It's Just a Sore Throat

I wish I'd been more of a slug over the weekend. Saturday afternoon I developed a sore throat oddly situated on the left side. I hadn't noticed any post-nasal drip but it is the advent of allergy season and I recall developing a nagging sinus infection this time last year. The idea of strep floated briefly floated in my mind. I suddenly remembered that I hadn't been taking my daily dose of zinc and fish oil either. Jeez. Hot tea and gargling provided some minor succor, but not swallowing at all seemed to give the most pain relief. I didn't sleep well either, waking in the wee hours to gargle and pee.

This morning I felt a tad better. Enough to eat my eggy oatmeal with maple syrup, but not enough to finish my cup of instant coffee. B commented that I looked really tired and I gaze into the locker room mirror and note my puffy eyes and general disheveled state. Whatever. I always look like that in the mornings! I knew cardio was going to suck so I didn't stress too much over it. I was bummed that I couldn't get a good sweaty warm up out of it though. Sometimes you need to cut yourself some slack so I decided I'd bench heavy but only for one set. I look for M to spot me but he's so busy chatting that he forgets he's agreed to help me. Because I'm getting cold on the bench, I say "$@#% it" and bench my set of 6 reps without him. I do it and it's not a problem so I guess I didn't really need him after all. However, when I move the weight up, as I inevitably will, I will have to grab him. Or someone. I hate asking for help. But you already know that.

gripbar attached to palm

By the time he remembers and comes over, I've already dropped the weight down 10 lbs and I tell him I don't need him anymore. I do drop sets, get warmer and then head over to the Cage for stretch and kicks. I can tell from the stiffness in my hamstrings that I'm going to have trouble so I take it all slow and easy. I see a few old guys clustered around the Nexersys stations, poking at the display. I have new gloves, purportedly for kickboxing, grappling and such and while I like the padding, I'm a bit offended that they only come in pink. Yep, pink. Guess you can just make anything pink and call it Women's. I'm not thrilled with the "grip bar" in the palm either but my husband assures me that it can be useful. I'm skeptical. He also assures me that these gloves will make our kickboxing class more fun. Hmmm.

Today's Total Workout:
35 min cardio = 3.86 miles and I'm barely busting a sweat -- it's very disappointing
Smith Bench Press: 25 @ bar / 15 @ 95 lbs / 12 @ 115 lbs / 10 @ 135 / 6 @ 155 lbs / 8 @ 145 lbs / 10 @ 125 lbs / 12 @ 115 lbs / 25 @ 95 lbs
I started to get cold waiting for M to spot me on the 155 and finally just gave up and did it solo. It felt pretty good so I started doing drop sets, ending with 25 reps giving me a nice warm pump.
Cage Stretch & Kicks
I see M drag away the inclined bench parked next to the Cage as I toss a few side kicks at the side bars on the Cage. He pauses for a moment to watch but I've got my rhythm on so I don't stop. There's too many people on the other stretching equipment to do a few kicks flat on the mat today so I skip it.
Seated Inclined Rear DB Raises: 6 x 15 @ 25 lbs
Lateral DB Raises: 3 x 12 @ 20 lbs
Lateral DB Raises SuperSet with One-Arm Tricep DB Extensions: 3 x 12 @ 20 lbs
Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 125
Lower Ab Kick Outs: 100
Tricep Press Downs: 3 x 12 @ 50 lbs
By the 3rd set I'm having trouble breathing and maintaining my strength so the last two reps are really hard to finish as I try to exhale on the downward movement, but inhaling on the upward controlled release is a B@#$!
Torso Twist: 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs
Mat Stretch: my hamstrings are tight today and I move slowly and gently to get my splits. 

I haven't seen Mo in weeks now, although I do run into D, the yoga-runner chick. She suffered a torn rotator cuff a few weeks ago, and eschewing surgery means no lifting, no yoga, no stretching for the next two months! Whoa! She doesn't even know what she did to tear it! Bummer.

The gym scale reads 110.8 lbs which is less than I thought, so I'm good with that. I feel tired and can't talk myself into going to purchase compost and soil for our raised beds. April means prepping for vegetables but I just feel like going home to clear the kitchen of the disaster my husband created last night when he decided to experiment with baking his own "last forever nutrition bars" made from honey, wheat flour and an assortment of hand-ground (yes, he bought a table top mill grinder) chickpeas, black beans, powdered kale and spinach.

"Kallie" bralette

The only thing I am happy about is that the bras from LulaLu.com arrived and they actually fit well. So it's confirmed that I am a miniscule 36AAA (yes, that's triple A) but I now own 3 different bras that are reasonably comfortable (no underwire!) and are lightly padded so there's no headlamp issue even with the lightest summer fabrices. I also bought myself two bikinis from Lands End after trying them on at Sears. It's about time that swimsuit makers started selling padded bra tops! And it is best to try them on because sometimes the cute ones just look absolutely ridiculous in the fitting room: my first choice appeared to have me sprouting Easter eggs out of my chest! LOL!