When To Back Off

It started when I burnt my tongue on a steaming bowl of New England clam chowder last Sunday. My tongue is still tender and it's been four days. But now, not only is the roof of my mouth sore around my teeth, but my ear hurts and there's a pain radiating up into the lower sinus cavity under my eye. I suspect cold sores. I seem to be prone to the blisters children get inside their mouths, except I'm damn near 55 years old. I've had chicken pox. I've had shingles. This is worse. I suspect I'm taxing my immune system beyond it's ability to recuperate so I need to back off. But that's really hard for someone as compulsive and obsessive as I am.

Even when I'm tired, I have a had time holding back. Today I get to the gym and I feel weary, but it's not in my nature to coast through a workout: I'm all or nothing. I also didn't really get a chance to eat more than a mouthful of oatmeal this morning before having to get my son in the car. Twelve minutes into my warm-up cardio, my stomach is rumbling noisily. Still, I manage a respectable mileage and after a quick stretch, I find to my delight, the Smith is free. Because I already know I'm tired, I cut my sets on my Leg Workout, and only do 5 sets of Smith Squats, 3 sets of Smith SLDLs (mostly as a warm up) and 5 sets of Smith One-Leg Split Squats. But I up the weight on the last exercise, and it's a grind to get it done. I should up the weight on the Smith SLDLs because there's really no point to them when they're so light. Still, I have a hard time dropping them altogether from my routine. My elbow doesn't bother me with 100 lbs, but I don't want to chance it at a higher weight.

I hold off on the GHRs until after the 2nd leg of cardio because falling on my face isn't any fun. I choose a different program each time I get on the Precor elliptical. Today is Intervals. Yesterday was Performance Program #3. I can't do that on the Cross-trainer because that machine so hard on my ankles just on the manual setting that I fear anything harder will cause more serious joint issues.

When I'm done, I do a Modified Mat Stretch with a few Pistol Squats and a lot of stretching. No plank, no dive bomber push ups today. I see some regulars, but others have been MIA for weeks now, like the Mayor. B complains that everything hurts. M spends more time chatting with newly rejoined old timers than actually working out. But out of all the retired and middle-age men at the gym, he's probably in the best shape. Some of the newly returned are thinner, like they've been sick. One older fellow is using a walker he previously never needed. Many women are larger than before they left. Perhaps the threat of a sub-Saharan summer has them scared.

Yesterday's Arm Day Selfie

It's wonderfully sunny as I leave the gym, and the sump seems to be working because I can hear the furnace when I walk in my front door. Tonight is going to be bitter but temperatures should be moderate next week. Which is fine, except for the forecast of snow and sleet Sunday night into Monday morning. Which means there will probably be a 2-hr school delay. The school has already scheduled classes for the first two days of Spring break to make up for Snow Days. Winter's not over yet. Maybe I should cut back to just 5 miles a day. Mentally, that's going to be so hard. Also, I worry that my body is so acclimatized to this that I'll have to cut my food intake in half to compensate. Or maybe I should just lift more weights? Naw, I'm very happy that my elbows, shoulders and wrists aren't bothering me. Just got to lift smarter, not necessarily heavier.

Friday Cardio and Leg Day Workout
(total mileage = 6.58; 20,055 lbs moved)

Cross Trainer

Calorie :   150 CAL
Distance: 3.88 mile
Speed :    7.72 mph
Duration : 00:30:10

Smith Machine Squat

210

Set 1 : 30x12
Set 2 : 80x12
Set 3 : 120x12
Set 4 : 140x12
Set 5 : 150x12

Smith Machine Stiff Legged Deadlift

140

Set 1 : 30x12
Set 2 : 80x12
Set 3 : 100x12

Smith Machine Single Leg Split Squat

112

Set 1 : 30x12
Set 2 : 70x12
Set 3 : 80x12
Set 4 : 80x12
Set 5 : 80x12

Elliptical Training

Calorie :   310 CAL
Distance: 2.7 mile
Duration : 00:30:08

Glute Ham Raises

Set 1 : 115x12
Set 2 : 115x12
Set 3 : 115x12

Seated Flat Bench Leg Pull In

Set 1 : 100 Lap/Rep

 TorsoTwistMachine

Set 1 : 50x25
Set 2 : 50x25

One Leg Bodyweight Squat

134.17

Set 1 : 115x5

Where's the Lemonade?

