No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

We had a great time Saturday at the NY Renaissance Faire, seeing perennial favorite entertainers like Dextre Tripp, Wolgemut, and Jayna Lee. Although prices have increased substantially ($7.50 for a mere 4 oz of Carroll's mead vs $5 last year) there was a better selection of beverages including an 8 oz cup of hard cider and mead mixed together ($8.50) and the standard pulled pork, ribs, turkey legs, chicken nuggest, deep fried mac n' cheese (actually quite good!), pickles, beef jerky, and assorted ice creams and cakes. But our knights have gotten paunchier over the winter, and it's not a good look. Of course, there's lots of flesh on display here, most of it not at all appetizing or attractive. I'm wearing my ears and horns, and a shimmery sleeveless shirt over the leather bra I bought here last year. Black boots and black yoga pants complete my outfit although I buy a sword holder for my belt so I can wear my wooden blade next time. My husband tells me that I've got a nearly complete outfit and now he's on a quest to similarly attire himself. LOL!

By the time we got back to our neck of the woods, we were clamoring for dinner. Char, a new restaurant situated at the edge of the Taconic Parkway seemed promising even though it was a temperate Saturday night. We didn't have reservations and immediately wondered if we'd made a mistake because the bar was dim and the crowd seemed a tad older. However, once we were seated, the food turned out to be wonderful (oysters on the half shell, and lightly fried calamari with a wasabi mayonnaise to start, followed by steak and truffle-oil macaroni & cheese, slivers of a fluffy cheesecake and a lump of lava cake for dessert). The addition of live music (well, the music was canned but the singer Sonny Mongo was live) made the evening quite memorable, and we all had a great time.

Needless to say, yesterday I barely left the house because I had that lovely big orange urine container to fill, and by this morning, it was indeed quite full! I dropped it off at the doctor's office and then toted my son to his tae kwon do summer camp. Finally I'm at the gym, feeling stiff and creaky. Mondays are my worst days because I've been rather inactive for 48 hours so not making a 4 mile quota is par for the course.

Monday's Push Day Workout:
35 min cardio Hill #5 = 3.96 miles Sigh...
Smith Bench Press: 12 @ bar / 12 @ 95 / 10 @ 115 / 8 @ 135 / 3 x 6 @ 155 / 12 @ 135 / 15 @ 115 / 25 @ 95 lbs  My hands and wrists start to bother me as I increase the weight so failure to get more than 6 reps at 155 isn't chest and triceps. There's not a lot I can do about it though.
Cage Stretch and Side Kicks
Inclined Rear DB Raises: 6 x 15 @ 25 lbs All of the 25 lb DB are missing so I grab a pair of 20s and get 4 magnetic disc weights (2.5 lbs each) to affix. Mo comes by to chat and is amazed by the sight. She's not having a good day and thought about just going back to bed. I tell her "You're here now so better go work out!" Apparently she's befriended Ranger Rick and introduces us. Sigh. I really don't want to spend my workout time chatting. She's manic and I wonder if it's menopause.
Standing Lateral DB Raises: 6 x 12 @ 25 lbs
Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 150
Ab Crunch Station: 100
Torso Twist: 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs
BB Upright Rows: 3 x 12 @ 40 lbs I stop because it's starting to bother my wrists.
Mat Stretch: I do all my stretches including rolling forward in a horizontal split, but my right lower back feels oddly stiff again. I'll have to remember to do reps instead of heavy weights tomorrow on Back Day.

Mo is really screwing up my workout. She keeps coming over to talk to me about the various people in the gym. I realize that she's overcompensating for feeling crappy about losing her elderly dog so I don't say anything. I don't even say anything when she tells me all about her interactions (or lack thereof) with R. Good grief. Bad enough she's telling Ranger Rick to take yoga classes because he's complaining about losing flexibility as he's put on size and strength. Then she introduces me to a young woman at the Squat rack. I tell her I'm not going to spot her because I'm too short to do it right (which is true) but that most of the guys'd be happy to do it, once they stop talking.

Mo is definitely getting manic. I want to tell her to chill but instead I walk away because I still haven't finished my workout. I'm beginning to regret being nice. I don't want to spend all my time chatting with her or anyone else. Even when I chat with R, I start to get antsy after a while.

Mo makes a point of saying that R's at the gym. She marvels that he doesn't talk to her or anyone no mater how much she waves at him. I want her to leave him alone even though I know she doesn't mean anything harmful. I find myself telling her that he's shy but nice, and not to be mean or scare him. As if a 6'4" former tight end could be scared of anything. What AM I thinking?!

Later, I say Hi to R and ask him how he is. He seems guarded, but tells me that he's busy which is good, but... He hesitates. I tell him he needs a vacation and he agrees but he took a week in May and it's too soon to take another one... I watch him press a pair of 110 lb DB, and then I walk away, although before I leave the gym, I do wave Bye at him as he's standing by a Cybex station. It startles him to have this small hand pop up from below. I'm so disoriented that I completely forget to weigh myself before I shower. But I'm probably at least 111-112 lbs. When I get to my car, I see R's silver sedan parked right alongside, and I smile to myself.