The Day IS a Wee Bit Longer!

Because my son boards the school bus at 7:13, the sun's barely in the sky even if it's vaguely light out. Today the sky was a bit brighter! It's the last day of school for him this year, so it's basically a no-learning day where the school's get Federal money but don't actually teach anything. Pizza, holiday candy and a movie are what's on the agenda. Jeeze...

My hubs is off from work today and Monday so I tell him to come to the gym with me. He gets a work-related call just as he's about to start, so I get to watch him stare at his phone for 20 minutes while I'm on the cross-trainer. Then, because we have different workouts, I lose sight of him until the very end of my workout where I tell him that I'm ready to stop at any time. Of course, today is the first time I've seen two different guys use the kickboxing machine. My hubs wants me to show him how it works, so we use the left machine, the one that works okay as long as you're not actually logging into your profile. Well, at least he's gotten a basic idea on how it works even if he's not quite clear on how the labels correlates to a specific blow.

I do only 30 minutes of cardio today, but maintain my core warm up routine of pull ups, push ups, crunches and planks. The Smith is free so I do RDLs, followed by RG BB Rows. I've taken to keeping my gloves on even when I use the Versa Gripps because my callouses are getting out of control. I periodically try to file them down, but they're at the point where I'm picking at the peeling discolored edges. I don't want them to rip off and bleed like I've heard happen to other lifters. I wear gloves most of the time, but this is probably the worst my callouses have ever been, probably because pull ups. Yep, pull ups are ruining my hands. Even with gloves!

My skin is extremely dry and sensitive, and has always been prone to over-reacting to physical trauma. I scar easily, so callouses shouldn't really be a surprise. Short of applying salicylic acid (it comes in stick form now and looks like an unpleasant lip balm) directly to my hands, I'm not sure what else to do. My hands are so small that I have a hard time getting the file at the correct angle to smooth down the rough edges. Constantly slathering my hands and fingers in vaseline or Bag Balm works as long as I remember to do so. Once I forget, well, it's like I never even started.

There are a few regulars, and later, a lot more younger guys. They seem to cluster around the cable system where I'm finishing up Seated One-Arm Cable Rows. At least, until I pull out my earbuds and chat with my hubs. He's also doing a Pull Day but his routine calls for Lat Pull Downs, DB Rows and an assortment of curls. He asks me about dead lifts but not only am I uncomfortable giving advice or instruction about it, the only Olympic bars free for such movements are on the other side of the gym, in the CF area. You can't actually tell if the equipment is in use until you wander over there. It's kind of a pain unless it's something you're dead set on doing.

Still, I feel pretty good about my workout, even if I only did two sets of pull ups and skipped the last cardio session. The gym scale is obviously not broken, as it read 111.4 today. No doubt all the sodium in the baked corned beef I made last night for supper caught up with me. I did soak it to remove most of the salt, slathered it in dijon mustard, brown sugar and honey mustard, and sealed it in foil to bake in a 350F oven for 2.5 hours. It came out great! But I could still taste the saltiness in the meat. I'm planning to make pot roast for Christmas dinner. I've never made one before, and I hope it turns out well since these hunks of beef cost a lot more money that one would expect! If not, oh well, lesson learned... and we picked up a pork shoulder just in case. You can never go wrong with kalua pork!

I've been on an adult beverage ginger kick. Red's Apple Ale came out with a ginger flavor that was great! But I never saw it again. The Angry Orchard and StrongBow versions are okay, but I like one's that taste more like ginger beer. Stewart's makes a nice non-alcoholic one with a bite. My hubs brings home a brand I've never heard of before. He went to the local beer distributor and asked about the Red's. It's probably a limited edition so I'll really never see it again! But this Crabbies is quite excellent, with a sharp bite and just a bit of alcohol. I'll probably never see it again. We did try a limited edition Leinenkugel Cranberry Ginger shandy, which walks a fine line between being almost too sweet and mildly pleasant. Or as my hubs says, "It's a beer for people who don't really like beer." Uh, yeah, that'd be me. Maybe I should just stick to my Red's Apple Ale?

Friday Workout

30 min x-trainer
Calories 143
Miles 3.90
Average Speed 7.79
Average Pace 7:42

HGPU 31

Knee-Ins 50
Push Ups 100
Crunches 3 x 50
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

Smith RDLs
Bar x 15
12 x 80, 100, 120, 130

Smith RG BB Rows
22 x 80, 100, 120, 130

HGPU 31

Seated Cable OneArm Row
45 lbs x 12 x 3