I've also been eating a lot of Greek style yogurt because it's high protein and soothing to my stomach. Today I try to eat oatmeal with banana and egg, but I'm out of time before I have to drive my son to mini-camp. It's just for the day since there's no school (Columbus Day). Having him run about with other boys for 5 hours on this beautiful Autumn day is so much better than taking him to the gym with me where he'll sit around playing on his phone and complain about being bored. This also means that I don't have to cut my workout short.
I also have to drive to the vet's office to pick up more antibiotics for the dog. He's back to his happy frisky self ever since I put him on meds. Male neutered dogs don't usually get urinary tract infections but his tests came back with elevated white blood cells. Of course, we don't know where the infection originated. I also realize now that what I thought was age, heat and arthritis slowing him down this summer was probably related to being ill. His annual check up (urine and blood) in July came back clean, but he seemed slower. I assumed his joints were bothering him and was surprised that the cosequin didn't seem to help. Hopefully the meds will eradicate whatever the problem is, and he'll be fine when the course of antibiotics is done. Fingers crossed.
It's nearly 11 o'clock by the time I get to the gym. I develop a stitch under my rib cage during my 30 minutes on the cross-trainer, and of course, my right foot goes a tad numb in the toes. My stomach is bothering me again so there is absolutely no thought of even attempting pull ups today. However, the rest of me is fine. Is this what they mean by "compartmentalization"? The two side mats have guys on them doing ab rollouts (or something or other) so I drop down on the big front mat. I usually use this mat for my Mat Stretch at the end of my workout because the floor under it is much smoother. The side mats are smaller, and the floor under them is downright uneven and lumpy, but they afford a modicum of privacy and modesty.
Push ups and planks are my routine. I do my first set with my hoodie on, but strip it off afterwards because I'm sweating waaay too much now. It's not a straight and smooth hundred reps, but it is a hundred reps. I only start to slow down at rep 80, pausing for a breath, then at rep 90. Then 95, and finally, grinding out singles until I hit 100. Okay, that'll take your breath away for a few seconds. I do my standard plank sets because my abs seems sore and I don't want to really stress them. I can't remember how many diamond and dand push ups I did last week so I have to check my phone for last Friday's log. Ultimately, my goal is 50 rep sets. Except for the first set obviously!
I can only get to 40 diamond push ups before the stress on my left elbow makes me stop. Planks for resting. 41 reps for dand (Hindu) push ups. I suppose I could do more, but I'm trying to pace myself for the last two sets: Leg Raise Push Ups. Videos tell you to alternate right leg, then left leg and call that one push up. Uh, no. I understand alternating legs keeps your symmetry, but I'm too lazy to do that. I knock out 45 reps with the left leg raised, take a quick 30 second rest and then pray I can match the reps with the right leg raised. I almost don't. I'm glad no one can see my face grimacing at the mat as I muscle through the last 5 reps. By my count, that's 271 push ups in total. Yaaay!
There are guys on the Smith machine and the Max Rack and I'm bummed. Oh wait, I'm doing delts and triceps today anyway, not back. Whew! Because I' haven't handled a DB since mid-August, I figure I'd start light and just go for reps. Reps have been good to me. Maybe 15 lb DBs are a tad light, but gotta start back somewhere. Just three sets and let's see how many reps I can get. Turns out an awful lot. Okay, next week I up the weights to 20 lbs. It's even worse on the Inclined Bench doing reverse flyes for the rear delts. Same weights but a lot more reps. Definitely need to up these to 20s and maybe 25s. I remember doing 25s once upon a time.
My last exercise are Rip Skulls. I was going to start with the 20 lb solid state BB but some big kid grabs it for curls. I grab the 30 lbs bar instead and wonder if my arms will be too tired from push ups and planks. They're not. I have no problem knocking out reps. Yeah, I need to up these too. Seems like my bodyweight program has maintained my strength, and stamina if not necessarily my size. I am however, really surprised and happy to see my arms and shoulders "pop" when I pick up the DBs. Maybe it's the weird gym lighting, but my arms look really good. I had been seriously worried that I was getting soft, that this creeping weight loss was in fact muscle-loss. But we're human, and humans are supremely irrational creatures.
I choose the Performance Program #1 for 30 minutes on the elliptical. Then a good Mat stretch before hitting the locker room. That stretch is a workout in itself because I'm very often sweating up a storm halfway through it. It's okay. I'm calm by the time it's over. but I'm having a love-hate relationship with my new Jillian Michaels tank top. I like that it's snug enough so that my headphone wires don't get tangled in my tank straps, but I don't think the pattern is particularly flattering for a small non-curvy person like myself. It makes me feel like a dumpy housewife, but I'm not quite sure why. I like my solid color tanks better.I have a few bright colored clothes, but lately I wonder how true my vision is. At the archery store, my family and I hold our thumbs out at the distant target. Close your left eye and if your thumb jumps then you're left-eye dominant, which is a problem if you're a right-handed archer. Luckily we're all right-eye dominant, and right-hand dominant (even though I write left-handed). What I notice is more disturbing. My right eye image of my thumb is fainter, grayer than my left eye image. Of course, I can't reproduce this effect when I get home. Maybe I had a thin film of mucous over my cornea at the time? It's hard to say.
It's the same thing with the damage to my optic nerve. I have a small blind spot at approximately 11 o'clock in my right eye but it's hard to actual "see" it. Except once when I was reading and the word inane became, for a moment, nane. The "i" had disappeared as I was reading. But again, I couldn't reproduce the effect. It's very troubling to feel your mortality, to catch glimpses of it as your turn your head and wonder if those flashes of light in my peripheral vision are neurons dying, or merely a faint aura from optical migraines that I didn't realize I got. Well, that might explain the mild nausea and extreme fatigue I sometimes feel. I don't feel that today though.
Instead, I feel really good, energetic and fairly happy. I note some of the regulars among all the kids who are here on a school holiday. Shaggy is wearing an orange cap backwards on his head that reminds me of Jughead in Archie Comics. I see Jude just leaving, Shazam and M chatting. M still has his arm in a sling from his shoulder surgery. Maroon and a vaguely familiar face who used to come some years ago. His face is fuller, but I recognize him as "5 o'clock (shadow)". The cute college guy who does ridiculously difficult pull ups (while twisting himself in odd positions) appears to be coaching a chubby younger brother. I see him correcting the kid's form and cheering him on. Brownie points for that, bro! And then I see Chatty Guy. I almost don't recognize him because he's a lot thinner, his hair is very short, and his beard is shaped very square. He seems to stare a lot. Not sure if he's still with Venus. I haven't seen her in a very long time. But I do catch glimpses of Hollywood, and Under Cut, the only other woman I've ever seen do pull ups here at my gym. I miss being able to do them now. I still want to see if I can do a "muscle up" one of these days, once I figure what's going on with my stomach and the sub-sternal area.
I get on the gym scale and I'm nervous because I've been snacking a lot lately. Weekends are always hard on the "diet" and I expect the worst. Instead, again, I'm surprised. Because I'm never under 110 lbs on a Monday. Today I'm 108.8 lbs. Weird. As long as I don't have some horrible illness (because I've got a vivid imagination and just enough intelligence to know about all sorts of diseases) I'm good. But I think I'll buy another bottle of apple cider vinegar. And more Greek style yogurt.
Monday Workout
(6.57 miles total cardio)
PerfPrgm #1
Calorie : 291 CALDistance: 2.57 mile
Duration : 00:30:05
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