And a Haunted Halloween to You Too

I only got a few hours sleep last night and not because my house is haunted. If ghosts exist, they don't reside at my place -- I know of several dogs and a few people who have passed on here in this house, so no doubt in my mind that ghosts are not real. My weariness is real though and I struggle to get my exercise routine done.

It's Halloween and only a few women come attired in what might be considered festively appropriate gear. One woman shows up in her son's girlfriend's Ghost Buster outfit, which is oddly inflated like a Macy's Turkey Day parade balloon. Another woman wears a pumpkin-colored sweatshirt with embroidered pumpkins. I have my Halloween Jack tank top and fiery orange Joe Boxer pajama pants I got from Kmart years ago. The top is a bit tight so I'm glad that I'm not planning to do anything more than my usual exercises.

The gym is chilly and I keep my hoodie on throughout all 25 minutes of cardio, removing it only to do the lone set of pull-ups because the hood itself won't stay on my head (probably because of my hair clip) and hangs off the back, pulling the zippered front against my throat  when I'm reaching up. I'm very sensitive to fabrics and how they feel and fit. I struggle with pull-ups today though so I'm not very happy. Maybe only getting a few hours of turbulent sleep is really having an effect. More likely it's a combination of that and emotional stress. 

Everything else seems easy and routine, so that's a relief. I assuage guilt at only doing 25 minutes of cardio by hopping onto the Step Mill. Only one is functional today. The other has a sign saying Under Repair. Being a small business owner is akin to treading water furiously, with equipment constantly breaking down and needing repair or replacement. The showers have needed to be snaked for weeks now because drain cleaner isn't enough to combat all the hair that goes down with each use. But the gym owner won't make the call until the showers pool enough water to suggest koi ponds in the rain. These services cost money. I'm certain he fired his cleaning company during the pandemic and has his front desk staff do double-duty. It's no wonder he's manning the front desk himself a lot of the mornings now. 

Well, at least my son is going Trick or Treating with his friends this evening, in costume, at The Point, the wealthy enclave in town that sits on the big lake itself. Apparently, that's where all the good candy is. I want him to enjoy his HS life even as college applications loom. He's been accepted into the National Honor Society, as well as the school's own Math Honor Society. He thinks it all rather silly and pointless. Wait until he gets out into the real world.

31 October 2022
Halloween Monday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 3
Time: 20 min + 5 min cd (4036)
Distance: 2.04
Cal: 227
Avg Hr: 150, 188-89

HGPU 21

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 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga x 3

StepMill (L)
Manual 10 min
Speed 6 (52-55)
Steps 536 / 539
Floors 33
Cal 78 / 79
Hr 138 / 145

Fatigue Friday

The sun is out but it's chilly and I'm tired. I'm ever hopeful that my efforts will effect positive changes. But patience is exhausting, like hanging onto a raft in turbulent waters at night, wondering if the shoreline is near. I'm getting a bit too comfortable with the abbreviated cardio session but it helps me manage my time when I have too many things to do. I like to end the week with the DB shoulder routine I did last week. It feels pretty good but I'm glad I haven't increased the weights to the 25s. 

The dog's needle biopsy report came back as a cyst and as long as it's not causing trouble, getting inflamed or infected, causing pain or growing hugely, I can safely ignore it. The dog is pretty much oblivious to it anyway, although, because he's white, I have been finding myriad tick nymphs crawling along the surface of his fur. He's on Simparica Trio for Dogs so I'm not worried about him getting ticks or fleas, just that the tick might fall off him while he's on the sofa and latch onto one of us humans.

The gym is cold but not really crowded, although I need to turn up the volume of my tunes because Tank and B spend a lot of time chatting at the next station. It seems as if they spend more time talking than lifting; that would be normal for them. Of course, Tank is big and lifts big and heavy things, and B likes to talk mainly about herself. I don't have time or patience for them or that.

