Stress-Relief

I had a quick workout today to relieve my anxiety. Well, quick for me. I skipped the weights since mornings are crowded and I'm coming directly from dropping my son off at camp. Oddly, the cross-trainers are mostly free and I manage to get on the one I favor, the only machine that has the monitor built into the console instead of perched over it, and the only machine that allows you drop the resistance to zero. It's easier on my knees and ankles. My foot still gets a bit tingly during the last 5 minutes, but overall, my feet don't go numb.

Spider Grandpa is on the stretch cage so I skip that and go directly to knee-ins, push ups and crunches. After planks, I do one more set of push ups. The cage is free so I do a set of pull ups too. But I'm a bit winded so I only get 26 reps. I have to take off my hoodie to use the elliptical because I don't like the zipper bottom hitting me in the thighs as I pedal. After that, another set of pull ups, and this time I get my full 31 reps. Then a quick stretch before showering. Creepy PJ Pants, Frankenstein and The Mayor are all here this morning. Luckily there are a ton of other people here as well...

The gym scale reads 112.0 lbs but I was expecting worse since it's been 4 days of drinking and eating junk like hot dogs. Doesn't help that my hair is drenched either... meanwhile, my bluetooth headphones are acting up today and refuse to connect with my iPod. It pairs with my phone so I know it's not totally busted. I don't really have time for this so I shove them back into my gym bag and use the back up: my old iPod and wired asymmetrical Sony hanger earphones. Once I get home, I have to hard reboot everything, and eventually, everything works again... Sigh.

Over the holiday weekend, I tried the gel toe spacer. It's comfortable as long as I'm not wearing shoes and walking around. What?! With shoes on, the top of the spacer imposes unexpected pressure on the top of my other toes, and that's even more painful than having my big toe cross over my pointer toe. I'm wondering if cutting the top off will resolve that issue, and still allow the spacer to sit in place. The package came with two, so it's worth the experiment. I can use the other one when I'm wearing sandals around the house, although I don't think my toes cross when I'm just padding about...

What's a bit disconcerting is that the big toe also seems to roll outward instead of sitting flat. I can see that the toe nail faces 20° outward instead of laying face up. Ugh. Meanwhile, the little bone that sticks out on the outside of your foot midway (aka, the tuberosity of the 5th metatarsal) is starting to get sore. But only on my left foot. The "good" foot. Double ugh.

Bugs have discovered my existence and I've been bitten in spite of wearing long sleeves and spraying my clothes liberally with picaridin, and eventually, DEET. I even got bit on the palm of my hand as I was filming my son lighting up sparklers in our driveway yesterday. Ugh. It doesn't help that my skin seems even drier than ever and liberal doses of the hydrating and scale-dissolving lactic acid creams leave me smelling like old milk. Plus, I think biting insects are attracted to lactic acid. Ugh again. The stronger creams (most commonly used for softening tough heel skin) contain urea. But at least they don't smell like piss. Or at least I don't think they do.

I still have half my work to finish framing, but at least I have time for a few workouts this week. And I just ordered the invitation post cards through a vendor I've never used before. I could get them delivered by Friday. It's a bit cheaper if I get them by Monday. As long as I can get some out before the actual reception date, I'm good. Once this show is up, and eventually over, I can concentrate of finding legit work... Sigh.

Wednesday
6.4 total miles

30 min x-trainer
Calories 142
Miles 3.84
Average Heart Rate 158

Knee-Ins 50
Push Ups 50
Crunches 3 x 50
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Push Ups 50
HGPU 26

30 min elliptical
Program 1
Miles 2.56
Calories 290
Average Heart Rate 148

HGPU 31