With the Best Intentions

Post Workout

As much as I wanted to go to the gym, I was not looking forward to babysitting him. Because I don't really get to work up much of a sweat if I'm coaching. Instead, I let him sleep in again. And I worked on finishing my prints for the next photography show. This show will be harder, because it's very inconsistent. Even though all the images were taken with my old cell, an Apple iPhone5, the quality varies and so do the solutions to make each image memorable. But I'm finally done, or at least satisfied with just under 30 images to matte and frame. As soon as I retrieve the Stilled Life show tomorrow. Because I need to cannibalize their frames and mattes!

I'm hoping to get to the gym in the morning after I drop my son off at camp, then have a go at the kickboxing machine before filling my car with boxes and garbage bags. My hubs is at JFK airport all holiday weekend and might not even get home until Tuesday morning. Ugh. So I've planned my son's holiday itinerary: Saturday we are meeting friends at a local AirSoft gaming arena for CQB (close quarter battles); Sunday we've invited different friends to join us down at the lake for a bonfire (if the thunderstorms hold off) and "fireworks." I even bought hot dogs and buns to roast. We already have marshmallows, chocolate bars and graham crackers...

Today I figure I'd hit two major compound movements: Flat bench and RDLs. At the Smith of course. Not working out for the past 3 days has really made me a slug. I feel slow and fat. I can't get the cross-trainer I like and I plod along, struggling with the machine I'm on. It shows in my mileage. Also, my left knee twinges in the back as if it's never quite recovered from the shingles inflammation. Ugh. There's another old guy in the stretch rack so no hammer grip pull ups until later. I do a quick set of push ups and a cursory stretch before jumping on the Smith. Before someone else gloms it and I'm stuck having to improvise my workout again.

I start with flat benching because, honestly, this is harder. I haven't done those shoulder warm ups in a long time, but I'm not worried. I have no intentions of pushing max weight. Instead, I finish with two high-rep sets just for the pump. I know that pushing heavier will inevitably cause my shoulder to complain, and so far it's been silent. I strip off all the weights and move the bench out of the way. The gym is crowded in the morning. Too crowded. By lunchtime, however the gym is nearly empty. I'm skeptical that I'll be able to pull all my sets for RDLs, but because I'm taking a few extra minutes of rest between sets, I'm actually able to do it. Yaaaay me!

I'm not even tempted to hit any other movements, but I need to get some crunches in after the 2nd cardio session. Maybe I'll even do a set of pull ups. The elliptical is fine. It's my right foot that's getting bothersome. Probably because of the bunion, my pointer toe (what is that? the 2nd metatarsal?) starts to hurt during the last 7 minutes. I'm sure if I had x-ray vision, I'd see one toe crossing the other as I pedal furiously. Double ugh. I'm not sure how to fix this. It's not like I don't have adequate room in my sneakers. It's a problem with ligaments and nerves not holding the big toe straight and true so it drifts toward the other toes. As I've said before, I'm fairly certain this all started after I had surgery to remove a benign tumor off a nerve in my ankle over 20 years ago. Funny how things catch up with you as you age. I may resort to trying (again) a silicone toe spacer to keep the big toe aligned properly, but I'll probably have to cut it down since they come One Size Fits All. And I'm definitely not All.

I get my stretch in at last, and a set of hammer grip pull ups. My left elbow gets very sore during the last 5 pull ups. Maybe I should cut back the reps? I go to the Mats and the old guy who likes to put his nasty sneakers all over the big mat while doing sits ups on an adjacent smaller mat is there. I take a position on the smaller mat on the other side. The mats are set up to form a sort of horse shoe. I finally do some crunches. It's been a long time. Too long. And the gym scale verifies this. I'm fearful of hitting 115 lbs, so I'm ridiculously relieved when the scale reads 112. Which is still too much! But not completely awful. There's still hope...

Thursday
5.82 miles
Big Lifts Day

30 min x-trainer
Calories 133
Miles 3.26
Average Heart Rate 140

Push Ups 50

Smith Flat Bench
Bar (30) x 15
80 x 12
100 x 13
120 x 12
90 x 25
80 x 25

Smith RDLs
Bar (30) x 15
80 x 12
100 x 12
120 x 12
140 x 12
150 x 12

30 min elliptical
Program 1
Calories 290
Miles 3.56
Average Heart Rate 142

HGPU 31
Crunches 3 x 50

Other Plans

Skipped gym yesterday as I'm deep in photo show hell... also had a glaucoma doc appt. The pressures are okay, but of course, doc wants the left eye lower. IOPs are right eye 12 and left eye 14, which is great for people who don't have cupped optic nerves, but all the specialists want pressures down to 10 or even 8... I have a new Visual Field exam scheduled for the end of August as now I have to do these twice a year because they are of two different varieties: a 10 and a 30, meaning the range of the field test. Most glaucoma hits the peripheral vision. Tests show the damage creeping closer to the center of my visual field. Ugh... but my last tests in February showed unexpected regression or stability. As in you're not suppose to regain your sight, but this test was a lot better than the past few years. Weird.

There is an informative web site that discusses visual field testing in-depth. Click here for the link. At some point I will have to take my son for glaucoma testing because this is an inheritable disease.

My son is still asleep. Camp yesterday tuckered him out. I had planned to take him to the gym but I need to get more photo work done, and I'm definitely dragging him to work out tomorrow. Today he can sleep in, and we plan to see... Captain Underpants. Hmmm. Not my first choice, but I read him the list of what's playing and he has no interest in the new Transformers movie, and he's outgrown the Cars franchise. But the trailer to Captain Underpants was downright silly, so....

Family Gym Time

My hubs wanted to go to the gym and I wanted my son to do something other than spend the day on the sofa playing video games. Of course, because my hubs has so little free time to work out, wasn't really interested in "babysitting" our son at the gym. Kids can come to the gym on weekends with their parents for free and without a doctor's note, but they have to be under constant parental supervision. So, if you bring your kid(s), they have to be doing what you're doing. I don't have a problem with this because I've had most of the week to do my own workout. This is a bonus workout. So all three of us head to the gym. As is usually the case on a sunny afternoon weekend, the gym is virtually deserted.

Console after the Intro

My son can fits just fine

Land of the Giants

My hubs goes off to the free weight section. My son and I decide to try the Espresso bikes for the first time. I need the desk staff to show me how to adjust things though, and I find that I just barely fit. They don't make these bikes for kids or kid-size people. My son fits just fine though. At the lowest seat level I can reach the pedals okay, but can't really grasp the handle bars except with the first two joints of my fingers. You need the handle bars to steer! If I lean forward, the upward tilt of the seat is uncomfortable. I guess I could always try standing but not as a newbie. There are several exciting courses to select from with a variety of themes. You can race the person on the other bike if you both choose the same course! You can select a course based on terrain or length (2 miles, 5 miles, etc). My son and I both choose a course that comes straight out of Land of the Giants (a favored TV show I watches as a child) as we pedal through a landscape dotted with giant farm objects, including rats and lurking cats. I can see my son far ahead and there are other "riders" who zoom past me. I have trouble keeping up, and sometimes I find myself off road. Luckily, there's no consequence for leaving the trail or running over another rider (which I do deliberately to see what would happen). Whew!