I didn't workout on Wednesday, or rather, I didn't go to the gym that day. I was too busy shoveling a path to the basement (outside cellar doors) while phoning my contractor-neighbor up the street. I hadn't heard the furnace kick on the night before but I wasn't about to go outside in the pitch-dark. Besides, what would I be able to do at that hour? No stores open so best to wait until daylight. And then the awful truth: the basement is flooded. The sump failed because the drainage lines out to the swamp are frozen. Ugh.

My neighbor tells me he'll be back in a few hours because he's in the middle of gutting someone's kitchen, and there are two other jobs he's working on ceilings and floors. But no heat is way more critical. Meanwhile, I shovel a path to the feed line to the oil burner because it's been nearly a month and I know the house is due for a fill-up of heating oil. And while I'm at it, well, might as well shovel a path to the porch and knock all those massive icicles off the gutters before they tear the gutters off. And reshovel the path to the garage because I'm looking for a space heater to keep the bedroom vaguely warmer that the 47°F it's registering. I have oven on, a pot of water simmering on the stove, a small fire in the woodstove and I'm periodically turning on the heater/fan/light in the bathroom.

The temperature drops to 59°F, which isn't bad considering I usually keep it at 63°F. My neighbor arrives with a new pump (which I purchased over the phone from the building supply place) and plastic hose to snake out of my basement and onto the frozen ground. The water melts a path down past my house toward the wetlands. I'm down to 5 pieces of firewood so I get my husband, who's at work in CT, to purchase some gas station firewood. When he gets home, I hear my furnace kick on. My neighbor is in my now-dry basement and tells me that we just have to keep an eye on the hose because there's nothing to be done about the frozen drainage line. Okay now.

I crank up the thermostats in the house to 65°F because it's dropping into the minus digits at night and I want the house to be warmer just in case the furnace shuts off again. So far so good. I tell my son that the house is like a living thing: it makes noise, and if it's too quiet, that's bad. My son's school has been allowing the children to go sledding and snow-shoeing during gym class. That's so cool! My son comes home yesterday thoroughly exhausted, but I bundle him off to kung fu. He had his belt test this past Monday and went from no sash to white to yellow because of all his hard work. After kung fu, we barely have time for homework and dinner before the Cub Scouts Pack Meeting. My husband rushes home from work, and we are late, but in time to help present our Den's Banner.

Back Day Selfie

I even made it to the gym yesterday. It was Arm Day. And cardio. Everything was hard. Except for the RG BB Curls. I think that if I can do 3 sets of 25 reps, it's time to up the weight. On paper, I'll be reverse curling more than I BB curl, but of course, I'm doing BB curls super set with Rip Skulls. It makes a difference! I'm tired and I think it's affecting my immune system. I may have to force myself to cut back on my cardio. That's new because now I'm starting to average 6.5 miles a day. Spring is suppose to be right around the corner. I'm not seeing it. I see a wintry mix forecast for Sunday night into Monday morning, meaning another 2-hour school delay. The saying goes, "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade." I'm not seeing any pitchers of delightfully refreshing citrus beverage on the horizon, are you?

Thursday Arm Workout and Cardio
(total miles = 6.53; 12,400 lbs moved)

Cross Trainer

Calorie :   150 CAL
Distance: 3.94 mile
Speed :    7.82 mph
Duration : 00:30:15

Dumbbell Standing Press

22.5

Set 1 : 15x12
Set 2 : 15x12
Set 3 : 15x15

DumbbellOneArm TricepsExtension

28

Set1:20x12
Set2:20x12
Set3:20x12

Super Set with

Dumbbell Alternate Bicep Curl

28

Set 1 : 20x12
Set 2 : 20x12
Set 3 : 20x12

RIP Skulls

52.5

Set 1 : 15x12
Set 2 : 37.5x12
Set 3 : 37.5x12
Set 4 : 37.5x12 Super Set w

Barbell Curl

52.5

Set 1 : 15x12
Set 2 : 37.5x12
Set 3 : 37.5x12
Set 4 : 37.5x12

Cable Triceps Pushdown

63.33

Set 1 : 30x12
Set 2 : 40x12
Set 3 : 50x8 ugh!

