One Bad Night Will Ruin Your Week

I'm still feeling the effects of being ill at 4 a.m. Tuesday morning and it's been over 24 hours. Normally, all I'd need was a decent night's sleep aka rest, and I'd be fine the next day. I spent all yesterday doing errands, making appointments, sorting through paperwork so it's not as if I was doing anything really taxing. I still feel hungover this morning. Not due to overindulgences. More an unexpected reaction to a wee bit of pork I marinated in teriyaki sauce, coated in corn starch and sauteed with asparagus.

Sometimes my stomach runs out of juice, or acid, and food just sits there, churning partially digested in my stomach. (I've been told that I should take HCl tablets to improve my digestion.) Late at night, while I'm asleep, the lower esophageal sphincter relaxes and leaks its contents in the wrong direction. A burning sensation in my chest wakes me. In the past, the only solution had been to remove the offending, indigestible item. This time, it's nothing. Nothing but a thick gob of sauce. I'm confused and I still have heartburn. Vomiting a gob of sauce still has consequences for the rest of the body, including increased blood pressure, facial flushing, sweating and swelling. (My son once gave himself two black eyes from vomiting after a bout of food poisoning at a Hawaiian luau.)

Luckily, there are two bottles of ancient fruit-flavored calcium carbonate antacids in my kitchen. These things don't go bad. The expiration date is 13 years ago, but I chew 4 fruity tablets and go back to bed. My only concern is that this might cause constipation. As someone with glaucoma, I know straining will cause IOPs to rise. Still, I'm up with the alarm two hours later to get my son off to school. My heartburn is gone, but I'm exhausted. My face and eyes feel swollen all day. I have no way of knowing if my IOPs are up. I don't see my eye doc until the end of the month.

I'm not horribly motivated as I drive to the gym. It's more a force of habit. My stomach has been unusually noisy and that's never a good sign. Eventually, I climb onto an elliptical and run my HIIT cardio program. I feel better, but I'm still tired. However, nothing in my workout suggests that how I feel has had any effect on my ability to exercise. Except maybe for DB supersets with Reverse Inclined Flys. The 20s are easy, but the 25s are hard. Well, the 25s are hard for Lateral Raises, but not for the Reverse Inclined Flys. Next time, I should just grab two sets of DBs: 20s for the laterals and 25s for the rear delts.

Because my elbows whined at me during Smith Inclined Presses, I decided to give them a break and skip the Rip Skulls. Instead, I grab the V-bar for Tricep Press Downs at the Cable Station. And I start at 40 lbs instead of working my way up. No need to pre-exhaust these muscles. I even manage to knock out a decent set at 50 lbs. Next time I'll start at 50. I've cooled down considerably so it's important that I end with a session on the elliptical. I'm really tired now, but I keep pedaling. On a good day, I'll do 5 miles in total. Today I get a bit over four and a half. My eyes still feel swollen, but when I look they seem normal. Oh well...

Sunny Wed Push

Norwegian 4x4
5 min w/u (4 min on / 3 min off) x 4
5, 9, 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 30, 33
Calories 283
Miles 2.62
HR 131-189 (109, 97, 84, 114)

Cage Stretch
HGPU 23

Push Ups 60
Crunches Legs Up 40
Bicycles 50
Crunches knees bent 60
Horizontal Scissors 50
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

Smith Inclined Press 60
Bar x15
50 x 12
70 x 12 (elbows)
90 x 12, 12, 12
65 x 25

DB Laterals s/s Rev Inclined Flys
20 lbs x 12/15 reps
25 x 8/15 x 3 sets

V-bar Tricep Press Downs
40 lbs x 12
50 x 8
45 x 12
40 x 11.5

20 elliptical + 5cd
Program 2
Miles 2.07
Calories 231
HR 139-186 (95)

Mat Stretch