Stress Relief

I didn't think pushing the clocks back on Sunday would wreak havoc with my sleep. But it did, and I had a lot of trouble getting more than 5 hours last night. I skipped Friday knowing I was going to be sore from those Walking Lunges. But I wasn't expecting the DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) to be quite so severe. That's a lot of soreness for a body weight exercise, with glutes and hammies freaking out for days. Luckily, they're not hard to do... 

Had a busy weekend, with a Star Gazing event two towns north of us. A lovely group of people brought their own telescopes, some manual and others connected to phone apps and motors to track the movement of the earth's rotation in order to keep the target (Saturn, a double star system, a gas nebula) in focus. That was Saturday night. Sunday afternoon, we ventured west to a historical museum (the old schoolhouse of the West Point Foundry from the 1800s) in the town of Cold Spring (adjacent to the Hudson River) to hear a Native American lecture about life of the Eastern Woodlands Indian. 

Drew Shuptar-Rayvis

Glad we dressed warmly as it was held outdoors. The speaker, Drew Shuptar-Rayvis (Pekatawas MakataweU "Black Corn"), however, was wearing much less; just strategically placed buckskin and a deerskin mantle! He claimed that he wasn't cold as he was acclimatized to the weather. He has a melting pot lineage but can trace his people back 350 years and spoke in an Algonkian dialect.

Today is a Cardio Day. I get to the gym late (dragging a bit) and see Wind Breaker on elliptical #2. Weird. Machine #3 is missing the bottle holder. I wonder why he's not on #1 but don't think too much about it when I climb on #1. As I pedal, I hear and feel a grinding noise. The plate covering the gears between the pedals has slipped down. I know how to fix this: I angle my foot and point the tip of my toe to push the metal sheet back into position. There's probably a missing screw that would have held it in place, but this is an easy if temporary fix. No more grinding vibration or noise. I don't know if Wind Breaker took notice or not, but I got to pedal on the better elliptical so it was all good. 

I'm starting out tired so not surprised that I don't make it to 2.8, especially since I find myself unable to keep my speed over 150 SPM (strides per minute). I've done worse. Pull-ups seemed to appreciate the extra time off and I got one more rep than I was expecting. I leave it at that, although afterward I was second guessing myself, thinking I should've just gotten as many as possible. Then I thought better of it and realized that if I'd done that, I might not get a second and third set. 

A bunch of old guys are chatting loudly next to one of the step machines, so of course, I choose the other machine. I punch in the usual settings (speed 5, 8 minutes) and let the machine do its thing. (It will give me an automatic 2-minute cool down.) Which means I have no control as to how many steps I climb. It's a bit more than last week, but not because I did anything different. Those 10 minutes though, certainly have me breathing hard with sweat pouring off my nose. 

I get my 15 reps for the second set of pull-ups and then tackle the cross-trainer. I try to conserve some energy by only using the moving handles for the middle 5 minutes. Which means holding the stationary handles (for balance) for the first and last 5 minutes. I am pedaling at a decent clip though, so it's not surprising that I still feel blown out by that last set of pull-ups. Thankfully the count is automatic in my head.

from ssc.vu.lt

There's one guy in the Aerobics Room doing planks on a mat just a foot away from the pile of mats. I don't understand why people insist on planting themselves so close to items that other people need to access, putting themselves in the way because why? I can only guess it's sheer laziness. Can't walk the 5 foot distance so as to not be in the way. Too lazy or too frail? I'm so done with people! I do all my exercises but skip the Walking Lunges. I might do those tomorrow though. Quads have probably been inured by Air Squats so it's only the glutes and hammies that need to worry.

Got a doc appointment on Wednesday as a follow-up to my hypertension issue. It's not looking great. While my BP isn't super high, it is higher than what it should be to qualify as normal. And mild hypertension is probably still a problem. I'm expecting the doc to raise the dosage of the losartan, but I'm just guessing.

