Day Two

The school bus was 9 minutes late. The school wants you to be there at least 5 minutes beforehand, just in case some kid doesn't show up at his/her stop and the bus arrives quicker than planned. But that means you're standing out there on the road for a good 15 minutes while morning traffic rushes by. I put my son in the car and we wait at the bus stop with my car heater and hazards on. It's 59F which isn't horribly cold, but compared to the 80F that's forecast later on, well it is a tad nippy and I have the heat on.

After the bus leaves with a trail of motorists behind it, I proceed to the gym. This is the earliest I've ever arrived and I'm a little surprised at how empty it is. All the ellipticals are vacant! I hurry to stash my gear in the locker room and find, to my dismay, that Lazy Pedals has commandeered the first elliptical. Oh well. I get on the second one. The third and fourth ellipticals have mechanical issues that make the ride less pleasant. There are three old men on the stationary bikes directly in front of the ellipticals. They speak loudly in spite of the fact that there's no ambient music. They're ancient and virtually deaf. I pull my hoodie up over my head and tap the volume higher to my tunes.

The gym is a very social place for a lot of people. It's like going for coffee. In fact, some members buy coffee at the front desk and pedal while sipping their morning brew. I had half a cup this morning, but because it was day-old coffee, I had to add a spoon of Hershey's cocoa powder to the cream and sugar I normally use to make the beverage tolerable to my acid-sensitive stomach. Cocoa powder is high in anti-oxidants, adds great flavor and no calories. I've got the sugar and cream for that.

I'm a little sore from yesterday's workout. Today is a cardio day even though it's mid-week. I need to get my body out of this rut, so mixing up the usual routine, even just a little, is one way to kickstart this journey. Of course, I'm conflicted about pull-ups. Common wisdom dictates that pull-ups shouldn't be done every day. I agree, especially since my tiny and weak forearms are prone to tendonitis. Normally, I'd do a set after every cardio exercise but I also did a set yesterday. Ugh. I do two sets today anyway. (I still feel guilty about giving up pushups.)

I would've done three sets except after I got off the Step Mill, the Stretch Cage was occupied in quick succession by broken old men who used the cage as support while chatting with people on the treadmill on the platform. I'm not aggressive or pushy at the gym, especially with seniors. In general, they're fairly civil and extremely frail. Instead, I see that the Cross-Trainers are available so I hop on one and pedal for another 18 minutes. Pedaling on this machine reminds me that my hands and feet will fall asleep if I'm not careful in spite of the SuperBeets I drink nearly every day. I know it's my weird physiology and anatomy. (Those hammertoes are starting to get really annoying: a few weeks ago, I was vacuuming with my house sandals on and got blisters on the tops of my toes! That's never happened before!)

I finish with a Mat Stretch in the gym stretch area. There's a fitness class in the classroom. I actually don't mind because I'm not worried about those little black foam mats sliding underfoot when I'm in the gym. There's a thick rubber flooring that prevents unexpected slips. Not so in the wood floor classroom and I've suffered muscle strains from accidentally sliding awkwardly. What I really miss are those big thick blue gym mats that gymnasts use, and this gym used to house until they got too expensive to repair and replace. 

Later, I find myself persistently hungry. I wasn't at all hungry after yesterday's workout. This hunger is annoying and I wonder if it's because I didn't push any weight today. Since tomorrow's a Pull Day, I can test out my theory. I still need to find some alternate core exercises though. I'm developing a bruise on my tailbone again. It was perplexing since I've stopped doing actual situps. Today, I realized that the back seam to my fitness pants is to blame, especially when I'm doing horizontal scissors. Normally I alternate my gym clothes, but my favorite super-soft yoga pants have lost all elasticity in the waistband so I've been wearing the same sport-pants for every gym workout. Of course, I haven't tossed the yoga pants even though they're totally useless for doing cardio.

Solo Cardio Wednesday

30 min elliptical + 5cd
Program 2
Miles 2.93
Calories 330
HR 163-192 (96, 86, 89, 93)

Cage Stretch
HGPU 20

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

20 Step Mill
Level 3
Calories 112
Total steps 705
Floors 44
HR 138

15 X-trainer + 3 cd
Manual Level 1
Calories 139
Miles 1.82
BPM 143

Cage Stretch
HGPU 20

Mat Stretch