Making Laziness Work

Dayglo shorts

I thought I was off to a good start, having gotten my son to his TKD camp just as they were heading outdoors to play. Then I called a local department store to make sure they were open and accepted credit card payments because I'd forgotten to mail the bill in time and didn't want to be saddled with a $35 late fee. So I was pretty upset when I got to the gym, fished through all my gear and discovered to my horror that the iPod was still on the charger at home. I'd spent a few minutes revising the short playlist to include a few more songs, and I was really anticipating having a great Double Cardio day because of it. And I didn't have any good headphones with me, except for the new pair of Phillips I bought at CVS yesterday. They promised a better quality ("Enhanced Bass") of music than the "last resort" JVC pair that sound tinny and leak background noise no matter how high you've got the volume setting. Unfortunately, they also tend to hurt my rather tender ear canals. They are truly last resort headphones.

Time / Calories / Miles
for Interval 7 and Manual Mode 1

I had half a mind to just go home. Or go home and retrieve my iPod and Sony headphones. But once I was home I'd surely be tempted to stretch out on my bed, or do the dishes, or the laundry. Or watch TV, or play with the dog. Or I could just trudge out to the cardio area with the songs on my cell, and the tinny JVC headphones. Which is what I did. Surprisingly, there was only one person on the Precor and she was peddling the tractor. Okay, I can at least do 35 minutes for Interval 7 and see how I feel afterwards. It was a bit of a struggle to stay at 200 Strides Per Minute, especially toward the last 10 minutes when again, I noticed an ache outside my right knee and thigh. But 35 minutes went very quickly and I wondered whether I was so tired that time seemed to speed up. Out of curiosity and sheer laziness, I decided to see what 35 minutes at the Manual setting would bring. It automatically sets the incline at 10 and for Level 1 there is little resistance. Still, I did have to pay attention and make sure that I didn't just drift down to a leisurely 170 SPM. What I really wanted to know was whether 6600 strides translated into the same mileage on Manual as it did with programs like Hill #5. Because for some reason, doing the same amount of strides in Intervals clocks more mileage. I'm not sure why. But I'll take any sort of delusion as long as it benefits me. If it encourages me to do more, to go faster, and make it more challenging (oh, let's say, by singing while doing 220 SPM), well, then I'm all for a bit of fun and head games.

I do a brief Cage Stretch afterwards because I am once again wearing running shorts and a sopping wet zip-up hoodie. I try to keep my cell in the pocket while I stretch but it keeps falling out with a soft thud. At one point I have my leg against the cage, up over my head and I briefly look around. Checking the mirror, I don't think I'm showing anything indecent but I make my stretches very quick. I'm surprised to see Nixon standing with M near the Cybex machines just a few yards away. He looks away uncomfortably, as if he's been caught peeking.

The Mat Stretch is going to be quick and abbreviated as well, not just because I'm wearing running shorts, but also because I don't really know where to put my cell. It moves from the Mat when I'm doing lunges and Dive Bomber Push Ups to being wedged into my waistband against my back. But it keeps sliding down and I keep having to fish it out while I stretch. While I'm stretching, a chubby kid clambers up the steps behind me to do wrist rolls. Then he pulls out his cell. Then I leave because I'm not entirely certain that he's not snapping photos. In the locker room, I stash my hoodie, gloves and headphones and grab tape, band-aids and my pink kickboxing gloves. I'm game to go a few rounds with the Nexersys.

The Lazy Day Workout:
35 min Interval #7 = 4.5  + 35 min Manual mode #1 = 4.13  Grand Total = 8.63 miles YeeHaw!
Cage Stretch
Mat Stretch with Dive Bomber Push Ups and splits
Nexersys Boxing System: 3 rounds Follow Me Avatar, Beginner Female
3 rounds Sparring Avatar, Beginner Female

Making the Avatar
turn from Green to Red
is completely thrilling

3rd round Sparring

I see R glide behind me to the Cable station near the Cage while I'm whacking the Nexersys. I haven't seen him in a few days and thought perhaps he'd taken some time off. He doesn't look good and I suspect he's in a lot of pain. When he leaves, I give him a quick wave but he barely acknowledges my presence. Then a large middle-aged lady steps up to the Nexersys next to mine with her fully padded boxing gloves. She's learning the moves, waiting for direction from the system. I don't know how she can hear anything but she's concentrating very hard. I'm quite pleased not to be the only woman whacking these machines, although when I throw a right cross, the pads move and the warning buzzer sounds. I like that. I'm still awful at the Follow Me program. My accuracy is abysmal (still get confused as to whether I should be throwing a right or left cross when the avatar lights up) but I do land a lot of punches. And in spite of doing 3 rounds of Follow Me first, my sparring seems to be improving. I don't really understand the point system but I've managed to block all but one blow, and again, I've landed a helluva lot of punches and kicks. And I've managed to maintain power (in spite of countless warning buzzers). So I'm guessing my pacing and my stamina is better. Yay!

The Left Side got clipped off. It reads:
Accuracy, Total Strikes, Power, Points

The gym scale reads 108.2 lbs which is surprising because one doesn't normally drop 2 lbs in a day. Unless it's water. Which it probably was. My home scale tells me 107.0 lbs and that my body fat is back to 19.3, down from that awful 19.9 on Monday. I still find it hard to believe that body fat fluctuates that much.

But there's a lot of things I don't believe. Like not having a good workout on a sunny Friday.