4 Nov 2024 12:16-2:08

Monday— All Cardio

Cold!

Brilliant Day — Timolol / sciatica

Precor elliptical #1 

Program 1

Time: 30 + 5 (5454)

Distance: 2.79

Cal: 307

Avg Hr: 143, 175-79

New FB: 54-138

HGPU 16

Matrix StairMaster (L)

Manual timer 8+2 cool down

Minimum 5 minutes

Speed 5 (45)/ 2 (33) / 1 (29)

Steps 450

Floors 28

Cal 67

Hr 135 (1:13)

HGPU 15

Life Fitness X-Trainer #3

Program Manual L1

Time: 12 (+3min cool down) = 15

Distance: 1.49

Cal: 117

Avg Hr: 139

HGPU 13.5 + 2/2s ugh!

20 Hip Bridges

Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch

DeadBugs 20 x 5

Piriformis stretches

Child’s Pose

Cat/Cow stretch 12

Child’s Pose

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2 (tingle)

Push-Ups 25 (minimal tingle)

Arm rotations 20

Air Squats 25

Neck stretch / Eye yoga

Gym Bitchiness?

My Seasonal Wreath

Happy Halloween for those who celebrate. And who doesn't celebrate here in America? Unless you're also celebrating Diwali, the Hindu festival of light, signifying the victory of light over darkness. I saw a few posts where people left refreshments for their delivery drivers during the hot summer months, and I thought I'd do the same today since we never get Trick or Treaters. (Trunk Or Treats is what's popular among the school age set and their parents, and those occur at school parking lots or behind the big firehouse in town.) 

Treat Yourself

I got back from the gym this afternoon and saw a few small packages on the front steps, and I'm pretty sure the delivery person grabbed themselves a few candies. They weren't sitting in direct sunlight so hopefully they weren't melted into a gooey mess. It was 79F when I got back home.

I got to the gym well past noon. Two of the four elliptical machines were occupied and I wasn't about to pedal between them on a clunky machine that has a broken cup holder. I got on one of the Life Fitness cross-trainer machines and pedaled for 15 minutes. Because I really came to push some weights around and cardio is just a warmup for those instances. I chose a machine that is directly in front of the a/c ceiling vent so I didn't sweat much. It's hot today, peaking temps near 80F even though there'll be frost at night in a few days. Seasonal roller coaster weather... usually Halloween isn't quite so warm though.

I find a Nautilus bench and start my DB Shoulder routine. Everything is going fine even though it's a bit crowded in the free weight area. The Odd Couple are split between a bench next to me and the squat cage behind me. It feels claustrophobic because there are too many people in too small a space. But everything's okay until I get to the sets where I need the 20 lb DBs. There should be 2 sets on the rack and there are none. No one near me is using any of them. I walk around all the benches, thinking that some dolt didn't re-rack. 

Instead, I find two HS guys standing next to a bench at the far end, and both sets of 20s. I ask if they're using them, 'cuz obviously they're not. They start to make excuses about uh, just one more set. Really? Two guys with ONE bench and two sets of DBs? Are you doing simultaneous shoulder presses sitting next to each other? 

I bit my tongue and grabbed one pair when the smaller dude said he wasn't using the one at his feet. Because what I really wanted to say was, "Poser." What I said instead was, " Well, you're just standing there talking and no one's using either of them."

There wasn't any gym ambient music and I had my earbuds in, so maybe I was a bit louder than a small middle-aged Asian woman should be. Because I definitely felt a lot of eyes on me when I grabbed the DBs and walked back to my bench. Most of the time people tell me they can't hear me because I speak too softly (and my voice is low). Apparently not today. Bitchiness? Yeah, maybe. The HS kid did one more set and then left. I've worked out in a lot of gyms. A lot of muscle head gyms. And I don't think I'm wrong here.

