Born Again Gym Rat: Mental Toughness

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Mental Toughness

Soggy Selfie

I've been slacking all week food-wise and it's starting to show in the mirror when I wake up and stare at my puffy face. I'm sodium-sensitive so I know I feel and look so much better when I watch my salt and carb intake. I let my son sleep in so we got to the gym a tad late. It's an abbreviated day so I do my 30 minutes of cardio on the LifeFitness Cross-trainer. I can tell that I'm not quite as energetic as I'd like to be because it's harder to get that 3 plus miles now. My right knee is intermittently achy as well and I'm not sure if the humidity and impending storms are to blame.

I'm a little nervous about Push Ups after a quick Cage stretch. I haven't done them since last week and I always worry about falling on my face. After I knock out my first set (not as hard as I feared), I brace myself for the Hammer Grip Pull Ups. These are so much harder than pull ups, and not just because I worry about tipping the cage over (since it's not really meant for this movement). During my 2nd set (with a minute or two to catch my breath and take a swig of water), the Father-Son Tag Team comes into the area to use the the two cable stations in the corner of the gym. The father is obese and is probably younger than he looks. The son is tall and muscularly slender, like a high school athlete.

My second set is harder because my arms are not only tired, they're pumped which makes it hard to do stuff. Like more push ups and pull ups. I get my full second set of push ups without pause and just slowing down slightly from reps 40 to 50. Going directly to Child's Pose before standing up helps a lot and I don't get the pounding headaches anymore. I can only get 11 reps on the Pull Ups though, but I knew that was going to happen. The Father-Son Tag Team leave while I'm in the midst of my 3rd set of push ups. This one requires a few pauses but it isn't really that bad. I note that my left arm feels noticeable weaker near the elbow. I'm in the middle of my last set of chin ups when a woman comes over to spray bleach solution into her paper towel. Most people have the presence of mind to face a wall or corner, and not spray from a foot away, making the air taste and smell like bleach. It distracts me and suddenly I can only get 9 reps. Bummer. I'm tired and I don't even want to try for another 3.

Crepe Alley's Cubano sandwich

I'm happy to find the Smith machine vacant so I knock out my 3 sets of Inverted Rows, resting on the floor like a rag doll. I don't care. My biggest problem with this movement is keeping my feet from sliding even though I'm on a rubber mat. I do my odd push-up version of GHRs on the Lat Pull Down station, and then three sets of Lower Back Extensions. I'm amused because I don't have to move the weight pin: 195 is perfect. But I do have to shorten the leg and head pads. Yeah, I'm a bad-ass.

Banana Nutella Crepe

Another 25 minutes on the Precor gets me a tad over 2 miles and I'm done. I do a quick stretch on the Mat for lower and upper back before heading to the showers. The gym scale reads 110.0 lbs and I'm good with that since I've been eating poorly, and I'm sopping wet. After I retrieve my son from the Child Care Room, we head over to the new Crepe eatery next door. He's been wanting to try crepes for some weeks now and orders a banana and nutella-filled one.

I order a Cubano and snap a few photos to text to my husband. It's pretty good, except it needs a spicier mustard because I see mustard, but I don't taste any mustard. The unsweetened mint ice tea is really good too. My son has the sweetened version because he's a kid. Tomorrow he wants to try a savory crepe, but I don't think he'll like them. I might go for an omelete or chicken sandwich.

Thursday Workout