Misplaced Blame

Last Friday was one of the few genuinely nice days out of a questionable week. So I spent that day not at the gym. Instead, I hand-trimmed the hip-high weeds from the raised beds where I'm pleased to discover several milkweed plants have emerged. Weed whackers are not discriminatory and mow down plants in a broad swath. Better to hand snip the selective stalks although it takes longer and can be hard on the lower back. 

Although the swamp milkweeds were the only plants to flower last year, and they did succumb to golden aphids, the common milkweeds appear in greater numbers and seem more robust this year. They also promise to flower within the week while nestled among Sweet Williams and tiny daisy imposters called fleabane. My plant identifying app considers the latter to be invasive and mildly toxic. However, a quick internet search reveals contradictory information. Some consider it medicinal and mildly edible. I like the light perfume of honeysuckle vines in the driveway hedges, and privets that went untrimmed last year are full of fragrant tiny white flowers. 

I also finally closed off the egress feral cats have been using to access my crawlspace basement. Plywood has tripled in price and I'm not a skilled carpenter who can fabricate a new window. Instead, I bought a single panel of frosted acrylic plastic (for dropped ceiling lighting) for $8 and a cutter for another $5. After measuring several times, I marked the plastic with a marker and then scored snap-off lines while wearing gloves and safety glasses. The noise startled the dogs right off the sofa and a piece splintered out from the edge. But it's now the correct size to press into the missing window. Yaaay! 

I get to the gym earlier so there are no kids. Cardio was hard after 3 days off but felt very satisfying. The Aerobics Room is briefly unexpectedly populated. But the other 3 people stay only for a minute or two to do just a quick set. One does a few rotations of a jump rope. Another walks the width of the room with a loaded barbell held straight overhead. A fellow groans while performing crunches on a large exercise ball. And then, they are all gone. I restrict myself to 25 reps for push-ups since I have an eye doctor appointment on Wednesday and I'd like to keep my IOPs within the teens. 

Today is Seated Cable Rows and I do my usual hammer grip pull-ups beforehand. My legs hang straight down and cross at the ankles this time. It's probably better form than crossing my ankles but bending my knees so that my feet are behind me. And loads better than curling my body so that my knees pull in toward my abdomen. I squeeze out 18 and feel quite pleased.

I perform standard rows with the same weights and reps I have been using for the past few weeks but something is off. When I'm done, my lower back is stiff and there's an unpleasant vibratory sensation that starts below my tailbone and echoes up my spine. WTF?! Ninety-two and a half is too heavy? Ugh. Aging isn't any fun and really annoying because no one tells you that things you could do last week might not be possible the following week. Or I could just be having an "off" day?

What's really annoying is that I've put on a few pounds again. In my mind, I've been blaming that egg in my oatmeal that I eat most mornings (so I'm not starving at the dog park), but it's more likely the fact that I'm chronically sleep-deprived. And that will make the body gain weight by stimulating appetite and slowing metabolic processes. Ugh. When I'm tired I'm chronically cold and hungry. And that makes me want to eat. But getting enough sleep is a lot harder than just simply going to bed earlier. I'm happiest going to bed at midnight and rising around 8 am, but that doesn't happen during the school year. And 8 will be a tad too late this summer as well. But even 7:30 would be an improvement over 6 am. 

14 June 2021
Stormy Monday

Precor elliptical
30 min + 5 cool down
Program 2
HR 145-194
Cal 320
Distance 2.87

Crunches x 60 x 2
Piriformis Stretch
40 Dead Bugs x 2
Plank 60s
Fire Hydrants 30 x 2
Bird Dogs 60s x 2
Push-Ups 25
Mat stretch w Seated Twist

HGPU 18

EZ Seated Cable Rows
70lbs x 15 reps
77.5 x 12
85 x 10
92.5 x 8
85 x 12
77.5 x 12
70 x 15