Barbell Reverse Curl

73.33

Set 1 : 40x25
Set 2 : 40x25
Set 3 : 40x25 too EZ!

TorsoTwistMachine

Set 1 : 50x25
Set 2 : 50x25

Seated Flat Bench Leg Pull In

100

Set 1 : 100 Lap/Rep

Elliptical Training

Calorie :   294 CAL
Distance: 2.59 mile
Duration : 00:30:11

Plank

Set 1 : 00:01:30

DiveBomber Pushup

Set 1 : 20 Lap/Rep
Set 2 : 20 Lap/Rep

One Leg Bodyweight Squat

134.17

Set 1 : 115x5

State of Mind

I peeked at my phone before I got out of bed this morning, and it was discouraging. -11°F. The indoor-outdoor thermometer by our front door refused to give an outdoor reading, displaying only -- in the place of actual digits. When I took the dog for a walk, I was surprised at how few birds there were at the feeder. I suspected they were waiting for the sun to actually rise above the trees and warm the branches before alighting on our patch of frozen ground. Even the dog thought it was cold out and didn't argue with me about coming right back into the house. When I started my car, its thermometer read -4. Whew! Much better than the -8 my husband's car read when he left for work this morning.

I get to the gym and pick the cross-trainer furthest from the front door. Unlike some folks, I tend to wear the same type of workout clothes regardless of the weather, and my all-cotton hoodie isn't warm enough until I've warmed up. I've tried working out in fleece hoodies, but find that I can't ever get the smell out. And I don't want to wear freshly-laundered workout clothes that stink. When I'm desperate, I'll use the Stink Away sports detergent, but it's really expensive, so daily laundry is washed with Tide detergent, laced with Febreze. A good coupon in conjunction with a good store sale makes the detergent affordable.

I'm surprised that I'm able to log more than 4 miles on the cross-trainer. I'm tired. But I did have my instant espresso and I added two diced dried dates to my egg and oatmeal mix. Tired might just be a state of mind. After a quick stretch, I find that the free weight area is fairly empty. Oh joy! I've been alternating between actual RG BB Rows and those using the Smith machine. I do less weight on the Smith because my form is a lot stricter. Today I can use the Smith!

The gym is starting to fill up, and I note three different pairs of young women working out in the weight area. That's so unusual. Each pair is oddly mismatched, with one girl being much stronger than her friend. The pair that catches my eye is the tall spidery girl with midriff tattoos, and her shorter, chunkier friend, covered in a heavy hoodie. They're on the breaker bench. Spider Girl is tall enough to position herself well on the bench, with a good arch under the small of her back, her feet flat on the floor. She's got a pair of 10 lb plates on each side of the Oly bar and she presses it 5 or 6 times. Her friend is smaller and can only bench with a single 10 lb plate on each side. The bar wobbles a lot.

Elsewhere, benches are filling up with people using DBs and plates. When I'm done with the Smith Rows, I look around to see what's available. Waaaay too many bodies in the DB area so I'll do those later. Instead I grab a small V-handle and do Seated Cable Rows. A different pair of girls are on the adjacent Tricep Cable Push Down station. They're probably both a good 9 or 10 inches taller than I am. Their form is pretty good although, again, one is much stronger than the other, even though they appear to be the same height and weight. Odd.

The DB area is still crowded so I get on the Lower Back Extension machine for 3 sets. 210 lbs isn't as hard as I remember it, although I feel tired when I'm done. I can finally claim a bench in the DB area although it's more than halfway down from the end of the DB rack where the 55 lb DBs are. Which means I have to grab it and carry it past all the women on the benches with their 10 lb DBs. I only do 3 sets because this exercise really wipes me out. I'm happy to knock out a few ab movements and then I climb onto an elliptical for another 30 minutes. I love being able to power up at the end of the session and really kick it into gear for the last two minutes.

