Tired of the Increasing Limitations

It's been a week since my last gym foray, and a lot has happened in that short interval. My kid went back to college, my dog got X-rays, my husband returned from months away in Australia. My kid is safely ensconced at school and classes have started. The dog's odd rib lump appears to be composed of calcium and cartilage, perhaps a sort of bone callous. The husband raved about how great the food was over there in Oceana, did several loads of laundry and then slept for a good day and a half. 

I did also repot a bunch of my supermarket Venus flytrap plants as some pots appeared overcrowded, and one with a wee baby plant sprouting up at the edge (it got its own pot and I split a bigger plant in two -- their tiny rhizomes remind me of baby bok choi plants), and an outdoor plant looked relatively unhappy compared to two other plants that might be different subspecies based on coloring and size of their traps. It got repotted and actually looks happier now. When you buy them from the grocery, all the label says is Venus flytrap, as if they were all the same, but assuredly, they are not all the same.  

I have been dragging my feet about making the appointment for a consult with the neurosurgeon, because surgery, even laparoscopic surgery, is an invasive procedure that no one should take lightly. But the increasing discomfort of my inflamed sciatic nerve (bundle since it's not one giant nerve) is creating limitations in my daily activities. It's not getting better. I don't really have great days anymore where there's no pain. Instead, I monitor how often I cave to the pressure to pop some OTC NSAIDs, preferring to limit myself to just a single acetaminophen (500 mg) and 2-3 tablets of ibuprofen (200 mg each) all at once. 

I took that at 5 AM today when I couldn't go back to sleep because there was no position that didn't hurt. After 15 minutes, I was asleep until my phone's alarm chimed and I got up to take the dogs to the park, like I do every morning. I stopped going to the chiropractor because I didn't feel any improvements, not even with the decompression machine. The only movement that offers any relief is laying on my back and pulling the afflicted leg up and forward for "nerve flossing." It's rather painful, but as the old adage can be paraphrased, "It hurts so much that it feels good when you stop."

Barely anyone was at the gym when I arrived, and I arrived late. But it was also quite a nice day outside, sunny and not blistering hot, plus school in our county starts before Labor Day (as opposed to NYC where it starts immediately after the long weekend). No one else on the elliptical machines, and only two people on the treadmills. Eventually though, the gym did fill up a bit. 

Getting started on the Precor was painful. Pedaling the lower elevations was unpleasant with my forefoot growing numb and tingly, and the outside of my calf burning. There was less discomfort when the program increased the elevation. Pedaling backward was easier than moving forward. I'd probably progress if I suffered through cardio more than once a week, but lately I have had other things to do. I'm lucky to have registered the distance and steps that I managed today. It could've been worse. What seemed odd was the low HR the Precor was reporting. I've never seen this machine report 71 bpm. It sounds entirely reasonable but we all know that these machines are horribly inaccurate, not that the FitBit is that much better. But it does seem more likely with a range from 42 (while I was sleeping) to 118.  

VFT rhizomes

I did work up a mild sweat but that was hard to achieve. I would've had to pedal faster and I'm not really able to maintain it because of all the discomfort. I managed pull-ups but even before the first rep, my right leg was buzzing and the foot had gone numb in the toes. Because I knew I was reluctantly skipping push-ups later, I decided to revisit the DB routine with some modifications: less reps so as to baby that wonky right shoulder. It's my entire right side that appears to be failing me: right eye has much worse vision loss due to glaucoma, right shoulder has an undiagnosed joint issue, right lower limb has progressing sciatica. The left side seems relatively unscathed. Like I was two different halves, and I am by no means visibly symmetrical either... 

While I kept the higher reps with the lighter warm ups weights, I dropped the reps once I picked up the 20s. Those really shouldn't feel heavy but it's been more than a few months since I last did these exercises so maybe next time I'll add back a few reps. The Aerobics Room was a bit warm and totally empty. Nerve flossing gave me relief, while other exercises toyed with nerve aggravation. I've revamped my routine to complete skip everything that makes my leg hurt worse. Except for Air Squats. Those never used to bother me. Now they do and I do my 25 reps but slower and much more deliberately. 