Successfully finished

My son works up a good sweat and tells me he's tired so I suggest we walk on the treadmills. He's happy to whip out his phone and earbud so he can watch youtube videos as he walks. After 10 minutes I've had enough of that and switch to pedaling on the cross-trainer behind him. 15 minutes of that and I go stretch out and do a set of wide hammer grip pull ups for good measure. My son and hubs are now both on the treadmills so I go shower. Both of them decide that mango protein smoothies are the way to end the work out day. If the gym had a lactose-free version I'd have one too. Later, we shoot BB-rifles in the yard and knock down little green army men off the garbage bin.

I'm done with the treadmill

Done with the cross-trainer too!

I Hope This is The Creatine

My hubs wants me to try his SuperBeets. He claims that it works well as a stim without all the jitteryness. He actually got up this morning and did some cardio in the garage before heading out to his office! I think he's finally gotten his sleep cycle fixed. Of course, I wake up to pee at 3:30 nearly every night. I don't stay awake, but I'm a light sleeper so when the trash truck came barreling down the road at 6:25 am, I was awake. I'm often awake before the alarm goes off. Then I just doze until I really have to get up, and get my son to the school bus stop. Today is the last day for that.

Monday he starts day camp so I'll have to drive him to be there by 9 am. It's only 20 minutes from the house. Yesterday, my son's late night habits caught up with him. After kung fu, he became snippy and sullen. Then he crashed and fell asleep for 4 hours. When he woke, it was 11:30 pm and he wondered what he had missed besides dinner. Still, he managed to fall asleep again and I had to rouse him twice for school, not that the last day does anything but allow kids to see their friends one last time before summer vacation.

I increased the creatine today to 1/2 tsp which amounts to 2.5mg mixed in a cup of water. It still tastes like bad Tang, but it's not the worst thing I've ever drank. I don't feel any different, except that later today, I find that I weigh more, and the clothes I tried on (to make sure they fit) and put in my gym bag, feel tight after my workout. I doubt if it's due to being "pumped". I'm hoping it's a side effect of the creatine because today the scale read 111.4 lbs, which is a bit alarming.

The other side effect is that for two days in a row, I've had the uncomfortable urge to go pee while I'm in the middle of my workout. That's not usually the case, especially since I'm careful to empty my bladder before I even drive to the gym. The urge passes, but it's very annoying. I'm still really hungry after my workout too. Another annoyance.

Today I had intended to do a Big Lift Day, but people kept getting in my way. It's really crowded today, especially with people I don't normally see at this time. I do 15 minutes on the cross-trainer and wish I'd done 30 because a tall, skinny old guy is hanging off the Stretch Cage. He's taking a really long time. I do knee-ins, and then push ups at the mat. He's still stretching. Ugh. The Smith is occupied. But the Step Mill is open. I do 15 minutes there, just as the old guy heads off to the locker room. Grrrr. I'm not the type to leap off a machine I've just started.

Finally, at least the Smith is free now. I do Flat Benching. Then Inclined Benching. My legs are stiff and I'm not sure if it's from kickboxing the machine, or from the lat Pull Day. Either way, I'm not in the mood for RDLs. There are 3 or 4 high school boys at the DB racks, and one of them is has the adjustable inclined bench flat. Which means I stay at the Smith just to use the inclined bench there for the Reverse Inclined Flyes.

Every time I see someone doing skull crushers, I want to tell them to do Rip Skulls. But I don't. Because I don't have any urge to make my gym session any longer than it already is. I get on the elliptical for 20 minutes, and then, finally get my set of pull ups done.

At the supermarket I see Frosty Paws and other frozen pet treats next to the dietetic ice cream. I know there's a refrigerator in the pet food aisle, but perhaps that's solely for the raw food brands? I buy two boxes of frozen fruit bars and some ice cream because my son insists on dessert after supper. Normally this isn't an issue, but now with the creatine, perhaps I need to modify my diet? Ugh...

Friday
3.61 miles
Really crowded

15 min x-trainer
Calories 72
Miles 1.88
Should've done more cardio to kill time

Knee-Ins 50
Push Ups 60

StepMill
15 min
Total floors 50
Calories 120

Smith Flat Bench
(No DB warmup)
Bar (30lbs) x 15
80 x 12
100 x 12
120 x 12
90 x 25

Smith Inclined Bench
Bar (30lbs) x 15
50 x 15
70 x 12
80 x 12

DB Laterals s/s Rev Incl Flyes
20/25lbs x 12/15reps x 3 sets

Rip Skulls
40lbs x 12reps x 3

20 min elliptical
Program 3
Calories 197
Miles 1.73
Average Heart Rate 135

HGPU 31

I Already Know I'm A Bull Dog

I'm like a dog worrying a bone when I've fixated on something. And I've been called bull headed, and bull dogged. Even been told I have bull dog legs once. After the Gym Owner told me that he thought the email for the Nexersys company was an automated system that he didn't want to deal with, I went home and contacted the company via FB. Because they've been fairly responsive when I message them that way. I get told to use the email system. Twice. So I compose a brief summary of all the problems with the two broken machines and hit Send.

A few hours later I get an email back from a different person at the company wanting to know more pertinent info, like the serial numbers and date of purchase of the machines. Sounds reasonable to me, except of course, these aren't my machines and I'm not responsible for the cost of replacement parts. So I print out the email and bring it to the gym with me. Gym Owner is training the new Client, so his staff puts the printout in his office. He can ignore it, or follow through. I've done as much as I can to get these machines fixed.

Today I use the cross-trainer for 10 minutes to warm up, instead of the elliptical. I get warmer on the latter machine, but I wanted to get the arms moving. I still used the 3 and 5 lb baby bells to do basic shoulder exercises before a quick hamstring stretch. The machines are still broken. I'm not at the gym in the evenings when it's really busy so I don't know if anyone other than me is whacking the disabled left machine. The right machine still has the Out of Service sign hanging off it.

I took a baby dose of creatine this morning, with my high protein yogurt and vitamins. My hubs and I were discussing supplements. The melatonin worked well for him last night. He keeps meaning to get up early and work out before heading to the office, but I suspect he's still catching up on his sleep. I'm perfectly fine with a strong cup of coffee for my morning stim. He's tried C4 and it makes him jittery and crazy. So that went in the trash. I'm too sensitive to even think about stims like that. Coffee is just fine with me, and it can't be black either. Because massive heart burn and stomach pain.

We have two containers of creatine. One is flavorless, and contains additional "vitamins". He says the orange-flavored creatine is gross. I tell him I'll try that one since it doesn't have any additional "vitamins" in it. I'm curious about it after reading an article in T-Nation that says you don't have to pre-load anymore. As little as 1-2 mg per day is enough to see a 10-15% increase in muscle size and strength. I'm willing to test this out. This morning I mix 1/4 tsp in a cup of plain water, which amounts to 1.25 mg of creatine. It is gross-tasting, but at least it's only two gulps. I chase it down with my 22 gm protein yogurt laced with maple syrup and tart dried cherries.

The quick rise in temperature means I start sweating before my 5 rounds of Beginner is over. By the end of the 2nd session of Intermediate is done, I'm drenched. I feel pretty good though. Except that I'm starving! Aaargh! I had switched back from the fruity Chobani greek yogurt to the Cabot greek style yogurt because the latter has nearly twice as much protein, which I reckon would keep me full longer. It's worked, until now. (I do love the lemon meringue flavored Oikos though... it's like eating dessert.) I knock out the pull ups and then I'm done. Yaaay me!

