Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Joints Awry

My shoulders and elbows are stiff and achy this morning, and that's unusual for me. I'm not sure if it's the persistently rainy weather that makes me feel as if I'm suddenly living in the Olympia National Rainforest, if it's just age, or perhaps something more insidious. Maybe I haven't fully recovered from the dopamine-depletion? I felt okay yesterday, but today's a different story. Knowing that whacking the machine aggravates my sciatica makes me feel okay about cutting my warm up cardio to just 20 minutes. Maybe ten minutes less is actually making me feel worse? I'm not sure. But my foot doesn't go numb either. Tomorrow I'm going to try out the Brooks, and go for a full 30 minutes. Tomorrow is going to be a cardio day. Or at least that's what I say today.

Whacking the Nexersys has made my right shoulder a little tender, and my forearm feels a bit off. Not quite funny-bone off, but I know that the repeated impacts do stress that elbow more than my weaker left arm. Damn, I've got to stop punching so hard. I've got a bruise on my first knuckle from where the moleskin didn't quite cover. Good thing I'm buying more Dit Da Jow from my son's kung fu school tomorrow. That stuff works miracles on bruises. My grandmother used to brew up a bottle of it and keep it on a shelf, to be dispensed when one of her grandkids invariably came home with scrapes, sprains and other injuries.

Push ups are hard. I feel weak. I felt weak doing pull ups and only made it to 25. I had coffee and yogurt this morning so what the heck is going on? Probably not enough sleep, for one thing. And lately I've been ravenous when I leave the gym. The Quest bars just aren't cutting it either. I'm still hungry after I eat one. I feel the need for real food. Boy do I miss being able to suck down a 24 gm protein-laced, lactose-free Ensure. I keep seeing coupons for their "new" Enlive Ensure product with 20 gms of protein, but damn if I can find it in any stores around here.

I do sets of push ups and crunches. I save planks for another day when the shoulder is feeling better. No point in risking injury for core work. I still try to do RG BB Rows in the MaxRack, but it still feels like shrugs. I switch to Stiff-Legged Deads. This is exhausting. I see Chatty Guy and a vaguely familiar figure... it's Venus, her face hidden under a pink baseball cap. I haven't seen her since last summer. She's still gorgeous of course, but she spends more time chatting than working out.

I save secondary movements for Friday's workout, and I skip Seated Cable Rows because they stress my elbows and forearms too much. I grab another set of pull ups and add one more rep. Then the elliptical for 30 minutes. Then another set of pull ups, and I force myself to do as many I can. At rep 30 I drop into a full extension, and pull myself up one more time. 31. Yaaay! Time for a nice stretch on the Mat. I feel more energized now. Good grief, it does take me a long time to warm up! This is crazy. Tomorrow I'm going to break in the Brooks running shoes. It's suppose to rain for the rest of the week, clear through Mother's Day. Maybe I should do some gardening?

Wednesday Workout
(4.78 miles; 20,229 lbs moved)


Warm Up
Calorie :   95 CAL
Distance: 2.28 mile
Speed :    8.5 mph
Duration : 00:20:13
205.33
Set 1 : 112x25
50
Set 1 : 50 Lap/Rep
60
Set 1 : 60 Lap/Rep
50
Set 1 : 50 Lap/Rep
60
Set 1 : 60 Lap/Rep
50
Set 1 : 50 Lap/Rep
50
Set 1 : 50 Lap/Rep
50
Set 1 : 50 Lap/Rep
158.33
Set 1 : 55x25
Set 2 : 75x20
Set 3 : 95x20
189
Set 1 : 105x15
Set 2 : 125x12
Set 3 : 135x12
Set 4 : 105x15
209.07
Set 1 : 112x26
Prgm#3
Calorie :   2801 CAL
Distance: 2.5 mile
Duration : 00:30:10
227.73
Set 1 : 112x31

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