Yeah, tomorrow I have to reconfirm with my health insurance company that they cover this doctor, that he's in their plan. New reports have come out in favor of acupuncture as a lower back treatment for pain but I doubt that the insurance company will change their stance on it. Which makes no sense. They'd rather pop you full of addictive pain meds or subject you to surgery than allow you to potentially gain relief from a few sterile needles...  

25 August 2026 1:09-3:01

Sciatica Tuesday

Sunny & pleasant & SCIATICA

Precor elliptical #1 (1:46

Program #3

Time: 30 + 5 (5132)

Distance: 2.70

Cal: 292

Precor HR: 71-129, 175

Google Health: 42-118

(Foot numb / calf clenched )

HGPU 15.5 ugly

Sciatica makes this so painful

Incl DB Press s/s Lateral Raises s/s Rev Bent Over Flys (slow & EZ)

10 lbs x 25/15/25 (2:07)

15 lbs x 25/15/30 (2:15)

Inclined Reverse Flys

20/15/20 x 15/15/15 reps

Set 1 (2:25); Set 2 (2:36)

Mild A/C in the Aerobics Room!

20 Piriformis/Hip flex (2:43)

15 Hamstring / nerve flossing

Skip Dead Bugs too painful

50 crunches x 2

Numb toes intensify during crunches if feet on floor; better if knees to chest

12 Piriformis stretches

Child’s Pose

Cat/Cow stretch 12

Child’s Pose

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Arm rotations 20

Skip Push-Ups 26

Air Squats 25 (aggravating sciatica!)

Skip Neck Stretch / eye yoga

Defintely Not a Fan

I went to see two cover bands last Friday and it just confirmed what I had suspected. Everyone was all excited to see Love Sexy, a cover band for Prince and that didn't really thrill me. But another cover band, Side Car doing The Cars, with immensely danceable songs, well, that was exciting. And I went to the show just for them. 

The venue wasn't very crowded, and it was kind of sad how barely anyone got up to dance for the opening songs and the Side Car band. I thought they were really good. But everyone jumped to their feet to wave their hands at basically undanceable Prince songs. I could barely keep myself from yawning. Seriously. I suspect the Queen cover band, Extreme Queen, this Friday will be much better than the faux Prince. I don't even care if no one dances to it, but I probably will. 

Meanwhile, I took one of my dogs to get X-rays of the bony knob on his rib, and the consensus was that it was a benign bony growth, that warranted monitoring but nothing immediately alarming. I finally put the butterfly bushes and coneflowers I bought several weeks ago into the ground, and have been visited by a few Eastern Tiger Swallowtails and a lone Monarch. The milkweeds, unfortunately, are being devoured by brushy Hickory Tussock caterpillars... 

It's been nearly a week since I last made it to the gym. My sciatica is progressing and not in a good way. Mostly, it gets in the way of things I want or need to do. Yes, I went dancing last week in spite of it. Because sitting around doesn't make it better. Cardio warms all the muscles and ligaments so eventually I feel better, but I'm always surprised at what movements make my foot go numb, or worse. The elliptical is both good and bad, depending on whether I'm pedaling forward or backward, and at what elevation. I used to exit the elliptical feeling looser. Now, I'm happy if my foot isn't completely numb or glute isn't sore. 

Pull-ups definitely make the pain worse. Reps are a struggle and ugly to boot. My right shoulder is aggravated doing normal everyday chores, like backing my car into the driveway. And that's with power steering! There were a lot more people in the free weight area today, and one was quite annoying. A tall middle-age dude, (maybe he was trying to impress the thin leggy blonde HS girl?) kept grunting with every rep of bad form DB curls that were obviously too heavy for his abilities. 

I tried to minimize damage to my wonky elbows and shoulders by cutting the reps slightly for the tricep supersets. Everything else was routine. The Aerobics Room was cool and I spent a lot of time doing hamstring stretches and nerve flossing because my sciatica hurt so much. I really hate it when my foot goes numb and my calf feels like half an electrical fire. 