The gym scale reads 110.6 lbs. Hmmm. Meanwhile a girl is venting on her cell in the locker room about an old man who positioned himself behind her in the mat area, and then yelled at her for cracking her gum. She yelled back at him that she paid just as much as he did to use this facility, and who told him to position himself right behind her anyway? This is what headphones are for: blocking out gum-cracking girls, and nasty old men.

I get home and the driveway is luscious with the scent of honeysuckles. There are really big bees now, more than twice the size of the little guys humming in the hedges. Everything is good.

Thursday

10 min x-trainer
Calories 47
Miles 1.21

T, Y & I Raises
3lbs x 15
5lbs x 15

Nexersys
5r Beginner
5r Intermediate
5r Intermediate

HGPU 31

Happy Summer Solstice

Today is the longest day of the year and I'm tired enough to believe it. Maybe it's the insect bite atop my head, but I've been feeling unusually tired lately. Of course, it could also be just a general lack of sleep, and a lot of anxiety. My hubs has been flopping between days and nights due to his work schedule, and it's wreaking havoc with his sleep cycle. Yesterday he finally drank a bottle of Dream Water to help him stay asleep. It contains melatonin, GABA and 5-HTP (something that looks and perhaps acts like tryptophan and/or serotonin) but no indication as to how much of each ingredient. Click here for a review of this product.

I'm generally skeptical of sleep aids because they're mostly antihistamines, or worse. We've all heard the stories of people sleep-driving, or sleep-eating on Ambien or Lunesta. But Dream Water worked like a charm for my hubs who's been wrestling with interrupted sleep for some weeks now. Today I bought a 5mg bottle of melatonin from the grocery. It's cheap enough, but I'm uncertain about the dosing because the range is anywhere from 0.3 to 5mg. Or more, depending on the symptoms. And there can be side effects, but everything has side effects... and sleep deprivation is dangerous, and leads to unsound decisions. Soooo...

I only need to stop by the pediatrician's office this morning to pick up a note that allows me to sign my son up for a gym membership. I want to bring him with me on the days he doesn't have camp instead of him home playing video games. I had a note but disagreed with the prohibition on any weight training whatsoever until he's 13. That's 6 months away but I sporadically have him weight train with me at the gym anyway. I would never push him to lift heavy because that can damage the growth plates capping the long bones in a child's body. But he should be comfortable with a basic bench press. We got up to a 40 lb bar last time we did this. That was some months ago. Mostly we do body weigth exercises, but he hasn't figured out how to achieve pull ups or chin ups yet. I can bring my son with me on weekends, and I don't need a note for that, but during the week, during what might be prime hours, I need to buy him a membership. Otherwise he's home, or sitting in the child care room with a bunch of toddlers.

The only reason I need a letter is because the gym's policy only allows a child younger than 13 to have a membership if he/she has a doctor's note. Mostly this is for kids with weight issues. My son is very dense. He doesn't look like he outweighs me by 20 lbs, but he's always been this way. He's dangerously close to being labeled overweight on the BMI scale just based on numbers, but there's no double chin, no muffin top, no pudginess. Even as a toddler, he was very hard to lift up. Because he was always in the top percentile for weight.

I'm tired so I've resigned myself to doing a body weight and cardio workout. My favorite cross-trainer is unavailable so I'm pedaling a more difficult version. It shows in the mileage, and lack thereof. I don't like the slightly higher resistance as it makes my joints achy. My right foot starts to go numb with only 3 minutes remaining. Pull ups feel okay though. Push ups feel okay. Crunches are mostly okay. They're much easier with my knees bent and feet flat on the floor than with my legs sticking straight up in the air, with calves crossed. I do both.

I do another set of push ups after planks. They're not hard, and I've done more. I can't get on my favorite elliptical either. The one next to it used to be good but something is out of alignment and it clunks with each cycle. I use the one closest to the Step Mill. My legs are stiff from yesterday's RDLs. I can't raise my SPMs past 220, and mostly I coast at 210 during the peaks. By minute 18, I've decided to go in reverse and pedal backwards. This will help loosen my hamstrings. I've never done Intervals while pedaling backwards before. It keeps me interested. A last set of wide grip pull ups and then a quick Mat stretch. I sense a lot of staring from the HS boys. Whatever... at least the scale looks better today. 110.0 lbs even.

Wednesday
6.17 miles
Cardio & Body Weight Day

30 + 2 min x-trainer
(Crappy machine)
Calories 135
Miles 3.5

HGPU 31
Knee-Ins 50
Push Ups 50
Crunches 3 x 50
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Push Ups 50

30 min elliptical
Intervals
Min 18 pedal backwards
Calories 306
Miles 2.67

WHGPU 21

Tired is a State of Mind

My errands took me from one part of town to far across, just because I don't want to toss perfectly good, nearly brand new items into the trash which will invariably wind up in a landfill, or on a trash barge despoiling the ocean. Instead, I re-homed craft items with the current Cub Scout master, and got my son's old tae kwon do school to take back his barely-used sparring equipment. By the time I get to the gym, it's nearly noon, but it's a beautiful sunny day.

Yesterday, the sky turned ominously dark with the rolling peal of thunder, and in some places, hail. Rain pelted the windows all night, and there were sporadic power outtages. The gym is mostly empty, but soon fills up with big kids just ambling out of bed. After my 15 minute warm up, I do a quick set of pull ups and knee-ins, and claim the Smith machine. While I'm doing RDLs, I notice some of the guys staring in my general direction. I'm thinking they're checking to see if the Smith is free, but I don't let that hurry me at all. I'm tired and didn't sleep well last night in the rainy heat. Plus, when I'm anxious I tend to stay up reading until I can barely keep my eyes open. Doesn't help at all that 3 books I ordered from Amazon but forgot I ordered, actually showed up yesterday. Billy Idol's Dancing With Myself is one. Holly Black's The Darkest Part of the Forest, and The Bane Chronicles are two more. I hope this HB book is better than The Coldest Girl in Coldtown. Not a fan.

The Smith RDLs feel heavy today, and that's discouraging. However, I'm stubborn, so I keep at it, robotically adding weights after each set. In spite of the A/C, the air feels moist and clings to me as I position myself. And even though the little voice in the back of my mind tells me that I'm too tired to pull the heavy set, I still do. The voice tells me that I can get away with doing 6-8 reps, but I don't. Because I can actually pull a full set. I don't want to do the three sets of RG BB Rows either, but I do. And I certainly don't want to sit at the Cable Station with a bunch of teenagers who can't control the descent of their weights. Ugh. The guys who were staring earlier aren't in any hurry to get to the Smith either. My left hand gives out sooner than my right. No surprises there.

I retreat to the elliptical for 20 minutes of pedaling. It's monotonous in spite of the program, but I enjoy it anyway. I see Towel Guy at the assisted pull up machine. He's not making any gains. Yesterday I wandered into my gym's FB page and discovered that Gym Owner's client is actually the 3rd place winner nationally for the Gold's Gym 12-week Transformation Competition. Gym Owner tells me that there were 20,000 entries. Of course, I haven't seen Client since his win. Gym Owner has a new client, a tall young woman. I doubt she'll be making as miraculous a transformation.

