A Healthy Paranoia

My eyes hurt. They sting and burn. It's the onions that my husband has sliced and put into the kitchen dehydrator. The first day is the worst, and although my husband claims not to smell or feel anything irritating in the air, probably because he wears contact lenses and has a lesser sense of smell than I do, the dogs and I are suffering. The draft in the house moves the air from the kitchen all the way through until it exits through the rear bedroom. NYSEG sent a newsletter trying to convince homeowners to seal up their homes for better energy savings. Theoretically, this would be a wise move. Except our county is known for high concentrations of naturally-occurring radon, emitted from the rocks and soil. I've not had our home tested but I feel better knowing that the air is never stagnant.

The gym is reasonably occupied for a Tuesday. There are still a lot of seniors who come to walk the treadmills and chat. In the locker room, I hear complaints about people in class coughing vigorously without covering their faces. How rude! I never did like classes. It's full of... people.

I've read that testosterone levels in both men and women recede with age and that short intense bouts of exercise are ideal for boosting this necessary hormone. So, that means HIIT cardio. Or Intervals. Preferably several times a week. Weightlifting also counts, but I've had to take that off the table due to my glaucoma. Today is a Cardio day (meaning two different cardio machines) and I decide to do Intervals a little differently. I'll actually attempt to do them the way they were meant to be done: slow jog (rest) in the troughs and pedal like heck on the peaks.

I have to adjust the peak setting and reduce the resistance from 8 down to 2. Even 4 makes my knees ache. If I was doing this the way I like (pedal like heck in the troughs with resistance at 1 and jog at the peaks with resistance at 4), my knees wouldn't complain. At first, it's easy to stay slow (around 120 Strides Per Minute) but by the time I'm three quarters done, I'm pedaling at 140 for the slow portion. That's actually too fast. I do manage to stay over 200 SPMs for several seconds during each peak, but nothing like the Norwegian 4 x 4s I used to do. Now those were hard! They were also hard on my feet. Since I still don't have a proper toenail on my right foot, I'll hold off on doing those. 

I'm not entirely certain that more people are wiping down their equipment after use although I did witness a woman come into the Aerobic Room in preparation for a class. She grabbed two small dumbbells and carefully wiped them down before placing them on her mat. Then she left, probably to warm up before class started. An article in the NYTimes commented on the extra effort gyms and yoga studios are making to assure their members that their facilities are safe and sanitary.

Classes at the annual Scouting University have been canceled this coming weekend which surprised us. It was to be held at a Catholic prep school in New Rochelle though, the town considered ground zero for the first Westchester NY COVID-19 infection. Some but not all school events have been postponed or canceled. A school district to the south of us has closed for a few days in order to sanitize their buildings. I ran into a neighbor at the grocery and congratulated him on the 2-page newspaper write-up he received about his new book on a local Revolutionary War legend, Sybil Ludington. He complained that he was slated to give a talk to over 300 HS students but that event has been canceled because of coronavirus fears.

My husband wants to order a case of commercial-grade toilet paper from Amazon because stores have run out of Scott TP. I tell him No. There's no reason to buy something of dubious quality that not only chafes the tender bits, but is also less than the thousand sheet guarantee, and potentially a septic system nightmare. Nope. This is getting silly.

Sunny Cardio Tuesday

30 min elliptical + 5cd
Program Intervals
Miles 2.88
Calories 318
HR 134-210! (100, 86, 95)

20 Step Mill
Level 4
Calories 128
Total steps 839
Floors 52
HR 138

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

Cage Stretch
Quick Stretch