Friday, May 27, 2016

Getting In My Own Way...

The fellow from the generator company showed up at 8:15 this morning just as I was about to take the dog for his morning walk. I hadn't even had my coffee yet. I'm afraid that the portable French press coffee maker has spoiled me for instant now. I've been using pre-ground espresso Cafe Bustelo and it has a kick-ass caffeine buzz. Nope, instant is just like drinking dishwater now....

Post Workout
The good news is that it's probably the voltage regulator that's causing the problem. The bad news is that they need to order the part, and last night our power went out for several hours and we had no serviceable generator to power our fridge, well pump or anything else. Online news reports this morning state that a fire at a substation several towns over knocked out power to about 50,000 homes. And it was hot last night without fans, or lights. Luckily, we have tons of flashlights and candles, and bottled water. This actually forced my son and I to go to bed early at 10 pm. The lights came back on at 1:30 am but my son was sound asleep. The dog didn't wake up either. Just me, roaming the house and turning all the lights off.

My son and I get to the gym with just under two hours left for Child Care services. At least the gym has A/C but just as we arrive, their WiFi goes out. My son has brought his laptop so he's bummed, but he's got games to keep himself busy when he's not viewing YouTube videos. Two hours just isn't quite enough time because it's not just the workout, but the changing and showering as well. I think it unwise to skip the 10 min warm up on the elliptical so I don't. But I cut short my rounds so that I only total 13 and not 15 rounds. I even skip pull ups, and the Step Mill because wrapping and unwrapping takes time. Stashing my gear takes time. Washing and blotting dry this unruly hair takes time. I don't even use the blow-dryer!

Afterwards, my son and I take the 3-page long grocery list my hubs emailed me for our weekend camping trip with the Boy Scots. Good grief. He's still in Boston and won't arrive home until late tonight. I've never been white water rafting before but I figure I'm 56 years old, and if I'm going to try it at least once, here's my chance. I'm so dang tired though... I'm having trouble focusing to get everything packed. Not sure if it's the heat, or the workout. Can't be the workout. I usually do more. Part of me says that this is a whole lot of trouble, and dang it'd better be fun!

Friday Workout
10 min elliptical warm up
13 rounds whacking the Nexersys

(photos posted for actual stats)

5 rounds Beginner


5 rounds Intermediate


3 rounds Advance

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Making Up for Yesterday, and the Rest of the Week

I cut 10 minutes out of my warm up cardio this morning, and it cost me about a mile. But I'd planned to put a lot more energy into pushing the iron today. It's scorching hot and I'm not inclined to do any yard work and risk heat stroke. I'm not even sure I'll be able to get to the gym tomorrow or Friday since my son is off from school. Our school district didn't use snow days and they've given them back fore and aft of Memorial Day weekend. Normally I'd take him with me and plant him in the Child Care room which has a 2 hr time limit. But it's only $5 so I can't really complain.

However, I have a sofa delivery scheduled between 7 and 11 am. There's a chance they'll show up at 7, but highly unlikely. And they'll have to navigate up 5 slate steps and wrestle the sofa around a corner into the living room area. It's been a long time coming. We'd had a futon in place for years. I'd bought it in Brooklyn over 25 yrs ago, so it's seen better days. The ash frame is still in good shape, but there's no way to clean out the accumulated dog hair between the inch-spaced spindles on either side. My husband happily took the sawz-all to it and put it aside for summer pit fire burning.

On Friday, I have a fellow scheduled to look at our 20 year old generator. It's worked well until this past winter when during a day-long outage, I noticed that the fridge wasn't being adequately powered. The fridge only came on sporadically, and the light bulb had a weird dim brown glow. Brown-out. My electrician came by to service the unit and after changing the oil, and battery, blowing a fuse and replacing it, decided that the voltage regulator was wonky. I still have to pay him even though he hasn't fixed anything. But he did turn me on to the generator repair people the next town over.

This weekend we plan to go rafting with our Boy Scout Troop. I've not been overnight tent camping in quite a long time. All I can think of is "how much bug spray will I need?" I've already gotten half a dozen bites and summer's just beginning. I yanked a tick off my son just a few weeks ago. Thank goodness we're on the list for a new storm door installation. Our old one, about 25 years old, finally ripped off it's hinges because there's really nothing for those tiny little screws to attach to once the sheet metal deforms from wear and tear. We bought a nice Anderson storm door with a self-storing screen at Home Depot and asked for them to install it.

