That Holiday Feeling

The festivities have begun and our weekend was no exception. We managed to decorate and put up our miniature fake tree in between Chinese school, kung fu and a cub scouts pizza making event. The next day, after swim class and a late breakfast at our local Greek diner where I stuffed myself with french toast stuffed with bananas and smothered in blueberry jam, I began production of our holiday cards, wrap gifts to be mailed, and barely finished in time to dress for our annual photography club Holiday dinner. The meal was okay (not the best Chinese food I've ever eaten) but we were there more for the conversation, which was entertaining.

I'm damn lucky I managed to crawl out of bed this morning, in time to get my son off to school, and myself to the gym. I knew I wasn't going to make 5 miles because I was having trouble keeping my pace over 200 but I did get close: 4.94 miles. I wasn't as sweaty as I like. Perhaps tomorrow. Mondays are always Heavy Push Days, and I have to keep myself from mentally backsliding. Damnit, it's not a question of whether I can bench 145 lbs. It's how many times. And how much is it going to hurt, and where.

My left thumb feels oddly today. I noticed twinging in the tendons atop my hand while doing cardio. It also bothers me when I bench but not enough to keep me from doing my standard Heavy sets. What I find interesting is that by the time I've dropped down to 12 reps at 105 lbs, I'm pretty damn tired. But take a mere 10 lbs off, and I can knock out another 25 reps. I see B chatting and I wave but I'm too tired, and I don't want to be distracted by her endless complaints. I'm not as warm as I'd like to be, and chatting cools me down too much.

Today's Total Workout:
45 min cardio = 4.94 miles
Smith Bench Press: 12 @ bar / 12 @ 95 / 3 x 10 @ 145 lbs / 12 @ 125 / 12 @ 105 / 25 @ 95 lbs
  (now that I'm careful to keep my elbows tucked in, my benching feels much stronger)
Cage Stretch & Kicks
Front & Lateral Delts: 3 x 12 @ 20 lbs (I keep my hoodie on for this because I'm still cold but it feels weird not be able to see the muscles move when I exercise)
Lateral Delts: 3 x 12 @ 20 lbs
Bent-Over Rear Delts: 3 x 15 @ 20 lbs
Seated Rear Inclined Delts: 3 x 15 @ 20 lbs
One-Arm Tricep Extensions: 3 x 12 @ 20 lbs
Torso Twist Machine: 2 x 25
Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 125 (I do this fairly slowly today, at least for me)
Tricep Press Downs: 12/11/10 @ 50 lbs (today I feel my right obliques contract while doing this)
Mat Stretch

Tomorrow and Thursday will be abbreviated workouts because school is letting out early for Parent-Teacher Conferences. The scale reads a whopping 111.6 lbs today but I'm not that surprised. I didn't really eat that much, but a lot of what I ate was salty and my body is salt-sensitive. My face is puffy, and damn, yes, I think I'm getting a pimple as well. Bleah. I see M today and she tells me that she's been doing this for 3 weeks and she's soooo not inspired to be here. She's just tired of it and feeling so unmotivated. I think it's the seasonal winter blahs and tell her to give it just 3 months because by then she'll be feeling better, more energized, more optimistic.

My home scale reads 108.6 which is 3 lbs of water lighter (yes, I did have to pee half a dozen times). I still have holiday chores to get done, and I'm so tired that a nap seems like a really good idea. Saturday, I actually laid down for 45 minutes only to have my son wake me up with a plate of chocolate-covered raspberry jelly sticks. "Look mom, I brought you dessert!" And I ate them.