I skipped the past three days so today was difficult cardio-wise. I didn't get anywhere close to 2.8 and my quads were already tired. I can blame fatigue (still not getting to sleep early enough), getting a noxious stomach ailment mid-week, and being knocked down by my bigger dog as he was doing crazy zoomies with another pup at the dog park. He took out one of my knees and I landed on my butt. Luckily most of the dog park is filled with wood chips so the landing was uneventful. The knee recovered and then the one that was spared started to ache intermittently.
The weather's been crazy with high humidity leading to thunderstorms and sporadic rain makes me spacey. Tuesday night I ate a meal compiled from a bunch of leftovers, and either a component was bad or I ate too much, and suddenly I was ill. Normally a bout of vomiting and all is well. Except this time, being sick left really bad side effects on my face: periorbital petechaie. It's faded somewhat, but still visible.
Because I have rather difficult skin that isn't very elastic, I worry that the distortions under my eyes will become permanent. This has never happened to me before, and I've been sick plenty of times in my life. But being older means my skin is even drier and less resilient. (My kid once gave himself two black eyes when he got sick at a luau when we were vacationing in Hawaii. We had to take him to the ER just to make sure he didn't have any serious blood diseases!)
It's taken me two days to remember that I can place damp used teabags on my eyes to help soothe them, and potentially reduce the blotchy swollen flesh underneath. Worse case scenario, I've read that hemorrhoid cream works wonders. But that's a last resort.
It's Friday and nearing 80F with cloudy skies and blistering sunshine. The lilacs seemed to have leafed and flowered overnight! The air is perfumed and luscious. Suddenly the red maple in front of the house has a full canopy when just last week there were just little annoying tree flowers raining all over my car. The gym is not crowded and I pedal my program on the elliptical, get a set of pull-ups and then look for an adjustable bench in the free weight area.
Unfortunately, both Nautilus benches are in use but I saw another adjustable bench that I can use, even though my feet don't touch the ground when I sit in it in an angled upright position. So most of my DB Inclined Bench Presses are done with my feet tucked all the way up to my butt, knees bent. Because I'm small enough to sit in a big inclined bench that way. I know where the Nautilus benches are though, so when the one closest to me is suddenly vacant, I grab all my gear and switch benches. Whew. Never mind that I just finished the first heavy set. The next two sets are infinitely easier because the bench is narrower and doesn't sit as high.
I have the Aerobics Room to myself and it's delightfully frigid. Everything is routine, except the push-ups. Because after a lot of DB presses, well, that's normal. Especially since I've been adding a few reps here and there to the sets of presses and reverse flyes. So 25 is the minimum number of reps, but I find that often I can do more. The only reps that stay consistent are for DB Lateral Raises, because the elbows absolutely will not put up with more weight or more reps. Weakest link and all that...
Meanwhile, I feel vindicated about preferring ibuprofen over acetaminophen. I like the fact that the former is an anti-inflammatory, and maybe the
Tylenol-cyanide tampering scare in the 80s has also influenced me. But I read a recent article about cognitive impacts of these meds, and yes, they are slight, but they seem to be persistent. Click
here and
here to read about it.
I started adding bananas back to my diet on a regular basis after reading that it could help lower blood pressure if using less salt isn't working. I've already doubled my dose of hypertension meds and don't want to add a diuretic -- especially since I already drink a lot of water and take frequent bathroom breaks. While I'm not going to add 1-2 bananas a day, I did start eating 1-2 a week, and yes, my home BP machine has recorded lower readings. The only downside is that bananas are binding. As in, if you have the poops, you're told to eat the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, toast. So, now I've added low-sodium tomato or vegetable juice back as well, just to counteract the bananas! So far, that seems to be working. (I had stopped drinking tomato juice after the oral surgery cuz stitches and acidic liquids do not go well together.)
Going to a rally tomorrow in the rain with a friend. She's much older than me but remains alert and active. We compare notes about what no one ever tells you before you get old. Thank goodness I don't think I'll ever need a double hip replacement like she had. Or her cousin, who is actually a candidate for that, and she is younger than me. Must be genetics. So as much as I complain about my skin, my glaucoma, my sciatica, I'm happy and lucky that I've never broken any bones, I'm still decently strong, don't really need glasses (1x readers in low light) and the hair isn't graying too fast... Life is okay. And I got my first insect bites of the season, through my pants leg. Of course.
2 May 2025 12:31-2:38
Friday — Cardio et al
Gonna be 80° and Raining
Precor elliptical #1
Program 1
Time: 30 + 5 (5364)
Distance: 2.76
Cal: 303
Avg Hr: 139, 188-74?
New FB: 43-138
HGPU 19
Incl DB Press s/s Lateral Raises s/s Rev Incline Flys
10 lbs x 25/15/25 (1:26);
15 lbs x 25/15/25 (1:32);
20/15/20 x 25, 26,30/15/27, 32, 32 reps
Sets 1 (1:42); 2 (1:51); 3 (2:01)
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
Push-Ups 20x2? Rep33+ was hard
Arm rotations 20
Air Squats 25
Neck stretch / Eye yoga
Wall Squat 120 sec