I don't have patience for a lot of things today. My son has cancelled his plans to make a costume because all his friends are going to parties but he hasn't been invited to any of them. I know what it feels like to be left out and my heart hurts for him. I'm hoping he finds his place at college where he'll make real friends, where he'll find his tribe. Adolescence is hard if you're not a jock or pretty or the popular kid.

28 October 2022
Chilly Friday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 2
Time: 20 min + 5 min cd (4122)
Distance: 2.06
Cal: 231
Avg Hr: 139, 194-83

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 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga x 3

DB Incl Press s/s Lat Raise s/s Rev Inc Fly
10 lbs x 25/15/25 reps warmup
15 lbs x 20/15/25
20/15/20 lbs x 20/15/25 reps x 3

Done

My chest feels like something heavy is pressing against it. It's the weight of grief. I've felt it before, when a beloved pup has passed, when my parents died, when my first husband destroyed himself. No one has died; I'm bracing myself for the end of a relationship, specifically, my marriage. Ultimately, it comes down to whether my spouse will choose sobriety or descend further into his alcoholism. We had a good sober run for years: when we first dated, when we got married, when we had our baby. I count at least a dozen plus years. But as soon as his parents declined and then passed, he slipped back into habits that I only knew about in stories.

It's been several years of an emotionally exhausting roller coaster ride that I don't want to participate in anymore. With my child posed to enter college next year, I dread the idea of being alone in the house with a person who transforms in a matter of hours from a reasonable, personable human being into a stumbling, slurring, foul-mouthed tantrum-throwing drunk. This doesn't happen every day but often enough. I wake in the middle of the night to find him throwing things across the bedroom because he can't find something, or he can't make his earbuds work. Broken plates in the kitchen, lost flatware in the trash, whole cases of dog food in the shrubs outside because why? He doesn't remember. 

I'm done. I'm not sure what the next step is but this is the first step: saying out loud that I'm done with this. He gets up and goes to work. We are barely talking to each other because there is very little to say. I get up and take my son to the school bus stop, then I go to the gym. Later, the dogs go to the park. My chest still hurts but I pedal the elliptical, not the full 35 minutes but enough to get me warmed up. I do two sets of pull-ups and all my core exercises. Temps will peak near 60F today but drop into the high 30s tonight. The sun feels good when I sit in the Bark Park. Later, I'll pick my son up from school and drive him to a craft store for costume-making materials. It's a bit late and I don't think anyone's going Trick or Treating since Halloween falls on a Monday this year. I've told him that Halloween is more fun at college... And he still has a kung fu class this evening.

27 October 2022
Thursday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 1
Time: 20 min + 5 min cd (4046)
Distance: 2.04
Cal: 227
Avg Hr: 144, 194 max

HGPU 23

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 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga x 3

HGPU 21

Unseasonably Warm and Humid

It was 60F this morning and drizzly. My head is still foggy. The parking lot is unusually crowded for a Tuesday but I still get a spot reasonably close to the door. I'm having trouble getting started and I cut 10 minutes off my cardio workout to make up the time. At least the humidity makes warming up on the elliptical easy.

Core is routine but I'm still lagging. However, I'm able to use the breaker bench of my choice with the 30 lb solid BB. All the magnetic discs are stuck to the DB rack, which is fine. I see the smaller 1.25 discs but opt to use the larger 2.5 lb ones since I used them last week without any issues. Taking my time allows me to rest the wonky elbows and wrists. Today it's the hands that feel sensitive to pressure, maybe due to the low barometric pressure from the storm system that's giving us this weirdly warm but rainy weather.

Pups are still headed to the park though as a bit of rain and wind doesn't faze them. They'll still tear through the wet leaves with great joy. Hopefully I'll get a call from the vet this week telling me what the needle biopsy found in that little shoulder bump...

