Day One of the New Plan

Local garter snake

So far so good. I get my son to camp and myself to the gym. The day's already sweltering and I drink cold coffee I've saved from this weekend's brewed pot. The appearance of a two-foot long garter snake seems like a good omen to me, except he emerges from foliage just under the bird feeder. He's too little to eat squirrels and chipmunks but perhaps fast enough for the field mice and voles. Most likely he's hunting large insects and perhaps small frogs and toads.

The gym parking lot is crowded but I'm there late enough to miss the locker room rush. I nod at B who's busy scurrying between groups of chatty men. She barely nods back. Just as well. I'm feeling a bit sluggish after this activities-packed weekend that began with Friday's belt test and graduation from purple belt to brown for my son and husband. Saturday was spent cleaning the house before the first lake association party down at Long Pond. Sunday we met another family at the Rainbow's End Butterfly farm in Pawling, NY, lunched at Big W's BBQ and finished at Johnny Gelato's. And I consumed much grilled meat, sangria, beer and blueberries. I've got several gallon bags stored in the freezer with icy hard blueberries and strawberries. They're wonderful added to sangria as the fruity ice element. If you like frozen fruit.

I'm not surprised when I feel as if I'm struggling to get warm on the elliptical. The air-conditioner is working full blast and it takes me at least 20 minutes before I start to feel decent. I don't get up to speed until I hit the cool down period, and I don't make my quota. I'm disappointed but not horribly so. The Smith is free and it's Day One of the New Plan. The Manchurian is resting on the bench closest to the Smith and there's no bench inside the rack. I don't bother people who look exhausted so I don't ask the Manchurian if he's done with the bench. Instead, I walk past three other guys, including R, to grab the only free bench at the far end of the dumbbell section, just to carry it back to the Smith. With my hands full and my iPod blaring, I can only muster a nod at R, and he smiles back. That makes me feel good. Then I completely ignore everyone and get down to business.

Today's Day One Chest and Delts:

35 min cardio hill #5 = 3.94 miles Bleah!
Smith Bench Press: 15 @ bar / 12 @ 95 lbs / 10 @ 115 / 8 @ 135 / 3 x 6 @ 155 / 12 @ 135 / 25 @ 115 lbs  Benching feels pretty good today although my right wrist and thumb feel a bit hinky. I have to shake them out repeatedly between sets. 
Cage Stretch & Kicks: I am soooo stiff today that my leg biceps are trembling as I stretch.
Rear Bent-Over DB Raises: 6 x 15 @ 25 lbs
Lateral DB Raises (not doing triceps today): 6 x 12 @ 25 lbs
My right wrist feels a little weak doing this move and I have to be very careful with my grip.
Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 125
Ab Crunch Station: 100
Torso Twist: 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs
Decline Bench Press (I go for reps here because it's not a Smith and I don't trust my hands and wrists to support a lot of weight): 25 @ bar / 25 @ 65 lbs / 25 @ 85 lbs / 12 @ 95 lbs / 25 @ 75 lbs / 25 @ 55 lbs  I haven't done Declines in a long time. It stresses my front delts a bit but it doesn't hurt to fill in the lower pecs since my bust is way smaller than my pecs anyway. There's no way I'm ever doing inclined presses because I have an odd enough profile as it is. 
Mat Stretch: my splits suck today but at least I stretched my legs, lower and upper back, arms, necks, torso, hips, calves, fingers and toes!

The gym scale reads 111.2 lbs and I think, in a spacey way, that that's a lovely looking number. Boy, I'd better go shower quick and suck down some protein! I still feel as if I'm spending a lot of time at the gym even though I didn't arrive until 9:30 this morning. It's my stress relief. Lately, I've been feeling extremely anxious. General economic uncertainty and world-wide strife, my son's inability to spell or retain any knowledge of Chinese pinyin, the constant email reminders that the dog's due for a check up (he's in fine health other than the stress induced by a trip to the vet), and the looming eye surgery that is yet to be scheduled all figure considerably. But it's not like my life is different from anyone else. We all have stress. Some of us self-medicate with food and alcohol, or activities such as shopping, or cooking. Sometimes we zone out in front of the zombie-tube. Sometimes exercise is enough. But what happens if it isn't? Ah, tomorrow is Day Two of the New Plan. I'll definitely be adding more cardio to my routine this week.