Focus

Tropical Storm Elsa was brief but intense, causing near white-out driving conditions and flash flooding on roadways. I know because I was driving home with groceries when the sky got dark and suddenly it was raining torrents. My son was still at camp and the skies had cleared briefly when it was time to pick him up. Then it rained again and didn't stop until nearly noon today. No park for the puppies. They're quite disappointed because the sun did pop out this afternoon in a blaze of brilliance and heat. And tomorrow I'll have to bring them to the park super early with my fingers crossed that no large dogs will be there because it's time for the annual NYS auto safety inspection. 

Next time I'm taking my car to the Valvoline because it won't take them an hour. I'm supportive of small businesses but when the local auto shop sends you an email with a link to make appointments that start at 7:30 AM and then emails you three days later to say that well, they don't actually open until 8 and by the time they get started it'll be 8:30 so drop your car off and pick it up after 9:30... Well, maybe I have better things to do with my time?

I get to the gym with enough time to do cardio, core and some stretching, and since camp got cancelled today (because no one could really tell how long TS Elsa would be in town), I don't have to rush back. I've cut down on crunches and dead bugs because core is core. No need to go crazy. Since my left knee is sensitive and the hip is a bit off (it's hard to explain), I've stopped doing the piriformis stretch on the left side. Pushing a bent left knee to stretch out the piriformis muscle actually injures that knee, which in a domino-like fashion, causes issues with the sartorius muscle where it inserts into the lower anterior hip. My chronic sciatica is on the right 90% of the time so I'm only doing the stretch on the right side.

This gives me time to do those Air-Squats, and more importantly, a round of Eye Yoga movements. The most basic of these (the only one I do) has me seated on the floor staring straight ahead. Without moving head or neck, look up and then back to center. Do it three times. Followed by looking down (again, don't move head or neck) and back to center three times. Then, look as far left as possible without moving. Back to center. Far right and back to center. It's harder than it sounds. Today I'm seated with the stationery bike far behind me, which makes it perfect as a center focal point. It's hard to bring your eyes back to center without a target to lock onto. The same goes for each direction: find an object to target and this exercise gets a tad easier. 

The DB area isn't too crowded so this is my chance to do shoulders. The Muscle-Up girl is standing inches from the DB rack so I motion to her to back up a bit. So many people, newbies and pros, position themselves so that no one can use any of the equipment directly in front of them. I'm sure it's not intentional, just a complete lack of awareness of everyone around you. It's one thing to act that way, but another to actually be oblivious to your surroundings. Not cool. 

I get to finish doing a few sets of V-bar Press Downs. I haven't done those in a few weeks so it's nice to get more than one exercise accomplished. I lose count during the heavy set. It's a matter of focus. 

My new gym bag is causing me grief: a zipper keeps poking me in the leg as I walk with it from the car and there's no way to move it. Ugh. I'm not thrilled with all the separate compartments but having different colored plastic bags helps me stay organized. Pulling things in and out of different zippered spaces feels like it takes more time and again, I need to focus or I can't figure out where things go, like shoes, clean vs dirty clothes and wet towels. It was easier with the old gym bag and a few bags but I'm unable to find a reasonably priced gym bag of the right dimensions.

9 July 2021
TS Elsa Friday

Precor elliptical
30 min + 5 cool down
Program 2
HR 82, 91, 96, 149-195
Cal 329
Distance 2.93

Crunches 60
Piriformis Stretch
50 Dead Bugs
Plank 60s
Fire Hydrants 30 x 2
Bird Dogs 60s x 2
Push-Ups 25
Mat stretch w 3 Eye Yoga
Air Squats 25

DB raises supersets
lateral standing 15 lbs x 15 x 4
Rev Incl flys (w/u) 15 lbs x 20 x 1
20lbs x 20, 20, 25

V-bar Press Downs
20 x 15
30 x 15
40 x 12? (lost count)
30 x 15