Stretching after cardio is usually a good idea, and since the muscles are warm, there's little danger of self-injury. I do a set of wide grip pull ups. They still hurt my left elbow at the last few reps. Then I remember I haven't done any push ups today so I knock out 50 before a quickie stretch on the Mat. I remember when push ups were hard. But that was a really long time ago. I hope I never get so out of shape that they become hard again. I see a woman doing knee-push ups. I don't get the point to them even though I understand that many people, especially women, don't have much upper body strength. I seriously doubt doing knee-push ups builds up arm and chest strength, but I guess you have to start somewhere. It's a good thing I'm not a personal trainer -- I just don't have the patience.

The gym scale tells me 110.8 lbs and that's not great, but not so horrible. I'm not decrepit yet.

Tuesday Pull Day
3.56 miles

15 min x-trainer
Calories 66
Miles 1.80
Average Heart Rate 145

HGPU 31
Knee-Ins 50

Smith RDLs
Bar (30lbs) x 12
80 x 12
100 x 12
120 x 12
140 x 12
150 x 12

Smith RG BB Rows
80 x 25 reps
100 x 25
120 x 25

Seated 1-Arm Cable Rows
30lbs x 12
45 x 12
60 x 8L, 12R

20 min elliptical
Program 2
Calories 201
Miles 1.76

WHGPU 21
Push Ups 50

Moody Weather

Honeysuckle Bee

The weather is unsettled and shifts between hot rain with thunder and lightning, and blistering sun. I think I see steam rising up off the asphalt when the clouds part. My hubs came home on Friday and we celebrated on Saturday by going to a German restaurant. I'm not much of a beer fan, but the place had a decent German pinot noir. My hubs is all into "bier", although he can't quite remember the difference between ales and pilsners. He's more of an IPA guy. I prefer fruitier things, like hard cider and sangria with frozen strawberries.

Because my hubs is into all the newly discovered Polish kielbasas (there are two Polish delis in our town now, and a Polish restaurant/bar), he grilled two of the three types of sausages he bought. He also tried to cook Polish dumplings and pirogies out on our lawn to avoid heating up the kitchen, but the camp stove lacks subtle heat control and he wound up scorching most of the other foods. I like cooking pirogies in a bit of butter in a big fry pan. There's a lot of salt in the food and today I look like I've put on weight. Hopefully it's just water weight. I'm not happy with how plump and smooth my arms look. Yuck. Later the gym scale confirms my fears by telling me 112.0 lbs. Ugh.

I save my old Asics for Pull Days when I need better foot stability. Today I wear my Rykas which are squishier. I've decided to change the lacing pattern for these shoes because using the very last eyelet puts too much pressure on the front of my ankle. Plus the tongue of the right foot keeps sliding right. I pull out the laces and re-loop them through the tongue a second time and tie them from there. The shoes seem to fit much better now. I wish I'd thought of doing this sooner. Ah, the mysteries and science to athletic shoe lacing!

Today's a Push Day so I keep warm up for a mere 15 minutes, do some pull ups and push ups. I should've skipped the push ups because I lose my chance to claim the Smith. First a big guy doing shoulder presses and inclined presses there. Then a smaller Latin guy also doing inclined presses there. Then some kid... Ugh. I resign myself to using the Olympic breaker bench that seems a tad shorter than the other two. My feet mostly sit flat, but not comfortably. Benching just the bar seems easy. I don't warm up my shoulder with any bands or baby bells either. I add a some light plates and do a few sets. Lately, the meaty part of my palms at the base of my thumbs have been sensitive to weighted pressure. I have tiny hands and the only comfortable way to use an Olympic bar is with the infamous thumbless grip, aka suicide grip. I only venture as heavy as 95 lbs. I'm worried that either my hands or wrists will give out if I go heavier. It's not an issue on the Smith, but there's no hope of me getting to use it today.

Privet in bloom

Japanese honeysuckles

From the flat bench, I move onto the breaker inclined bench. I'm just barely tall enough to grab the bar from the lower rest. Knowing that using the Olympic benches is way harder than the Smith, I'm perfectly happy to do less. Less weight, less sets. There are a lot of guys and a few girls today. HS is done. This is the last week of school for my son's middle school as well. I keep my gear on the Inclined bench and use it for my DB shoulder supersets. Those feel a bit heavy today, probably because benching was a lot more whole body than I'm normally used to. Rip Skulls are good though. And I enjoy my time on the elliptical afterwards. 20 minutes is way more manageable than 30. I debate doing wide grip pull ups, because the left elbow has been sore. Screw it, let's do it. It doesn't actually feel bad today.

Milkweed

All this rain means my hedges are out of control. They're also in bloom with tiny white flowers and faint perfume. Not as heady and luscious as the Japanese honeysuckles that are entwined in the driveway, but still, the entire length of hedges along the roadway hum happily with bees. It makes me smile. I'm also happy to see that the milkweeds that escaped the town mower have started to bud. There'll be flowers soon, and that means butterflies. Mostly fritillary, but hopefully some monarchs too.

Monday
3.56 miles

15 min x-trainer
Calories 71
Miles 1.88

HGPU 31
Push Ups 50
Crunches 3 x 50
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60

Breaker Flat Bench
(Sore Palms)
Oly bar (45) x 15
65 x 12
85 x 12
95 x 12
75 x 25

Breaker Inclined Bench
Oly bar (45) x 15
65 x 13
75 x 12 x 3

DB Laterals s/s Rev Incl Flyes
20/25lbs x 12/15reps x 3

Rip Skulls
40lbs x 12reps x 3sets

20 min elliptical
Program 1
Calories 199
Miles 1.75
Average Heart Rate 135

WHGPU 20

Thurs and Fri

Do my feet look big?

Thursday morning I found a woolly bear caterpillar in my driveway, and I was completely surprised. Normally, I see these little guys in the Fall when they're looking for a place to hide and hibernate. Apparently June is the month that they go wild and forage, at least according to a knowledgeable site called Woolly Bear Caterpillar. Click here to see the web link. Other things in my driveway include wild Japanese honeysuckle in my privet hedges, spice bush and an errant Norway maple sapling. The invasive wild roses and Oriental bittersweet are flowering and a faint soapy perfume graces the air. It's actually nice. When it's not blisteringly hot, or raining. Today it's raining.

I went to the gym yesterday for Cardio Day. And the much neglected core. I thought Intervals were going to kill me. Again. And again, I survived. Maybe if I did them more often I'd be more relaxed about them, but I've been trying to cut my gym hours. Trying to wean myself off of this addiction. I'm also testing out a new purchase. Nothing fits my feet like my old Asics but sadly, even Asics doesn't make their shoes fit like they used to. The raspberry shoes are really starting to bother my bunion so I rarely wear them now. Between interior seams and the upper cage that's suppose to lend support, my foot is usually sore afterwards, and I'm too paranoid about aggravating my black flag birthmark to continue. On Cardio Day, I test out soft, cushiony New Balance trainers.

