Born Again Gym Rat: Sifting Wheat from Chaff

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Sifting Wheat from Chaff

I took yesterday off because 1) my hubs had parked in front of my car in our narrow, single-lane driveway; 2) he was leaving for another week-long business trip later that afternoon and 3) we rarely get to spend time together alone.

Today I feel really exhausted, probably because my body's not used to having 3 days off. It's not good to rest too much! My ribs feel better but I'm plagued by an assortment of mild ailments that might or might not add up to something serious. Because my IOP was high (for me) I worry that my blood pressure might be high too. I seem to be mildly dizzy and/or nauseous whenever I eat. For months now, the skin on my throat has been itchy. Last year it was the skin on my belly. I have perennially dry, flaky skin and aging makes it worse.

But the skin on my throat isn't dry. I've scratched it until I worry the redness might become permanent, that the skin will roughen in retaliation for rough handling. Then I worry that this is a sign of something more serious, and more sinister. We're at that age when anything can happen. At that age where we expect to live happily for another 20, 30 years until something happens. Then it happens to our friends and acquaintances. It happens to famous people in the news. It happens to people at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Tomorrow I'm going to call up my primary care doc, just as soon as I review my health insurance. I'm not sure how much they're going to cover for the last two laser surgeries. And I worry that this discomfort in my upper abdomen is more than just a strained diaphragm muscle. My husband is out of the country and it's my job to make sure I'm there for my child. I don't want to die suddenly like my cousin who ignored her high blood pressure and her obesity, and then suffered a fatal cerebral aneurysm. My son's not big enough, not old enough to handle life on his own. He's only a child. And yet, as he walks beside me, I'm startled by the realization that he's my size, that he's growing into adulthood. I'm watching him mature and I can hardly believe it.

Under the gloves: cotton wraps, white tape, moleskin patches

I get to the gym a bit later than usual just to avoid the cackling in the locker room. After 10 minutes on the elliptical, which seemed hard today, I tape and wrap my hands. This time I'm careful to wrap both hands the same, around the wrist, then the palm, then the wrist and between the fingers. My right hand still stings even with moleskin, tape, cotton wraps and padded gloves. I manage to stop the machine twice and the screen goes blank during the three Beginner rounds. Without the warning buzzer, I can see my right cross registers a whopping 220% score for power. Nice!

Mom clothes Selfie

There are one or two rounds in the Intermediate Level that are off kilter, moving much faster than even the Advance Level, with confusing combinations that don't make sense. I try my best to smack the right pad but it's futile. I'd like to be able to skip these glitchy rounds but there's no way to do that. Exiting the program without finishing it causes all data to be lost for that session.

I am breathless halfway through the Intermediate session and I wonder if I should go back to 3 rounds Beginner and 11 rounds Intermediate since I've shut off the warning buzzer. The rounds are much harder when you're not stopping to reset the screen all the time. However, after three rounds of Advance, I get a nice message from the machine that states I'm "maximizing my workouts". I'm not exactly sure what that means, but it sounds good. I always get "you are overpower" for the other two levels. I guess Advance is where I need to be, but I'll have to work up to five rounds. The machine always wants to add rounds. Five is its magic number.

After I unwrap, I put my hoodie back on and climb the Step Mill for 15 minutes. Then a good Mat Stretch to get all the kinks out. I worry about the history of cerebral aneurysms in my matrilineal heritage. I don't feel right. My neck and head feel like there's a net inside my skin that's too tight. Yet I'm eager to go to the gym tomorrow and find some relief in a good cardio session. Maybe do some push ups. Or not.

Tuesday Workout