I'm really tired when the alarm goes off. Stayed up much too late reading Hiaasen's Basket Case. So far, this is my favorite of all his fictional works, and I think it's because he writes this one in First Person. I have a soft spot for First Person. It's the perspective I'm most comfortable with in my own writing. I also like being able to read the protagonist's train of thought, whether expressed or not. It has a humorous tough-guy feel, vaguely like an old Jack Webb internal monologue, only more honest.
All this means is that I'm absolutely dreading the Norwegian 4 x 4 cardio on my program today. Again, I find my cardio rates very amusing. The lowest my pulse reaches is 85, and that's after the 2nd peak of high intensity pedaling. My toes go numb on my right foot. The bottom outer palm of my right hand has been frequently sore. (I suspect it's from the track ball on my PC. Unlike Macs, the Window OS means the track ball needs left and right clicks, so the track ball is right hand controlled. On a Mac, I can set all my buttons the same and use the track ball with either hand, relieving usage pressures on my hands and wrists.)
Today's also a Pull Day, which means Back & Biceps. Or maybe it just means Backside. The back of my left thigh is sore. Weird. I see the Smith but opt to finish core first. Mistake. Now there's a young woman doing Squats in the Smith. She must be super setting because she's also doing something with a solid state BB, but I'm not sure what exactly. She looks athletic. I ask her if she's done with the Smith because sometimes people space and leave their gear when they've actually moved on to another exercise. She tells me "I just got one more set!" I tell her okay and move off to the T-bar row. Because I hate it when people sit around waiting (No pressure!) so I don't do it either.
After I finish a basic warm-up set on the T-bar, she rushes over to tell me the Smith is free. Great! But when I get there, a big fat youngster is putting a plate on the Smith. I frown. The girl tells the dude that she's promised this to me. So sorry! We both apologize. She tells him that I've been waiting a long time. I haven't so I find that a tad embarrassing. He doesn't have any problem giving up the machine. I tell him I'll let him know when I'm done. It's the least I can do, right? Everyone is all smiles. I'm not used to people being nice to me. I try damn hard to reciprocate.
There are people who are not nice. Like Yankee Fan. I can't remember exactly what the slight was, but he was a total dick when I first started at the gym. Then he was gone for a few years, and has just recently started working out in the mornings. Other regulars greet him like long lost family. I noticed him trying not to stare last week. Yep, I'm still here. And he's probably still a douche.
I've been cutting my sets to get to the heavier weights faster. No point in wearing myself out when I've already done that with cardio beforehand! I'm wearing my squishy Rykas. Not ideal for RDLs but I wanted to give the NBs some time off. I realize now that sneakers need more than a day to recover otherwise their footbeds seem to break down. The Rykas feel okay, but my sock is driving me crazy. They're old socks, splitting at the seams that hold the binding together. I think my toe is caught on a hole as well. Ugh. After 3 sets at 120 lbs, I briefly consider doing Smith RG BB Rows. Then I remember the fat kid. He's at the breaker bench with no one to spot him. I'm not spotting him.
M and Lazy Pedals are at another bench. M sees the giant bald guy on the 3rd breaker bench and hurries over to offer a spot, even though Mr Clean hasn't asked for one. Mr Clean is relatively new, but has been fairly consistent in the free weight area for the past few weeks. I think I come to his waist or something when he walks by.
I tell the kid the Smith is all his, then move on to the Lat Pull Downs. I know this is going to suck because I'm actually really tired now. Looking at my notes from two weeks ago, I see that I've been able to pull 115 lbs at least for one set. I'll just have to work up to it without completely wearing myself out. Pyramids kind of suck like that. To compensate for the fatigue, I allow myself to pull fewer reps so that I can get more than one set. It works! It might even be entertaining since I can't actually pull the bar down until I hook my feet under the seat bar. 115 is just a tad over body weight.
I see a few more regulars like Tasmanian Devil, Nice Goatee (vs. Loud Goatee), Maroon, and eventually The Mayor. Of course, by the time The Mayor shows up, everyone is done and out the door. He has to work out solo, and quietly. I'm sure it's killing him to keep his mouth shut. I've decided that Nice Goatee is probably a nice guy. I've seen him interact with Hollywood and a few other regulars. I think he's trying to figure out how to interact with me, but I don't make that possible because I'm compulsive about not making eye contact with anyone. (It's pathological!) Loud Goatee comes more sporadically. I see him also trying not to stare. I call him Loud Goatee because he looks a lot like Nice Goatee, except once he virtually screamed Hi at me while he was leaving and I was chatting with the front desk. It startled me and I didn't say anything to him at all -- just looked at him like he was an alien. Maybe barbarian is a better term.
Seated One-Arm Cable Rows is just courting tendinitis at this point so I skip any further arm/back movements. The sore hamstring makes me look at the Lying Leg Curl machine. The starting weight of 10 lbs is deceptive, because it feels so light with two legs curling up, but gets progressively heavier with just the one leg letting the weight down. By the time I get to 20 lbs, my legs are starting to ache. Perfect time to do Walking Lunges. I almost fall on my face as I traverse the walk aisle along Machine City. On the return trip, two big old guys stop to catch up and block my way. Ugh. I walk around them, and I don't even think they noticed. One more set of pull ups. Those are really hard now. Well, that's a bit disappointing. But I'm warm enough to do a Mat Stretch!
I added two new songs to my cardio mix this week, just because I heard them on the radio over and over again. No, that's not why. It's because they're the only songs I actually turned up the volume on when they came on, each time they came on. It's Fall Out Boy (The Last of the Real Ones) and Imagine Dragons (Natural), of course.
Tomorrow, I hope to whack the machine. I forgot to check to see if at least one of them was working. Not sure what I'll do if they're both dead... I guess I'll mourn. My anxiety seems to paralyze me into inactivity. It's very frustrating. Part of the problem is having too many things to want to accomplish, becoming overwhelmed by the list and not achieving any satisfaction in finishing anything. Ugh. I think I'm in the middle of 3 or 4 different books, but only one is enjoyable. The others are more educational, and while I enjoy learning new skills, or honing old ones, I get discouraged when I don't live up to my own expectations. As I've said before, I don't handle rejection well. I'm not bored or distracted at the gym, probably because it is so much easier to do things, to be active, than it is to sit and read. I can accomplish a lot of physical chores, but the mental ones? Well, that takes a lot more focus than I seem to have. I know -- I should probably start meditating. It might help, if I don't fall asleep doing it.
Wednesday Backside Workout
Norwegian 4x4
5 min w/u (4 min on / 3 min off) x 4
5, 9, 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 30, 33
Calories 279
Miles 2.61
HR 140-200 (85-114)
Cage Stretch (left ham)
HGPU 20
Push Ups 50
Crunches 30/30
Bicycles 50
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
T-bar Row (waiting for Smith)
Bar x 25
Smith RDLs
Bar x 15
80 x 12
120 x 12 x 3
Lat Pull Downs (neutral)
85 lbs x 12
100 x 10
115 x 6, 6, 8
2:1 Leg Curls
10lbs x 12 each leg
15 x 12
20 x 12
Walking Lunges
26 + 24 = 50 total
HGPU 20
Mat Stretch
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