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