A Change of Pace

I'm nearly as nocturnal as my son, but he's a teenager so he has an excuse. Regardless, I'm up much earlier than he is and need to prod him several times to get him out of bed. I've spent the past several hours doing household chores and deciphering the 4-page letter that came attached to the email sent from the HS principal. He sent the same email last week but the link to his letter led to a blank screen with an ominous error message.

After two days, I got fed up and had to look up his specific email address (as well as that of the vice principal) to state "letter link contains no data" -- hitting Reply to the email only gets you dumped into a Siberian wasteland which responds with a Failure to Deliver Because This Email Address Does Not Exist. Never mind that my school tax bill is more than twice my property taxes, and that administrators earn well over a hundred thousand dollars (as do many teachers) in New York State.

This morning, parents finally received an actual working link to the 4-page letter detailing the specifics to parent pick-ups and drop-offs, attendance, bus schedules, etc. A barely noticeable link leads to a single page of select teachers and courses and their school supply requirements. Ugh. Two of my son's teachers list specifics. Then I realize that there's no actual Math teacher on my son's schedule. He has a class and a room, but no named teacher. Double ugh. Tomorrow is HS Orientation at 9 am. That should be fun. Not.

At the gym, I decided to refrain from HIIT cardio to see if my weird toenail stripe dissipates. Otherwise, I have to schedule a biopsy of the nail matrix with a plastic surgeon, and I'd rather not do that if possible. I feel as if I already see too many doctors for someone not old and not decrepit. I do elliptical program 2 for 30 minutes plus a 5-minute cooldown, but I don't actually slow down until the last 10 seconds. Personally, I don't think cooldowns are necessary. Stretching, on the other hand, is vital to keeping muscles and joints flexible and limber.

After we do our crunches and other ab work in the classroom, and after my son has groaned through 30 pushups, I tell him that we should try different machines. School starts next week so this is our last working out week together. We start with a StarTrac Chest Press that looks as if we've boarded an Everglades hovercraft. Even without additional plates, the handles bear weight. I just don't know how much and guess 30 lbs. My son and I gingerly add a few small plates after each set until we reach an additional 30 lbs per side. Now it feels heavy.

I'm not entirely happy with the machine because only the seat height and handle length are adjustable. I'd also need the handle height to adjust to my limited stature. My palms and elbows bear the brunt of the weight, and I'm seated upright, so bonus there. But I can't say that this feels any better than actually pressing a bar on an inclined bench. However, it is different and my son is more engaged in the process because I've told him that I've never used this before and I need his input.

We move onto the StarTrac Triceps Press. I remember doing this a long time ago, and not being particularly impressed. I'd rather do Rip Skulls or V-bar Press Downs. My son tries it and tells me the issue is with the handles again being too high. Instead of pressing with his triceps from the elbows, he's scrunched up in a shrug position. This means that the seat should be higher, but that takes his feet off the floor. This isn't a good machine for anyone except those with the weakest arms. Maybe a pencil-pusher.

Most machines are either presses, abs or legs of some sort. We are hard-pressed to find any sort of pulling machine with the exception of a Life Fitness Row. My son thinks it's okay. I really hate having my chest smushed up against the pad in order to pull the handles back to my sides. And I don't even have a big chest! We finish with pedaling on the Recumbent Bike and some stretching.

Tonight I'm taking my son to play with the Oculus Rift Virtual Reality headset at our local library. I did it two weeks ago and it was a lot of fun. One of my son's friends might show up for this. There's also another even just for teens tomorrow afternoon. I've signed him up for that as well. And a Do It Yourself Eye of Sauron event on Wednesday. Because it's the last week of summer vacation and when school starts there won't be any of this fun stuff on the calendar.

Combo Machine Monday

30 min elliptical + 5cd
Program 2
Miles 2.92
Calories 327
HR 148-185 (96)

Cage Stretch
HGPU 20
Child 8

Crunches 50/50
Leg horizontal scissors 50
Bicycles 50
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Child pushups 30

StarTrac Chest Press
Unloaded (30?) x 12
10 each side x 12
20 x 12
25 x 12
30 x 12

Child StarTrac Triceps Press
50 x 12

LF Pectoral Fly
Child 35 x 12
Us 45 x 12

LF Row
Ch 25 x 12
65 x 12

20 Recumbent Bike
Quick Start
Miles 2.85
Calories 88
HR 112

Mat Stretch