Top: NB size 7W
Bottom: Avias size 6.5W

Yes, I have a small rectangular birthmark on my foot, right under my bunion. It's black, like a mole and very sensitive. I know there are connections between moles and cancerous cells, so my thought is best not to provoke any angry reactions. Hence my decision to forgo the moleskin patch as well. Not that the moleskin isn't protective when doing Side Sweeps. The adhesive backing has caused a nasty rash, but only on my big toe. I use the same moleskin on my knuckles under white tape, cotton wraps and gloves and no rash. So today, no moleskin on the foot. And today I'm wearing my Avias with brand new Dr Scholl ActiveWear insoles. (I had coupons!) I had the gel insoles, but those are only comfortable from the arch back to the heel, leaving the ball of the foot and the toes un-cushioned. Walking puts weight on the heel strikes, but pedaling on the cross-trainer and elliptical puts more pressure on the ball of the foot and toes. Hence, numb toes. The new insoles are a tad uncomfortable because they also have arch support, and I'm flat footed. But I'm hoping my toes won't go numb now if I use them for Cardio Day. Like the new NB trainers I got from Kohls.

I went to Kohl's to buy a Father's Day gift for my hubs, having in mind a lobster-themed Hawaiian shirt that I saw in a flyer last month. Luckily they were still in stock. Unluckily, I only looked at the size on the hanger, not the shirt and when I got home, I realized that I had actually purchased a much bigger shirt . On the return trip, this time with son in tow, I decided to also browse their sneaker department because I prefer places I can actually try the damn things on. My son was content to hunt for the right size shoes for me as he certainly didn't want to try anything on, except the plain black lounge pants we're using replace his worn out kung fu pants.

No one carries size 6.5W. If I want a wide size, I have to go up to a 7. This is what happened to me at Olympia Sports and the Brooks sneakers. So I'm not too weirded out trying on size 7W trainers. I like the running shoes but the upper support cage chafes my bunion. The soft top trainers do not. The New Balance trainers are comfy, even if there's at least an inch of toe space up front. At least I don't think I look like I'm wearing goofy shoes. My actual foot size is a 5.5, but given the width issues, make that a 6. And lately, because of the bunion, a 6.5. Now I've crept up to a 7 due to availability. My son wonders why shoe companies think only people with big feet need wide shoes? I have to wonder as well. He has wide feet as well, but he's still growing.

Thursday Cardio Day
6.38 miles

30 min x-trainer and the toes do NOT go numb!

Hilighted is the fact the shoe has a soft top

Calories 140
Miles 3.70

HGPU 30
Knee-Ins 50
Push Ups 50
Crunches 3 x 50
Bird Dog 2 x 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s

T, Y & I Raises
3lbs x 15
5lbs x 15

Mid Band Pull 15
High Band Pull 15
I angled my hands differently and my right shoulder didn't hurt as much

30 min elliptical
Intervals
Calories 307
Miles 2.68
Average Heart Rate 143

WHGPU 24



Today, Friday, I decided to test myself on the Nexersys again. Doing it once a week seems reasonable. The machine with the broken arm is now officially Out Of Service. Bummer. I ask the Gym Owner if and when the machines will ever get fixed. He tells me that he's still waiting for the company to call him back. He doesn't want to email, he wants to speak to a rep to make sure he's ordering the correct parts. I tell him to email to get them to call him. Because this is pathetic.

Friday Whack the Machine Day

10 min x-trainer
Calories 39
Miles 1.23

Nexersys follow me
5r Beginner
5r Intermediate
5r Intermediate

HGPU 31

I warm up on the cross-trainer instead of the elliptical and skip doing the T, Y & I Raises to see if that will have any impact on how my shoulder feels. My shoulder feels fine throughout the workout. My right hand feels a bit off for the first half though, as if I'd pulled or strained a ligament from my hand through my wrist. But by the middle of the first Intermediate session, the discomfort is gone. The base of my thumbs, the meaty part of the palms, however, has been getting sore lately from all the pulling and pushing. I have tiny bony hands, and they're particularly sensitive to cold and pressure.

Still, I'm able to do a set of hammer grip pull ups afterwards, and that always makes me feel like a bad-ass. Especially when I see guys struggling in the assisted pull up machine. Not that I don't remember how hard it was at first for me. But oddly, it's not really a matter of strength. It's technique and body positioning. The scale is not my friend today and calls me out at 111.0 lbs, but I don't really feel big. Well, maybe my arms...

Short and Sweet

I get to the gym an hour earlier than usual because I don't have a lot of time today. My son will be home in just a few hours and I'd like to feed him lunch before we see Wonder Woman. It's $5 Tuesdays so I'm sure the theater will be packed with tots and seniors, the only people who are free on a week day afternoon. Besides the unemployed, like myself.

The gym is a lot more crowded in the morning, but I'm lucky and can jump right on the cross-trainer. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get on the Smith so I figure I'd at least get my cardio in. A fellow on the treadmill keeps looking over his shoulder, and I realize it's because he's waiting for the BB in the CF area. Theoretically there's two stations, but the free standing cable station makes the other station unusable, except with maybe very good friends. I'm glad I'm not waiting to use it too.

The cross-trainer is a better warm up than the elliptical for me, as it works both arms and legs. And I can wear a hoodie while on it. The bottom of the zipper hits my thighs when I'm on the elliptical, so I prefer to do that machine at the end of my workout, when I'm already warm and don't need to wear a hoodie. I see a few regulars, but I don't hear them, and that's a good thing. I do my pull ups and push ups afterwards, and the sweat is pouring down my face. The humidity is nearing sauna-conditions even though the A/C is on. The Smith is free so that makes me happy. I don't have time to do a full Pull routine today, but I figure if I can at least do some RDLs, I'm good.

I see creepy PJ Pants. He saunters up to the treadmill in gym shorts and that's probably the first time I haven't seen him in pajamas. He's still fat and creepy though. I see The Mayor, LoudMouth and Tall Pace conversing in a corner. Well, at least I can't actually hear any of them. Things are improving! The RDLs start off okay, but my lower back quickly feels a tiny bit sore. I don't have time to rest enough between sets and I keep an eye on the clock overhead. But I do what I consider a reasonable set and then I close up shop. All that's left is one more set of pull ups, but wide grip this time.

My son texts me that he's home. When I get back, I get the dishes and laundry going, and then make fried egg sandwiches with some leftover bacon from last night's "breakfast for dinner" (scrambled eggs, bacon and bagels) on the last two slices of oatmeal bread. The car registers 100F when we get back in to drive to the theater. Luckily, it cools down to 94 as we drive along. I'm glad I filled the tank and that the A/C works. But that just reminds me that I need to schedule a NYS auto inspection, and that the car's due for an oil change. Meanwhile, there's Wonder Woman.



We get there early enough to buy candy (Reeses Pieces) and bottled water. I'll say that I enjoyed watching the movie, but there was perhaps a tad too much talking for my son. Actually, I'll have to agree with him. I like action flicks. And I'm a little disappointed in Diana (Queen of the Amazons) Prince's naivety. However, I'm very happy with the action, i.e., fight scenes. Nice costuming as well. And Chris Pine definitely has wonderful screen presence. Personally, I'd like Wonder Woman to have a bit more muscle, but that's me. I'm sure that would've alienated a large portion of the audience. There are some odd casting choices, like the Ares God of War embodiment. And will the supporting villain character show up in a sequel, because she's not definitively dead?

