The Bitter Winds

Daylight savings really messes with a lot of people, especially if you have to manually change your clocks. Having a device that automatically syncs the clock is so much easier! But losing an hour of sleep, even if it means waking up to the sun rising, is painful. It's the Ides of March, made famous by Shakespeare and Roman history. So while ruminating about the death of Caesar, we can bemoan a loss of sleep and the temperate weather of last week. It's not Spring yet. 

The polar vortex has meant bright sunny days are bone-chilling cold and arctic winds whip through your winter clothes, especially at the park which borders a small lake. Ah, the lake effect. Once I'm home, I have a hard time getting motivated to leave for the gym. But I do get there eventually. I'll get to test out the memory foam insoles I bought to replace the ones in my new NB sneakers. I'll also get to see if the AirPods (my husband got me for my birthday) will stay in my head. He also got me "tethers" just in case, a silicon string with magnetic ends (so they can close into a loop) and slots to insert an AirPod on either end. I decide not to use them since I'm certain that I'd notice if one of them falls out. If I was running outdoors, that might not be the case.

The AirPods have very good sound quality and a noise reduction mode to lessen ambient distractions. They don't sound better than my wired MPow Flames though. And actually, the MPows have a volume control on the earbuds themselves which the AirPods lack. I max out the volume on my iPod and it's just loud enough. The wired earbuds give me better volume control, and the ability to go louder. So, it's a trade-off. Go completely wireless and lose louder music and the ability to lower and raise the volume without touching the iPod (which is usually kept safely in my gear bag). 

The memory foam insoles aren't as cushiony as I'd like. Certainly not as comfy as the Skechers Go Walk sneakers I have. Not as comfy as the original NB sneakers either. Pros: definitely softer and more cushioning than the original insole. Cons: the thickness makes the sneaker seem tighter and I don't appreciate the slightly raised heel. Part of the problem is my socks: seamless toe socks have been on backorder for months now and my current socks are unraveling. This means they have distracting knots and wrinkles which make me focus too much on my feet. 

Again I restrict myself to the forward-only-motion of the Intervals program, except today I venture a bit and do my cooldown pedaling backward. I figure it's safe because it's at a flat, level 7 elevation instead of trekking up and down hills and valleys. My lower back doesn't knot up and the left leg remains mostly pain-free. Sitting is still a bit difficult but better than last week. 

It's all good until I do a few Cobra poses: the right glute isn't happy with this movement. I've kept push-ups to a minimum because I have a glaucoma doc appointment on Wednesday, and she's asked me to restrict stressful motions like push-ups. She didn't say anything about pull-ups so on the way to the locker room, I sneak in a few hammer-grips. I only manage 15 though. Still, pretty good for a woman in her 60s, and yes, I can say that in all earnestness. 

15 March 2021
Beware the Ides Monday

Precor elliptical
30 forward 5 cool down backward
Program Intervals
HR 135-159, 113
Cal 324
Distance 2.90

Crunches x 60 x 2
Piriformis Stretch
Happy Baby stretch
10 Dead Bugs x 4
Plank 60s
Fire Hydrants 25 x 2
Bird Dogs 60s x 2
3 Cobra 5 sec hold
Push-Ups 25
No Lower Back Modified stretch

Sneaky HGPU 15