Trepidation Week

It's no secret that I haven't been sleeping well. My anxiety levels are really high right now, mostly because the toenail biopsy should occur a week from today. I'm awaiting a call from the nurse to give me important details, like what time to show up! Everything I've read suggests that I'm not going to be able to do much cardio (if any) in the days that follow.

Depending on how fast I heal and what my pain threshold is, I might hobble to the gym and do other things. I hope I can drive! Planks will wait until I'm recovered. Nothing that puts inordinate pressure on my feet/toes will be on the list! Then I'll have to wait to get the results and I don't know if they give them to me, or if I have to schedule an appointment with my dermatologist! Ugh. Best case scenario? It's nothing, a subungual lentigo or a longitudinal melanonychia. Worst? Not going there just yet. At least amputation isn't recommended anymore.

I think we're finally approved to get our two 9-mos old rescue dogs from Korea. However, I'm not sure what the actual date of arrival will be. There's some prep involved with this! Like I have to buy slipcovers for our leather sofa because I know they'll want to look out the window and sleep on the couch. Damn, I'd better be able to walk these teenage pups!

Today is a Push Day. It's also raining with heavy fog so it's a perfectly dreary winter day. The Precor elliptical that I like to use has the attached TV stuck in the On position. Normally, I turn the TV off. Worse, I can't change the channel and ESPN glows in my face as I pedal. Once I warm up, I pull off my hoodie and drape it over the monitor. Problem solved! Core and pushups are routine. I've given up trying to do sets of 20 because I constantly lose my place. When I revert back to straight counting (1-60), everything goes much faster, leading me to believe that when I lose my place I just add another set of 20 to the routine. I'm my own worse enemy.

I'm ecstatic that the Smith machine is free. The bar wobbles until I add more weight. Probably because of all the dust and dirt in the cable track. I spend the most time on the oversized Inclined Bench doing my DB supersets. I really dislike this bench but I have no choice. The gym is really crowded today and there are few free benches as it is. And the painters are still at it. This time, I look up and see a fellow on the roof of the bump-out room that houses the Spin Class. Rip Skulls are routine. Damn, there's a lot of people here. Then back to the elliptical where I immediately toss my hoodie over yammering sports figures.

Because the washing machine repairman is coming on Wednesday, I'm thinking I'll do a Pull Day workout tomorrow and just some cardio the next day. It really sucks not having a working washer. Actually, I ran the washer today and hand-wrung out the few clothes I had in it. Some of my gym stuff isn't as fresh as it should be, but I think I can last for another two days.

Monday Push

30 elliptical + 5cd
Program 1
Miles 2.87
Calories 319
HR 153-195 (105, 90)

Cage Stretch
HGPU 26

Elbow Plank 60s
Crunches 60/60
Bicycles 60
Horizontal Scissors 60
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

Smith Inclined Press
Bar (30) x 15
50 x 15 (bar wobbly)
70 x 25, 25, 25

DB Laterals s/s Rev Inclined Flys
20 lbs x 12/20 reps x 1
20/25 lbs x 12/20 reps x 3 sets

Rev Inclined Flys
25lbs x 20 reps x 3 sets

Rip Skulls
40 x 12, 12, 12

20 elliptical + 5 cd
Program 1
Calories 235
Miles 2.09
HR 151-198 (130)

Mat Stretch

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Hurrah! We've been approved to adopt our two teenage rescue pups. But they won't arrive until mid-January so now I have to figure out how to retrieve them because I'm not sure my husband will be able to take off from work, and I don't drive distance at night. Especially not to JFK airport. Hell, driving at night even on roads I know is a bit daunting since all oncoming headlights look like giant dripping starbursts. That's not cataracts. I have "newish" fake lenses so that's just my night vision.

Temperatures are a bit crazy with highs today in the 50s, but promising to plummet low enough to grace us with snow and sleet by tomorrow. Ugh. There's a rumor that schools might cancel. The appliance repairman is coming tomorrow. I might not get to the gym at all. It's a good thing I decided to do the Pull routine today.

The first elliptical still has the TV stuck on ESPN. This machine glides smoother than the other 3 so it's the preferred machine. I toss my hoodie over the screen. When I look down, I realize that the tiny plastic water cup from yesterday is still there, under the foot pedal. People are so damn lazy. And the cleaning crew sucks.

In the Aerobic Room, I catch myself yawning. Ugh. Crunches go really quickly though. Side planks are an issue two days in a row. Especially since my sneaker is on a particularly slippery spot on the floor and I keep sliding. Bird dogs are fine. And once again, the Smith machine is free so I can do a few sets of RDLs followed by RG BB Rows. Yaaay me! The gym is really crowded for a Tuesday. Maybe because it's warm out (but raining) and there's another snow threat for the week. I click the volume higher to drown everyone out.

My right forearm twinges a bit and I worry about tendonitis. It's that extra HGPU rep. Maybe I should stick to 25. (I hear Oswald's friend Henry say, "No more and no less" in my head.) Even if I make it to the gym tomorrow (highly unlikely), I'd only be doing cardio. Maybe the Intervals program.

I tend to go all out when I'm on the elliptical. None of this leisurely strolling. Research suggests that if you want the best benefits of aerobic exercise, as in HIIT cardio (which is technically anaerobic), you can't leave something in the tank for later. You have to go all out. Sweat. Be breathless. It gets better.

