Shoehead’s BodyBlog

OK, I took both dogs for a run today, and I clocked in at 27:07.04. That’s a little less than I like to run; I like to keep it at least 30 minutes, but that’s OK. I’ll also do decline push-ups, and jump rope. I’m working my way up to 100 continuous reps on the rope. Right now, it’s about 65-75 non-continuous reps. That’s O-K– little by little…

Yesterday: I forgot to post, but I did  leg raises in my ab-slings for lower abs; and some very light dumbbell work on my delts.

I just got back from visiting my brother in San Diego, and it was a very inspiring trip. We worked out in the sand in his backyard, bootcamp-style. Running with the 2 dogs, Bocce and Cowgirl every day, and getting into the right mind-frame.

Today I ran with the 2 dogs, and clocked exactly 32:00

So, as a lot of my friends know, I moved to the middle of nowhere, with no gym for miles. I think I’ll join Bally’s thirty miles away, but for now, my strategy is this:

1) To cut bodyfat, and get a normal BMI again.

2) When I wake up, before I eat anything, run 90 minutes or more. (5 days/week)

3) Some isometrics (pushups, pull-ups, etc.) every other day, as well as ab exercises.

I’m going to start buying weights for my home gym, starting with some light dumbbells to do high-rep cutting exercises.  Soon after, a bench and a set of Olympic weights.
I will post everything in the blog, just to hold myself accountable. Keep me in line, friends! If anyone has any other tips or advice, please chime in.

I don’t think i can back-post on this, so here’s a running log going back three years. I noticed there’s no place for cardio in the workout programs inhere. (unless  I just can’t figure it out yet!) but I wanna post so i can keep my workouts focused, and "on the record" for all to see.

Running Log

5-16-05> 8:25.04             First day back on program.

5-17-05> 9:00.00             A little better. Working on simply getting out every day this week.

5-18-05>00:00.00            Off through 5-24-05

5-25-05>29:10.53            First day back—good start.

5-26-05>28:53.12            Good, but need to improve time.

5-27-05>00:00.00            Off, holiday weekend.

5-31-05>13:31.06            Shaky start. Must improve time.

6-01-05>00:00.00            Off through 6-20-05

6-21-05>23:40.23            Decent. Try to Maintain program.

6-23-05>30:58.78            Nice run.

WAY too much time off…

10-20-05>15:16.59          At least I’m back. Stiff, hard to breathe.

10-21-05>30:36.94          Better… slow start, but finding the groove.

Next week’s goal: 3 times, 40 mins. Each

10-24-05>36:18.06          Decent start. Not 40 min, but close enough.

10-25-05>

10-26-05>

10-27-05>

10-28-05>                       Off all week. Bad week.

10-31-05>36:00.31          Good run. (Except for inhaling a bug.)

11-01-05>46:57.06          Very good run.  Starting to feel the groove again!

11-02-05>53:13.50          Getting better every day!  Had the beach in sight.

11-04-05>30:03.68          A quick run, but still good.

11-07-05>30:49.06          Not a bad short run.

11-08-05>34:14.17          Decent short run.  Need to run long tomorrow.

11-21-05>37:53.45          Good little run. A little too much time off, but need to stay focused.

11-22-05>                       Off. Not good.

11-23-05>36:55.96          Decent little run. It’s important I don’t lose momentum in my program.

11-24-05>00:00.00          Off again.

01-04-06>38:01.46          Back on the program… running with Jason.

01-07-06>

04-18-06>56:56.3            First day back on program. Decent run

05-30-06>33:45.3            Another first day back. Taking it very slow.

07-13-06>(40.00.00)        First day back after working on a show.

07-19-06>40:11.8            Jogged with Trish & Cowgirl.

07-31-06>40:08.0            Good little run.

08-02-06>30:24.5            Short run, but effective.

08-03-06>

08-04-06>

08-12-06>42:53.4            Very good run. Stay focused and consistent.

08-14-06>42:24.0            Even better today. Keep it up!

