Because I Can

It's Friday and the dreary bleak morning makes me want to stay in bed. Well, that's not quite true. It's still dark out so I can't tell that it's dreary and bleak yet. But the threat of rain makes me put off taking pups to the park. I took them yesterday in the early morning fog and they were happy to run through the wet leaves. Then, while I was cleaning up after one of them, I heard a pitiful whimper. It sounded like a small dog had been injured, but only my dogs were in the park. The fenced yard abuts a major roadway and sounds from the neighboring streets and yards carry far. Then I see one of my pups poke his head out of the gate from the adjacent yard. But I don't see the other one. Uh oh.

Forget the poop! I scramble up the hill to the part of the park that houses obstacles and challenges and I see the other pup lying still on the ground as if he were dead. He's lying on his side, very still with his eyes closed. I'm not sure what happened so I check him for punctures in case he ran into a branch. He opens his eyes and looks at me. I check all his limbs, his paws, his body. Nothing seems amiss. I stroke him and talk to him. Eventually, he gets up and walks away slowly. I'm looking for limping or other signs of injury. Nothing. He starts to trot a bit and sniffs around. After a few minutes, he starts a slow easy run. We go home after a few more minutes. He seems fine, eating and drinking normally. 

My son surmises the pup might've slipped on the wet leaves and hurt himself. Dogs are notoriously stoic and won't show their injuries if possible. This morning, both dogs behave as if nothing bad has ever happened, but I don't want to chance a repeat of yesterday. I'll wait until we get a non-drizzly morning to take them to the Bark Park. 

The gym is unexpectedly crowded when I get there. I spend more time in the Aerobic Room, adding more sets, hoping that the crowd will be gone from the DB area by the time I'm done. For fun, I decided to see how many push-ups I can actually do. I get to 50 although, I'm sure I could've eeked out a few more if I really pushed. Still, I'm pretty happy about the 50. It was unexpected. I also add another 60-second plank. All this works in my favor: I only have to share the DB space with Bandana Man (who must be something like 7 ft tall because my face is about elbow height) by the time I'm ready to move a few weights. 

I knock out some Rip Skulls and then climb a few hundred steps. I don't want to get too tired. There's no sleeping in tomorrow as I signed up for a BSA Adult Leadership training class that starts around 8 am after a bit of a drive. Not that I want to be a Scoutmaster or even an ASM (Assistant Scoutmaster). But it's clear that for our Troop to maintain a decent roster, we need to attract potential Scouts and their sisters. And to have girls, we need a "girl troop" which requires female leadership. No parent has ever approached us with the idea of becoming a girl Troop leader: they just want to have one already established. This'll be interesting...

23October2020
Rainy Dreary Friday

Precor elliptical
35 min
Program 2
HR n/a
Cal 317
Distance 2.85

Crunches x 60
50 Bicycles
Crunches x 60
Piriformis Stretch
Plank 60s
Fire Hydrants 25 x 2
Bird Dogs 60s x 2
Fire Hydrants 25 x 2
Plank 60s
Pushups 50 (Yaaay!)
Piriformis Stretch
Quick Mat Stretch

DB raises supersets
lateral standing 15 lbs x 15 x 4
reverse inclined flys 15 lbs x 20 w/u
20lbs x 20 x 3

Rip Skulls
30lbs x 12
35 x 12, 12

Matrix Step
Speed 5
Min 15
HR 131
Cal 104
Steps 700
Floors 43