Butter Swim Blueberry Biscuits

I made an interesting observation that my sciatica is aggravated by crunches if my knees are bent and my feet flat on the floor, but less so if my knees are pulled close to the chest. So, I did 50 reps of one and then the other to compare. Guess I'll skip the feet flat on the floor next time. Just like I've skipped Bird Dogs, Dead Bugs, and Push-ups. And I really hate myself for quitting push-ups. But I need to be able to walk out of the Aerobics Room. It's quite the bummer when even innocuous Air Squats cause aggravation. I'll probably make an appointment for a consultation with the neurosurgeon in the next few weeks... 

My kid is leaving for Senior year of college a few days earlier than expected because the friend that is driving has work commitments. The dorms won't be open yet so I've booked them a hotel room close to campus. Meanwhile, my kid decided to remake the Butter Swim Blueberry Biscuits from a few weeks ago. They are delicious, but sooo fattening. Maybe not as fattening as the Blondies with candied bacon (homemade) and toffee chips (my god that non chocolate "fudge" was absolutely fabulous), but damn close. I tease my kid that if this biomedical engineering thing doesn't work out, they can always open up a sweet shop. 

18 August 2026 12:33-2:28

Sciatica Tuesday

Drop off pup at vet

Precor elliptical #1 (1:10)

Program #2

Time: 30 + 5 (5212)

Distance: 2.73

Cal: 296

Precor HR: 145, 184-120

Google Health: 44-122

(Foot numb / calf electric)

HGPU 15 sciatica ugly

Skull Crushers/RipSkulls (1:23-2:02)

30 lbs x 24/22/20/24 reps x 4

(Progressive decrease until set 4)

S/s with

Standing DB Laterals w/ 10 lbs x 15 reps

15 x 15 x 3

S/s wit

Seated DB Alt Curls w/ 10 lbs x 12

15 x 12 x 3

Mild A/C in the Aerobics Room!

20 Piriformis/Hip flex (2:04)

20 Hamstring / nerve flossing

50 crunches x 2

Numb toes intensify during crunches if feet on floor; better if knees to chest

20 Piriformis / hamstring / nerve flossing stretches

Child’s Pose

Cat/Cow stretch 12

Child’s Pose

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Arm rotations 20

Skip Push-Ups 26

Air Squats 25 (sciatica!)

Sciatica is Becoming a Problem

I finally made it to the gym but since I already had too much to do, it was an abbreviated session with just cardio, pull-ups, and stretch time in the Aerobics Room. My sciatica is getting worse, maybe due to inactivity, so I made an effort to do the important movements, but even those hurt in unexpected ways. 

Cardio on the elliptical was painful, with a sudden awareness of a new soreness at the back of my thigh just behind the knee as well as a persistent lower back ache. The big toe, right outer ankle and calf intermittently tingled and burned or buzzed numbingly. Overall, extremely unpleasant and it shows in the loss of distance and steps in the same 35 minute session I've been doing for years. 

Pull-ups were barely tolerable and I didn't have time for the step machine. I skipped really painful movements in the Aerobics Room, so no Dead Bugs or Bird Dogs, and today I even skipped Push-ups because the normally benign Air Squats were also exacerbating my sciatica. That's new and a tad alarming. It feel like the condition is progressing, and I'm now contemplating which office of the neurosurgeon will be easier to drive to, because sciatica makes driving itself rather challenging. 

I had a chance to see Les Mis as performed by the Hudson Valley Shakespeare company this evening, and eat at the newly renovated Folio farm-to-table restaurant. It was quite lovely, and although I wasn't familiar with any of the music or lyrics sung at the performance, I quite enjoyed the fantastic vocal talent, the costumes, and ingenuous set design. Unlike movies or television, live performances require a 4-dimensional creative simplicity unmatched by green screens and special effects. 

I could follow the storyline only because I'd watched the original b&w 1935 movie Les Miserables when I was a child. (The musical version is a lot closer to the actual book than this old movie.) Later, we had a discussion about the historical framework of Les Mis, with me stating that this obviously occurred in the 1800s due to the costumes and the lack of any mention of a king. My friend, who actually lived in Paris for several years and has seen Les Mis at least 8 times, said she just assumed it was during the French Revolution. Good grief. Sorry, that's a facepalm moment showcasing how oblivious people can be... 

