Grab the Bull by the Horns!

It's beautiful out, so no wonder there were so few people at the gym! Only us "gym rats"! B was there, chatting, naturally. I even saw V briefly in my peripheral vision, but he wandered off to his yoga class and disappeared. I even saw R and we chatted briefly about how he was doing.

R tells me that he's definitely going to get that pain shot next week because now he's worried that he might be doing more damage to himself by gritting his teeth and working through the discomfort. Plus, his wife told him that he's changed, and not in a good way. He's more volatile now. Chronic pain wears you down, and if you don't succumb to depression, well, you get aggressive. And no one wants a 6'4, 225 lb, former semi-pro wide-receiver with a pain-induced hair-trigger temper! 

All the Precor ellipticals are in working order and I do my cardio, opting to change it up just a tad by punching in hill #5. I get 4.98 miles which is pretty good considering my sore butt and stiff hamstrings. But 45 sweaty minutes loosens everything up, and I feel pretty good. Today is my 2nd push day, so I'm just going to do reps. Then off to Cage stretch and to try something I just saw in the October issue of Oxygen magazine. It's a hanging leg lift, which purportedly works a whole bunch of ab muscles. After my stretch and kicks, I do 20 of them, but I don't really feel them in my abs. Top of my quads, yes. Abs, not really. Oh well.

Today's Total Workout:
45 min cardio = 4.98 miles
Smith Bench Press: 12 @ bar (just to warm up) / 4 x 25 @ 95 lbs
Cage stretch & kicks and 20 hanging leg lifts
Front & Lateral Dumbbell Raises (alternating sets): 3 x 12 @ 20 lbs
Lateral Dumbbell Raises: 3 x 12 @ 20 lbs
Seated Rear Inclined Dumbbell Raises: 4 x 15 @ 20 lbs (I couldn't get the inclined bench at first)
Bent-Over Seated Dumbbell Raises: 3 x 15 @ 20 lbs
  (this movement feels a bit different from the inclined one, so what the hell!)
One-arm Dumbbell Tricep Extensions: 3 x 12 @ 20 lbs
Seated Twisting Sit Ups: 150 (I counted!)
Lower Ab Kickouts: 125 (I counted!)
Decline Bench Press: 2 x 50 @ bar (because I was bored and not ready to Mat stretch)
Mat stretch

The scale reads 107.6 lbs which is fairly realistic for me. I ordered a new home scale and Amazon assures me that it's on its way. My online writing class just ended so I should have plenty of free time now, but the next two weekends have already been booked solid with activities such as the Connecticut Renaissance Faire and taking my show down from the Hendrick Hudson Free Library. And of course, there's all the Halloween festivities! I'm excited! I have "dragon ears" to try out with a cosutme I've still not quite formalized. October is so much fun! Just grab the damn bull by the horns and do it!