This was my view earlier this morning. 

This past Monday, I finally started doing something that I’ve known for a while needed to begin again. I started going for early morning walks with the intent of transitioning slowly into running. 

Woo hoo! Check me out! My first weekday step goal attainment since Friday, August 11!

As much as I used to dominate in step challenges in the past, this has not been the case so much lately. Despite rolling back my daily step goal by 2,000 steps, I'm not even making that regularly.

And when you're in Chicago all day walking everywhere, you wind up doing this...

I love Fitbit. I really do. Actually, I need to qualify that statement a bit...

I went for a run yesterday for the first time since my 5K in February. Well, I should qualify that claim a bit. I went for a walk that had three spontaneous run-like outbursts scattered throughout.

I discovered a feature in the Fitbit app recently that I had never paid attention to previously... their activity tracker.

Fitness and healthy eating are some things that have been eluding me of late.

It's all fine and dandy to create the perfect playlist of music for a 5k, but what if it all goes to hell before you can even really listen to it?

For another week, I am Fitbitless.

I really hate when I miss my Fitbit daily step goals by just that much.

We would like to take a break from the regularly scheduled programming for a very special announcement...

I always knew that my Fitbit played a part in my decision to get moving. I just never quite realized the degree to which it went all method actor on my fitness goals.

On the bad side of the coin, my Fitbit died today. Just about a year old and she done crapped out. No charging, no syncing, no resetting. Yup, that reset trick that is supposed to work every time (and had to this point) doesn't. At all.

Thankfully this past Saturday and Sunday were far more productive than Thursday in terms of constructing our floor.

Howsabout a status update on the reflooring project in the first floor of our place?

Yesterday afternoon, I returned from one of my lunch break walks and was down in the locker room changing when a friend of mine came up to me.

I say it a lot and, if you're sick of hearing it, I apologize in advance but I LOVE MY FITBIT!

Although I've been working my butt off to maintain a 10,000 steps per month average since the beginning of the year, one thing I haven't tried in order to help is to jog. I've only done a few running spurts here and there and then my 5K in February.

I've been at this whole Fitbit thing now for a quarter of a year (give or take a week), and I've been enjoying it. Setting up this 10,000 steps per day goal for this is, I feel, one of the best goals I've set for myself in a long time. Nothing sedentary like watching TV or whatnot.

Nothing like getting up, getting dressed, walking a mile to the course, running an organized 5K, and walking a mile home to not only get the blood flowing but to get you over 12,500 steps before 11:15 a.m.

I got a cute little email from Fitbit this morning recapping my "year in fitness" with mostly true animal facts. I think probably no true, but still funny.

I'm realizing something very quickly, this Fitbit 10,000 average daily steps is not going to be an easy goal to keep this year.

Because of all my at-work jogging and walking, I've felt a need to find new routes so as not to get bored. I did that again yesterday when I explored a snow-covered bike path extension.

Yesterday, due to the weather, I only went so far before turning around and heading back.

Earlier today I saw a picture of myself that I hate. Absolutely loathe.

The shock of seeing it made me realize that I need to cut the crap from my diet. But it's never easy. Especially at this time of year.

It's been nearly three months since I injured my knee and ankle at the Urban Warrior Dash.

It's been slightly more than one month since I felt any pain in my knee at all. Even impact pain.

New month. New plan. Time to start running again.

The UWD has come and gone and, as the saying goes, I'm no worse for wear.

That's not true. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook or you were there with me, you know that's a load of crap.

Let's recap this mutha step by step, shall we?

Why does the Universe hate me so?

You do remember last week when I said that I was getting back into Cto5K mode and, after two days of running, I twisted my ankle walking some steps (completely unrelated to my running effort), right?

Last Tuesday, I started back to the gym. I had only been away for a few weeks (maybe a month), but it felt like an eternity. I needed to restart my Couch-to-5K program again... desperately.

Jerry Angelo... I hate you.

Well, we did it. Katie and I (and Scott and Becca) ran our first 5K today. It was the Snowflake Shuffle and let's just say I'm glad it was designated a walk/run. I don't even know what our official final time was. Somewhere around 47 minutes. Not a time I'm particularly proud of.

Why?

Starting Friday at midnight, we got hammered with snow. This may not always be a big problem. Heck, many people have run in snow without problems. But this is our first organized run. Up to this point, all we'd done is run in what are otherwise ideal conditions. Those being either a treadmill or the occasional outdoor run in which it was nice and clear. We were not at all prepared for what happened here in Geneva.

The roads were horrible. Sure, they had plowed and salted, but the last time was a couple hours before our run began. Honestly, considering the conditions, the "pace car" for the race should have been a snow plow. I'm not kidding here. It would've made total sense and would have given those plows we were seeing on the road with their blades in the "up" position some purpose.

The reason why the snow was such a problem is because I have bad ankles and my body has a tendency to overcompensate when it knows there is some kind of danger that threatens my ankles. I have a very overprotective body that I cannot control at all. It's a bodily sixth sense. So my body began to overcompensate for what were perceived to be potential slips and twists and turns and my calf began to cramp up as a result. Katie had a similar problem.

We did have fun despite the real and perceived peril and we will do it again. But I think we need more outdoor and inclement weather training before we do the Super Bowl Shuffle 5K (PDF) in February.

Here's a shot of the four of us post-race. You can tell it was immediately post-race for Katie and I by the looks on our faces.

More photos are available in Flickr.