When Your Shoulder Wakes You Up

It sounds like the beginning of a joke in need of a catchy punch-line. Something along the lines of "you might be a red neck if..." But when your shoulder wakes you up to complain, it's a good probability that those pull ups you did earlier weren't a good idea after all. Probably. It's not the worst it's ever hurt, but it's been a few days since it actually woke me up. The rest of my body seems to be conspiring against me as well.

My jaw is out of alignment which gives me a headache just under the temple. At first I think it's the pilocarpine because that also gives me a headache, but those are usually right over the eyes. Maybe I've been grinding my teeth? It's that kind of headache. Finally I resort to pressing one hand against the opposing temple and the other against my jaw to reset the joint. Yes, I have TMJ, but my ligaments are flexible enough for me to be able to fix this by myself. Most of the time. There was the one time my jaw got stuck in the open position, and it hurt like hell to pop the joint and be able to close my mouth. It's why I don't eat uncut raw apples or carrots. You have to know your limitations!

I feel slightly dizzy and out of sorts, but that's usually temporary. I've been playing with the timing of my vitamins. Because the Optic Nerve formula dosage is 4 capsules a day with food, I try to take at least two at breakfast or lunch. Granted, lunch is a protein shake. But lately I've been too hungry to leave the house without eating, and I don't want to take the time to actually prepare food. So, I pour out a half cup of plain kefir and wash down two Optic Nerve pills, and a B-12. I feel better taking B-12, even when I'm also taking a Super B-complex. The latter just doesn't have enough B-12 for my needs and I definitely feel the difference! Call me old, but we lose the ability to absorb our vitamins over time, so mega-doses aren't necessarily wasteful.

The Mayor behind me in red

Maybe it's the vitamins but I've been reading without the drugstore 1x readers lately. Type appears darker, and easier to view. I scored 20/20 on the eye test on Monday. Still ironic that I have perfect uncorrected vision, just very little of it according to all the glaucoma tests. I'm betting on nerve regeneration because docs and scientists have been proven wrong before.

I don't have the mileage I did yesterday, but I do manage over 6 miles so I'm good with that. I feel a twang of guilt when I skip the pull ups, but if I keep aggravating the shoulder, it's never going to heal. However, I do drop down and knock out push ups today. I get to 80 without any issues. Whew! I was seriously worried about becoming decrepit because it happens in a heartbeat with people my age. I don't know why. My hubs remarked to me that he was jealous of my apparent genetic ability to retain muscle mass even when I don't work out regularly. He says he just turns to fluff. I don't point out that he's drinking his carbs and that's why he's got so much fluff. On Saturday I took my weight and body fat measurements and was happy with the tiny changes: 108.4 lbs and 15.4% BF. So I'm less concerned with the gym scale these days but I have to be careful of getting complacent. It's awfully easy to creep the scale back up!

The Smith is occupied so I do a warm up set of RDLs on the MaxRack, which I hate. I start to load some light plates on the bar when I realize that now the Smith is empty. Yaaay me! Smith RDLs don't bother my shoulder at all. I'm a little more leery of the Smith RG BB Rows, but they don't hurt either. However, I do skip the One-Arm Seated Cable Rows today. I can always hear the Mayor before I see him. Today is no different. Ugh. I've been using the A8s, with the U8s in my gear bag as back up. So far so good this week. After the elliptical, I stretch some more and again feel a pang of guilt for now doing pull ups. My upper back is sore, probably from all of yesterday's reps. Not sure what I'll do tomorrow. Maybe it's just another cardio day...

Wednesday
6.19 miles

30 x-trainer
Calories 139
Miles 3.65
Average Speed 7.29
Average Pace 8:13

Knee-Ins 50
Push Ups 80
Crunches 3 x 60
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s

MaxRack RDL
Bar (55 lbs) x 12

Smith RDL
12 x 80, 100, 120, 130

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

30 elliptical
Program 2
Calories 286
Miles 2.54