Honestly, I don't want to politely wait around while people chat. I don't come to the gym to chat. I can barely bring myself to nod at people I know, and people who know me know that they're not getting any conversation unless it's in the locker room. Because when I'm focused on my workout, I'm locked in on that and only that. I got everything done in the Aerobics Room, and even added back Walking Lunges. Which of course, didn't help the Wall Sits at all. Nope. Screaming inside my head the entire two minutes. Tomorrow's Cardio Day is gonna be a lot of fun. Not.

31 Oct 2024 12:25-1:46

Thursday — Mix for Halloween

Hot Sunny Day — Timolol / sciatica

Life Fitness X-Trainer #5

Program Manual L1

Time: 12 (+3min cool down) = 15

Distance: 1.44

Cal: 116

Avg Hr: 109-120

Incl DB Press s/s Lateral Raises s/s Rev Incline Flys

10 lbs x 25/15/25

15 lbs x 25/15/25

20/15/20 x 25/15/25 x 3

20 Hip Bridges

Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch

DeadBugs 20 x 5

Piriformis stretches

Quick Child’s Pose

Cat stretch 12

Child’s Pose

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2

Push-Ups 25

Arm rotations 20

Walking Lunges 20/20

Air Squats 25

Neck stretch / Eye yoga

Wall Squat 120 sec (so painful!)

Another Gym Post and a few words about PFAS in Dental

Weird weather coming

The older I get, the more sensitive to barometric pressure I become. Yesterday, I was absolutely miserable before it actually rained. Brain fog, headache, fatigue and burning eyelids make me feel as if I'd fallen ill. But it was just the weather! Once it started to rain, my symptoms dissipated and by this morning, I was back to normal. Except that I hadn't been to the gym in 4 days. So I went today, albeit a bit late.

The Senior class was still in session and there were other folks. Wind Breaker was already pedaling away but surprisingly on elliptical #3. No one on #1 or 2 so I'm able to use #1. I still felt sluggish so making mileage was difficult. The amount of steps I climbed were beyond my control as the machine sets the pace. I did manage to hold onto my pull-up reps and added a few more half reps to the last set. The only place I did better was the cross-trainer where I seemed to have pedaled a little faster than last time.

My sciatica still bothers me during push ups, hip bridges, bird dog planks and when transitioning from sitting to standing/walking. But it's less annoying. I had a follow-up appointment with my glaucoma doc on Monday that took several hours because once again, she has brand new staff for a lot of functions. Which meant I was scheduled for tests that hadn't happened or I wasn't told about and so I wasn't prepared for (like not taking a certain eye drop before the appointment, but I won't know that if you don't tell me). We viewed my last Visual Field exam and that was very troubling for the right eye. 

If you're interested, a Visual Field test has you cover one eye while you stare through a lens at a gray-white field where there's a tiny orange dot in the center. You stare at the dot and click a clicker when lights flash in the area surrounding the dot. The lights can be big or tiny and in any area. You do this for each eye. The computer maps whether you've seen the flashes properly or are just clicking randomly. Sometimes you think you see a flash and there isn't any: false positive.

The right eye is the one with greater vision loss in the upper quadrant, shaped like an ominous dark crescent. The last exam showed something completely different: a crescent that was bisected vertically with no vision loss at all on the left side. But the system also detected a high number of false positives, so that test is suspect. Otherwise, it's signaling a problem with brain function and perception. That would be really troubling. So, I'm scheduled for a new exam in a few weeks. Because this one is just too weird.

Yes, those are my
wrinkly fingers

This morning, I watched a post on YouTube about PFAS in dental floss. (Click here for the link.) No one needs extra PFAS in their bodies, especially entering through their gums directly into the bloodstream so close to the brain. I'd read about this when the news first came out, but I wasn't able to determine which floss was considered safe. The video, provided by a periodontist, listed all the suspect brands (a lot of popular ones including one I favor), and the safer ones. I've tried unwaxed floss. It didn't work very well for me as my teeth tended to shred the floss and make it unusable. 