I skip Dive Bomber Push Ups and Pistol Squats but do everything else for the Mat Stretch, adding a new hamstring stretch that I don't know the name of. I cut the plank short at 90 seconds because it's boring, although I know I could spice it up with stance variations. But I'm lazy. And tired. And all I really want to do is take a hot shower and change. I'm saving Leg Day for Friday so I'm not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow: either Arms, or maybe whacking the Nexersys machine, but taping my hands a bit differently. I'll see how I feel, and just how tired I am. But that's just a state of mind. Because how else would I have logged 6.62 miles today?

Tuesday Cardio and Back Workout
(6.62 miles; 28,710 lbs moved)

CrossTrainer

Calorie :   151 CAL
Distance: 4.03 mile
Speed :    8.02 mph
Duration : 00:30:09

Smith Machine Reverse Grip Bent Over Row

196

Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 80x13
Set 3 : 100x13
Set 4 : 120x12
Set 5 : 140x12
Set 6 : 130x12
Set 7 : 100x25

Cable Seated Row

152

Set 1 : 90x12
Set 2 : 105x10
Set 3 : 120x8
Set 4 : 120x8
Set 5 : 120x8

Back Extension Machine

315

Set 1 : 210x15
Set 2 : 210x15
Set 3 : 210x15

Dumbbell One Arm Row

82.33

Set 1 : 55x12
Set 2 : 60x10
Set 3 : 65x8

Elliptical Training

Calorie :   293 CAL
Distance: 2.59 mile
Duration : 00:30:10

Seated Flat Bench Leg Pull In

Set 1 : 100 Lap/Rep

TorsoTwistMachine

Set 1 : 50x25
Set 2 : 50x25

Plank

Set 1 : 00:01:30

Raising the Bar

Saturday's weather turned nasty just as scouts from our pack volunteered at a local church to help prepare, transport and serve dinner to homeless people at a shelter across the county. Oddly, there were more scouts than meal recipients although the shelter had 17 people (men and women) registered for beds that night. Only 4 or 5 people actually showed up. We had 8 scouts and the additional scout parents, den leaders and the cub master in attendance. The meatloaf, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots and green beans, all freshly made, were actually quite tasty. Sunday we had a Den meeting where we practiced knot tying, and discussed (and practiced) important first-aid procedures like tourniquets, the Heimlich maneuver, and how to treat frostbite. I'm really tired by this morning. After I see my son off at the school bus stop, I have to travel across the county to see the glaucoma specialist.

I don't wear glasses yet but I'm guessing my vision is now 25/20. There was a time when it was 20/15 meaning I could see at 20 yards what most people could see at 15 yards. Still, coming up on 55 years with uncorrected vision is pretty good. The doc puts drops in my eyes to dilate the pupils and other drops that are a mild anesthetic. My IOPs are good for most people, but probably not good for people like me, who have an inherited form of glaucoma and oddly shaped optic nerves. The doc tells me to make an appointment for a Visual Field test, and then to see her in September. I'll see my regular opthamologist in 4 months. I'm always a little stressed when I have to drive distance, especially the highways because I don't fit comfortably in my car, perched up on two pillows with my arms fully extended. I'm too short to really be able to see over my shoulder because the headrest gets in the way. When I get to the gym, my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.

I'm sure that I'm having an odd reaction to those drops because pedaling on the cross-trainer at a good clip barely registers a heart rate. When the machine finally does register, it reads an unlikely 108 BPM. That can't be right. Toward the end of 30 minutes, the numbers zoom up to 120, giving me an average heart rate of 113 BPM, which is totally wrong. It must be the eye drops. But is it the dilating drops? Or the anesthetic? I suspect the former because I've had the "reversal" drops to un-dilate your pupils and that makes my heart race. I feel tired, but the machine tells me I've logged in just over 4 miles. I'll take it.

