Born Again Gym Rat: Ignoring the Obvious

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Ignoring the Obvious

The thermometer read 1°F when I took the dog out this morning. That didn't include the wind chill factor. I've already opened a few packets of chemical hand warmers to keep in my pockets because I can't seem to generate enough body heat, especially in my bony little hands. I drive my son to the school bus stop because not only is it barely 5F by 8 am, but he's got to bring his viola to school. Never mind the class trip he's going on today to the Stone Hills Farm. Gathering eggs ought to be a lot of fun in the bitter cold. I'm assuming that the hen houses are pretty warm from all the chickens. Driving to the school bus stop means I get to the gym early. Yaaay!

I don't have a chance to affix the moleskin patches until I get to the locker room, and that's just too crowded and noisy from all the hens going to zumba or spin class. Instead, I pedal as hard as I can for 10 minutes to warm up before stripping off my hoodie in front of the Nexersys machine, and sitting down to don patches, white tape, cotton wraps, and then finally, my gloves. I bought six rolls of the white tape on Amazon because the price was great. But I didn't realize that this white tape is near impossible to rip by hand so now I keep a pocket knife in my boxing bag just to cut tape strips. The whole routine takes about 6-7 minutes so that's not bad. Practice makes faster!

I have a pretty good time whacking the machine. Not busting a sweat through the entire 5-round Beginner warm up. Learning to ignore the ghost commands that flash on the screen during the Intermediate rounds. It usually happens right after a Power Sweep or Right Cross. I think more of the sensors are loose. I blank the screen several times today, which isn't good because the program is still running whether you can see the commands or not.

I have trouble with the Advance program only because my brain is stuck on hitting Jab first, followed by Cross. So when the combo comes up as Cross / Jab / Cross / Lead Kick, I'm totally flustered and score a zero for four potential blows. Oh well, eventually I'll get it. I feel a lot better as the end of the Advance program, as if I've gotten my second wind. 15 rounds is about 60 minutes of what I'm classifying as High Intensity Interval Training. Because my power is just hovering at mid-90s, the machine tells me that I'm optimizing my workouts. Wahoo for whatever that means. I'd rather be "overpower", but I'm really trying to improve my accuracy score. Really.

My right pointer knuckle is still sensitive even though I can't actually feel the cyst below the skin. When I peel all the dressing off, that is the only knuckle that appears red and bruised. It doesn't hurt though unless I really press into it. I've been taking the loratadine twice a day for a few weeks now and the itching on my neck has lessened. There's still a bit of red discoloration though. I should put some dit da jow (Chinese bruise medicine) on it.

I'm all out of ZMA tablets though, so that sucks. I really do believe that the combination of magnesium aspartate, zinc monomethionine and aspartate, and B6 really helps me stay in deep sleep if not longer, then for more cycles. I've looked at purchasing the minerals separately, but I'm not sure how effective magnesium oxide or zinc gluconate is. I have the Optimum Nutrition brand ZMA (120 capsules $22.65) on order at Amazon, but since I don't have Prime, it'll take weeks before they show up. Or I could just drive to the Mall and see if GNC carries it but they want so much more money for less product (NOW brand 90 capsules $20).

I do 15 minutes of LISS on the Step Mill, going at speed 5. 10 minutes into it and sweat is trickling down my nose. I'm not as warmed up as I'd like my legs to be, but figuring how I skipped the Mat stretch yesterday, I should do it today. It's harder to do when your legs are stiff and a tad sore. I almost fall on my butt doing pistol squats. But it's good to change up the routine.

The gym scale reads slightly better than yesterday at 110.3 lbs. At least it's going in the right direction. It's so cold outside that I dispense with the ritual of air drying my cumbersome long hair, and just brush and braid it wet. Then I stuff it under my fleece hat where it's out of the way. When my hair dries this way, it becomes unusually soft. Weird.

At the supermarket, I see D. I haven't seen her in a month and I was hoping that it was because her husband just needed a lot of care after a risky surgery. She tells me that she has good days and bad days and today is a bad day. Her husband died on the operating table last month. The more she has to talk about it, the worst she's going to feel so I tell her to let me give her my contact info, and ask her if she's found a grief support group. I tell her to call or email or text me because I've been through this, this type of grief. When we run into each other in a different aisle I tell her that the peanut butter Oreos are the worst and that no one should ever buy them. She grabs a box of mint Oreos and says "Well, these make me feel better." And we both laugh. Because real emotions are too raw for the grocery store. I don't even know D's last name. Nor do I have her contact info. On the drive home, I feel like crying and my heart hurts.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow. Probably cardio and some weights. Probably.

Tuesday Workout