It's Always Something

The late Gilda Radner's irreverent character, Roseanne Rosannadanna, always ended her rant with the infamous line, "It's always something." That's how I feel lately. I woke up, still with a stiff neck and a bruise on my trap, to the disconcerting sound of wind. Coming from the house. Wind but not wind. Not coming from the house but the basement. Uh oh. After feeding and walking the dog (there are priorities in a set order in my house), I pull away the black garbage bag from the basement doors. Well, it's dry so that's a relief. But what's that noise? The furnace seems okay. Ah, the sump is running. But there's no water for it to pump. The float has gotten caught on the edge of the drain pipe and can't turn off. I nudge it a little and all is quiet. Whew. I don't know how long it's been running like this but I didn't hear it last night. I'm pretty sure my electric bill is going to be ridiculous.

I get to the gym with the intention of whacking the kickboxing machine. I even have scissors to cut strips of moleskin for my knuckles. But I've forgotten to pack gloves. I have three different sets of gloves and none of them are in my gym bag. Ugh. Okay, I guess it's Arm Day. My neck is still stiff and sore though. Worse, my left index finger is sporadically painful, as if I've got a blister coming up on the meaty side of my hand. But there's no blister. Just sporadic tenderness. Maybe I've inflamed a tendon inside my finger? It looks okay though. Hmmmm.

I'm having trouble getting into "gear" for my warm up and part of me says if I just do cardio it'll be enough. Of course, once I finish 30 minutes and do a quick stretch, I feel good and wander back to the free weight area. I've decided that Close Grip Bench Presses are my new arm warm up and I do 3 sets of 25 reps easily with just the Oly bar. I really should put some weight on the bar! Maybe next week. My only problem is the sporadic sharp pain in my index finger when I grip the DB or BB with my left hand. I have to adjust my grip so that the surrounding fingers take the weight. It's hard to do with a "thumbless grip" on sets of Rip Skulls.

I also use a thumbless grip on the RG BB Curls. I'm a bit worried about the Cable Tricep Press Downs but really what fails are my arms, not my hands. Back for 30 more minutes of cardio on the elliptical. Lately I've been punching in the additional option information: weight and age. I'm not sure if I'm pedaling faster but lately the elliptical has been registering more than 2.5 miles for these Performance Programs. I don't think entering 113 lbs and 55 yrs should have any effect on the mileage outcome, but I could be wrong.

Regulars are popping out of the woodwork, as if the warmer weather has suddenly spurred everyone into self-conscious awareness of the summer months to come. There are some new faces, most noticeably a young man with a prosthetic leg. I see a lot of familiar faces. Cripple Girl and her Daniel Ryan fan boyfriend stand around a lot. Or rather, she sits around looking unhappy unless he's standing right next to her. He gets a much better workout when he comes solo. I see Venus briefly and barely recognize her in her navy sweats as she exits the treadmill. Wearing weighted vests for all sorts of exercises has become very popular in the past two months, but it's usually guys sporting them. Now I see a woman with one of the trainers wearing a bright blue blue and gold weighted vest, brand new and shorter in length.

The music instructor who bought two of my prints says Hi to me while we are both stretching out on the Mats. She's been ill with the flu and bronchitis and is just coming back. Even though she's over her ailment, she's exhausted. The body is like that: just because you don't have symptoms doesn't mean you're well. Country western love songs are blaring over the gym sound system. Apparently it's Country Wednesday. Disco Friday is also very popular. I thought I heard the Bee Gees in the locker room yesterday. I can't wait until those new noise-cancelling earplug ear buds arrive!

Wednesday Workout and Cardio
(6.72 miles; 15,985 lbs moved)

Elliptical Training

Calorie :   149 CAL
Distance: 3.83 mile
Speed :    7.6 mph
Duration : 00:30:15

Barbell Close Grip Bench Press

82.5

Set 1 : 45x25
Set 2 : 45x25
Set 3 : 45x25

Dumbbell One Arm Triceps Extension

28

Set 1 : 20x12
Set 2 : 20x12
Set 3 : 20x12 SuperSet with

Dumbbell Alternate Bicep Curl

28

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

Barbell Reverse Grip Skullcrusher

52.5

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

Barbell Curl

52.5

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

Barbell Reverse Curl

75

Set 1 : 40x25
Set 2 : 45x20
Set 3 : 45x20
Set 4 : 45x20

Cable Triceps Pushdown

66.67

Set 1 : 40x12
Set 2 : 50x10
Set 3 : 50x9
Set 4 : 40x12

Elliptical Training

Calorie :   258 CAL
Distance: 2.89 mile
Duration : 00:30:10

TorsoTwistMachine

Set 1 : 50x25
Set 2 : 50x25