After the gym, I went to the store with my list. And I found ones that specifically marketed themselves as PFAS FREE! It's REACH UltraClean mint floss. I'm hoping it's as good as the Oral B Glide ProHealth (which works well for me, except for the toxic chems). Because gum health has been linked to all sorts of longevity issues, like heart disease and dementia. Good grief.

30 Oct 2024 12:13-2:06

Wednesday — All Cardio

Low Air Pressure Sensitivity

Brilliant Day — Timolol / sciatica

Precor elliptical #1

Program 3

Time: 30 + 5 (5406

Distance: 2.78

Cal: 305

Avg Hr: 150, 188-82

New FB: 52-132

HGPU 15.5

Matrix StairMaster (R)

Manual timer 8+2 cool down

Minimum 5 minutes

Speed 5 (45) / 2 (38) / 1 (29)

Steps 423

Floors 26

Cal 64

Hr 137

HGPU 15

Life Fitness X-Trainer #3

Program Manual L1

Time: 12 (+3min cool down) = 15

Distance: 1.38

Cal: 115

Avg Hr: 129-131

HGPU 13.5 + 2/2s

20 Hip Bridges

Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch

DeadBugs 20 x 5

Piriformis stretches

Child’s Pose

Cat/Cow stretch 12

Child’s Pose

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2 (tingle)

Push-Ups 25 (minimal tingle)

Arm rotations 20

Air Squats 25

Neck stretch / Eye yoga

Is It Too Soon to Hibernate?

Temps dipped into the high 30s last night although not cold enough for frost to form on the windshield. Dog zoomies through crunchy yellow leaves this morning. Got a few chores done before leaving for the gym. Arrived a few minutes past noon but still had my pick of elliptical machines. I hop on #1 because it's actually got the smoothest glide action. Two-thirds done and Wind Breaker shows up. He gets on machine #3. I don't feel bad at all.

Today is Cardio & Pull-ups day, so that's what I do. I'm really tired though. Getting inconveniently, painfully drowsy at 7:30 last night meant still having important things to do, like administering multiple eye drops, walking and feeding the pups, flossing, getting stuff ready for the morning, teeth brushing. Before you know it, it's 11:30 and I'm not tired anymore. Ugh. It doesn't help that I've got the TV on and am playing catch-up with a few episodes of Only Murders in the Building.

I get the same amount of pull-ups as Tuesday, so that was reassuring. But the cardio wasn't quite as good, although inexplicably a few more steps on the stair machine. I can literally feel how tired I am during the last pull-up rep. 

The back door is open and a floor fan is aimed at the ceiling when I enter the empty Aerobics Room. It's nice and cool. Yaaay! I was about to skip the second half of the routine, i.e., bird dog planks, push-ups, air squats, but my pride got the better of me when another person walked in to do their own DB routine. Then a girl came in to do some core work on the mat. I realized that I could still skip the other exercises and no one except me would know, but I couldn't do it. I had to finish. It's like my OCD kicked in. But I did skip the Wall Sits... Because that's always been sort of arbitrary.

Where there are still leaves on the trees, the landscape is gloriously colorful with greens fading into brilliant golds and crisp tans. Flaming reds, pinks, orange dot the edges of the roadways... but our red maple is still green with a few lesser branches making the change. Weird. I just hope the tree turns colorful before everything gets crispy brown and falls off during the next (whenever that will be) rainfall. That might be the first weekend in November. We're in a drought and there's constant wildfire warnings... I assume Canada is STILL on fire, although it's not been in the news lately. Definitely going to see frost early this week though. Is it too soon to hibernate?