25 October 2022
Rainy Foggy-Headed Tuesday


Precor elliptical #1
Program 3
Time: 20 min + 5 min cd (4070)
Distance: 2.05
Cal: 229
Avg Hr: 140, 178-93

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 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga x 3

Skull Crushers / Rip Skulls
30 lbs x 12 reps each x 2
35 lbs x 12/12 reps x 3 sets

Foggy Inside and Out

It's going to be raining for the next few days and my head feels just as overcast and foggy as the weather outside. It might be genetic as I suffer from sinus issues, as did both my parents. Overall, I'm not very motivated and feel as if I'm not only moving but also thinking in slow motion. Not a great start to the week!

Well, at least I get to the gym and am able to pedal the elliptical of my choice. The other Precors seem to be fixed as well but no one else is pedaling. There are a lot of people on the treadmills though. While pedaling, I notice a tall old guy in the Stretch Cage. He doesn't seem to be doing much stretching and I hope he's gone by the time I get there to do pull-ups. Luckily he wanders off to some of the machines after standing around looking confused. 

While I'm pedaling, I experience a twinge in my left lower back. Ugh. After a few minutes, it disappears and now just the glute is a bit sore. Weird. But my body is weird like that. I read an article over the weekend about lower back pain relief in the form of... exercise! And it listed most of the ones I do during my Core Plus routine, like planks, bird dogs and dead bugs. Because having a strong core is key to lower back relief, and while crunches work abs, planks and dead bugs work deeper and smaller core muscles. Or at least that's what the article says... unfortunately, I forgot to bookmark the article so I can't reference it. 

Apparently the class that was supposed to occupy the Aerobics Room has morphed into a somewhat chaotic group of seniors moving around the different stations in the functional gym area. It's really crowded and loud, and not unlike some weird mixers I've been to back in my college days. It's good to change things up though.

I'm mildly relieved that there's someone in the Stretch Cage when I exit the Aerobics Room. It means I'm not attempting a second set of pull-ups. But I do have to take the pups to the park. Because my dogs don't care about rain, and won't understand why there's no one else there to run through all the wet leaves.

24 October 2022
Rainy Foggy-Headed Monday


Precor elliptical #1
Program 2
Time: 30 min + 5 min cd (5636)
Distance: 2.85
Cal: 317
Avg Hr: 145, 194-78, 80, 85

HGPU 23

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 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga x 3

Fatigue from Cold

I know it's October but I'm still not ready for dark mornings requiring me to defrost the car windshield because temps dipped to 34F. Still, I thought it prudent to unearth the snow shovels and bring them to the house, just in case, even though the afternoon hits a high of 60. It's pleasantly warm in the sun. The gym is absolutely frigid though and most members are clad in heavy sweatshirts. 

There are a few souls who run hot and are appropriately dressed in shorts and tanks as if it were 30 degrees warmer. I'm not one of them. In fact, I'm having trouble busting a sweat, mostly because I'm pedaling the cross-trainer this morning. Lazy Pedals is draped over the elliptical and I've no desire to be anywhere in the vicinity. I only take off my hoodie to lay down on the mat in the Aerobics Room because doing the Child's Pose has me face down and I prefer my nose to be against something I personally know has been laundered, and not a foam mat that I've given a quick wipe. I'm feeling spacey and could easily take a nap if only there wasn't a class scheduled...

I also have to take my hoodie off when I set up at the Breaker Inclined Bench for my shoulder routine, because once again, one of my positions has me face down on the bench. This routine normally has me breathing hard with an elevated heart rate and a moist face. Today it's all that but no sweating. This might also be explained by my fatigue. When I'm tired, I tend to stay cold. Sometimes being tired also gets confused with hunger (I did hear my stomach rumble during cardio). I stick with doing 3 sets at the not-quite-as-heavy-as-I-can-go weights because being tired also increases the chance for injury. 

Tomorrow I'll get to sleep in a bit so hurrah! But I'll still takes pups to the park and hopefully one of the dogs will finally get over being left home from the ride to the vet yesterday. He's been particularly needy and quite nasty to his brother even though he hates car rides and especially going to the vet. All he knows though, is that his brother got something he didn't. It's like having perpetual toddlers... but I'm not complaining. Really.

