Gross Old Men

I have more milkweeds than I expected and have seen a few monarch butterflies, although there are no signs of caterpillars (except for two I spotted a few weeks ago, but then they disappeared and have not been seen since) or even the tiny blue butterfly eggs on the underside of the leaves. What I am seeing are milkweed beetles, ants, spiders, and a lot of really big bees. I don't mind the bees. I'm also distressed to find that a lot of the plants have leaves that are deformed with curling edges. 

I've never seen this before and a quick search online tells me the plants might be suffering from a spider mite infestation. Ugh. I'll have to gently pinch off the deformed leaves and hose the leaves to flush the mites away. I'm skeptical this will work but I'll at least remove the curled and yellowing leaves.

I get to the gym and avoid the cluster of old men blocking the walk aisle. Maybe they haven't seen each other since before the pandemic, and they're probably all vaccinated but it's still not a reason to stand four deep, inches from each other's faces. And since they are most likely hard of hearing and the ambient music is louder than a whisper, they are also yelling at each other. Uh, no thanks. Sure, they're vaccinated and so am I. But it's still possible to contract the delta variant Covid virus, and I don't want to wear a mask and I don't want to get sick, even if it's not going to be fatal. So, I'll keep my distance. Because people are gross. Especially old men.

I get on the elliptical after stashing my gear in a locker. The old men are still blocking the walk lane. It's a good reason to use the the Octane machine sandwiched between the two ancient and non-working Nexersys stations instead of the one across from the beverage display where people cluster. I've always been uncomfortable in crowds. 

Today I only do cardio and then core and some basic stretches. Push-ups feel easier today. Air-squats even more so: I'm dropping past parallel so I can feel the back of my thighs hit the back of my calves at the bottom of each rep. I'm tempted to see how many pull-ups I can muster but think better of it. Tomorrow, if I have time, I'll work shoulders and try a set of pull-ups beforehand. Otherwise, there's always Friday.

21 July 2021
Another Cardio Wednesday

Precor elliptical
20 min + 5 cool down
Program 1
HR 91, 142-198
Cal 232
Distance 2.07

Octane LX8000
15 min +2 cool down
Program Manual 1 (lateral 4)
HR 129-150, av 136
Cal 118
Distance 1.18
Floors 36
Steps 2214

Crunches 60
Piriformis Stretch
60 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