We get to the theater and it looks like there's only 3 other couples, but eventually more and more people trickle in. Mostly seniors, and not all women either. There's a few teenage couples. HS is just about done this time of year. When the film is over, we're disappointed that there are no Easter Eggs as in Marvel Comic films, or even some Disney films. However, we are excited to see the next Despicable Me (3) sequel.



Tuesday

30 min x-trainer
Calories 143
Miles 3.84
Average Heart Rate 146

HGPU 30
Push Ups 55

Smith RDLs
Bar (30lbs) x 15
80 x 12
100 x 12
120 x 12
140 x 10
150 x 8
110 x 12

WHGPU 21

Hotter Than Texas

The last several days have been extremely hot, and although temps dip as the sun retreats, it's still roasting hot at peak hours. Last I checked, we were hotter in NY than my hubs was in Houston, Texas. That's not right. Especially for June. My son has final exams this week but at least some classrooms have air conditioning. But the school bus does not. He's regretting his decision to wear his plaid flannel cargo pants. Of course, it was a comfortable 63F this morning. Now it's 90. It's only 88 in Houston. Go figure.

I'm having trouble getting my body to do what I want. It might be because I warmed up on the elliptical instead of the cross-trainer. Or it might be because I've been eating poorly all weekend. The nice sunny day on Saturday meant that very people wanted to be indoors, so we had only a few visitors to my photo reception. I didn't put out a lot of food, but like the painter whose work graces the hallway leading to the room my show inhabits, I'm taking home a lot. She comes in with a friend and asks me questions about my work, so it wasn't a total loss. Two other sets of friends come by to visit as well.

I skip core but do push ups and shoulder warm ups. The face-level band work feels as if it's hurting and not really helping my shoulder. I might skip it next time, but keep everything else. Because there's discomfort radiating from my arm pit down the inside of my bicep as I bench, I opt to drop the last two reps from my heavy set. I don't even attempt 130 lbs. But I tack on an extra set of high reps. Those don't hurt my shoulder.

My shoulder occasionally twinges when I do the rest of my workout, but nothing that tells me to stop what I'm doing. The gym is really empty, except for a handful of teenage boys. Later, more young women come in. I see the tattoo girl. She's definitely not the Animé Hair Girl. Today she's wearing what looks like a bikini, with a string-side tank. It reminds me of a pillowcase costume. She has scrolling long black and blue tats that run down her arm, and down her leg as well. And a nose ring. I can't find an exact picture of the tank, but imagine the item with a straight edge neck, but the sides are open all the way to the bottom, where there is a string hem. She's doing deads in the squat rack, which is just as well, because no one else is using it. Later, when I get on the elliptical, she gets on the Step Mill.


It's so hot out that I wear shorts to the gym. I snap a few photos and muse at the fact that I indeed look taller sitting down than when I'm standing up. Blame those short calves! I have long thighs, just like I have big upper arms. I used to joke to myself that when I was being created, the Almighty shaped a starfish, with tapered arms and legs and tiny hands and feet. At least the Internet has provided me with ways to be thankful for my annoying skin condition. I see images and stories of people who have versions of icthyosis so much worse than mine. Still, I wonder if having normal skin would've made me a much more confident person. I also wonder if my anxiety is a learned or inherited disorder. Not that its cause will affect how I deal with it. But right after my reception, I had the most awful time relaxing. Perhaps it was all the sugar-free ice tea I drank, but my anxiety and subsequent dour mood was making me crazy. Having lots of chips around didn't help.

Artistic temperament is defined as a personality profile ascribed to writers, artists and composers and borders on mental illness. I feel as if I'm in the middle of some sort of episode. There's the emotional high of creating something truly nice, and then subsequent disappointment. There's a lot of questioning and self-doubt. Luckily, I have the ridiculous good fortune to have another show to distract me. But I'm having trouble generating enough enthusiasm to focus properly on what needs to be done. I tell myself that this is probably the last time I do any shows, because I'm uncertain about my vision, and there's so many other things I want to do, and things I need to do. Plus, it's a hard emotional investment. We artists are sensitive sorts...

Tomorrow my son will be at school for less than three hours. Because it's finals week. I plan to go to the gym and then head home to take my son to finally see Wonder Woman. Because I'd like something to cheer me up.

Monday

15 min elliptical
Manual
Calories 151
Miles 1.32
Average Heart Rate 125?

HGPU 30
Mid Band Pulls 15
High Band Pulls 15
Push Ups 50

T, Y & I Raises
3lbs x 15
5lbs x 15

Smith Flat Bench
Bar (30lbs) x 15
80 x 12
100 x 12
120 x 10
90 x 25
80 x 25

Smith Inclined Bench
Bar x 15
50 x 15
70 x 13
80 x 12

DB Laterals s/s Rev Flyers
20/25lbs x 12/15reps x 3sets

Rip Skulls
40lbs x 12reps x 3sets

20 min elliptical
Program 1
Miles 1.78
Calories 204
Average Heart Rate 140

WHGPU 20

Blissful Whacking

The heat kicks on this morning because it's 43°F outside. Never mind that temps will peak near 80 later. It's like living in the dessert. Except for all the humidity and bugs and flowering plants. Yep.

I'm determined to whack the machine today. My shoulder is still a bit iffy, but only when I'm sitting at an odd angle. It doesn't actually bother me much at the gym. Just to be safe, I do the T, Y and I baby bell raises as part of my warm up. I see Marine while I'm on the cross-trainer. Normally I use the elliptical, but today all four stations are occupied. Everyone wants to be in and out of the gym lickety split because it's Friday and it's gorgeously sunny outside. I see a few other regulars. The guys especially, have given up hovering near me. Except for Shaggy. Today he just doesn't know what to do with himself, and it's annoying.

I have a theory about guys, besides them being another species. They like to project ridiculous fantasy characteristics on real-life women because they don't actually see women, especially ethnic ones, as real people. There's not a lot of Asians where I live so I might be seen as an "exotic", never mind my family is 4 generations American, dating back to the Canadian Pacific railway. At least three guys at this gym have, at one time or another, mouthed the words, "I love you" to me. Seriously. I pretend I don't even see them because I think that's actually nicer and saves everyone embarrassment. I don't talk to them. Jeeze, I barely talk to the few women I'm friendly with. So now that I'm a real person (with a photo show), they can't indulge in their fantasies that I'm a too-shy-to-talk, just-off-the-boat, if-they-can-only-catch-my-eye girl.

As much as I'd like to be friends with a lot of guys, I'm always mistaken, and taken by surprise when they inevitably hug me, or want to kiss me. Ugh. Much better chatting with happily married parents of my son's friends. My hubs has told me that men always have sex on their minds, even when they're not thinking about it. My dad told me as much when I was a teenager, but of course, I didn't want to believe him. To paraphrase Rodney King, Can we just be friends?

The machines are even more broken this week. Not only does the Left machine not recognize any upper pad blows (jabs, cross, elbows, hooks), but the right lower pad now only intermittently senses a Front Sweep or Power Kick. Ugh. Still, at least I can see the monitor, whereas the Right machine still has the dangly broken Cross pad blocking the screen view. I do 5 rounds of Beginner, and two sets of 5 round Intermediates. The shoulder doesn't bother me at all until I'm done, unwrapped and doing a set of wide hammer grip pull ups. Well, at least I'm done.