Meanwhile, I have taken my dog in for a visit to a new vet to assess that worrisome bump on his ribcage. The vet agreed that it seems too solid to get any material from a needle biopsy so blood was drawn to assess the dog's suitability for sedation and x-rays. He's scheduled for that procedure next week. I'd like this to be nothing but a benign bony growth. It could be an embedded lipomas (aka infiltrative) but that seems unlikely. I'm hoping it's nothing, but since it's bigger than I first noticed it, it's something. 

An interesting aside: on the records from our previous veterinarian, our pups were rated at 2.5/5 and I was immediately concerned. We all assume that this works like most ratings, with 5 being the highest and the best (a 5-star rating) and that "1" is awful. I had to look up the veterinary standards to discover that actually, 2.5 is perfect. Perfectly in the middle, where 1-2 is weak, emaciated, malnourished and 4-5 means overweight, flabby, etc. I felt a lot better after that. But the one dog is still scheduled for x-rays next week. 

12 August 2026 12:54-2:06

Abbrev Sciatica Wednesday

HVSF Les Mis

Precor elliptical #1 (1:32)

Program #1

Time: 30 + 5 (5092)

Distance: 2.69

Cal: 289

Precor HR: 141. 184

Google Health: 46-129

(Foot numb / calf clenched / back thigh starts at knee moved up to glute)

HGPU 15

Sciatica makes this really painful

Mild A/C in the Aerobics Room!

20 Piriformis/Hip flex (1:47-2:06)

15 Hamstring / nerve flossing

Skip Dead Bugs too painful

50 crunches x 2

12 Piriformis stretches

Child’s Pose

Cat/Cow stretch 12

Child’s Pose

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Arm rotations 20

Skip Push-Ups 26

Air Squats 25 (sciatica!)

Neck Stretch / eye yoga

Ruining My Posture

I'm in danger of ruining my posture and my gait because this unrelenting sciatic pain has me curled forward like an elderly arthritic. I'm standing lopsided and probably favoring my right side, putting a lot of stress on the left. 

Once I get things like my kid back to school, my car repaired properly, and one of my dogs diagnosed, I'll look into making an appointment for myself with the neurosurgeon about fixing the diagnosed spinal stenosis. Meanwhile, I have an appointment tomorrow with a new veterinarian because I found a hard lump on one of my dog's rib cage that I'm fairly certain isn't a benign lipoma aka fatty tumor. I've had pups with those and this is not that.

I did make it to the gym today. We're in the middle of a heat advisory that hopefully breaks this evening. My sciatica makes it hard to carry my gym bag, makes it hard to pedal the elliptical, makes it super hard to do pull-ups. I needed a change so today I pedaled the Intervals program for 25 minutes, and later added an additional 10 minutes on the step machine. Slow and easy, but still sopping with sweat. The a/c is on but it's so humid that the gym is barely cool. The locker room is positively balmy and warrants cold showers. 

No weight lifting today. I spent a lot of time in the Aerobics Room trying to relax my aggravated sciatic nerve, and avoid all the movements that have caused the most pain. No Dead Bugs. No Bird Dog planks. I stubbornly refuse to give up push-ups, and they hurt, but not to the same extent as Dead Bugs. I don't know why this exercise specifically causes so much trouble. But Air Squats are fine. 

I still have 3 plants that need to go into the ground but I'm not digging my yard with temps in the 90s. Luckily, torrential rains have mitigated the heat and nothing needs watering. If anything, there's flood watches in various neighborhoods. 

The dreaded spotted lantern fly hasn't made much of an appearance either, although I did find a nymph (juvenile form) in the dog water bowl at the Bark Park this morning. Rinsed that out and dispatched the critter. I hope tomorrow will be cooler. This heat is making me consider installing a second a/c unit in my little house, and I know future summers promise to be even hotter. 

7 August 2026 1:26-2:55

Sciatica Heatwave Friday

More heat & humidity & hungry

Precor elliptical #1 (1:54)

Program Intervals

Time: 20 + 5 (3194)

Distance: 1.84

Cal: 189

Precor HR: 128, 198-97

Google Health: 44-119

(Foot numb / calf clenched / glute)

HGPU 15

Sciatica makes this really painful

Matrix StairMaster (R) (2:05-2:15)

Manual timer 8 + 2 cool down

Speed 3 (38-36) / 2 (26)

Steps 342

Floors 21

Cal: 54

Hr 104

Mild A/C in the Aerobics Room!

