The Stealth Hangover

Lotsa Dumbbells!

I wake up this morning with the remnants of a puzzling dream still floating in my mind. Each time I hit the snooze button, I'd return to the dream but things would be inexplicably different, subtle alterations in the setting and characters. It's the same old story, ate too much, drank too much and slept too little to be wide-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning. What am I anyway, a squirrel? The actual squirrels were industriously removing seeds from the bird feeder. Their claws are shredding the bark off the Rose of Sharon tree the feeder hangs from, but at least the feeder's still there, and not booty stolen by racoons.

The Precor I've been using lately is occupied  so I get on the last one in the section, which turns out to be the one I'd used all last year. I can tell because it's missing the peg cover that holds the water bottle. It glides as smoothly as I remember without the flopping noise of loose peddles, but there is a bit of resistance to the motion, even at Level 1, that makes it harder than I'm prepared for. Slacker that I am, I punch in 30 minutes and program #5 hill. I don't make my quota, but I'm steamy enough to fog up my cell as I snap a photo so that I don't have to remember these particular numbers today. It's more than my cell that's foggy today.

While I'm peddling, I think that my brain feels jostled and I'm unusually tired. I might actually be hung over! I don't drink much but yesterday I experimented with a recipe I spied online that entailed mixing gin, vermouth and absinthe. I couldn't resist although I did omit the mint leaf (because I didn't have any) and I altered the recipe to include less gin (one ounce instead of two), and used tonic water as filler. It was actually quite tasty in an odd herbaceous way, but you have to like oddly herbal things to appreciate this. While some might wrinkle up their noses, I'm usually reminded of concoctions my grandmother made when I was a child. So while the potions may be bitter, the taste is always tempered by pleasant memories.

Today's (Hung Over?) Push Day
35 min cardio hill #5 = 3.93 miles bleah!
Smith Bench Press: 15 @ bar / 12 @ 95 / 10 @ 115 / 8 @ 135 / 3 x 6 @ 155 lbs / 12 @ 135 / 15+5+5 @ 115 lbs I must be hungover not to be able to knock out my last set of reps
Cage Stretch & Kicks (my hamstrings are stiff so I know Mat stretch will probably hurt later)
Seated Inclined Rear DB Raises: 6 x 15 @ 25 lbs
Standing Lateral DB Raises: 3 x 15 @ 20 lbs
Lateral DB Raises SuperSet with One-Arm Tricep Extensions: 3 x 15 @ 20 lbs
Torso Twist: 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs
Ab Crunch Station: 100
Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 125
I was going to do these first but Ranger Rick beats me to the sit up board. He seems to be working out extremely hard today and I wonder if it's because the tall skinny blonde isn't here again. Meanwhile, I spy PJPants on the pec-dec machine. I know he knows I see him and he's making himself scarce. Good. 
Tricep Press Downs: 12, 12, 9 @ 50 lbs / 10 @ 40 / 10 @ 30 / 15 @ 20 lbs
These are really hard today, probably because I did abs first. Still I'm pleased to knock this out.
Mat Stretch: I'm definitely stiffer than I'd like to be but loosen up a bit doing my routine. Perfect splits are quite elusive.

Mo says Hi while I'm psyching myself to do the last sets of Tricep Press Downs. I greet her back but I'm so focused on getting my sets done that I don't chat with her at all. I might actually be a tad scary when I work out. M waved Hi at me during DB raises and I was so surprised that I didn't react at all, just sort of glanced dumbly at him for a split second. The Mayor is absent although other regulars flit in and out of the free weight area like FatAss, ZZ, Skinny Mustache and Tall Pace. I see B from across the room but she's busy chatting. I don't find chatting energizing at all. It interrupts my workouts, breaks my rhythm, makes me lose my momentum. I'm tired enough as it is and chatting will only make it worse. Chatting with the wrong people is akin to fraternizing with psychic vampires, as they feed on your energy and essence, giving you nothing in return. Whoa, am I being harsh? Perhaps so.

The scale surprises me with 111.0 lbs since I was expecting 112+ so I'm fairly happy. And starving. Luckily, I always pack an ice-cold vanilla High Protein Ensure in my car. Last week I read about a study that confirmed something I knew was true about myself: if I exercise vigorously, I'm not nearly as hungry than if I didn't exercise or only exercised moderately. That explains over-indulging on weekends! And why I have better control over my food when I've been to the gym. It's physiology, not will power. And that makes it simpler. Hopefully I'll be more myself tomorrow because tomorrow is Back and Biceps Day. Wahoo!