Friday

10 min x-trainer
Calories 49
Miles 1.39

T, Y & I Raises
3lbs x 15
5lbs x 15

Nexersys Follow Me program
5r Beginner
5r Intermediate
5r Intermediate

WHGPU 20

The Mostly Cardio Workout

I dabbed my knuckles and elbows with dit da jow last night. My hands are a bit achy, and because my joints sometimes seem to catch, I'm concerned about losing mobility. Yesterday, as I was opening a bottle, the fingers to my left hand seemed to spasm with the digits almost locking criss-cross. That was scary and I immediately shook out my hand and flexed my fingers. I'm constantly flexing my fingers at the gym. My grandmother, who was shorter than me, had larger hands with knotty arthritic knuckles, ostensibly from years of sewing, knitting and other hand work. She was employed for a time in a factory making thick flannel children's pajamas. My mom had bony hands and fingers and she developed arthritis too, in spite of not doing anything at all with herself.

Because my right shoulder was particularly troublesome last night, I decide not to whack the machine today. Instead, I'll make it a Cardio Day. And then I'll have time to do some core work as well. And finally do those much neglected band pull exercises. The cross-trainer I like is vacant so I'm happy. Most of the gym is empty because it's actually fairly nice outside. As in, it's not raining. I forgot how long 30 minutes is because I've adapted so quickly to the shorter 15 minute warm up. Oh well...

The fat Indonesian man who always wears a lifting belt no matter what he's doing is in the Stretch Cage. I've never actually seen him there before. But he's not stretching. Instead he's sort of pulling on rubber tubing that have handles affixed to both ends. People like to drape the tubing over all sorts of equipment, and then walk away. This guy never actually lifts so I suspect he wears the belt to help his back support the overflowing gut. He's been at the gym for a few years but he never seems to be any thinner. Or any stronger. Maybe if he actually busted a sweat? But I guess that he at least walks on the treadmill is a big step for him.

I'm always worried that I won't be able to do as many hammer grip pull ups as the previous day, but then I do. I'm always so relieved when that happens! Before I leave the Stretch Cage, I pull out the green silicone band I got from physical therapy and wrap it around the center bar to do mid-level band pulls. Those feel okay. But when I raise the band to near face level, then my right shoulder starts to complain. And it's only my right shoulder, not my left. Once that's finally done, I retreat to the Mats to do push ups, crunches and planks. I hear The Mayor intermittently. He's actually across the gym giving instruction to a young man. Of course. And of course I can hear him.

There are a few young women here today. I know they're looking at me, but I can't read their expressions because I'm not looking directly at them. One girl has tattoos all the way down her left arm, and I wonder if that's Animé Hair Girl. Except she's taller and thinner and her brown hair is tied up in a bun. I feel like she wants to talk to me, but she doesn't and I've got my own agenda. After Animé Hair Girl's blue hair faded and lost it's luster, she got discouraged and stopped coming to the gym. But I remember she was amazingly strong, doing Alternating Seated Curls with 30 lb DBs.

I strip off my hoodie and drape it over a flat bench so I can do my T, Y and I raises with the tiny 3 lb and 5 lb DBs. The 5 lb ones are actually a lot harder than one would think. At physical therapy, they only use 1 lb DBs, and those felt silly. I'm dressed in a clingy tank and fairly comfortable sports bra that unfortunately does nothing for my figure. I don't care. It's comfortable. But the tank tucked into my sports pants makes me look really straight. I'm shooting for lean, but I'm not a lean person, so perhaps straight is the best I can hope for.

Yesterday I saw a girl on the Step Mill in a peculiarly unique stance. Some people can't bear to hold themselves upright while they step, or pedal. I see them drape themselves over the handles or the front monitor panel. This girl had her arms at right angles to the machine handles so that she literally looked like a spider straddling the upper bars. I'm not sure why you would do even do that. 

I try to talk myself out of doing Intervals. Then I try to talk myself out of doing 30 minutes of Intervals, mostly by giving myself an out: I can always just do 45 seconds or 30 seconds of All Out if I'm too tired to do the full 60. But I do the full 60 seconds of over 200 Strides Per Minute for each 4 minute section, followed by 60 seconds at 160-175, followed by 2 minutes at 120. Repeat until 30 minutes have passed. Well, it didn't kill me so that's good!

Of course, now new literature suggests that too much exercise, or too much intensity will also kill you faster than not doing exercise. Too much oppositional information. You need to move at least 30 minutes a day. Walking is good. Walking isn't good enough and you need to move 7.5 miles a day. Intense Intervals is good and cuts your exercise need down to 2 hours a week. Intense exercise is bad and will destroy your heart muscle. Lack of sleep destroys your memory and ability to recover. Too much sleep suggests you are in the beginning stages of dementia. Intermittent fasting prolongs your cells' longevity. Late night eating wrecks your metabolism. Eat lots of small meals to keep your blood sugar steady. Fasting increases insulin sensitivity. Makes me want to put my fingers in my ears and scream La La La...

I do a set of Wide Hammer Grip Pull Ups at the Stretch Cage and then attach my band to the bar to do another set of mid and high band pulls. The right shoulder is still not happy with the latter movement. A quick stretch on the Mat and I'm done. Tomorrow afternoon is my son's Boy Scout Troop Court of Honor at a nearby park. I'm thinking I might want to whack the machine in the morning after all... Because Saturday, my son and I will be at the library for my photo show reception. And I still don't know how much food and beverages to provide. Sigh.

Thursday
Cardio Day
6.59 total miles

30 min x-trainer
Calories 143
Miles 3.87
Average Heart Rate 118?

Knee-Ins 50
HGPU 30
Mid-Band Pulls 15
High-Band Pulls 15 Rt shoulder
Push Ups 50
Crunches 3 x 50
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s

T, Y & I Raises
3lbs x 15 reps
5lbs x 15 reps

Mid-Band Pulls 15
High-Band Pulls 15

30 min elliptical
Intervals
Calories 312
Miles 2.72
Average Heart Rate 143

WHGPU 20

In spite of being tired

I haven't been going to sleep as early as I should so no wonder I'm tired when the alarm sounds at 6:30. It takes me a few hours to get going, mostly because I like to enjoy my morning coffee while perusing the newspaper. Because it's finally NOT raining, I also decide to use the hedge trimmers to cut back the forsythias and assorted weedy growth attacking the side of the house before clearing the sink of dishes, and stuffing newly laundered sleeping bags back into their respective nylon sacks.

I'd like to stop by the grocery and pick up a few items but I probably won't have time since my Ob/Gyn annual is this afternoon. With that in mind, I do my 15 min cross-trainer warm up but skip the mat (i.e., core) work. Today's a Pull Day!

I've already started working on my next photo show, but I'm still anxious about this show's reception in a few days. Anxiety is one of the most insidious of all emotional ailments. I blame it as the underlying cause for all sorts of social ills, from drug and alcohol self-medication to general bad behavior. I keep mine at bay with exercise. Admittedly, it's hard to balance the needs of daily life with the need to move heavy weight and pedal distance. I've cut my cardio by a little less than half and I was worried about my body staging a revolt in the form of massive weight gain, or loss of endurance. True, it's only been a few weeks, but I'm relieved that the scale isn't jumping to new levels.