21 October 2022
LF x-t Cold Friday

LF X-trainer # 3
Program manual L1
Time: 20 min + 5 min cd
Distance: 2.68
Cal: 200
Avg Hr: 118-134

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 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga x 3

DB Incl Press s/s Lat Raise s/s Rev Inc Fly
10 lbs x 25/15/20 reps
15 lbs x 20/15/25
20/15/20 lbs x 20/15/25 reps x 3 sets

Puppy Woes

I've been stressing all day since I found a small bump on my shy pup's left shoulder. It was just a slightly raised, slightly thickened maybe a 1/4 inch in diameter. But the next day it felt a bit larger. It's embedded in the skin, not under it like a fatty tumor. And today it's definitely bigger. I made an appointment for my pup to see the doc, but of course, I need to dose him with a half tab of gabapentin the night before and the morning of.

It doesn't help that this morning the other dog chases my husband through the house because he needs to go out. Normally both pups are asleep on the sofa, barely raising an eyelid when we leave the house because it's still dark out. And lately it's been 34F, which means frost on the windshield. 

My husband takes the dog out and brings him back. The dog persists in circling me instead, and now his brother is awake and now they both want walkies. So I walk them both and the panicky one actually has a messy poop. I have no idea what he got into but it didn't affect his brother. I'm wearing warm clothes, not my gym clothes. Those I pack into my gym bag just so I can get a workout in. Because I skipped yesterday.

I cut my time on the elliptical down by 10 minutes, but add back cardio with 10 minutes on the stair climber. In between, I do a set of pull-ups and then the core exercises in the Aerobics Room. There's no need for a/c with the back door wide open. 

The dogs only get 30 minutes at the park where they run about like crazy animals. Neither of them act the least bit ill. Poopy pup is upset at being left home while I take the one with the lump on a solo ride to the vet. Where he was exceptionally well-behaved. Because it's his brother that really makes him act up. A needle biopsy was performed and sometime next week, we'll find out what this weird bump is...

20 October 2022
Thursday Puppy Woes

Precor elliptical #1
Program 1
Time: 20 min + 5 min cd (3936)
Distance: 2.00
Cal: 221
Avg Hr: 137, 183-75

HGPU 23

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 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga x 3

StepMill (L)
Manual 10 min
Speed 6 (52-55)
Steps 536 / 534
Floors 33
Cal 78
Hr 138 / 133

Sore From the Walk

Oddly, my hips were aching last night before I went to bed. I doubt it was from all the weekend trekking so I can only surmise that it was a reaction to my normal core routine at the gym, specifically fire hydrants. Doing 25 reps per side every day loosens the tight hip muscles laterally, but it's never made me sore before. My lower back is also tired and the back of my right thigh threatens to spasm if pushed too hard. Bearing all that in mind, I still climb onto the elliptical but cut the time to 20 plus minutes.

I take my time in the Aerobics Room because I'm tired and I'd rather lay on the mat looking at my phone rather than doing crunches and planks. But, eventually I do everything on my list, including eye yoga. Looking down while not moving my head is getting easier and my eyeballs don't ache as much. Side to side is still weird though.

Out in the free weight area, the smallest (1.25 lbs) magnetic discs are missing but there are 3 pairs of the larger 2.5 lb discs. Chatty B and Tank are leaning on the inclined bench backed up to the breaker bench I picked on which to do my tricep exercises. My sinuses suddenly start to burn, as if someone's wearing a lot of cheap cologne and I exclaim to myself aloud, "That's giving me a headache!" because it is. The noxious fumes dissipate once people retreat to their own workstations. I'm not sure if they heard me (I am wearing earbuds so I can't gauge how loud my voice was) but the results are what count: no more irritating odor and no more headache. 