Tuesday Pull

30 elliptical + 5cd
Program 2
Miles 2.91
Calories 326
HR 155-192 (81, 85)

Cage Stretch

Elbow Plank 60s
Crunches 60/60
Bicycles 60
Horizontal Scissors 60
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

Smith RDL
Bar (30) x 15
80 x 12
100 x 12
120 x 12

Smith RG BB Rows
80 x 25 x 3

Seated Cable Rows
70 x 12
77.5 x 12
85 x 12
92.5 x 12
100 x 12

RG BB Curls
40 lbs x 25 reps x 3 sets

20 elliptical + 5cd
Program 2
Miles 2.06
Calories 230
HR 140-194 (91, 84)

Quick Mat Stretch


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Wednesday it snowed enough to warrant a 3-hour delay for area schools. That doesn't happen very often. While I enjoyed the luxury of sleeping for a full 8 hours, I still had to get up and shovel the walkway, car, and driveway. And clip unruly snow-laden branches that were dipping from the weight. After the school bus came, I drove to the pet supply store to buy another 50 lb bag of black oil sunflower seeds and a sleeve of nutty suet.

While I was wrestling the unwieldy bag of seed out of the cart and into my car, I noticed that an older woman was having trouble getting her bag of seed into her sedan. Her bag was a lot lighter so it was easy for me to hoist it into the back seat. Followed by 30 lbs of ice melt. She was impressed. And very happy to have the help. She said that it seemed as if losing her strength came about all of a sudden. Well, that's an unpleasant surprise! I hope that never happens to me, but I guess that depends on how old I get to be. Real-life benefits of strength training!

The repairman came and replaced the coupling on my old Whirlpool. The axle is stripped and he said replacing that would entail buying a brand new motor which is ill-advised, considering that's just about the cost of the entire machine and no one makes the timing mechanism anymore. So the washer works, but he cautioned me to use it gently. Fingers-crossed, it should last until the new Maytag washer arrives sometime after Christmas. And he was nice enough to only charge me for the service call, not for parts or labor. It is totally awesome to have a working washer again! Yaaay clean clothes!

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Temps dropped down to 16F so it took some time to warm up the car this morning. Went to the gym, did grocery shopping, hauled in firewood for this weekend. Now I'm tired, but I still have to take my son to his martial arts class later.

The gym was crowded with regulars. And noisy. But at least the elliptical got fixed so I could turn off the TV, and the water cup is gone. For fun, I did the Intervals program. It's not really fun. I hate cardio. But I did go all out and pedal as fast as I could for each two-minute interval, then drop to an easy jog. Today I focused on shoulders and warmed up appropriately. I think the warm-ups actually feel worse than the actual exercises. Or at least my shoulders complain more during three sets of the T, Y & I on an inclined bench than for any other movement.

My hands are ice cold during weight training. I don't feel warm again until I hop up onto the elliptical and do 20 plus minutes of Program 3. Then I'm drenched but feel so much better. Tomorrow is my Cardio Plus Day. Looking forward to knocking out some pullups.

Frigid Thursday Shoulders Plus

30 + 5 cd elliptical
Program Intervals
Miles 2.91
Calories 326
HR 144-209 (81, 87)

Elbow Plank 60s
Crunches 60/60
Horizontal Scissors 60
Bicycles 60
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

Cage Stretch
Mid-Band Pulls 15
High-Band Pulls 15

T, Y & I Raises Inclined Bench
5 lbs x 15 reps x 3 sets

DB Laterals s/s Rev Incl Flys
20 lbs x 12/20 reps x 3 sets
20/25 lbs x 12/20 reps x 3 sets

V-bar Tricep Press Down
20 lbs x 12
30 x 12
40 x 12

20 elliptical + 5cd
Program 3
Miles 2.05
Calories 228
HR 148-196 (86, 83)

Quick Stretch

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Friday is my Cardio Plus day. I got all my cardio done as well as core and pullups. Yaaaay me. I even got to ride the Expresso Bike for 15 minutes and chase CG dragons to score points. Not my best game but it's been a while since I last played, and I was on one of the newer, less adjustable seats. 

In the locker room, I glance at my feet and wonder if the dark streak has always ended just shy of the half-moon at the nail base. It's called a lunula and not everyone has them. Because I keep photos in my phone of almost everything, I can look up an image of my toe from last April for comparison. 

Unfortunately, the lunula isn't visible due to irregularities on the nail surface. Oddly, those seem to have cleared up, probably because I stopped doing Norwegian 4x4s. (It sucks that doing something a tad more extreme than average exercise can have unpleasant side effects.) I look at other photos taken in May and October and can't decide whether the streak is different or not. 

Streak shorter
but wider?

My procedure is scheduled for Monday late afternoon, and at first, I'm really happy because I think I can work out that morning. But I'm not allowed to eat or drink for a minimum of 8 hours prior so that kills my gym plans. I drink a lot of water when I work out. Maybe I can just pedal lazily for 30 minutes and then shower? Once a gym rat, always a gym rat. 


Pre-Biopsy Cardio Friday

30 min elliptical + 5cd
Program 3
Miles 2.92
Calories 327
HR 152-196 (85, 79, 89)

Cage Stretch
HGPU 26

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

20 Step Mill
Level 4
Calories 130
Total steps 853
Floors 53
HR 130

HGPU 26

15 Expresso Bike
Dragon Island Game
Points 109740
Calories 68
Miles 2.57
HR 91/129

2:1 Seated Leg Curls
15lbs x 15
30 x 12
35 x 12
40 x 12

HGPU 26

Mat Stretch