The sales guy must've been on double-antihistamines because he tried to set us up with some carpenters. Ugh. We went back to HD three times and finally got a trainee who knew exactly what needed to be done. HD has an installation company for it's doors and windows; we just needed to set up an appt to have the door measured by one of their agents just in case the door we ordered was incorrectly measured. Which it wasn't. So we have no screen door currently, and a plywood ramp on half our front steps for our 13 yr old dog with the busted ACL. I gorilla-glued some ridged door mats across the ramp because the dog keeps slipping off the ramp when it's wet. There's already carpeting on the ramp, but the ridges run the wrong way and he can't get any traction. I got my fingers crossed.

Push ups and a quick Bird Dog Plank (on knees) suffices for core. I just don't have time for everything I'd like to do, so I just do the big movements today. For me, the big three are Benching, SLDLs, and Split Squats... covers the full body! Can I justify not doing the supplemental stuff with three sets of pull ups? Pull ups works lats, biceps, core... It'll have to do. I'm not happy that the Split Squats makes my glutes sore. I don't need tighter shorts. I think I'll have to cut down on the hard cider. Oh well...

I'm so hungry when I get to the supermarket that I actually buy a protein drink from the refrigerated section. I've been looking for Organic Valley's high protein shakes since I got a coupon for them some months ago but apparently I've been looking in the wrong aisle. They're not shelf-stable! The vanilla tastes like melted vanilla ice cream, which isn't bad. What's bad is that there's as much sugar as there is protein in this little bottle. They also sell a lesser version with 16 gms of protein. I also see Quorn burgers and cutlets. I've just read about Quorn: fungus-based protein grown in vats of glucose! I bought the cutlets because they promised more protein than the burgers (12 vs 9 gms), although I'm not happy with the high sodium content (410-420 mg). But I'm curious, and it's cheap enough to try it at least once. 

Wednesday Workout
(4.92 miles; 24,546 lbs moved)

Warm Up
Calorie :   86 CAL
Distance: 2.36 mile
Speed :    7.04 mph
Duration : 00:20:08
209.07
Set 1 : 112x26
100
Set 1 : 100 Lap/Rep
Knees
Set 1 : 00:00:30
Set 2 : 00:00:30
Set 3 : 00:00:30
Set 4 : 00:00:30
168
Set 1 : 30x20
Set 2 : 80x12
Set 3 : 100x12
Set 4 : 120x12
Set 5 : 90x25
168
Set 1 : 30x20
Set 2 : 80x12
Set 3 : 100x12
Set 4 : 120x12
Set 5 : 130x8
Set 6 : 100x12
98
Set 1 : 30x12
Set 2 : 50x12
Set 3 : 70x12
227.73
Set 1 : 112x31
Prgm#3
Calorie :   290 CAL
Distance: 2.56 mile
Duration : 00:30:00
227.73
Set 1 : 112x31


Abbreviated But Better Than Nothing

Abbreviated workout as I had a doc appt at 1:30 and at least a 45 min drive. Got to the gym late because mornings are the best times to call, return calls and try to schedule appts for things like fixing the 20-yr old generator, confirming delivery of a new sofa, getting Home Depot to get a door installer to come take measurements... All 8 cross-trainers were in use so I got on the Precor for both sessions, but did different programs. Effective.

Tuesday Workout
(5.13 miles)

Prgm#1
Calorie :   289 CAL
Distance: 2.55 mile
Duration : 00:30:00
209.07
Set 1 : 112x26
50
Set 1 : 50 Lap/Rep
80
Set 1 : 80 Lap/Rep
50
Set 1 : 50 Lap/Rep
Set 2 : 50 Lap/Rep
Set 3 : 50 Lap/Rep
Prgm#2
Calorie :   292 CAL
Distance: 2.58 mile
Duration : 00:30:00
227.73
Set 1 : 112x31

Friday, May 20, 2016

What Girls Want

I skipped yesterday and having trouble getting up to speed today, hence the mediocre mileage. But at least I'm not walking. Okay, I shouldn't diss the folks who walk the treadmill every day, although it'd be nice if they actually saw progress. Maybe they're running as fast as they can just to stay in place? Maybe. Sometimes I feel that way too.

Tricep Shot
I've been cutting down on my warm up moves because I honestly spend waaay too much time here. So just a set of push ups, some crunches, and one 4-part set of bird dog planks. And only two sets of pull ups today because the big movements tend to be hard on my joints, specifically elbows, wrists and shoulders.

I hadn't planned to, but I do all my big moves at the Smith today, mostly because it's available and the MaxRack isn't. Smith Bench Press, Smith SLDLs, and finally, a few Smith Split Squats. I also do a few One-Arm Seated Cable Rows, and a full Mat Stretch. The gym is mostly empty because the sun has come out and it's blazingly hot outside, with rain promised for later this weekend.