The Smith machine is free so I'm happy. I can Bench Press and then swap benches for Inclined Bench Press. My benching feels okay, the 130 lbs not as easy as I would like. What feels really good is the 25 reps at 90 lbs that follows. Inclined Benching on the Smith is better, and I realize that I should probably be pushing more weight after my 2nd set of 12 reps at 70 lbs. Next week I'll see what 90 lbs feels like and hope I don't hurt myself.

DB Laterals super set with DB Reverse Flyes feel really heavy today. My left elbow is a bit ornery from shoveling the heavy wet snow we got Saturday night. Still, I grind out my sets and am really happy to have all the ellipticals to myself. I pick one and punch in Performance Program #2. I do most of my Mat Stretch but leave out Pistol Squats and Planks. Dive Bomber Push Ups are hard today. The stretch feels good, the hot shower feels better. Tomorrow is Back Day. Hope I'm up for it. My glutes were sore all weekend, but that 6.6 miles today got the kinks out.

Monday Cardio and Chest/Delt Workout
(total mileage = 6.6; 13,860 lbs moved)

Cross Trainer

Calorie :   151 CAL
Distance: 4.02 mile
Speed :    8.02 mph
Duration : 00:30:05

Smith Machine Bench Press

165

Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 80x12
Set 3 : 100x10
Set 4 : 120x8
Set 5 : 130x8
Set 6 : 90x25

Smith Machine Incline Bench Press

112

Set 1 : 30x20
Set 2 : 50x12
Set 3 : 70x12
Set 4 : 70x12
Set 5 : 80x12

Dumbbell Lateral Raise

35

Set 1 : 20x12
Set 2 : 20x12
Set 3 : 25x12
Set 4 : 25x12
Set 5 : 25x12
Set 6 : 25x12 SuperSet with

Dumbbell Reverse Flyes

35

Set 1 : 20x12
Set 2 : 20x12
Set 3 : 25x12
Set 4 : 25x12
Set 5 : 25x12
Set 6 : 25x12

Elliptical Training

Calorie :   292 CAL
Distance: 2.58 mile
Duration : 00:30:11

DiveBomber Pushup

Set 1 : 20 Lap/Rep
Set 2 : 20 Lap/Rep

Abbreviated Is Better Than Nothing

Some years ago for my 50th birthday, my family and I took a trip to Hawaii where we spent a week on Oahu visiting all the tourist sites (Diamond Head, Honolulu Aquarium, Waikiki, the Polynesian Cultural Center, the Military Museum, etc), and a week in Kauai. My son was bored silly in Kauai but we managed to visit some local attractions, one being the Smith family Luau. I'd been here once before with my sister, a very long time ago. My husband and I have been to other luaus and generally enjoy the dancing, music and especially the food: kalua pork, lomilomi salmon, poke, poi, taro, pineapples... This time however, after a long wait, we were finally seated and my son started nibbling at his food. Then he felt bad and ran off to the bathroom where he puked so hard he gave himself two black eyes. My husband said he also felt a bit off. Because I'd never seen anyone give themselves black eyes from puking, we went to the local hospital.

The doc on call told us that sometimes the force of vomiting is so violent that the tiny blood vessels near the eyes rupture, hence that "fight club" look. The staff insisted on taking blood tests to rule out any blood disorders. They'd had a child who presented similarly but turned out to have a major illness and the doc didn't want anything like that to happen again. My son felt better and the next day we visited Hanalei Beach (Puff the Magic Dragon, anyone?) where he lost his first tooth in a fish taco.

Last night was probably the first time I've every been sick enough to come just shy of giving myself two black eyes. My son also got sick so I knew it was from dinner. But what? Then this morning the dog was sick. All over the kitchen. He'd only gotten some leftover potatoes from dinner, not any steak or spinach. It was the potatoes. We all feel fine today, but cleaning up the kitchen ate into my gym time, and I'm a bit tired. Maybe it was the six and three quarter miles of cardio yesterday, but more likely it was being sick for a few hours. My face is oddly blotchy, and the skin around my eyes discolored. I hope it fades before I have to visit the glaucoma specialist on Monday.

