Ramen Weekend

Unlike the 1985 Japanese noodle-western cult film, Tampopo, I happily made and ate supermarket ramen noodles twice over the weekend. Because when you're camping in blustery weather, sometimes you really want a hot meal, and something not too heavy to pack. I did supplement my ramen with fresh arugula and leftover pastrami (from my lunch sandwich) for Saturday supper, and with more arugula and a few ounces of foil-bagged tuna for Sunday lunch. Instant oatmeal with dried strawberries and instant espresso with pre-sweetened creamer made a good breakfast. 

Over the weekend, the one thing we participants were not was hungry! Because between meals, during demonstrations and lectures on campsite selection, knife and ax safety, fire-building, knot tying, campsite cooking, ultralight backpacking, etc., we had access to coffee, tea & hot water, as well as samples of campfire cooking (foil pork loin, coffee can osso buco, dump cake in a Dutch oven) as well as donuts, cookies, granola bars, crackers, and apples. 

I was still tired from my 2nd covid vaccine shot and having sciatica didn't help. Luckily, I had a lot of help from instructors and fellow Scouters: I was one of only 3 women among 16 participants. And because of all the help, I had one of the best-looking sites (we did get critiqued after we set up) and I repaid the favor by having several members join me at breakfast under my tarp. Because it poured Saturday night into Sunday morning. But I was toasty dry. Okay, not toasty but dry. 

I have a hard time getting to the gym today, but I made it by 1:30. Surprisingly, the gym isn't very crowded even though capacity restrictions are being lifted. Perhaps it's because people would rather take a run outside. My fingers hurt because the tips are splitting and the cuticles are all frayed. Cold winds and frequent handwashing aren't helping at all. Today I bought some O'Keeffe's Working Hands cream hoping it will help. Everything else is too greasy and I'm close to adhering bandaids to all my fingertips, but that gets messy real fast. 

I'm still tired. No one gets a great night's sleep camping on uneven ground. While I was dry and decently warm, I was on a slight slope and throughout the night, I would find my feet pressed up against the door of the tent because my closed-cell pad would slide down under me. I'd wake up and have to inchworm myself up to the middle of the tent. It felt a bit Sisyphean. Doubly inconvenient when you're zipped in for warmth but can't really turn over because sciatica makes that too painful. 

I manage a respectable number of hammer grip pullups before sitting down to the task of Seated Cable Rows. Instead of making them heavier, I decided to test making the motion slower, or at least the eccentric portion. Yes, it's that time-tested method Time Under Tension (TUT) that every serious lifter talks about. So I can quickly pull the handle to my chest, then slowly return it to the start position in a painfully controlled fashion. I'm willing to try this a few times instead of adding weight to the stack. 

Here's the trailer (with English subtitles) to the ramen classic! For a long time, it was only available on VHS to rent but finally, it's streamable. Much better than Ang Lee's Eat Drink Man Woman. 

26 April 2021
Blustery Monday

Precor elliptical
30 min + 5 cool down
Program 1
HR 182-144, 114
Cal 311
Distance 2.81

Crunches x 60 x 2
Piriformis Stretch
Happy Baby stretch
40 Dead Bugs x 2
Plank 60s
Fire Hydrants 25 x 2
Bird Dogs 60s x 2
Push-Ups 50
Mat stretch w Seated Twist

Sneaky HGPU 15

EZ Seated Cable Rows
70lbs x 12 reps x 6 (TUT)