Animé Hair Girl seems distracted today. Like most girls, she doesn't appear to have any muscles until she's actually using them. Because I've seen her curl 30 lb DBs, I know she's got them. But she must be frustrated that she has to flex in order to see anything. However, she does have a nice shape, but maybe she's after something more.

I know what girls want... they want visible muscles without having to flex for them. I have the luxury of a body that retains muscle fairly well. I don't need to constantly work out to look like I do, but I'm careful not to get cocky about it. I don't want to look like most of the people in my gym, the people who don't show any change from day to day, week to week, month to month. When I work out, I work out hard. I don't need to grunt, or push massive amounts, but there's little rest and no chatting. It works well for me, and I hope it inspires the other gals to do the same.

There's an interesting HS couple at the gym that I've been watching lately. They're both young, pale and lanky, and he's trying desperately to be supportive. He wants to lift weights, use the machines, get his beast on. She just looks soooo bored, like she'd rather be doing something else, anything else than be here at the gym. Her posture is terrible, with her hands on her hips, elbows jutting out and an expression of mild disdain. I feel sorry for him, and I wonder how long they'll attempt to do this as a couple. Sometimes you're just better off flying solo.

Single-serve coffee makers brew delicious coffee, but tax my patience. I haven't figured out just how many Starbucks Komodo Dragon coffee beans to grind yet. Today I bought a vacuum bag of Cafe Bustelo espresso to try in the single-serve drip maker. My hubs bought a portable French Press for our impending Boy Scout camping trip. Coffee's important when sleeping in the wilderness!
Grocery shopping today and came across Core Protein by Fairlife, which is owned by Coca-Cola in spite of stating it's Canadian. I bought a vanilla, mostly because I was starving. Tastes like overly sweet milk... no wonder with 26 grams of sugar! I like the 240 calories and 26 grams protein, the 70% RDA calcium, but no one needs 26 grams of sugar. I see on their website that there's a 42 gm protein drink called Core Power Elite with only 7 gms sugar, because it contains sucralose.

Friday Workout
(6.17 total miles cardio; 23,614 lbs moved)

Warm Up
Calorie :   126 CAL
Distance: 3.47 mile
Speed :    6.93 mph
Duration : 00:30:05
209.07
Set 1 : 112x26
100
Set 1 : 100 Lap/Rep
50
Set 1 : 50 Lap/Rep
Set 2 : 50 Lap/Rep
Set 3 : 50 Lap/Rep
Knee : 00:00:30
Knee : 00:00:30
Straight Leg : 00:00:30
Straight Leg : 00:00:30
165
Set 1 : 30x20
Set 2 : 80x12
Set 3 : 100x12
Set 4 : 120x10
Set 5 : 90x25
168
Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 80x20
Set 3 : 100x15
Set 4 : 120x12
Set 5 : 120x12
Set 6 : 120x12
98
Set 1 : 30x12
Set 2 : 50x12
Set 3 : 70x12
63
Set 1 : 30x12
Set 2 : 37.5x12
Set 3 : 45x12
Intervals
Calorie :   309 CAL
Distance: 2.7 mile
Duration : 00:30:00
227.73
Set 1 : 112x31

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Second Wind

I don't show up at the gym today until it's nearly noon. Too much stuff to do in the mornings these days. At least the locker room is empty, and so is most of the gym. But not empty enough. The Precors are all occupied so I spend 10 minutes on the LifeFitness instead. I'm not wearing my hoodie today and it's chilly, but I know that's going to change as soon as I start whacking the Nexersys.

I'm not wrong. Although I don't sweat much for the first 5 rounds (Beginner), I'm warmed up for the next 5 (Intermediate). The Intermediate is still frustrating because the screen blanks and I lose accuracy points. A fellow comes over and whacks the other machine for two rounds, and only two rounds. No one ever goes the distance. I guess that'd be boring, or require commitment, or something.

The blank screen continues to vex me through the Advance session as well. At one point I just stop and let the machine run through the 3-blow combination because I'm hopelessly behind. Playing catch-up really tanks my accuracy score and I'm better off just waiting for a point where I can actually land the blow correctly. I feel really good by the time the last session ends, but the machine thinks otherwise. It gives me an abysmal score. Oh well...

I do 15 minutes on the Precor, now that all 4 are free. Pedaling forward and backward really seems to help prevent my sciatica from flaring up. I know whacking the machine seems to aggravate it, and if I do nothing, it gets worse. Finally, I grab the bars overhead and do a set of pull ups. Done!