I have exactly two hours at the gym. There is literally no one in the Child Care room except for the caretaker and an 8 mos old girl. I feel exhausted on the Cross-trainer but I still manage to get decent mileage. The gym is ridiculously crowded today. Perhaps because it's deceptively sunny outside. And bitterly cold. There are old people stretching at the Cage, and the Smith is busy too. I knock out a set on the Torso Twist and then clamber onto the Step Mill for a few minutes. I've already asked the tall skinny man at the Smith to let me know when he's done. At a bit over 9 minutes, he waves at me. Yaaay! I'm a Smith machine hog on Leg Day and I'm rushing because I still need time to shower and change.

I feel like I'm building a fort when I pull the small flat bench perpendicular to the Smith machine. I don't want to hunt for it when I get to the One-Leg Split Squats later. Instead, I put all my gear on it and use it to rest between Smith Squat sets. Again, I cut my Smith SLDLs short: only three light sets. The Smith Split Squats are harder this week even though I'm using the same weight. My knees are complaining slightly. If I wasn't rushing, I'd do another 30 minutes on the elliptical and then GHRs at the Lat Pull Down. But I don't have time. I do a quick quad and lower back stretch and run back to the locker room. I get to the Child Care room a minute past 1 pm. The woman has already put all the sign-in sheets away. We have errands to do before heading home. Chinese school tomorrow, and then a public service Boy Scout project to feed the homeless at a shelter at the other end of the county. I am soooo not looking forward to this weekend. But I got my workout done. And that makes me feel better.

Friday Leg Day Workout

Cross Trainer

Calorie :   149 CAL
Distance: 3.81 mile
Speed :    7.57 mph
Duration : 00:30:10

TorosTwistMachine

Set 1 : 50x25
Set 2 : 50x25

Step Machine

Calorie :   56 CAL
Duration : 00:09:30

Smith Machine Squat

210

Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 80x12
Set 3 : 100x12
Set 4 : 120x12
Set 5 : 140x12
Set 6 : 150x12

Smith Machine Stiff Legged Deadlift

140

Set 1 : 30x12
Set 2 : 80x12
Set 3 : 100x12

Smith Machine Single Leg Split Squat

98

Set 1 : 30x12
Set 2 : 50x12
Set 3 : 70x12
Set 4 : 70x12
Set 5 : 70x12

Year of the Ram

Today marks the New Year of the (green wood) Ram/Sheep/Goat and is suppose to portend an auspicious year. That remains to be seen as these lovely creatures are revered mostly for their placid nature. Today does not start well for me though. Perhaps it was the Mystic Monk coffee that my husband brewed this morning. It's a lot more caffeine than the instant espresso that I usually make for myself in the morning.

My hubs finally decided to restart his exercise program with a DailyBurn program on TV, since the unheated garage is waaaay too cold for working out. (It's going to drop to -6 tonight.) He's on his way to Boston for a few days, but isn't planning on leaving until 11 am. And his car is blocking my car in the driveway. So I can't get out. I'm getting really annoyed so after I load my son and gym gear into my car, we sit in the driveway and watch the birds at the feeder. There's nothing more distracting when trying to get ready than having impatient family members standing around in their winter coats. Regardless, my hubs texts me later that he's forgotten his belt, and his hot water heater. WTH? I guess he'll have to tie his pants up with string. Kidding.

I only have an hour and a half now and I'm planning to do cardio today. That's an hour right there. Switching between the cross-trainer and the elliptical, the quick stretch, showering and changing all eats into that time. It must be the coffee because I race through the cross-trainer session and log in over 4 miles. Then I punch in Performance Program #1 on the Precor elliptical and log in another two and a half miles. A quick stretch and I'm done. I retrieve my son from Child Care at the stroke of 1 pm. He's not the last child. Whew!

