Loving What You Hate

I purposely got to the gym later in the morning so I could avoid the crowds. Today, I got to use my favorite cross-trainer. And even though my right foot still goes numb during the last 2-3 minutes, I'm okay with it. My legs and butt are a bit sore though, especially the quads directly above my knees. I've cut back a lot on my cardio so this surprises me. You'd think that less exercise means less soreness. (I even stretched yesterday!) I still have mild vertigo, and a bum right shoulder. The body doesn't seem able to rid itself of these minor disturbances. Instead, it's just incorporating these nuisances into what has become "normal". I guess that's what "aging" is all about? We all age differently, but a lot of it is in our minds. 

My upper back is a tad sore today. It's been two days since I did a Pull Workout but something's different. I'm not usually sore! I've saved today for Cardio. I still hate doing it, but since I've resigned myself to being bad at it (with the hyper-extending knees, loose ankles, shin splints and flat feet) I'm actually better at it. And for it. My blood pressure is lower, and my weight is relatively stable. I see a few regulars like WTC finishing up their workouts, but mostly I'm interested in doing some quick core, and then back on the elliptical so I can be out of here.

My tail bone is much happier now that I've relinquished knee-ins and sit ups, and anything else that causes friction burns. Because I have my hands under my butt when I do scissors, there's no problem rubbing the skin off my back side. Whew! I keep the alternating bicycle movement and crunches, but since I'm wearing shorts, I'm not in the mood to skin my knees doing Bird Dog Planks, or even Side Planks. There's only a few people here and I'm enjoying that. However, halfway through my elliptical session, I have to turn up my iPod to drown out the whining din coming from the right of me. I can't see anyone, but I'm pretty damn sure it's The Mayor chatting up someone on a recumbent bike (I honestly don't know how people can consider that exercise). Ugh. Eventually, he leaves the cardio platform to chat down in the free weight area. (Honestly, I think he'd die if he couldn't spend half his workout talking.)

I'm so drenched I feel like I've just crawled out of the pool. I feel weirdly clean, like everything bad has been purged from my system just by sweating and breathing hard. It's totally awesome! I wipe  sweat running down my face with my hoodie, but I don't need to blow my nose. Weird. Normally I have to blow the sweat out from inside my nasal passages as well. I feel so good that I can actually match my earlier rep count for hammer grip pull ups. That hasn't happened in a really long time! I feel good and I'd like it to last just a little bit longer. So I do most of my Mat Stretch. It's a way to keep the endorphins flowing, and the music pumping.

I'd like to film my Mat Stretch just to check my forms, but I already feel as if some people "hate me" so the last thing I want to do is be obvious about filming selfies. I guess that's the one of the disadvantages to not having a gym buddy. Oh well...

Tomorrow I'll whack the machine. Maybe I'll give the "repaired" machine another go for a few rounds. It's another form of HIT cardio. I also like to think that it helps sharpen reflexive coordination, and strength. Impact movements are suppose to encourage the body to restore calcium to the bones. Maybe this'll keep me from breaking a hip, or an arm. Regardless, it's fun and that's all that matters. The gym scale tells me an unexpected 107.8 lbs. Super weird. I've only sucked down half my water bottle though. I'm sure it'll say something different tomorrow...

Thursday Cardio Day
7.24 miles

35 xtrainer
Calories 163
Miles 4.29
Average Heart Rate 150

HGPU 31
Push Ups 50
Scissors 50
Bicycle 50
Crunches 50

35 elliptical
Program 3
Calories 333
Miles 2.95
Average Heart Rate 142

HGPU 31