25 Oct 2024 12:04-2:03

Friday — All Cardio

Chilly weather & I’m Exhausted

Brilliant Day — Timolol / sciatica

Precor elliptical #1 (12:43 end)

Program 2

Time: 30 + 5 (5452)

Distance: 2.80

Cal: 308

Avg Hr: 151, 182-72

New FB: 52-136

HGPU 15

Matrix StairMaster (R) 12:55

Manual timer 8+2 cool down

Minimum 5 minutes

Speed 5 (45)/ 2 (33) / 1 (29)

Steps 440

Floors 27

Cal 66

Hr 107? (1:05)

HGPU 15

Life Fitness X-Trainer #3 (1:16-1:32)

Program Manual L1

Time: 12 (+3min cool down)=15

Distance: 1.22

Cal: 111

Avg Hr: 120

HGPU 13.5 ugh

20 Hip Bridges (1:42)

Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch

DeadBugs 20 x 5

Piriformis stretches

Child’s Pose

Cat/Cow stretch 12

Child’s Pose

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2 (tingle)

Push-Ups 25 (minimal tingle)

Arm rotations 20

Air Squats 25

Neck stretch / Eye yoga

Autumn Chores

Does it look like I'm 
wearing makeup?

I skipped the gym yesterday and spent the day doing a lot of laundry. A lot more than I had planned because I went to retrieve some sheets from a drawer I hadn't been able to access for at least a year (because my husband is a hoarder and creates huge piles that get in the way), and discovered that the mice had been having parties. Which meant all the sheets and pillowcases had to be washed (with bleach). I could access these drawers (finally) because the junk is now somewhere else in the house and/or garage because I needed room to get rid of the old bed and mattress. Maybe I should do this more often?

This morning, I bought big plastic totes to put under the bed with newly sanitized sheets and pillowcases. And then I went to the gym. I got there later than I'd like, but it still wasn't crowded. Although Wind Breaker was peddling away on elliptical #1. I hopped on #3. I didn't get great mileage and barely made it to 2.8 at the last second. And up until the last minute, I hadn't decided whether I was doing a full cardio workout with sets of pull-ups, or something else. Free weight area not horribly crowded, so it was a "mixed day" aka DB Shoulder routine.

I've always had a delayed heat response, so it wasn't until I was at a bench in the free weight area that sweat ran so profusely off my face and head that I had to mop up the "rain" with my hoodie. That was a response to the cardio some moments earlier! There's a mixed group of  kids, seniors, men and women populating the safety cages or using the DBs. I found an unused Nautilus bench and dragged it out of a squat cage because those side bars just get in the way for my purposes, and someone else (doing squats) can use it. Literally 5 minutes later, there's a guy doing squats there. By the time I'm done with my routine, most of the other folks have moved on and a new tide of users is washing in. The Odd Couple arrived, each doing their own thing as if they didn't know each other!

 

I was a little worried about push-ups since my arms eventually get tired after all those reps. But it wasn't a problem. Toes didn't tingle too much! Yaaay! I got my squats done as well, and then, I even endured 2 minutes of Wall Sits. They were painful (no surprise). I hope I see benefits! 

I might be more concerned than usual about sudden aging, maybe because of those weird brown spots under my eyebrows? I've been noticing the side effects of using the prescribed retinoid: my face is sensitive and seems a bit pink and slightly swollen. Cream and sunscreen both sting a little when applied. But it's too soon to see any fading yet... 

I read an article that says standing on one leg is an accurate test as to whether you're aging badly. We (us old folks) should be able to balance for 30 seconds or longer and if we can't, well, something's gone awry. I haven't done this yet... but I'll get around to it.

22 Oct 2024 11:40-1:38

Thursday — Mix

Brisk & Dry & Sunny

Brilliant Day — Timolol / sciatica

Precor elliptical #3

Program 1

Time: 30 + 5 (5454)

Distance: 2.80

Cal: 308

Avg Hr: 149, 179-84

New FB: 52-126

Incl DB Press s/s Lateral Raises s/s Rev Incline Flys

10 lbs x 25/15/25

15 lbs x 25/15/25

20/15/20 x 25/15/25 x 3 sets

20 Hip Bridges (tingle at rep 12)

Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch

DeadBugs 20 x 5

Piriformis stretches

Child’s Pose

Cat/Camel stretch 12

Child’s Pose

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2

Push-Ups 25 (minimal tingle)

Arm rotations 20

Air Squats 25

Neck stretch / Eye yoga

Wall Squat 120 sec

Is This Indian Summer?

