Tuesday Before The Polar Vortex

The phone rang 20 minutes before my alarm was set to go off. Ugh. The school district has announced Early Dismissal today so students will be arriving home before noon. The weather isn't due to arrive until the evening commute, but logistics and liability worries cause everyone to err on the side of caution. (Yes, I've seen that horrible movie, The Sweet Hereafter.) The weather app says it's snowing. I look out the window. No, it's not. Not yet.

I drop my son off at school and tell him that after the gym, I'll stop by the supermarket to pick up a few items. I'm not sure how the storm will affect travel over the next few days, and I see that avocados are on sale for 79 cents apiece. I'm also low on fresh garlic. It's not so much the snow and ice that I'm worried about, although that does concern me. It's the wind chill that promises to drop temps way below zero. Ugh. If there's enough snow, it will be protective and I won't have to worry about frozen drain pipes for my septic and sump pump. Otherwise...

The gym is less crowded today. Everywhere I hear murmurs of Early Dismissal. Yes, there are a lot of parents at my gym. I plan a Pull Day, but I'm never guaranteed that the equipment I want to use will be available. After 30 plus minutes on the elliptical, I'm thoroughly warmed up and just do a few core exercises before claiming the Smith machine. I'm tired because of course, I haven't gotten enough sleep. On a school night, I tell my son to shower at 9:30 and be in bed by 10 pm. But of course, that rarely happens, because ultimately, he's forgotten something he had to do for homework and needs to get it done right that minute. Eventually, we're all flossed and brushed and I can go to sleep after reading a few pages of Christopher Buckley's They Eat Puppies Don't They? I've renewed this book twice from my library, but it looks like I might be able to finish it in a few days. Whew!

At the Smith, I do my standard routine. While I can't really say that 120 lbs is awfully heavy, I admit that I am breathing hard after each set. I also have to be careful about how close I stand to the bar since too close or too far results in an unhappy lower back. I'm worried about being too tired at the Lat Pull Down, but then discover that I actually can't even get on because both stations are in use. And I am not the type to work in between someone else's sets. Instead, I do T-bar Rows.

There are a lot of regulars today. I keep running into Ballet, The Professor and PO Goatee. I see Hollywood and a few others but those folks are not in my space the way these guys are today. WTF guys? I see B trailing after her new gym hubs and his adult son, and later overhear her saying how much she likes having them show her new exercises. Whatever. I do a lot of research before I do a new movement, if only because I've got delicate and wonky joints.

I'm well into doing Seated One-Arm Cable Rows when the Lat Pull Downs free up. But my arms and hands are too tired. It's also my grip that fails me at the end of the cable rows so I'm toying with the idea of using my VGs in the future. That would take my puny little hands out of the equation and let me focus more on the lats and arms. But I can still grip a barbell so I do 3 sets of Reverse Grip BB Curls for the first time in several weeks. Then a quick stretch and a shower.

In the locker room, there's fervent talk about how crowded the supermarket will be because it's currently snowing. (No, it's not. It's flurrying.) Will there be panic now or later. It's later as the store isn't very crowded when I arrive. Part of the issue is the massive remodeling which has relocated the store entrance and closed off an entire drive aisle in the parking lot. My son is rejoicing in a free afternoon without after-school activities. Most schools have scheduled early dismissals. A few further north just closed for the day and never opened. Depending on the weather tonight, there may be a school delay in the morning. My son has winter coats but hasn't worn them. I'm making him wear one tomorrow.

When I get home, I'm surprised to find the bird feeder still half full of sunflower seeds. The suet is well-pecked though and I decide to hang a second suet cage to provide additional fat calories. I think one of the neighborhood cats is keeping the squirrels at bay and that's why the feeder still has seed in it. But I've had to reapply cayenne pepper to the garbage bin that holds the 50 lb bag of seed. Fresh gnaw marks on the lid shows a renewed interest in a sunflower seed bonanza. We have firewood in the house, and our generator does a weekly test run. At this point, I'm very happy not to have to walk any pups, especially if temps drop as much as forecasted. We won't get it as bad as the midwest, but it's still going to be unpleasant. I'm glad I got my oil changed and the serpentine belt replaced, but I have a feeling my idiot tire pressure gauge is going to flash. It'd be nice if the gauge told you how much your tires were off by, but it doesn't. Most of the time it's a pound, which seems ridiculous, but I don't know -- I'm not a mechanic.

Just discovered the name of a song that I like. I'll probably buy it and add it to my workout mix. It has a disturbing video which I won't embed here (yes, more disturbing than Fall Out Boy's The Last of the Real Ones), but here's the video that contains the song lyrics...




Early Dismissal Tuesday Pull

30 min elliptical + 5 cd
Program 3
Calories 313
Miles 2.83
HR 149-190 (105)

Push Ups 50
Crunches 30/30
Bicycles 50

Smith RDLs
Bar (30) x 15
80 x 12
100 x 12
120 x 12, 12, 12

T-bar Rows
Bar x 20 (triceps!?)
25 x 20
35 x 20
45 x 25, 25, 25

Seated 1-Arm Cable Rows
30lbs x 12 each arm
35 x 12
40 x 12

RG BB Curls
30lbs x 25 reps x 3 sets

Quick Mat Stretch