I'm able to do the slightly heavier weight only because I cut back a few reps for the second set when my elbow and wrists started to complain. And took longer than normal rest periods between sets. But I have better things to do than stand around draped over equipment doing mandible exercises. Like taking pups to the park so they can tear through all the wet fallen leaves.

18 October 2022
Abbreviated Late Start Tuesday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 3
Time: 20 min + 5 min cd (3920)
Distance: 2.01
Cal: 222
Avg Hr: 137, maximum 200-81

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 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga x 3

Skull Crushers / Rip Skulls
30 lbs x 12/12 reps
35 lbs x 12/12, 10/10, 12/12

Autumn Walking Weekend

It was the perfect autumn weekend for touring college campuses or walking expansive fairgrounds. Foliage was spectacular and temps were extremely mild. My phone keeps track of my steps and tells me that Saturday's stroll through the University of Connecticut amounted to close to 11,000 steps, and yesterday's visit to the Sheep & Wool Festival at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds came in at nearly 9,000. 

While that sounds like a lot compared to my normally nearly sedentary weekend activities, keep in mind that a normal gym workout includes approximately 5500 cardio steps. Plus anywhere from 2600 to 5800 additional steps depending on what errands I have to run afterward.

It's overcast and rainy all day today and the gym is a bit more crowded than I'm used to. Or at least the treadmills are busier. I get on the elliptical and pedal the next program on my list: I ended the week with Program 1 so today is Program 2. Mondays are always hard! But I can do a set of pull-ups before heading to the relative cool and quiet of the Aerobics Room. The rest of the routine is routine and I'm tempted to take a little nap while lying on the floor. But I don't.

When I exit the Aerobics Room, I see Snow Bird in the Stretch Cage, which is fine by me and I'm glad for an excuse to not do a second set of pull-ups. Just as well! I need to buy some groceries before picking my pups up from the doggy daycare/spa. We'll be doing something similar to this next month when we visit a different university upstate...

17 October 2022
Walking Weekend Monday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 2
Time: 30 min + 5 min cd (5522)
Distance: 2.82
Cal: 312
Avg Hr: 131, 176-114

HGPU 23

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 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga x 3

Better Than Expected

I hit the 5-minute snooze but didn't fall back asleep. Instead, I luxuriated in the warmth of several blankets while stretching and flexing my hands, toes and legs while lying in bed. The snooze is just in case I actually do fall back to sleep. That'd be catastrophic! We'd miss the school bus and I'd have to drive my son so he wouldn't miss his first period class. Half the time that class is PE (gym) which he doesn't really care about, but the other half it's College Anatomy Lab, something extremely interesting.

I'm tired and not just because I'm only getting 5-6 hrs of sack time. It's also because that time is inevitably interrupted by either needing to pee in the middle of the night, or someone else needing to wander the house in the middle of the night, probably to pee. Ugh. So, it's like having a couple of decent naps, which is actually how people slept before there were inventions like electric lights or streaming services. Sleeping 7-8 hrs straight is apparently a new thing in the history of humankind...

Elliptical 1 is available although #2 has an Out of Service sign on it. Well, that precludes Lazy Pedals and his pal from hogging machines 1 and 2... I do much better today with Program 1 than earlier this week. Which means I'm also dripping with sweat when done. That makes me feel better. I'm tempted to nap in the Aerobics Room though as I cool down and dry off. It's always a temptation!

There's a lot of newbies in the free weight area which means every single inclined bench is occupied. Ugh. I decide to climb stairs for 10 minutes. As soon as I set up on the Step Mill, all the folks in the free weight area disperse to the Cybex machines. Ah, if only I could've known ahead of time. I still do the steps, and then my shoulder routine. The additional cardio warmup doesn't adversely affect anything.  

While massaging the tender spot inside my wrist yesterday, I traced the discomfort up the anterior forearm to just below the elbow. It's early tendinitis that I have to keep my eye on! I rub some Penetrex into the afflicted area and hope it feels better later. This makes me reconsider using the 25 lb DBs for the shoulder workout because that's very stressful on my child-size hands and wrists. 