I'm going to look into other kickboxing gloves. A friend recommended Harbinger women's wristwrap bag gloves but warned me that they were pricey. $50 but free shipping. I search Amazon and find a similar item that is $10 cheaper even with shipping. The sizing is odd. I'm between a Small and a Medium on the Harbinger site, although the Amazon product (Ring to Cage) states that size Small is for women under 5 feet tall. That'd be me. I have a wide palm, but small short fingers and tiny wrists so I'm not really sure what size I wear now. I'll have to think about this more...

Tomorrow is Abbreviated Leg Day. And Monday I have an eye doc appt at 9:15 across the county for an eye test. I hate giving up my gym time for tests that tell me I'm fine. But I have glaucoma, so I do have to keep check on it because the last thing I want to deal with is eye surgery.

Thursday Cardio Workout
(total mileage = 6.77 miles Wahoo!)

Cross Trainer

Calorie :   153 CAL
Distance: 4.2 mile
Speed :    8.39 mph
Duration : 00:30:05

Elliptical Training

Calorie :   289 CAL
Distance: 2.57 mile
Duration : 00:30:11

Take What You Need

My son and I got to the gym earlier today, but it's still a two-hour limit. If you think two hours is a lot of time, you're not taking into account the mundane things like stashing your bag, coat and boots, showering, changing clothes, and in my case today, snipping little pieces of moleskin to stick over each knuckle before wrapping the entire hand with white tape. And a ring of white tape around each pointer finger as well. Today I'm trying the new Revgear Kid's deluxe MMA gloves I got a few weeks ago. I'd been waiting until the scab on my left hand had healed sufficiently. I don't think it's going to be any better than it is now so WTH. I miss whacking the Nexersys machine.

It takes me nearly 15 minutes to get myself ready, once I get my son signed into the Child Care room. I need to warm up first, so I do 10 minutes on the elliptical varying the incline after each minute, but keeping a relatively steady pace. I have my old pink gloves and wraps with me just in case the new gloves are a total fail. The new gloves aren't exactly what I had anticipated either because the palm-side is hard to see in the product photo. There's a ton of padding on the knuckle-side, but the gloves are held on with black elastic bands stitched as finger holds. There's a fairly sturdy velcro wrist-wrap, but it's not very helpful, probably because I have skinny wrists. I worry that the bands will chafe and cut into my fingers as I punch. And the fingers are not stitched with any consistency in sizing, so the ring finger is huge and the pinky seems a tad tight. I don't have fat fingers either. The thumb is really loose. I have the Large kid's gloves because the Mediums fit 7-yr olds, and I know that my hands are sized closer to a 10-yr olds.

My knuckles sting a little toward the end, but in general they were fairly protected. Once I learned to pull my punches. I only did one round at Beginner Level because I got tired of having to constantly reset the machine. I didn't miss any punches or kicks, but the 83/108 stat reflects the 25 times I had to hit the reset button because I was "punching too hard". Jeeze. It's not like I'm a big person either. When I move to 5 rounds at Intermediate Level, I'm expecting the machine to adjust its sensitivity but I was wrong. Hence the abysmal accuracy stat.

I did one round at Advanced but aborted it halfway through once I realized that the machine had abruptly switched to SouthPaw stance. It also couldn't keep it's program consistent and kept flipping back and forth between Standard and SouthPaw, while maintaining that it was in SouthPaw mode. That's just too annoying. I punch in another 6 rounds of Intermediate, and am really careful to pull my cross, jabs and elbows. Digs and kicks are full force or they don't register at all. This is reflected in the stats as my accuracy and strikes go up, but my power goes down. Oh well... I still got a good workout. I think my cardio training is really paying off though, because even though I'm fairly sweaty, I'm not winded. Or tired. Waaay cool.

When I pull off my gloves and all the tape, I see that my knuckles are pink, and I've inexplicably lost some skin between the ring finger and pinky knuckle. Okay, I didn't put moleskin there, figuring that knuckles, being high points, would need the additional protection. I'm not quite sure how I'm wounding myself here, but next time I'll be sure to stick a piece of moleskin between those fingers as well. Not sure what I'm doing tomorrow though. Maybe just a lot of cardio... haven't done a 6-mile day since last week.

