It's Tough Being A Gym Rat's Kid

My son and I tend to be night owls, which according to science, is bad for one's longevity and health. Of course, some of these tendencies are heritable conditions. My parents were night owls too. Of course, they didn't live long into old age so maybe there's something to this early riser thing? They didn't die from heart attacks though. So, I'm not sure what to make of all the hoopla. Our area was hit with thunderstorms and torrential rains, and the temps have dropped slightly, but the humidity persists. Thank goodness for air conditioning!

I get up and find that the dog couldn't wait for me to take him out this morning. My hubs, who has been working from home this week, had to clean up the mess. The dog still wants to go for his walk with me, because I indulge his desire to sniff all the places he thinks the cats are hiding. He also needs me to fix his breakfast, which includes a pulverized Proin® tablet and a drizzle of Metacam® on the roll of honey turkey I drape over the ground turkey, hearts & gizzards, sweet potatoes and rice stew that I've cooked for him. I make one big batch for the week, and dole out a portion every morning. He gets a can of low-fat (1.4 – 1.2%) dog food (Weruva or Science Diet) in the evening. And bread in between. I don't think he's malnourished, but come evening, he acts as if we're starving him. I don't think it's his pancreatitis. I think it's because he's an old dog, and old dogs love food. When he was a puppy, he wasn't all that interested in eating. I had to hand-feed him. Of course, he wasn't all that interested in chasing balls or playing fetch either. What he loved was running and being chased. By my son.

My son and I get to the gym and it's already past noon. Because we plan to end our session with those dreaded lunges, we start with just quick walking on the treadmill. Followed by the stairs. Then pull ups. Today my son gets 7 and he's quite proud, but hoping to get 8 tomorrow. I don't tell him that tomorrow's Saturday and I'm not planning a gym session until Monday. We skip push ups and core. He's not very happy about being here, but at least he hasn't outright refused. What he's more unhappy about is my hubs plan to go hiking tomorrow. The last thing my son wants to do is go hiking in steamy weather, especially since Boy Scout Camp is a week away, and all they'll do is go hiking. He's exaggerating, but I have no idea how hot Rhode Island will be.

Today is a Pull Day, and my son complains that he's still tired from yesterday. Only Lat Pull Downs, Seated Cable Rows, and then those Lunges... I encourage him to try doing the next heavier weight if he gets 12 reps with ease. We have to back down on the Cable Rows. His arms are tired. I tell him it's just lunges across the length of the classroom and back. We count so that we have an idea for next time. His stride is much longer than mine and he's done before I'm halfway across the room. He's relieved that all we're doing is stretches because he's sooo done.

Afterwards, we do hip stretches. The cardio got me warmed up, but I haven't done anything else so my eye doc should be happy. I'm conflicted about my appointment on Tuesday though, since it's also $5 Tuesday at the movies and I'd love to see the new Ant-Man and Wasp movie. I think my son would probably enjoy it as well. The gym scale reads 110 lbs even. Great! That's what my home scale read this morning. Of course, it also told me that my body fat is creeping up (16.2%). Ugh. Not unexpected, really. It could be worse. But it can always be better. My eye still feels as if there's sand under my upper eyelid. It's the same discomfort I got when I became allergic to my other glaucoma eye drops. I can't even imagine having this discomfort in both eyes simultaneously, so I'm really glad I put off having the right eye done. At some point though, I'll have to have something done. Ugh.



As we go to leave, I see another woman and her son in Machine City. They're both tall and thin, and she's clearly trying to instruct him. I smile to myself. Whew! I'm not the only mom here with her boy. I see some guys staring at me while we're on the Step Mill, but I'm not sure if it's because we're Asian (not a big population here), or what. The regulars know better than to stare outright. My son and I really need to get to the gym earlier in the day though. The later in the day, the more kids show up. Unaccompanied teens who have just rolled out of bed and meet their friends here. Oh well...

Friday

30 treadmill
Incline 5%
Speed 3
Calories 191
Miles 1.49
Average Heart Rate 108 (64%) / 132 (79%)

15 StepMill
Speed 3
Calories 88
Total steps 562
Floors 35
Average Heart Rate 125 (75%)

Max Pull Ups 7
Max Lat Pull Downs
70lbs x 12
85 x 4 (wide grip not comfortable), 12, 12
Max Seated Cable Rows
50 x 12
60 x 10
50 x 12

Walking Lunges
Me 32
Max 24

Stretch