20 Piriformis/Hip flex (2:26-

15 Hamstring / nerve flossing

Skip Dead Bugs too painful

25 crunches x 3 (hungry!)

12 Piriformis stretches

Child’s Pose

Cat/Cow stretch 12

Child’s Pose

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Arm rotations 20

Push-Ups 26 (stressful sciatic)

Air Squats 25

Neck Stretch / eye yoga

August So Soon

I inadvertently took a week off from the gym and the results are not good. My sciatica is worse and oddly, so is my right shoulder. While pedaling the elliptical forward and back is mildly painful and I busted a sweat, it was the Stretch Cage pull-ups that really hurt. At least I made it past a dozen, but just barely. I can't be slacking and skipping gym days like this. That hasn't been productive although I have been busy. 

The heat makes planting pollinator flowers difficult since I tend to overheat and run back into the house to cool down by sticking my head under the gooseneck faucet. I can barely get a shovelful of dirt out before hitting rocks and I need to dig at least as deep as the pot I'm transplanting. Out of six plants, I've managed to replant 3 and only because the two herbs got put into bigger planters, and not into the ground. I don't think the rosemary or the thyme will survive winter unless bringing them into the unheated garage is enough protection, but I suspect not. That's the plan for the Venus flytraps as well, because they actually need winter dormancy to survive long-term. 

The other plants, purple coneflowers (echinacea) and butterfly bush are plants that'd do well between the recurring milkweeds I have. But I don't know if they'll survive our winters. Fingers crossed. I only have one coneflower in the ground so far. Only three more holes to dig out. I'm waiting for the heat to lessen and I'd be willing to dig while it's raining, although that could be quite messy. None of this is helping my sciatica. And of course, there's the issue of biting insects. 

I did view a quick post promoting vanilla extract (diluted with water in a spray bottle) as an effective bug repellent. I'd be willing to smell like cake if that meant no more insidious insect bites or oily residue on my skin! Unfortunately, it's stated that vanilla only works for 30 minutes and only repels mosquitoes. So, those pesky deer flies, horseflies, ticks and fleas won't be dissuaded. 

The free weight area had been crowded with kids but was fairly empty by the time I was done with cardio and pull-ups. I did see more girls today. Girls, not women. I also tried not to stare at weird "trendy" workout routines, like the middle-aged dude doing DB presses while laying on a big ass stability ball. Out of the corner of my eye, I think I see him bouncing the ball while he's laying on it. What the actual F? That's a good way to slip and tear a pectoral muscle. In the back of my mind is the story of a local chef who was doing squats on a stability ball. (Sorry but that's pure idiocy.) He did slip and fracture his leg, and was in recovery for months. The restaurant he was affiliated with had to close and change ownership. Serious consequences for stupidity. 

My right shoulder has been recalcitrant with odd painful clicks as the arm rotates in the socket. Sometimes it aches for no reason at all. Today is one of those days, and I have to modify the tricep exercises to mitigate any damage a full range of motion would cause. There are fewer people in the free weight area now and I'm able to complete my sets without any issues, although I do suspect there might've been some curious glances from the "children" playing with weights. 

There had been a Senior class earlier in the Aerobics Room so I wasn't expecting ice cold, but at least it wasn't greenhouse balmy. And there wasn't any painful low-frequency vibrations rumbling through the walls and floor. My sciatica hasn't been alleviated by cardio or weights. Dead Bugs makes it so much worse and I struggle with the sets as my right foot goes numb and electricity zaps my calf and makes my ankle feel like it's on fire. It hurts so much that I actually ditch the last set and only get 4 done instead of 5. And there's no way I'm doing Bird Dogs later. 

The only thing that sort of hurts but I can power through it are push-ups, and that's only to rep 26. This sciatica really sucks, especially as it impacts movements that "on the surface" have nothing to do with glutes, calves, feet... but yeah, push-ups are a full body exercise and that means core and lower back, so there's that. 