08-15-06>48:55.1            Better yet… starting to get the groove back!

10-16-06>32:36.6            Two months of working.  Back to square one.

10-18-06>32:58.9            Good run.

10-20-06>35:13.4            Another good run. Goal for next week is 45 minutes.

10-23-06>44:20.7            Excellent run!

12-13-06>23:31.3            Another work-related absence. Good start.

12-18-06>26:50.8            Not great—Cold, with lower back & Leg pain.

12-week break, concentrating on strength gains

4-9-07>30:03.3                Good start, ran with Bocce.

4-16-07>33:30.4              Good run, with Bocce.

4-17-07>30:50.1              Quick run.

4-24-07>32:53.0              Quick run, with Bocce.

Another break, focus on strength workouts.

5-26-07>38:50.2              Nice run with Bocce.

5-28-07>41:35.4              Better run with Bocce.

6-13-07>(40:00)              Ran with Bocce.

6-18-07>(48:44)              Great run with Bocce!

6-20-07>1:18:14              Awesome! Broke one hour, took Bocce to the beach.

6-22-07>1:18:06              Another great run. Took Cowgirl to the beach.

6-25-07>1:16:30              Very nice. ½ with Cowgirl, ½ solo.

6-28-07>(1:43:23)            Ran partial with Cowgirl. Added 13 min for stopwatch error.

6-30-07>1:17:46              Great run to the water’s edge. No dogs this time.

7-2-07>(0:47:38)              Short run w/Cowgirl; added 10 min for stopwatch error.

7-4-07>1:09:49                Nice solo run; no dogs.

7-6-07>1:16:40                Great little run, Bocce’s first post-op run.

7-9-07>1:14:57                Good run with Bocce.

7-11-07>1:18:33              Great! Ran with Bocce to the end of the pier.

7-14-07>1:22:27              Very good. Ran with Bocce.

7-23-07>0:30:01              Injured knee forced me to quit early. W/Bocce.

Out with knee and foot injuries, followed by brutal work schedule.

8-20-07>(37:00)              Attempted a comeback, with Bocce.

8-29-07>1:12:00              Back to the beach with Bocce. Very good run!

8-30-07>1:09:07              Another great run with Bocce.

9-3-07>1:22:47                Great run with Bocce, to the end of the pier.

9-8-07>1:18:19                Another run with Bocce to the end of the pier.

9-11-07>1:05:14              Nice run with Bocce to the edge of the sand.

9-17-07>1:08:01              Early run, with Bocce.    

9-18-07>40:26                 Early short run with Bocce.

More work issues. Begin training for half-marathon.

10-16-07>(42:00)             Short run, no Bocce.

10-31-07>53:43               Ran with Bocce, got faint and had to stop.

Moved to Firebaugh, CA 11-27-07. Too cold to run.

03-11-08>27:51.41          First run in Firebaugh. Ran with Bocce along the river.

03-12-08>32:19               Nice run with whole family.

03-13-08>30:02               Ran with the family again. Good run!

This isn’t a fitness post, but a lot of people have been asking me how I got the moniker "Shoehead". I guess it is a natural curiosity, and while I’ve answered the question countless times, it never really dawned on me to post it in a blog; immortalized through eternity (or as long as the internet is up and running).

I’ve been Shoehead since 1980, so it’s not just some silly screen-name for the web. In fact, I’ve been Shoehead since before a lot of the internet generation was born!

The name came about shortly after I moved to Richmond, VA. As anyone who’s ever relocated in the middle of high school can attest, it’s a little tough to "break-in" to a new school, a new set of friends, etc. Especially in Richmond, which can definitely be very clique-ish. So I did fall in with a pretty cool bunch of guys, including two really good friends, Bernard "Beanie", and Billy "Bildo".  Sometime, in the spring of 1980, we all went to a huge house party in Henrico County’s fashionable West End (we all went to Tucker High School in the West End), and as the drinking commenced, Beanie and I started calling each other "Shoehead". I really don’t remember how it came about, or even what it means, but at that time I had no idea of the staying power of such a moniker. Throughout the night, we laughingly called each other out –"Hey, Shoehead!" Monday morning, as we saw each other in the halls, we kept it up, and as the weeks went by, the name just kind of stuck on me.