In my yard today

A few days ago we had a frost warning for tender plants. Today temps peak at 80F. I think the trees are very confused, although they're in their full Autumn splendor of golds and reds. It hasn't rained in a few weeks and there is some worry about wells. Not mine of course because I live on wetlands with underground streams. 

Once it rains though, all those lovely colorful leaves will be washed to the ground. Nothing more slippery than wet leaves, except maybe ice. No one at the dog park today although there were pups yesterday. My dogs are disappointed. I actually get to the gym earlier than usual and have my pick of elliptical machines. I choose #3, stealing the cup holder off of #2 since there's no one to complain.

It's been 4 days since I last exercised so I'm expecting to do worse than last time. And I do slightly worse in everything: elliptical, step machine, cross-trainer and pull-ups. Well, I do okay for two out of three sets of pull-ups. By the last set I'm tired and can't make the full 15 reps. But it was still better than a dozen each time. 

I was worried that the gym would be warm since it was so hot outside. (I turned off my home a/c last week.) It's late in the season to have a/c running, but happily, the gym was on full blast, with the Aerobics Room being nicely cool. My sciatica seems to be getting better in spite of the heinous 6-hour drive to and from Buffalo this weekend to see our kid. I won't lie: after two hours I'm squirming in my seat because my glutes are unhappy although weirdly, it's not the sciatica-affected side that's in pain. However, when I get out of the car, my left foot goes numb and it's difficult to walk. Eventually the tingling dissipates and everything feels normal, at least until I sit down again. 

The hotel thermostat was broken in our room and we kept trying to turn it down from the sweaty 84F that it crept up to. The room was sunny and on the top floor. We kept the curtains drawn in a vain effort to keep the room cool. Well, at least the mini fridge had a freezer. Many hotels don't have freezers or microwaves anymore. This one did, but the room itself, while fairly spacious, didn't have a single USB outlet. So, if you didn't bring a converter, you were out of luck. My husband, who lives in hotels during most weeks, is always well-prepared with cords and plugs.

We had a lovely visit with our kid, bringing him two shopping bags of various items and his winter parka, which of course he won't need in the foreseeable future. At the last minute, I purchased concert tickets to see 10,000 Maniacs, playing at the university's Center for the Performing Arts. There were a lot of gray-haired boomers. Probably a lot of them were stoned too because at one point, someone screamed out "Go Natalie!" 

Uh, Natalie Merchant left the band back in 2012. The lead singer is Mary Ramsey. And while her voice has some qualities reminiscent of Merchant's pearly vocals, it's not quite as rich. Then, of course, they had to sing Because the Night, which I know as a Patti Smith song. The Natalie Merchant version is also distinctive. (Song written by Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen.) I favor the Patti Smith version on her album Easter.

Robot server

I hadn't realized that I needed to make reservations for dinner in Buffalo so every place we looked at was overbooked, until we decided to circle back to a place we had driven past a few times en route to other places. It declared itself a seafood boil and hot pot restaurant and that seemed promising: Q Seafood Boil & Hot Pot. It also wasn't outrageously crowded, and actually reasonably priced. Really good food, but medium spicy is plenty spicy. Can't even imagine what Super Spicy would be! 

My husband was in heaven with green-lipped mussels, and a seafood dry pot (a style of spicy cooking). I enjoyed a vegetable dry pot with cloud's ear, lotus root, tofu skins, etc. The kid was all-in for fried rice. The high point might've been the service robot that delivered the dishes to the table, accompanied by a human server. It cheerfully chirped, "Food is here!"