There are sporadic groups of high school kids at the gym. I'm fairly oblivious to them, except some girls who stare at me as if I've personally insulted them. But I figure that's their problem, not mine. My husband tells me about a counter-fitness movement that claims encouraging people to exercise and lose weight just makes them feel bad. (Fine, be fat and unhealthy, but I don't want to pay for your medical intervention. Oh wait, the government has already made that happen with higher premiums for less care, and higher costs in the guise of "deductibles".) No wonder we're doomed as a society. Good grief, everyone's a victim! Is this what happened to the Romans? And the Vikings? Mere cultural and physical shadows of their formerly robust selves...

Today is my grandmother's birthday. She passed away when she was 93. Having been born in 1900, she and her twin sister would've been 116 years. I'm hoping to get to be old. But not decrepit. There's no point to living a long life if you can't life a good, active life. 93s a good age. My husband's grandfather passed away when he was 90 or so. Walked across Scotland all the time and then just dropped dead. Of course, my husband's adopted, so we're not sure how he's going to age. But he looks younger than his 48 years. We're a good match.

Wednesday Workout

Warm Up
Calorie :   44 CAL
Distance: 1.24 mile
Speed :    7.45 mph
Duration : 00:10:02

Follow Me
Lap/Rep :  15 Lap/Rep
Duration : 01:00:00
Prgm#2
Calorie :   138 CAL
Distance: 1.24 mile
Duration : 00:15:00
227.73
Set 1 : 112x31

Photos posted for actual stats:


5 rounds Beginner



5 rounds Intermediate


5 rounds Advance

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Road Rage Transference

I spend so much time sorting out the mess of paperwork that accompanies my son's summer camp applications that I'm in a foul mood by the time I get to the gym. Paperwork, phone calls and massaging the calendar eat up my mornings lately. It's not just this morning though. Yesterday I drove behind a car that hit the brakes with every sign on the road, not just the warning signs for curve ahead. I literally wanted to get out of my car and beat the other driver with a shovel by the time we got to the traffic light. It was green. And the driver rode the brake the entire way through. There's no cross traffic at that light. It only exists to allow trucks from the nearby construction site onto the roadway. And there were no trucks anywhere. Today I feel the need to move a lot of iron. For my sanity. And the safety of other drivers.

I cut my warm up cardio down to 15 minutes today so my mileage doesn't even top 5 miles. Oh well. I only do 50 push ups as well. And no core work at all. Did all that yesterday. The Smith is free so I wrestle the flat bench into position and do a few sets. My right shoulder and left elbow complain a little. I don't push for the max, but I do enough reps to feel worked out. Then I replace the flat bench with the bigger Adjustable Incline Bench and do a few sets of Incline Benching, finishing with reps. I see a guy I haven't seen in at least a year. He usually does power lifting moves although he's not big and fluffy like most of the guys.

My last real exercise is those DB laterals superset with Inverted Flyes. Three sets with 20 lb DBs is tiring, but I know I can do more. I've been slacking lately because I usually do other movements. Today I figure I'll splurge and muscle through 3 more sets at 25. Now I'm done. Except for the cardio. And another set of pull ups. I don't even stretch because I just have enough time to shower and change, and shop for groceries before the school bus comes.

I used the prescription estrace cream last night. It's got an unfortunate texture, similar to those creams prescribed for yeast infections. It doesn't really absorb very well, and makes me feel sticky, like I've accidentally smeared toothpaste on myself. At least it's not minty fresh. The Smoky Mountain cream has a nicer texture and disappears into your skin without any stickiness. The applicator for the estrace cream needs to be redesigned as well: it's difficult to clean because of a small groove around the edge of the plunger tube. The texture doesn't help either. It was probably designed by a man.

Tuesday Workout
(4.38 miles cardio; 20,936 lbs moved)

Warm Up
Calorie :   67 CAL
Distance: 1.85 mile
Speed :    7.41 mph
Duration : 00:15:03
209.07
Set 1 : 112x26
50
Set 1 : 50 Lap/Rep
168
Set 1 : 30x20
Set 2 : 80x12
Set 3 : 100x12
Set 4 : 120x12
Set 5 : 90x25
114.67
Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 50x12
Set 3 : 70x12
Set 4 : 80x13
Set 5 : 50x26
35
Set 1 : 20x12
Set 2 : 20x12
Set 3 : 20x12
Set 4 : 25x12
Set 5 : 25x12
Set 6 : 25x12 SuperSet with
41.67
Set 1 : 20x20
Set 2 : 20x20
Set 3 : 20x20
Set 4 : 25x20
Set 5 : 25x20
Set 6 : 25x20
Prgm#2
Calorie :   285 CAL
Distance: 2.53 mile
Duration : 00:30:00
212.8
Set 1 : 112x27

Summer's Gonna Be Unbearable

It was already near 60F when I woke up this morning. Already too freakin' hot! Dogs were panting after a few quick romps through the par...