I have a chiropractor appointment right afterward, and I can't say that I feel better. Again, this is probably because I need to hit the gym more regularly and definitely more than once every 10 days. Ideally I'd be exercising at least 2-3 times a week. Maybe I'll get back to that once my kid is safely back at school, and I actually get some repair work done to my "rusting undercarriage old Subaru that steers and accelerates like a dream" but seriously needs beaucoup bucks worth of work before the oil pan and associated parts disintegrate and fall off. Yeah, there's that. 

Meanwhile, my kid decided to make cinnamon apple cupcakes with streusel topping from scratch, and they are absolutely delicious. Much more successful than the char-siu bao aka Chinese roast pork buns, although those were tasty too. I guess if this biomedical engineering thing doesn't work out, my kid can always work in a pastry shop. 

But they did have useful experiences at their summer internship, and has been told that once they graduate with a BS (Bachelors of Science), if they wanted, several departments would be interested in hiring them. I think that's awesome, not that my kid is interested in living out on the Island, but these are difficult times and opportunities should never be discounted. 

5 August 2026 1:02-2:47

Sciatica Wednesday

Summer Heat & Humidity

Precor elliptical #1 (1:38)

Program 3

Time: 30 + 5 (5254)

Distance: 2.74

Cal: 298

Precor HR: 142, 184-77

Google Health: 42-129

(Foot numb / calf clenched / glute)

HGPU 14.5

Sciatica makes this really painful

Skull Crushers/RipSkulls (1:50-2:19)

30 lbs x 24 reps x 4

S/s with

Standing DB Laterals w/ 10 lbs x 15 reps

15 x 15 x 3

S/s wit

Seated DB Alt Curls w/ 10 lbs x 12

15 x 12 x 3

Mild A/C in the Aerobics Room!

20 Piriformis/Hip flex (2:25)

15 Hamstring / nerve flossing

Dead Bugs 20 x 4 (painful numb foot)

12 Piriformis stretches

Child’s Pose

Cat/Cow stretch 12

Child’s Pose

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Arm rotations 20 

Push-Ups 26

Air Squats 25

Neck Stretch / eye yoga (2:47)

Don't Skip Bug Spray

Multiple bites

I admit that as a certified bug magnet, I was tempting fate by walking my dogs in the evening without dousing myself with insect repellent. I had been relying on my bug pants and hooded jacket, and gloves. But that left my face exposed. In the morning, because I'm at the dog park for at least an hour, I normally dab picaridin on my face with the the sprayed back of my hands. For a 10 minute walk though, I didn't really want to do that. Unfortunately, biting insects can sense tasty meals from quite the distance and attack exposed flesh at light speed. I never saw these buggers, but I did feel the stinging bites as I slapped my face while keeping a grip on my two dogs. 

Char-siu

The first time this happened, I slathered my face in hydrocortisone cream and forestalled any allergic reactions. The second time I wasn't as fortunate and suffered a huge amount of swelling on my cheek, eyelid and next to my nose. Dabbing topical Benadryl and hydrocortisone cream next to your eye is not ideal. I had trouble seeing out of that eye and kept pressing a cold pack against my face. It was still swollen the next day but not as noticeable. Luckily, today everything feels normal more or less. 

Baos steaming

I've been remiss in my garlic consumption lately so for the past two days I've indulged in an old favorite: perfectly ripe avocado smushed onto toast and covered in crushed fresh garlic with tomato slices and a sprinkle of salt. No doubt I'll be slightly less skeeter attractive now. My kid's kitchen project this weekend was char-siu baos aka Chinese roast pork buns. Pork loins marinated and roasted, chopped and mixed with onions and honey. Bao dough kneaded, risen, shaped around the filling and then steamed. I was lucky to get two out of the ten that were made -- the rest wound up split between my kid and the kid down the road who served as sous chef and dishwasher. 

I got to the gym today in spite feeling surreal fatigue. Today was the last Monday I'll have to get up at 4:30 AM to drive my kid to the train station since the unpaid internship ends this Friday. Apparently there's a presentation due! My kid will be home for a few weeks where I'll be scheduling appointments with the dermatologist, dentist, pediatrician, but there will still be time to hang out and socialize with friends before the next school term begins. 