Sets with 15s and 20s are good enough and don't risk the same repetitive stress injury that I'm prone to. The wrist twinged slightly while on the elliptical (maybe the way I'm gripping the hand rails?) but didn't bother me during any other movements. I'm just happy it's not full-blown carpal tunnel, 'cuz that's really incapacitating.

14 October 2022
Fatigue Friday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 1
Time: 30 min + 5 min cd (5700)
Distance: 2.87
Cal: 319
Avg Hr: 143, 192-78

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 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga x 3

Free weight area super crowded!

StepMill (L)
Manual 10 min
Speed 6 (52-55)
Steps 535 / 536
Floors 33
Cal 78 / 78
Hr 147 / 138

EZ day right wrist forearm tendinitis
DB Incl Press s/s Lat Raise s/s Rev Inc Fly
10 lbs x 25/15/20 reps
15 lbs x 20/15/25
20/15/20 lbs x 20/15/25 reps x 3 sets

Foggy Inside and Out

The autumnal foliage show is spectacular this year, especially since we were all dreading how the drought (yes, we're still under a drought watch) would make all the leaves a uniform paper bag brown. It's happened in past years, but a late deluge has perked up the colors! Trees are hued from gold, orange, red and deep magenta between stands of dark green. After this storm though, the wind might knock everything to the ground. Today, the sky is overcast and foggy. My head is clouded too and I'm having trouble focusing. Some people get achy knees; I get brain fog.

Pedaling the elliptical makes everything better although it was a struggle. I only do one set of pull-ups today; my right wrist is twinging oddly and reminds me of a bout of carpal tunnel I had decades ago. There's also a knot in my right trap. Ugh. Core and stretching feel routine although I suspect it will be some days before the soreness in my glute fully dissipates.

I read more disturbing news about blood types and the propensity for certain cancers. Type O have all the luck, and type B don't. But I'm a little shocked to read that snoring also increases the risk for cancer. What? I don't think I snore, except for the time I woke myself up one night. But I know plenty of men who do: when you're camping in a tent, you can hear everyone else in their tents too. Of course, the good news is that lifting weights in conjunction with cardio leads to a longer, healthier life. But, we all knew that already!

13 October 2022
Overcast Thursday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 3
Time: 30 min + 5 min cd (5504)
Distance: 2.81
Cal: 310
Avg Hr: 140, 186-127

HGPU 23

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 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga x 3

Looking Better Tired

Mirror glare
makes my hair
look more gray!

My body plays an interesting trick on me: when I'm exhausted from sleep deprivation, I look great when I wake up in the morning, with smooth glowing skin. However, when I've gotten the requisite 7-8, my face tends to be puffy and there are bags under my eyes. The alarm goes off and I really want to turn over and go back to sleep. Nothing like having vivid dreams interrupted by the need to make the school bus. The main road is super busy. It's Wednesday but the gym parking lot has a lot less cars than usual, and the gym itself isn't as crowded as it should be mid-week. Is it a holiday that I don't know about?

I already know that cardio is gonna suck, and I'm not wrong. But it's not horrible. In fact, it's slightly better than yesterday, in spite of a really sore glute. I tripped backward yesterday while taking photos in the dark at my son's Scout meeting. Our normal meeting place was unavailable so we were at the park, under a well-lit pavilion. 

The senior Scouts were teaching younger potential members how to set up tents in the actual playground area which is not lit. And in taking photos, I didn't see the rubber edging that holds the wood mulch in place because it's dark and I'm moving backward. I land on my well-padded derriere: the gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the human body. While there's no actual discoloration, I am really sore. Thank goodness I can sort of relax while doing triceps...

The rest of my routine is routine but after all the noise I make about body awareness and the lack thereof, I find I need to use a mirror to keep my face/neck from sinking toward the floor while doing push-ups. At least I don't walk with my neck craned forward. Or, at least I don't think I do... 

