Use Your Strengths and Weaknesses to Your Advantage

I won't lie. I'm really happy that I don't go to the gym on weekends, that I'm a total, blissfully inactive slug. Okay, there's always household stuff to be done, but that doesn't count. Today is Friday and although I'm none too eager about the Double Cardio session, I am quite happy to whack the Nexersys station. Just like I can always push some weights, no matter how tired or crappy I feel. But give me any excuse to get out of cardio, and I'm back in bed with the covers pulled over my head. So whacking the Nexersys is my reward for the prolonged agony of elliptical pedaling. (I need a new verb for this activity but so far I haven't come across any. Suggestions welcome!)

The forecast is a balmy 60°F later this afternoon, but when I leave the house, it's still in the low 30s. There's no more snow and ice but the leaves are mostly bare. The winter sun hangs low in the sky, and since there's no leafy canopy, it's simultaneously bright and bleak. The parking lot isn't too crowded, but there's a din in the gym that's unnerving. I've timed it wrong and I'm caught in the frenetic flurry of women rushing to Zumba, or Spin, or BodyPump. I'm not sure which. I stick close to the lockers with my hoodie pulled over my eyes and my iPod plugged in. At some point it'll be safe to exit and head for the cardio area. There are people on Precors #1 and #2 so I get #3 by default. Uh oh, I notice that the track is starting to grind when the glides descend from peak to trough in the program. It's still not as bad as Tractor #2, which I can hear rumbling over my tunes during a pause in the vocals. My legs are sore and stiff from Leg Day two days ago. I wonder if my arms will be sore tomorrow.

Grinding through Interval 7 is difficult, especially since my left hand and thumb feel achy and sore. My quads, glutes and hammies are whining but I'm good at ignoring all this. My hands, less so. I don't like it when my toes go numb, or the bottom of my feet. But I really hate it when my fingers and thumbs complain. For a millisecond, I consider bagging the 2nd session, and then I toy with doing one of the Hill programs. But I punch in Interval 8 anyway. I know I'm tired because I'm not able to maintain my speed, and my only concern is actually finishing the session, not how much mileage I can log. That says fatigue to me right there. I do finish. Not my best mileage but not shabby either. I'm so tired I can't think about anything. Go to autopilot. Cage Stretch is next.

Bought a Dragon Lady
dress today just for fun

The Cage is relaxing after a fashion. It's two stretch seats and three bikes away from the pair of Nexersys machines. I haven't wrapped my left hand as tightly as I should so I have trouble stuffing it into the glove. Still, I manage to get my sopping wet hoodie, my stuff sack, towel, cell and water bottle all neatly under the body of the boxing machine. Last week I did seven rounds of Follow Me and three rounds of Sparring. I'd like to do 10 rounds of Follow Me but there's only two round increments so I opt to do nine rounds of Follow Me. The sign taped to the station says to do only 30 minutes or 7 rounds, but again, the other station is free, there's no line waiting for admission, so nine rounds it is.

During the first round, my glove catches the cord to my headphones and yanks them right off my head. I scramble to reapply them and tuck my cord into my waistband but the gloves are cumbersome. I miss a few punches in the interim. But I still manage improved accuracy and power throughout all nine rounds. The recommendation is again, add rounds. I'm still trying to learn how hard to punch because punching too hard pauses the machine while sounding a Warning Buzzer, and the punch doesn't get counted. Major bummer.

The maximum number of rounds is 15, but I doubt if I'll be there anytime soon. I don't do any Sparring today because I'd like to do the Dive Bomber Push Up portion of the Mat Stretch without falling on my face. It's always a worry when working arms and shoulders. The 20 second plank starts off hard, but by the 18th minute, I've either given up or fallen asleep, body rigid but eyes closed. I've actually fallen asleep with my eyes open, but only once, and only after being awake for three days straight. The gym scale reads 109.6 lbs and I'm good with that. I'm better with the piping hot shower. I get an email from our Chinese school notifying us that school is cancelled due to smoke conditions in Rockland County which is across the Hudson River. I'm puzzled. Just how big is this fire that the smoke is closing schools in Westchester County? But, it also means I don't have to get up tomorrow morning! Yay! Bring on slug-mode!

Friday Workout:
35 min Interval 7 = 4.32 miles + 35 min Interval 8 = 4.15 miles  Grand Total = 8.47 miles Yay!
Cage Stretch
Nexersys: 9 rounds Follow Me Avatar, beginner female.
  accuracy 78%  /  strikes 99%  / avg power 127%
Each round is 3 minutes, followed by a 30 second round wrap-up, and then a 30 second introduction to the next round. I'm steadily improving when I look at stats from the past few weeks. Yay!

photo posted for actual stats: