The Ides of March

Today is the Ides of March, made famous by Julius Caesar's assassination. Or maybe we should credit Shakespeare for that famously ominous portent? 

Yesterday's workout made my sciatica a little more tolerable today. I haven't resorted to taking ibuprofen yet! The gym was oddly empty and I had my choice of ellipticals! WooHoo! My heart rate seemed very high for most of the program, with the occasional dip, but I didn't really notice anything akin to a pounding heartbeat in my chest. My earbuds ran out of power 5 minutes before the program ended but I didn't want to get off the machine. There's no pause function so I let the earbuds give me a 2-minute warning twice and then they shut themselves off. Luckily, I keep my AirPods in my gear bag and swapped them once I finished cardio. They are not my first choice because they don't muffle enough outside noise and I can't turn my tunes up loud enough to drown anyone out. No pull-ups today and straight to the Aerobics Room. Those core exercises and stretches really alleviate the tightness in my hips and legs.

I'm tempted to do Rip Skulls but see that the steppers are both functional so I opt to spend my 10 minutes there. For the past several weeks, my exercise routine has worked fairly well in keeping my sciatica at bay, until I had to sit in front of my computer all day last Saturday. Pulling and pushing weights could aggravate already inflamed nerves so maybe this week I'll stick to cardio and core. There's always next week after all. At some point, when I get bored enough, I'll see how a wider grip affects my pull-ups. I worry that all it will do is exacerbate my tendency toward elbow tendonitis... It is nice to know though that there are measurable mental and physiological benefits to cardio exercise. Don't we all worry about aging well?

15 March 2021
Sciatic Ides Tuesday Morning

Precor elliptical
Program 2
Time: 30 min + 5 min cd (5844)
Distance: 2.92
Cal: 328
HR: 157-200, 90


Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
Elbow Plank 60s
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12x
Fire Hydrants 25 x 2
Bird Dogs 60s x 2
Child’s Pose
Push-Ups 30
Air Squats 25
Mild Mat stretch w 3 Eye Yoga


Matrix StepMill (L)
Manual 10 min
Speed 6 (52-60)
Step 547
Floors 34
Calories 80
HR: 139