Good Friday Workout

I'm damn near dragging my butt today but I still drive to Gold's Gym with my son in tow. While he's entertaining himself with games on our old first-run iPad, I'm desperately huffing and puffing on Precor #1. The glide track feels smooth as glass but I'm still having trouble keeping my pace up: I don't make my 4 mile quota today. However, I am warmed-up and my hoodie is soaked. That always feels good to me. I know a lot of women don't like that damp feeling and run off to the locker room to blow dry their hair and clothes before continuing their workouts. That behavior simply baffles me.

Perhaps I just take a long time to warm up but the seated cable rows don't actually feel good until the last set. I may actually up the weight on this movement. How exciting! However, Pull Ups positively sucked today. I've got to stop doing those close grip chins because they're seriously messing with my left forearm. Oh well, there's always something to work around. At least that keeps things interesting. I see B briefly and we wish each other Happy Easter. M, The Mayor, Fish Guy, Mo... I see a lot of regulars but like me, they have things to do and they leave the gym soon after I arrive.

Today's Total Workout:
35 min cardio = 3.94 miles
Seated Cable Rows: 12 @ 90 / 12 @ 105 / 10, 10, 12 @ 120 lbs
Lower Back Extensions: 2 x 25 @ 95 lbs
Cage Stretch & Kicks
I can now put my leg up in front of my face and press my nose to my shin with my foot resting on a bar over my head. It helps a lot with the vertical split (leg in front and behind the body) I do during Mat Stretch.
Pull Ups: 12+3 (knees curled up to chest) / 8+4 (legs extended perpendicular) but I'm feeling spent!
Reverse Grip Barbell Rows: 6 x 15 @ 80 lbs (okay, I'm not sooo spent)
Even though the last 3 reps were a tad exhausting, I'm toying with the idea of adding 5 lbs (two 2.5 lb magnetic discs) to the barbell.
Alternating Seated DB Curls: 3 x 10 @ 25 lbs I cut the reps today because I'm a bit short on time
Ab Crunch Station: 100 (yes, I'm THAT bored)
Torso Twist: 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs
Reverse Grip BB Curl: 3 x 20 @ 40 lbs
My left forearm aches now when I do this motion so I only do 3 sets
Mat Stretch
I'm happy I'm finally able to touch my feet with my arms extended wide and roll forward into a horizontal split. I've been working on this for months now! I've been told that a side-effect of menopause is loss of flexibility and I'm fighting hard against that.

The scale reads 108 lbs even. I haven't finished my water either, but I'm famished. My son is hungry too, so we sit in the car while I drink my Ensure® and he consumes a Balance® bar (with 14 grams of protein it's better than a candy bar) before we do grocery errands. We have a play date with friends later today and I've frozen slices of organic strawberries with some raw sugar to toss into chilled sangria. It tastes pretty good! I'm also making banana bread because those blackened fruit appear to be melting into my counter top so I'm sure they won't last another day. I toss a half cup of hammer-smashed pecans into the batter, cut the sugar to a 1/4 cup and get a fragrant loaf in an hour. Wrapped in aluminum foil, it'll keep in the refrigerator for at least a week if it's not eaten right away.

I really want to up my weight on the Smith Bench Press so I'll just have to screw up my courage and ask for a spot come Monday morning. It's so much easier to not speak to anyone and just let the music carry you along. I did replace my broken headphones but I'm undecided as to how I like these "new" asymmetrical Sony® headphones. I've had to tuck the longer right ear wire into my tank to keep from compulsively trying to even out wires which can't be evened out. It's a bit maddening.

Meanwhile, our house is due for a visit from the Easter Bunny and we have plans to make a pulled-pork for Sunday supper. Weekends are great. I really look forward to two days of slothfulness.