The gym is relatively empty, as was the parking lot. Maybe there wasn't a Senior class today? I'm relatively early. The kids come in later. I pedal and feel my lungs ache from a week of inertia. Not great stats but hey, at least I made it to the gym. Wind Breaker shows up a few minutes after I start pedaling. I see a few regulars scattered throughout. Pull-ups are slightly better than last time, but again, the sciatica really curls my toes and makes those last reps ugly and painful. 

The free weight area isn't as empty as I'd like but I can still access a flat bench and the weights I want to use. Kids come and go on the surrounding benches. I see the married couple working legs in the hack squat machine and then DB shoulder presses. My right shoulder has been wonky lately, clicking and catching depending on rotation. It's not as if I've been doing anything particularly physical either. A damaged joint that never properly healed is exacerbated by simple movements, like trying to keep the dogs from tangling me up in their leashes. Or backing my car into my narrow driveway. You'd be surprised at how daily mundane movements add up. 

The Aerobics Room is warmer than expected but at least it's empty. Unfortunately, since it's situated at the back of the storefront it's subject to loud noises and vibrations from trucks unloading in the rear parking lot. Today, the noise and air pressure was almost painful and I removed my earbuds several times. An empty Aerobics Room with a wood floor and mirrored walls makes a perfect amplifier for low frequency vibrations. At least the room is empty, so I can count aloud which helps me keep track of my reps. That gives me an extra push-up rep before my right leg complains too much. 

I've been going to the chiropractor once a week, mostly to spend a few minutes in their decompression aka traction device. I can't say that I feel better afterward, but I don't feel worse. I'm still eating a mix of ibuprofen and acetaminophen daily but limited to just once daily. It's not doing my stomach any favors. Someone gave me the name of a pain management office that's in my health insurance plan. I'd really like that to include acupuncture, but it won't. (Most pain medications are contraindicated for glaucoma patients.) And I'm still looking at micro neurosurgery to actually fix the spinal stenosis problem instead of just masking the symptomatic pain. But in my head, I'm not there yet.  

27 July 2026 12:22-2:15

Sciatica Monday last predawn train

Another Stormy flood watch

Precor elliptical #1 (1:00)

Program 2

Time: 30 + 5 (5207)

Distance: 2.73

Cal: 296

Precor HR: 142, 176-?

Google Health: 44-124

(Foot numb)

HGPU 17

Sciatica makes this really painful

Skull Crushers/RipSkulls (1:12-1:45)

30 lbs x 24 reps x 4

S/s with

Standing DB Laterals w/ 10 lbs x 15 reps

15 x 15 x 3

S/s wit

Seated DB Alt Curls w/ 10 lbs x 12

15 x 12 x 3

Mild A/C in the Aerobics Room!

20 Piriformis/Hip flex 

15 Hamstring / nerve flossing

Dead Bugs 20 x 5 (numb foot)

12 Piriformis stretches

Child’s Pose

Cat/Cow stretch 12

Child’s Pose

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Arm rotations 20

Push-Ups 31

Air Squats 25

Neck Stretch / eye yoga (2:15)

Heat, Smoke, Haze, Floods, High Winds

It's been a week since I last made it to the gym. I haven't been sick, other than the persistent ache and discomfort from my inflamed sciatic nerve bundle, but I've had other things to do. I did go dancing last Friday night so I'll consider that an hour or two of moderate cardio exercise. 

The band, Reality Bites, was great and effected appropriate costume changes for whichever band they were covering. Most of it was dance worthy, except for the Beastie Boys, a band I've never liked. Better yet, I scored a pair of free passes for the next Friday or Saturday show. Or I could take myself twice. The BBQ buffet wasn't as good as last time, but the band was better so there was more dancing. Very worth it. 

The weather has gone from an overcast orange haze due to the Canadian wildfires to blistering hot to flood watches and tornado alerts. The weather is too exciting lately. I would've gone to the gym yesterday but my sleep deprivation got the better of me. Every Monday I get up at 4:30 AM to drive my kid to the Metro North station to catch trains and connecting buses to the unpaid summer internship out in Long Island. There's only a few more weeks until that ends, then a few weeks before back to college!