Wednesday Workout

10 min ellliptical steady state = 0.86 miles

Nexersys Kickboxing Machine

1 round Beginner
  Accuracy 75% / Strikes 77% / Average Power 142%

5 rounds Intermediate
  Accuracy 64% / Strikes 87% / Average Power 115%

6 rounds Intermediate
  Accuracy 82% / Strikes 97% / Average Power 102%

 photos for actual stats

PreLoading the Abbreviated Workout

I knew it had snowed last night. But I wasn't really expecting to have to shovel. Flurries don't need to be shoveled, I told myself. But 2-3" of fresh fluffy snow needs to be shoveled before it packs down to a half inch of ice and freezes overnight. Plus, I've got 140 lbs of salt inside my front door so there's no reason not to salt afterwards, while the sun in warm and welcoming. It takes me a good 45 minutes to get everything done, including clearing the car because I hate the people who drive around with just the windshield wiper area clear of snow. Do they think that no one can see them because their car is hidden beneath the frost? No one wants to drive behind a vehicle that might dislodge flying chunks of ice, or who can't get through a traffic light because the snow from the car roof suddenly slid forward onto their windshield.

By the time my son and I get to the gym, I have exactly 2 hours to work out. First we buy our SpongeBob movie tickets because experience has shown us that $5 Tuesdays on a No-School Day means that entire families will show up at the last minute and the movie will be sold out 5 minutes before showtime. It's another super-abbreviated Workout and it's Back Day. I'm already a little tired. I debate whether to just do 30 min of cardio and attempt a good Back workout, or to give up and just do two legs of cardio. My quads complain a little and I don't quite make 4 miles like yesterday. Well, not every day can be a peak cardio day.

I'm happy to see the Smith machine vacant but that happiness is short-lived as Island Jerk drags the adjustable Inclined Bench from the other side of the gym to the Smith. Proper etiquette dictates I ask him if he's using the Smith. Bummer. I grumble and stalk away. There's an Oly bar laying on the ground with two 45 lb plats lying next to it. Lazy f*ks can't even put their plates away. I ask the 3 guys closest if any of them are using this. Nope. All mine. Okay then. Because I don't have enough time to do my whole routine, I have to be more selective. RG BB Rows feel okay. Maybe too okay. I knock out 22 reps instead of 20 for the last set.

I'm a bit more cautious with the Seated Cable Rows because my right front delt is intermittently achy. More weight, fewer reps. I manage 3 decent sets at 120 lbs and then do a few drop sets. My elbows don't complain today and I'm surprised. I finish with the Lower Back Extension machine because I've skipped it the past two weeks. Those are okay once I get my rhythm. Skipping Hammer Grip Pull Ups gives my elbows a break. I rush through most of the Mat Stretch, doing a quick plank and some Dive Bomber Push Ups along with leg, lower and upper back stretches before dashing off to shower and change. My son is the last child in the Child Care room.

Tuesday Cardio and Back Workout
(3.98 miles; 28,785 lbs moved)

Cross Trainer

Calorie :   151 CAL
Distance: 3.98 mile
Speed :    7.92 mph
Duration : 00:30:09

Barbell Reverse Grip Bent Over Row

234

Set 1 : 45x15
Set 2 : 135x15
Set 3 : 155x15
Set 4 : 155x15
Set 5 : 155x15
Set 6 : 135x22 Up the wt?

Cable Seated Row

152

Set 1 : 90x12
Set 2 : 105x10
Set 3 : 120x8
Set 4 : 120x8
Set 5 : 120x6
Set 6 : 105x8
Set 7 : 90x12

Back Extension Machine

315

Set 1 : 210x15
Set 2 : 210x15
Set 3 : 210x15

Seated Flat Bench Leg Pull In

100

Set 1 : 100 Lap/Rep

Plank

Set 1 : 00:01:00

DiveBomber Pushup

Set 1 : 20 Lap/Rep
Set 2 : 20 Lap/Rep