A True Gym Rat is Adaptable

There's a heat and air quality warning for today, as well as a threat of thunderstorms this evening. I tell my son to stay out of the sun if possible at camp, unless he's in the pool. He's been applying his own sunscreen before leaving the house, and always wears a rash guard or a T-shirt. For some reason, he prefers long sleeve Ts. As do most of his friends. (Must be a tween thing?) Finally, some people have come to their senses in the various state legislatures. This year, I had a heated argument with my son's summer camp nurse because she insisted that each child required a note from their doctor to apply sunscreen at camp. In reality, the laws had been amended this year so that kids can apply their own sunscreen with parent permission. No doctor note required. Below is an excerpt from the town camp parent handbook. My son goes to a different camp, but the same laws apply.

from the town camp parent handbook

What really infuriated me was that my son came home sunburned several years ago because no one had applied sunscreen at a time when not only was sunscreen available in large pump jugs all over the camp, but only parental permission was needed (and was given). To my knowledge, no camp personnel actually applies sunscreen. Each child must figure this out themselves and apply sunscreen. I don't need a doctor's permission to apply sunscreen to my child. Why does the camp need my son to see a doctor to apply sunscreen? Finally, the camp nurse relented and "graciously permitted" my son to attend with missing paperwork. Excuse me?

Since the town is repaving a portion of the road that leads to camp, I take an alternate route back, just to get to the gym. I'm two car lengths behind a maroon SUV that insists on tailgating a small white subcompact. The white car can't seem to stay on the road, wandering into the oncoming lane, then over correcting and driving on the shoulder. (Our county is known for the longevity of its residents, but unfortunately, senior driving has become painfully common.) What I can't understand is why the maroon SUV insists on being a half-car length from an obviously incompetent driver? Should the white car stop suddenly, a rear-end collision becomes inevitable. Once the white car turns off to another road, I see the maroon SUV race up to the shopping plaza where I'm also headed. What, is she late for a hair appointment? This is almost as good as watching the old guy who, while adjusting his rear view mirror while driving on a straight part of the road, also turned his steering wheel and just about drove off the road. Yep, happens all the time around here.

I'm planning to do a Pull Day, but I'm flexible. I can reroute my routine if I need. After a 15 minute warm up on a really difficult cross-trainer (like trudging through peanut butter fudge), I do a quick cage stretch and a few pull ups. And some knee-ins and push ups. There's a woman on the Smith finishing up squats. But before I get there, another girl steps into the Smith. She's also going to do squats. I ask her how many sets she's got and she can't tell me. I tell her that's okay, I just wanted to know if I should wait or come back later. She offers to let me work in, and I decline, telling her that I tend to do a lot of sets. (I'm not a people person, and I hate sharing. There. I've said it.)

Looks like I'll be doing more cardio instead. I see that the cross-trainer I like is available. Actually, they're all available at this point. So 30 more minutes of cardio. And another quick stretch, and more pull ups. I look down the gym. The Smith is empty! Yaaay! I had seen The Mayor arrive earlier and was worried that he'd be super-setting between three or four stations. Instead, he's chatting with someone on the treadmill. That figures. That he's chatting. Not that he's doing cardio.

There's a couple of guys I've never seen before, working out at various stations surrounding the Smith. They remind me of that TV show Vikings. Not that they are tatted with odd hair. No, they have close cut beards, short sides and longer top hair. Still, they remind me of Vikings. I can't get 12 reps on my last heavy set of RDLs, so I just do more sets. RG BB Rows are a natural follow-up. I don't feel like doing cardio on the elliptical and it's been ages since I used the Step Mill. I wonder if I'm going to be sore tomorrow. I haven't actually been sore in a long time. A little stiff, but nothing that actually qualifies as DOMS. When I'm finally done, I can't resist a last set of pull ups. My left forearm is a tad sore. Well, nothing that whacking the machine tomorrow won't fix. Kidding.

I'm a bit upset that my skin is changing. It seems drier than ever and if I forget to exfoliate, I don't recognize my thighs or shins because they look so alien, with a meshwork of small raised plates of recalcitrant skin that resemble a topographic map of taro fields and rice paddies. I'm also developing tiny pin prick spots. Not those liver-colored age spots, but tiny black spots. Micro-moles? They're not raised like a typical mole though. I have one on my thumb. And the top of my ear. And today I notice a few tiny grains of finely ground black pepper on my hand. A tiny bump erupted just under my brow (I felt it before I could see it), and seems to be slowly growing into a skin tag. Now I can see it. Ugh.

Old Asian people get spotty. Well, I guess old "any kind of people" get spotty, and lumpy. And I'm having a hard time losing the few extra pounds I put on last weekend. (Gym scale says 111.2 lbs today.) It isn't normally this difficult. I may have to do something differently. The body is adaptable, and occasionally requires a "shock to the system." Yes, that's a reference to one of my favorite Billy Idol songs. For those of you who don't know it, here it is:


Thursday 
5.69 miles cardio

15 min x-trainer + 5 cool down (1)
Calories 77
Miles 1.54
Average Heart Rate 128

HGPU 26
Knee-Ins 50
Push Ups 50

30 min x-trainer (0) + 5 cool down
Miles 4.15
Calories 160
Average Heart Rate 138

HGPU 31

Smith RDLs
Bar (30lbs) x 15
80 x 12
100 x 12
120 x 12
140 x 12
150 x 8 x 3

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

15 min Step Mill
Cal 101
Floors 41
Steps 671

HGPU 26