It's the Insoles

I got on the elliptical and warily selected Program 1. If my lower back twinges, then I'll stop the backward pedaling and only move forward. At least that was my plan. The gym is sparsely attended but that's no surprise since it's a warm, sunny day with little to no wind. People would rather be outdoors! I was outside for part of the morning with the dogs. 

When it's nice out, it doesn't matter that you're spending most of your time poop hunting (and bagging). It doesn't matter if it's fossilized either, but fresh is better because fresh means it belongs to your dog(s). Older specimens could be theirs, or other errant canines from earlier in the year, now that all the snow and ice have melted away. Not too buggy either, which is always a plus, although I've heard that people are pulling loads of ticks off their pups. (I'm waiting for the cicada plague!) I've got my fingers crossed that the Simparica Trio remains effective at dissuading fleas and ticks from finding my dogs attractive. I haven't found any creepy crawlers so far! 

The sciatica is better for both legs but not totally gone: I could put my socks and pants on without groaning aloud! When I do sit on the bench at the dog park, I have my legs crossed with one ankle over the opposite knee, forming a sort of figure four: it's a rudimentary piriformis stretch. 

Pedaling backward doesn't cause my lower back to spasm and my only concern is that I haven't pedaled hard enough to do at least 2.8 miles. Whew! My left foot has a tingle in the pinky toe and mild soreness in the arch. Weird. Yesterday while laying in bed, my right foot developed a cramp in the arch, which has never happened before! Pointing my heel was the best I could do to stretch the cramp away. Thank goodness that worked. In the back of my mind, I'm worrying about all sorts of degenerative nerve and muscle disorders that occur in old age...

I have my gray trainers on with the pink and white insoles from the new New Balance sneakers I got a few weeks ago. My feet aren't nearly as happy. It's definitely the insoles that are letting me down! When I check the tongue tags inside the sneakers, I discover that NB actually includes a manufacturing date and that my two-year-old gray sneakers are newer (2019) than the white ones (2018) I just got. Hmmm, that would explain the discrepancy in foam insole technology. Bummer. It's not like online stores will let you examine the tongue tags either. 

 Apparently, you can buy NB insoles solo from the company if that's all you need. Of course, they run between $60-80, which is a lot for just the padding inside. I still haven't decided what to do with the memory foam insoles I bought last week that make my sneakers feel too tight, but I'm not tossing them. They'll be great in a shoe or boot that's actually too big. 

22 March 2021
Balmy Sunny Monday

Precor elliptical
30 + 5 cool down
Program 1
HR 178-136, 116
Cal 309
Distance 2.80

Crunches x 20 x 6
Piriformis Stretch
Happy Baby stretch
10 Dead Bugs x 4
Plank 60s
Fire Hydrants 25 x 2
Bird Dogs 60s x 2
Push-Ups 50
Basic Mat stretch

Smith Machine RG BB Row
Bar (30 lbs) x 20 reps (rt glute)
+20 x 20
+40 x 20
+50 x 20