Winter Solstice Friday

It started raining last night and will continue to do so until the wee hours tonight. Meanwhile, there's a Flood Watch warning in effect. Temps are ridiculously warm, peaking at 62 F this afternoon. I refill the bird feeder anyway. I also have to make a bag lunch (pressed turkey & cheese sandwich, fig cookies and juice bag) for my son to take to school since his class will miss cafeteria time today. Today is a trip to the movies.

I have a love-hate relationship with my old electric sandwich press. I love that it has a non-stick surface and improves ordinary sandwich fare with heat and pressure. I hate the scallop-shell pattern that makes it difficult to wipe the surface clean. It's also not an immersible appliance. I've tried scrubbing the outside of the press, but aerosolized grease seems immune to my efforts. Eventually, it will just become too disgusting to handle.

It's the Winter Solstice so perhaps the weather is appropriately dreary. At least I'm not cold once I'm at the gym. Being tired and spacey means I forget to set my time for 20 minutes on the elliptical and I wind up doing 30 plus the 5 minute cool down. I feel better now. At least I remember to do pull ups between all my cardio sets. I even manage to do core although Snow Bird takes up an awful lot of space for one skinny old man. He keeps offering people tiny balls of candy wrapped in wax paper. I find them on the floor where they might've fallen out of his pockets. Ugh.

Watching my heart rate on the elliptical is still amusing. Watching other people is also amusing. There's one older fellow who has decided to make his own gym clothes by taking the sleeves off of button down work shirts and pairing them with loose jeans. I see some of the regulars. Lazy Pedals is missing. Nice Goatee seems to be on his cell a lot, or staring at it because he's waiting for a call back. It feels like he's been stood up. I'm seeing his dark side now. Too much melodrama! Later I see Hollywood breathlessly chatting with him, and I wonder if they're more than just gym friends.

There are other people on the Expresso Bikes, blithely chatting as they pedal. I'm the only one chasing dragons and coins. This week I fare much better than last week, scoring higher in less time. Probably because I knew where I was going instead of wasting valuable time dithering about. A few weeks ago, the gym participated in an Expresso Bike challenge and everyone was pedaling for mileage. I'm glad that's over. Gold's Gym has posters everywhere trying to recruit members to partake in next year's Transformation Challenge. There's a big poster of K next to the locker room. K, the fellow who had the heart attack right after winning the challenge, and $6K. The posters try to wow you with $100,000 in prizes, but the fine print breaks it all down to substantially less.

After dancing on the Step Mill (where I have a great view of the rest of the gym), I do my last set of pull ups. My left hamstring is a tiny bit sore. I'm assuming that's because it's the weaker leg. That's also my cue to do Walking Lunges. The only issue I'm having is people getting in my way. I actually have to wave Snow Bird aside when he stops right in front of me with a giant exercise ball in his arms. Ugh. He knows damn well what I'm doing. (Other people do walking lunges and farmer's walks down this side aisle as well.)

Again, I end my workout with 2:1 Lying Leg Curls, but this time I start with 15 lbs and do two sets at 20. It's one way to get stronger, right? I'm tempted to attempt another set of pull ups, but 60 is probably enough for these tiny elbows. Maybe next week I'll go for 80 total. I need to have goals to shoot for, but I'm only competitive with myself.

When I get home, I realize that there's a pond in the middle of the road where the storm drain is clogged. Ugh. Shoveling doesn't really get me anywhere, but a pitch fork seems to move enough debris to clear the blockage. Now I'm really tired. I need a nap! No gym on Christmas Day, but I might be able to convince my hubs to come with me on Christmas Eve, even if just for a cardio day.

For somewhat obvious reasons, yesterday's song Broken reminded me of another happy song, Shut Up and Dance with Me, by Walk The Moon.



Winter Solstice Friday

30 min elliptical + 5 cd
Program 1
Calories 309
Miles 2.80
HR 141-195 (85-125)

HGPU 20

15 min Expresso Bike
Dragons Island
Calories 54
Miles 2.67
Points 130,020

HGPU 20

Push Ups 50
Crunches 30/30
Bicycles 50
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

20 min StepMill
Level 3
Total Steps 697
Floors 43
Calories 111
HR 131

Cage Stretch
HGPU 20

Walking Lunges
55 total

2:1 Lying Leg Curl
15 lbs x 12 alternating legs
20 x 12 x 2

Mat Stretch