Week Five Day One: Abbreviated Push

Wineberries AKA Wine Raspberries

I was sore the entire weekend, and learning how to split firewood with a 9-lb maul didn't help when the split wood flew off the stand and hit me in the shin. Luckily I had long pants and gloves on. We were at a day-long seminar on the art of Ash and Coal Fire Cooking at Practical Primitive in Hackettstown NJ. It was there that I learned that the wild raspberries we've been gathering (and eating) these last few weeks are also known as Wineberry or Wine Raspberries, an invasive Japanese variety that's taken hold in the northeast US. Well, it's the first invasive species I actually approve of, because, damn those berries are tasty! The bushes themselves seem extremely prolific, and we're surprised the birds haven't eaten them all. Sshhh!

My son and I got to the gym an hour later than normal because we both needed the sleep after a hectic weekend. He's not old enough to be onsite at the seminar so first we headed east to Connecticut to drop him at a friend's house for an extensive play date which included a trip to the Bronx Zoo and an impromptu water gun fight. Then we drove back through NY to NJ. It makes for a very long day, especially since we didn't get to retrieve our son until 10 pm.

This morning, all the Precor's were available so I got on my favorite machine and punched in Hill #5. Again, I don't actually feel warm until the 20 minute mark, and barely bust a sweat on Mondays. It's as if I need a few days of cardio before my body can rev up to proper speed. I don't make my quota either and the Smith machine is occupied by a pair of college boys who look as if they're going to be there all day. I don't want to lose momentum so I do reps on a standard flat bench. By my 3rd set, the Smith is free and I hurry over to claim it. I know I'm going to regret doing so many reps but I have to at least try to hit the heavy weights. What starts to fail on my heavy lift isn't my pecs or triceps, but my hands. Specifically, my right thumb and palm. My right front delt strains a bit and I know that there's nothing I can really do to improve my hand strength. I cut my sets short and do a few drop sets so I don't feel as if it's been a total waste of time.

Later, at home, my 8 year old son playfully tries on my wedding band and engagement ring, discovering to his horror that even though his hands are smaller than mine, his fingers are bigger. The rings get stuck on his knuckles! I have very small fingers and hands, and that is a big obstacle in my strength training. My right pinky and ring finger periodically lose their grip strength but then recover. I haven't been able to determine any causality for it. I'll have to look harder because I'm sure there is something that I'm missing. I can hang onto the dumbbells as I do Bent Over DB Rear Flyes, perhaps because I'm more focused on the back of my shoulders than my hands. The free weight area is really crowded today. By the time I start my sets of Lateral DB Raises, most of the guys have moved on to other stations. Finally, some breathing room!

B said Hi on her way out as I was signing my son in. She was actually smiling today, perhaps because she recognized that my spacey distractedness isn't personal. I see Mo from across the room but she's in and out so quickly that I don't have any opportunity to greet her. I don't recognize too many regulars, except for R. I think his wife is using the cables because he's spending an inordinate amount of time explaining forms to a tall, thin young woman with skinny long arms and long dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. R looks distressed. I sense discord and keep my distance.

Today is an abbreviated workout because the Child Care room closes at 1 pm. I can only squeeze in cardio, benching, stretching, two delt exercises and some abs before showering. I claim my son at 12:58 pm and he is the only child left in the room.

Week Five Day One: Abbreviated Push
35 min cardio hill #5 = 3.91 miles Bleah!
Olympic Flat Bench: 25 reps @ bar / 25 @ 65 lbs / 15 @85 lbs
Smith Machine Bench Press: 12 @ bar / 25 @ 95 lbs / 10 @ 115 / 8 @ 135 / 2 x 6 @ 155 / 10 @ 135 / 12 @ 115 / 25 @ 95 lbs
Cage Stretch with BW Heel Dips and Side Kicks
Bent Over DB Raises (chest in lap): 6 x 15 @ 25 lbs
Standing Lateral DB Raises: 6 x 12 @ 25 lbs I can do 8 reps for each set without any problems then have to slow down to muscle up the last 4 reps for each set.
Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 150
Ab Crunch Station: 100
Mat Stretch: even though my legs and back are stiff and a tad sore, my splits are good today and I'm surprised enough to attempt another horizontal roll forward. It's better on days when I do limited cardio because the double cardio days see too much tightness in the hamstrings.

The gym scale reads 111.4 lbs which is good considering the feasting I partook in yesterday. It started with cinnamon rolls (Pop'n Fresh) stuck to a clay vessel and placed on a bed of coals while a chicken roasted overhead, followed by coal-grilled corn, sweet and white potatoes, clams on the half shell, whole catfish laid directly on the coal bed, tomatoes drenched in olive oil grilled on a granite slab, peppers (directly on the coals), salmon (cooked on a section of ash bark), pork chops cooked directly on an ash bed, vegetable soup (placed in a clay vessel and heated with stones from the fire until the soup came to a furious boil), baked garlic, baked eggs, and for dessert, ash cake (patted thin like a tortilla and placed on hot white ash) made from wheat flour, acorn flour, eggs and water, topped with wineberries, butter and rosehip jelly. Yum!

Again, I didn't have time to incorporate Upright Rows into my workout. I'll have my son tomorrow so that's another abbreviated workout, but perhaps I'll try to do a Back session. Friday is the wild card day because I have an eye doc appointment in the morning with my old eye doc just to renew my eye drop prescription. I have a consultation with a glaucoma specialist in Philadelphia at the end of next month but I don't have enough eye drops to see me through till then. I could just blow off the gym, or I could come to the gym AFTER my appointment and perhaps do a bit of cardio...