Perplexed

Even when I hate Leg Day, I love it. Dragging myself off to the gym this morning in the fog and drizzle of a damp October morning, I suddenly had the disconcerting thought that it'd be warm and cozy in my bed right now. Still, I plug in my iPod and mount my favorite Precor elliptical #3 for 35 minutes of gentle hill #5. I get a nice sweaty 4.09 miles. Intervals #7 gives me an additional 4.31 miles for a total of 8.4 miles. I'm absolutely grinning under my drenched hoodie.

Moderate calf and hamstring stretches at the Cage, followed by a trot to the Smith station to do squats. My right knee feels a bit off today. I noticed it doing cardio but was able to adjust my stride and footing. At the squat rack, I'm very careful to align my knees with my feet when I press up. Little misalignments can lead to pain and trouble later on. The Dead Lift isn't getting any easier. So I do 6 sets because, what the heck.

I put my wet hoodie back on after Dead Lifts so I can be reasonably covered sitting at the Leg Curl machine which has an overhead fan blowing down on it. Oddly, it's my hands and forearms that bear the brunt of Leg Curls because I'm barely big enough to fit in the seat. Thus, I'm braced up against the thigh bar to keep me seated while I curl. I have better luck with the Leg Extension machine, but that's my "achilles heel" and I grimace through 6 sets before remembering I haven't done any abs at all today. That's half-ass remedied with some knee to alternate elbow curls at the end of my Mat stretch.

Today's Total Workout:
35 min hill = 4.09 + 35 min intervals = 4.31  Grand Total = 8.4 miles
Cage Stretch
Smith Squats: 12 @ bar (narrow stance down to my heels) / 12 @ 95 / 4 x 12 @ 115 / 12 @ 95
Smith Deadlifts: 6 x 12 @ 95 lbs (pulling the bar up to my chest works front delts, traps & rhomboids but I do it because I don't really feel the movement in my lower back or hamstring unless I pull up high)
Seated Leg Curls: 15 @ 75 / 3 x 15 @ 90 lbs
Seated Leg Extensions: 6 x 15 @ 45 lbs (boy do I suck at this)
Ab Torso Twist: 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs (because I'm bored)
Mat stretch with 2 x 50 alternate knee to elbow curl ups

The scale reads 108.0 lbs before I hit the shower. I see some women I recognize from earlier this summer and say Hi. A new girl with long dark hair remarks that I'm an inspiration to her because she sees me working out, and thinks to herself, I want arms like THAT! And it keeps her motivated. Wow! I thank her for the compliment, and tell her, truthfully, that if I can do it, anyone can do it!

When I get home, and my hair is finally dry, I get on my home scale, just to see what it'll say. It reads 105.6 lbs and tells me my body fat is 18.7%. I guess that's a result of my water weight changing, but what I really find perplexing is that my bones are now 4.6 lbs. I don't think you lose bone weight on a daily basis. That should stay fairly stable, at least over a few days. Hhhmmmm.