All Better Now

There was still a residual soreness in my throat this morning but by the time I got home from the gym, it was gone. Cured! Maybe it was the zinc I started taking again, or the incessant gargling. Or maybe it was just a 48-hr sore throat. Regardless, I still plowed through my Tuesday routine like a draft horse because honestly, I don't really know any other way of doing it. Head down, plod on. At least I'm not grazing as I work. (I did once see a guy working out with a half bottle of purple sports drink and a half eaten protein bar.)

My cardio still sucked and again I didn't make my 4 mile quota, but at least I felt better warmed up today. Today I blame my distraction on bad earphones. I got a cheap pair of Maxell headphones ($6.99) and they make the odd Sony headphones feel and sound like a million bucks. The Maxell's not only mute the music so badly that at full volume I can still hear ambient gym noise. In spite of the soft clip that goes over the ear, after a few minutes, the hard overly large inside earpiece starts to hurt. The Sonys may be cheap ($6.99) because of their ill-designed asymmetrical wires, but at least they don't hurt your ears and the music sounds great. Boy do I really miss my old Phillips headphones but I can't seem to find them anywhere. I resort to purchasing an expensive ($20 at Kmart, cheaper online but I can't wait and shipping costs a fortune) pair of JVC sport headphones, saving the Sonys as a backup in case the JVCs fail.

Back and Biceps Day, and biceps had a much better time of it. Seated Cable Rows were good until I hit the heavy sets. I feel sloppy when I do them so I'm going to drop my weight. I barely got a chance to do any pull ups because the Smith rack was very popular today. I did however, remember to take my pink kickboxing gloves with me so that I'd have no excuse for not trying out a few routines on the Nexersys station.

Today's Total Workout:
35 min cardio = 3.87 miles (my cardio really sucks this week!)
Seated Cable Rows: 12 @ 90 / 10 @ 105 / 8 @ 120 / 3 x 6 @ 135 lbs
Pull Ups: 12+2 (legs curled to chest)
Chin Ups: 11+2 (legs straight out)
Lower Back Extensions: 2 x 25 @ 97.5 lbs
Cage Stretch & Kicks: I do manage a few kicks outside the cage on the flat floor
Reverse Grip BB Rows: 7 x 12 @ 90 lbs (I don't really mean to do 7 sets but lose count and do an extra set just for fun. Maybe I should up the weight even though I'm not making sets of 15 reps?)
Standing Alternate DB Curls: 3 x 12 @ 25 lbs
Pull Ups: 10+3 (legs straight out)
Ab Crunch Station: 100
Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 125
Lower Ab Kick Outs: 100
BB Curls: 6 x 15 @ 40 lbs (these seem a tad easy but 45 lbs is too heavy)
Mat Stretch: my stretches and splits are much better today so I'm pleased.
Nexersys station: I put on those godawful pink gloves and do two intro rounds for Beginners: striking and technique. It's fun although again I'm having a hard time following instructions because I can't really hear the monitor very well although I can follow the video fairly well. Still, I admit that wailing on the station with gloved fists is a helluva lot of fun!

I see a few regulars today like B, M, The Mayor, Hannibal BaggyKnees, SkinnyTat, and eventually, R and Fish Guy. I actually don't talk to any of them because I'm so not interested in breaking the rhythm of my workout. I'm not nearly as tired as I was yesterday so I'm thinking today's a good day to get salt for the water softener, and compost for the raised beds. I can't remember but somehow the 40 lb bags of salt feel easier to manage than I last recall. Maybe salt used to come in unwieldy 50 lb bags?

The gym scale reads 109.2 lbs and my home scale registers 106.8 which is exactly what I weighed the last time I weighed myself on a Tuesday. I have on a new Biatta bra and I'm tickled that not only does it fit comfortably (yes, another 36AAA), my chest doesn't look weird when I toss on a T-shirt. I look down and my profile looks like my own and not a mannequin. Or heaven forbid, an Easter egg holder.

My son has tae kwon do at UMAC this evening, about an hour after I pick him up from his after school golf class. Anytime there's a way to get him involved in more physical activities that doesn't involve team sports, I sign him up. No one in my family seems particularly enthralled by team sports of any kind. Just as well. I guess being anti-social runs on the family, although my son is probably the most sociable kid you'll ever meet. But he's not competitive. I'm not either. I just like to kick butt.