It's hard to go back to sleep after the drive to and from, and then the subsequent dog walk once I get back home. And the sleep deficit appears to be cumulative because I'm unable to sleep more hours during the week to make up for Monday night's paltry duration. At some point I'll wind up napping with the dogs in the late afternoon when I just can't keep my eyes open. Meanwhile, I've decided I need to try actually reading a book again. Not an e-book or a story on my phone, but an actual paper pages book that I hold in my hands. 

I've found that I've fallen prey to device distraction: it's too easy for my attention to wander these days. The only downside is that I'm reading Christopher Buckley, an extremely erudite and witty writer with an extensive vocabulary. So every 5-6 pages I'm scrambling to look up a word definition. I've read Little Green Men before, but it was so long ago that I've forgotten a lot of the juicy details. It's actually quite a pleasure to reread this again. 

I got to the gym and expected it to be more crowded due to the bad weather. I was not expecting the gym to be so warm. Between my fatigue and the unpleasant warmth and humidity, I did not have a great cardio session on the Precor. But I did get 35 min done. Of course, the FitBit never registers this event as using the elliptical. It thinks I'm doing a leisurely stroll. It doesn't register weight lifting either. I have to manually enter that. And there's no category to apply my paltry pull-ups. I'm happy I made it past a dozen, but just barely. I'm sure if I increased my frequency, I'd see better numbers. But, well... 

The free weight area is at first super crowded and I glom a bench between a bunch of guys. I don't see any women or girls beyond a few cable machines and the treadmill. By the time I'm done with my routine, most of the guys are done as well. The weights feel okay. My sciatica feels okay. At least until I enter the warm and clammy Aerobics Room and get to Dead Bugs. Lately, those make my right foot numb and tingly. I'm not torturing myself with Bird Dogs. Doing push-ups is torture enough. 

The sun had come out and bright light was blazing through the big picture windows. By the time I'd done showering and changing, the skies had turned gray and it was raining when I walked back to my car. There are flood watch warnings. Not sure if we're really susceptible to tornadoes although some have touched down in the past. 

ShopRite is selling pitiful, light-starved Venus flytraps again in those protective plastic death domes that trap moisture and reduce light. These plants need full sun! The center plant doesn't even appear to have any traps at the end of its leaves. The plant to the far left has a flower stalk, an act of desperation when a plant will plow all their energy and resources into before succumbing. If the plant is happy, it'll also flower but that's not what's happening with these poor specimens.  

I'm not sure what's happening to major clothing retailers like The GAP, a store I trust to sell me good quality underwear and jeans. The email sales I'm seeing seem much more than just summer inventory clearance. Pants that retailed for $90 are being offered with massive discounts and can be purchased for roughly $20 and free shipping. I bought two pairs barrel-leg faded print jeans. Even better is that they come in a short length so I don't have to hem them. The pockets are reasonable but truthfully, they could be a skosh deeper. At least they're not faux finger-tip pockets. Those suck. 

21 July 2026 12:58-2:43

Sciatic Tuesday

Stormy flood & tornado watch

Precor elliptical #1 (1:34)

Program 1

Time: 30 + 5 (5094)

Distance: 2.69

Cal: 289

Precor HR: 136, 196-109

Google Health: 44-140

HGPU 15

Sciatica makes this really painful

Skull Crushers/RipSkulls (1:45-2:16)

30 lbs x 24 reps x 4

S/s with

Standing DB Laterals w/ 10 lbs x 15 reps

15 x 15 x 3

S/s wit

Seated DB Alt Curls w/ 10 lbs x 12

15 x 12 x 3

No A/C in the Aerobics Room!

 

20 Piriformis/Hip flex 

15 Hamstring / nerve flossing

Dead Bugs 20 x 5 (numb foot)

12 Piriformis stretches

Child’s Pose

Cat/Cow stretch 12

Child’s Pose

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Arm rotations 20 

Push-Ups 30

Air Squats 25

Neck Stretch / eye yoga (2:43)