22 Oct 2024 11:14-1:19

Tuesday — All Cardio

Gonna Be 80°F

Brilliant Day — Timolol / sciatica

Precor elliptical #3

Program 3

Time: 30 + 5 (5506)

Distance: 2.82

Cal: 311

Avg Hr: 155, 187-92

New FB: 54-132

HGPU 15.5

Matrix StairMaster (R)

Manual timer 8+2 cool down

Minimum 5 minutes

Speed 5 (45) / 2 (33) / 1 (29)

Steps 423

Floors 26

Cal 64

Hr 139

HGPU 15

Life Fitness X-Trainer #3

Program Manual L1

Time: 12 (+3 min cool down) = 15

Distance: 1.24

Cal: 111

Avg Hr: 120

HGPU 13.5 ugh

20 Hip Bridges

Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch

DeadBugs 20 x 5

Piriformis stretches

Quick Child’s Pose

Cat stretch 12

Child’s Pose

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2

Push-Ups 25 (minimal tingle)

Arm rotations 20

Air Squats 25

Neck stretch / Eye yoga

Temps Dropped and I Got Hives

I've been waking to temps below 40F lately and my body has reacted. It's somewhat subtle and only I notice it, but I've developed hives down the outside of my thighs. It happens every fall as soon as it gets the slightest bit cold. Never mind that temps will hit the 70s again next week. The hives will probably go away until the next cold spell. 

Of course, my body doesn't follow standard parameters and recommended treatments don't really work. I'm not taking antihistamines for this (cold urticaria) although this morning I slathered my legs with "itch cream." If it's not insect bites, then it's just temperature in general. I feel like such a "hot house baby."

My dermatologist PA recommended I use retinoid cream and the liberal use of sunscreen for those disconcerting but apparently harmless spots under my eyebrows. I don't consider this cosmetic vanity. It's not like I'm looking at a face lift or botox or liposuction. I just don't want to look like a crazy woman who doesn't know how to apply eyebrow pencil to her brows. Especially since I'm not wearing any makeup.

I skipped the gym yesterday, but made it today. No one on any of the ellipticals. There's a removable cup that can be placed inside the broken bottle holder and both #2 and #3 are broken. I take the cup off of #2 and put it on #3, because honestly, who the heck wants to pedal a machine that clunks? Wind Breaker shows up to claim #1 just as I'm down to the last 5 minutes of my session. Apparently, pedaling the elliptical is all he does for hours, and then he leaves without doing anything else.

I got my three sets of pull-ups done, granted that last set was a bit weak. But I still got my reps. Slightly better "mileage" on the elliptical and (made it past 2.8). Slightly more steps on the step machine. Slightly better distance on the cross-trainer. Yaaaay me. The Aerobics Room was empty and very cold. I'm okay with that. A young guy comes in later and I notice him doing a handstand against the wall and then planks. The Aerobics Room is one of the few places where there is an actual wall no encumbered by mirrors or equipment. I still have discomfort (numbness & tingling) in my right foot and hip but it doesn't last too long. Just enough to be annoying...

17 Oct 2024 11:30-1:30

Thursday — All Cardio Chillats!

Brilliant Day — Timolol / sciatica

Precor elliptical #3

Program 2

Time: 30 + 5 (5572)

Distance: 2.84

Cal: 315

Avg Hr: 155, 185-79

New FB: 54-130

HGPU 15

Matrix StairMaster (R)

Manual timer 8+2 cool down

Minimum 5 minutes

Speed 5 (45-50) / 29-36 (2-1)

Steps 449

Floors 28

Cal 67

Hr 127 

HGPU 15

Life Fitness X-Trainer #3

Program Manual L1

Time: 12 (+3min cool down)=15

Distance: 1.42

Cal: 115

Avg Hr: 120

HGPU 15

20 Hip Bridges

Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch

DeadBugs 20 x 5

Piriformis stretches

Quick Child’s Pose

Cat stretch 12

Child’s Pose

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2

Push-Ups 25 (minimal tingle)

Arm rotations 20

Air Squats 25

Neck stretch / Eye yoga