The name perpetuated after high school, most likely because I put a personalized licence plate on my car saying "SHU HED" (at the time, you could only get six digits on the Virginia licence plates).  Over the next few years, the name became sort of an alter-ego; like a party name.When my band, Just Because performed in the late 80’s and early 90’s, "Shoehead" became my stage name. By this time, a lot of people around Richmond didn’t even know my real name!

I moved to Hoboken NJ in 1996, and after I brought my cousin Chris down to Richmond for a visit, "Shoehead" followed me back up to the New York area. I then moved to Vegas, and my brother Jason  brought "Shoehead" to Vegas. After Vegas, I moved to Redondo Beach into an apartment with some Richmond buddies of mine, who already knew the "Shoehead" legend. The local Redondo denizens started calling me "Shooey", which is entirely a California creation.  I like "Shooey" a lot, because it represents a great time in my life–a period of change, a sense of adventure;  new beginnings…

So that’s pretty much the whole story. Once the internet came into my life, there really couldn’t be any other screen name that captured my personality and history. I hope this helps de-mystify, or bring to life my nickname.

OK, so I’ve been away from this site a little bit. I recently moved to a small town that has NO GYM!  The closest gym is about 25 miles away. So I’m just gonna join it, and drive every day. I’m totally committed to getting back into my optimal physique. It’s tough–I haven’t worked out since late November. I’m absolutely back to square 1… I’m gonna rely on all the support and prayers of my Bodybuilding.com friends. Thanks everyone!

Sorry I don’t have time to write to my friends individually, but I want all of you to know that you’re all very special to me. Merry Christmas, and happy holidays, and lets all have an excellent new year!

God Bless,

~Mark "Shoehead" Edrys

And let’s get six-pack abs and build huge muscle this coming year!

I just moved to a house in a small town, called Firebaugh, CA. We got an awesome six bedroom house on a half-acre corner lot. Mrs. Shoehead is now closer to her family, which is cool, but check it out– the closest gym is 30 miles away! with gas at $3.50 a gallon around here, I can’t fathom a 60-mile round trip six days a week to work out. Oh, well. there’s a huge greatroom in the house which I commandeered as my new workout room. Since I’m trying to cut these days, I’ll just do alot of cardio, and buy some dumbbells for my reps. Then after the first of the year, I think I’ll buy a bench, some weights and ultimately a home gym. Wish me luck, guys…

Happy holidays to alll my bodybuilding.com friends!

~Shooey

OK, I’ve been totally falling off my program for the last month. I was working on a job, and just didn’t really have the time or the energy to get to the gym, and that SUCKS!!! So my job ended last week, and I went with complete renewed vigor to my gym and hit it. Now, I didn’t hit it hard cuz I didn’t want to kill myself right off the bat, but when I got to my old favorite, LEG DAY, I did alot of reps, not to mention lunges, which I haven’t done in, oh–probably ten years. That was friday. For the last 48 hours, and still as I write this, my quads and glutes are SO FREAKIN’ PAINFUL, I can barely walk! Anyway, I’m just glad to be back in, with a new 12-week workout program, so It’s all good! But DAMN that was pretty agonizing for a while there. Of course, I live on the second floor, so I got to limp up and down the steps all weekend. But, hey! It’s OK…

On another quick topic, I haven’t posted too many pics in here, primarily because my camera was stolen out of my car, and I just haven’t really had time to purchase a new one. But I’m going to be posting some pics up really soon. Some fitness pics, actually. I swear!

Well, I hit the big 4-2 today… Yikes! I really don’t feel it, except this week I had a full work schedule, so (naturally) my workout program suffered. I still need to find that balance between work, and my fitness regimen. Anyway…