Today, I skip the mat and core work. It's not a good thing since I took yesterday off, but I honestly just don't want to spend the time doing it when I'd rather be at the Smith. I tell myself that I'll do it tomorrow because it'll either be a cardio day, or whack the machine day. As much as I enjoy striking the dummy that doesn't hit back, part of me is aware that reflexes decline as the body ages. And the only way to keep reflexes sharp is to use them. On some days, I not only move slower, but I seem to think slower.

This becomes excruciatingly obvious when I make the dog's breakfast. It involves scooping out a refrigerated cooked mix of ground turkey, sweet potatoes and rice into a bowl. I nuke it for 30 seconds to take the chill off. In the interim, I measure out to the 60 lbs marker on the measuring syringe of Metacam for the dog's achy joints. I should be able to get this done before the microwave beeps. On a nightly dose of gabapentin for shingles pain, I had trouble getting the cap unscrewed and the dose measured in time. I wasn't aware of being in a fog. I wasn't aware of anything different, except that it was taking me longer to do something. As if time had sped up. Or I had slowed down. That's really disconcerting.

The Smith is set up with no bench and the bar on the ground, as if someone anticipated me. Weird. There are a few regulars about but no one I'm friendly with. The Mayor has been oddly quiet ever since I handed out my postcard invitations to a few select women at the gym. Last week the gym let me hang a small flyer announcing my show on the bulletin board in each locker room. I hope I have a few guests on Saturday, but I honestly don't know how much refreshment to provide. There are two types of reactions to my invitation: either they're happy and want to see my work, or they say nothing and act as if I've insulted them. I just can't figure people out, so I don't bother. But I do notice. Even if I don't say anything aloud.

My lower back feels a tad sore as I hit the higher weights on the RDLs. I stop at 8 reps, but I'm not satisfied. I can pull more. Just maybe not all at once. I do another set and I'm pleased to be able to pull another 8 reps. Okay. One more time. I'm pretty happy about this even though I'm on the verge of having it take my breath away. But I recover quickly. Then 3 sets for RG BB Rows. The Seated One-Arm Cable Rows are the worst, especially since my left forearm is tired from the hammer grip pull ups I did earlier. I'm also unable to keep my grip on the handle. But the right hand is fine. Ugh. Maybe it all that hedge trimming this morning?

One of the trainers has a client at the cable station. She's got the woman seated on a giant exercise ball while doing rope pulls at chest level. Then, she rotates and does cable cross-overs, followed by single leg lifts. It's a bit odd, but I'm not a trainer so what do I know? They're still at the cable station when I go for 20 minutes on the elliptical. I still have weird twinges in my left hamstring and inside hip which might be residual issues from the shingles. I feel good when I'm done, as in I feel limber and flexible so I'm not likely to hurt myself stretching at this point. I get to 20 with the wide grip pull ups and realize that I could probably do more. But I can also feel my left forearm starting to complain. Sometimes I just tell myself Oh Whatever!

I get to the Mats to do a quick stretch and the trainer and her client are there. The client is a big woman who has injured her leg or foot. A few months ago she used a cane. I've seen her at my son's kung fu school, but I'm not sure if she takes classes there, or just knows someone who does. I feel a little odd doing my routine because the client is so limited, and I don't want to be a show-off. On the other hand, this is the routine I normally do regardless of who's on the mat. Oh well... just got to focus. And I have just enough time to shower and change, and scarf down a protein bar before arriving at the doc's office.

Wednesday
Pull Day
3.69 miles 
25,570 lbs moved I decided to calculate just out of curiosity assuming I'm 110 lbs

15 min x-trainer
Calories 72
Miles 1.94

HGPU 30 (x110 lbs) = 3300
Knee-Ins 50

Smith RDLs (9330 lbs)
Bar (30lbs) x 15 (450)
80 x 12 (960)
100 x 12 (1200)
120 x 12 (1440)
140 x 12 (1680)
150 x 8 x 3 (3600)

Smith RG BB Rows (7500)
80lbs x 25reps (2000)
100 x 25 (2500)
120 x 25 (3000)

Seated 1-Arm Cable Rows (3240)
30lbs x 12reps per arm (360)
60 x 8 left forearm (480)x2= 960
60 x 6,2 left grip, 8 right(480) 960
60 x 5,2,1 left grip, 8 right(480) 960

20 min elliptical
Program 2
Miles 1.75
Calories 200

WHGPU 20 (x110 = 2200)

Amusing Distractions

Taking the day off because I have too much stuff to sort through... back at the gym tomorrow. In the meanwhile, I've been amused by a youtube video my son's friend's dad turned me on to. It's a spoof of the TV show Supernatural. I've seen every episode. This is a totally awesome parody and I've watched it nearly a dozen times...



To help those of you who are not Supernatural fans, I've also included two other videos, one is a helpful side-by-side comparison and the other is the actual Taylor Swift music video that this parody is loosely based on.



I hope you'll agree that the Hillywood production is far more entertaining. Oh, and I almost forgot that some scenes of Dean in the black Impala are of course, from a youtube video of him singing Eye of the Tiger, which I've also included in today's post. Because it's fun.

Weary and Wonky

I hate being so tired or distracted that I mess up my lift. Got to the gym really late because my son's middle school had all the kids not taking the 8th grade science final, go to the bus stop at 9:30 this morning. No actual schedule as to when the bus is going to arrive. It obviously isn't going to arrive at 9:30 if every child not at school at 7:30 is at the bus stop. The bus finally arrives at 9:54 am. He's done with school at 1:58. I don't understand how anyone teaches anything in 20 minutes of class time.

I go to the bank and discover that my husband has mis-written the check so that the numerical amount and the legal amount (the written out amount) don't match. They tell me that by law, they must honor the legal amount, which is $400 less than the actual numerical amount. Ugh. My hubs is away for two weeks, which means he misses my photography show reception and then some. Let's just say he's not in my good graces at the moment.

I get to the gym and decide to squeeze in as much of a Push Day as possible. Everything is fine until I forget to add plates to my bench. So I'm psyched to push 120 lbs, but it's only 100 lbs. I'm stunned at how easily the bar goes up until I realize my mistake. Ugh! When I finally push 120 lbs, it's a lot harder than it should be. The shoulder has been rough all morning even though I don't think I stressed it at all during the weekend. But I could be wrong.

The achy shoulder cuts Smith Inclined Benching short. I manage to muscle through the DB laterals super set without too much angst. I skip the Rip Skulls because they can be hard on the shoulder as well. I'd rather spend 20 minutes on the elliptical, and then wide pull ups.

I need to start working on my July photo show now, and it's hard to concentrate on the day to day things that need to be done... 

Monday
3.7 miles Push Day

15 min x-trainer
Calories 72
Miles 1.96

HGPU 30 -- Rt shldr achy
Knee-Ins 50
Push Ups 50
Crunches 3 x 50
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s

T, Y & I raised
15 x 3lbs, 5lbs

Smith Flat Bench
Bar (30) x 15
80 x 13
100 x 12 x 2 Ugh!
120 x 8
90 x 25

Smith Inclined Press
Bar x 15
50 x 12
70 x 12
60 x 12

DB Laterals s/s Rev Incl Flyes
20/25lbs x 12/15reps x 2 sets
20/25 x 12/20reps

20 min elliptical
Program 1
Calories 198
Miles 1.74

WHGPU 20