Pre-Turkey Workout

We actually made it to kickboxing last night so I knew I was going to be a little sore this morning. My butt is always sore, or so it seems, but my shoulders were a tad tender today. Just as well, since it's Leg Day, and I love Leg Day. I love doing the extra cardio! It makes me feel THAT good!

from www.footdoc.ca

I'm a bit stiff and again, my right hip feels a little off when I start off, but I concentrate on keeping my pace and now putting too much pressure on the ball of my foot. Instinctively, I flex my toes to stave off foot spasms. It feels as if my right foot's all connected in a zig-zag pinball way with nerves in my pinkie toe zinging diagonally across to a bunion. I know that physiologically this isn't likely but that's how it feels. And foot diagrams show me that it's possible for nerves to interact in non-linear fashions.

I blame the surgery I had 20 years ago to remove a schwannoma (a benign tumor) from my inside ankle for my toes getting oddly numb and my foot developing a bunion since I never wear tight shoes or heels, and my left foot is bunion-free. If I wear the wrong socks I'm in big trouble. My foot'll go numb and my toes'll get bruised from the seams. If the socks are too nubby, my foot'll go numb. If my shoes are too tight, my foot'll go numb. Luckily, today the threat of spasm passes and I complete my 2 cardio sessions with a total of 8.34 miles which makes me very happy.

www.smartdraw.com/examples/view/nerves+of+the+foot/

I do my standard set of Smith machine Squats and Dead Lifts (damn those aren't getting any easier and I've been doing them since April!) when B comes over to chat. She tells me that there's a huge (as in overweight) guy grunting so loud that she could hear him in spite of her turned-up iPod. Then she tells me that he had lousy form, arching his back and lifting more than he could handle. I've never seen him before and figure he's an idiot for not asking for instruction on proper form, and he'll injure himself and we'll never see him again. Yes, I'm a bad person. I tell B that the gym employees are all certified trainers so really, members ought to seek them out for help. B tells me that I really ought to consider becoming a Personal Trainer and I laugh at her. I don't have that good-natured patience, those all so important people skills.

Today's Total Workout:
35 min hill #6 = 3.97 miles + 35 min interval #7 = 4.37  Grand Total = 8.34 miles
Smith Squats: 12 @ bar / 5 x 12 @ 95 lbs (these don't feel bad at all today)
Smith Dead Lifts: 6 x 12 @ 95 lbs (these, on the other hand, feel absolutely exhausting)
Cage stretch & kicks
Seated Leg Curls: 3 x 15 @ 90 lbs (I have to brace myself against the lap bar to keep from popping out of the seat because I'm short and I'm curling nearly my own body weight)
Seated Leg Extensions: 6 x 15 @ 45 lbs (I haven't upped the weight because I don't want bigger quadriceps, just better defined and shaped ones)
Mat stretch: this time I do the Twisted Triangle Pose before I take my shoes off to do the rest of my mat stretch routine and it's much easier to do standing on the floor. I can feel my legs starting to stiffen up though and my stretch is not as good as it usually is on Leg Day. 

I have the dawning realization that knots in my shoulders are from grasping the handles of the elliptical when I do cardio. Being a small person with short legs means that often handles aren't placed where your arms fall naturally. I've got to focus on not contracting my shoulders when I "run" from now on! The scale reads 110.4 lbs and I'm pleased to be losing some of my puffiness. My home scale confirms the weight loss but again perplexes me with the rest of the readings: 107.8 lbs, 19.5% BF, 52.1 TBW, 38.1 muscle and 4.6 lbs bone. ?? Losing bone again? Yeah, right. I guess I just need to average the weekly readings instead.

Of course, tomorrow's Thanksgiving and although the gym is open from 7 am to 1 pm, I won't be there (sigh). However, I do plan on going on Friday. Because I can!