Meanwhile, I've been reading an interesting article about body fat. It's apparently not just the lard we see Oprah carting in a wagon. It's metabolically active and can be healthy or unhealthy. It generates hormones. It's an organ, like skin.

12 October 2022
Fatigue Wednesday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 2
Time: 30 min + 5 min cd (5562)
Distance: 2.83
Cal: 314
Avg Hr: 145, 196-75


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 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga x 3

Skull Crushers / Rip Skulls
30 lbs x 12 reps each x 2
32.5 lbs x 12/12 x 3 total sets

Colder Darker Mornings

We celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary this weekend even though the actual date was last week. When we were both too busy to actually sit down at a nice restaurant and have a memorable dinner. We ordered the "tomahawk rib eye steak for two" with sides, soup and dessert. There was enough to take home for two more meals! Sides of truffle mac & cheese, asparagus, brussel sprouts, and onion rings. Our son had his usual strip steak, and we shared a serving of toasted almond cake. This has been the only place where there's actual toasted almonds on the cake instead of a hint of almond flavor.

I also spent the weekend stacking firewood, and I'm pleased to say that I'm finally done. My lower back aches a bit though, mostly from bending over and pulling logs from the pyramid of wood split last summer. I'm so glad I got a 2-wheel wheelbarrow! I'm estimating that each full load was over 100 pounds that needed to be dragged, pushed and pulled up and down hills until I could stack the pieces neatly in my front yard. At least the sciatica was quiet.

 

My son also finished his Eagle project this weekend, and we're all relieved to get one more thing off the list. He still has a lot of paperwork to submit, but at least it'll be done before he turns 18. That's the age Scouts age out.

I get to the gym and do my routine. Yesterday was a holiday so no school, and no gym for me because I'm not getting up at 6 AM unless I have to. On the Precor elliptical, Program 1 is technically the easiest but in reality, the hardest because of the low elevation for most of it. Program 3 has the highest elevations and leaves me sweaty and breathless, and yet, it's easier. I'm a little sweaty after 35 minutes, but mostly I'm just hungry. And that sucks.

Thankfully, pull-ups aren't too hard, at least until I get to rep 20. Both sets. Yep, I manage to do two sets today in spite of my abysmal cardio performance. But I'm okay with all of it since crunches, dead bugs, planks, push-ups and air squats feel routine. I've been noticing while doing eye yoga that I can see the outer edges of my eyelids on the horizontal axis. It's kind of disturbing. Just like always seeing your nose when you look down. But your brain filters that all out unless you focus.

11 October 2022
Chilly Post 3-Day Wknd Tuesday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 1
Time: 30 min + 5 min cd (5522)
Distance: 2.81
Cal: 311
Avg Hr: 143, 185-78

HGPU 23

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 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga x 3 (right eye lid edge!)

HGPU 23

A Ladder Routine

It's been over a year since I used that newfangled cardio machine the Octane LX8000. I copy the data and then step on. After 23 minutes, my legs are a little tired and I'm kind of warmed up, but not really sweating. And while most of the data is similar to that from last year, the one big difference is "mileage." For roughly the same calories and steps, I've not even covered half the distance. An additional 140 steps isn't going to make up for another 1.62 miles. 

The settings are the same: Manual 1, lateral 4. Not really sure why the machine is giving me values for Watts and METs. (I have to look that up later to learn that METs is a measurement of cardio intensity and Watts is for resistance. Okay, that might be useful if I decide to do this again in the future. But I really miss having a breathlessly sweaty workout, so the Precor elliptical is still my favorite.) Today, two out of four of the Precors are occupied and no one's on the treadmill.

Core seems mindless. Or maybe I should say that crunches and dead bugs are too easy even at 60 reps each. But I keep to variations that won't trigger a sciatic attack because those are just awful and debilitating. The Inclined Breaker Benches are free and I choose the one without an olympic bar in the holders. That's one less thing to worry about when doing inclined DB presses. There's a smattering of people rotating through the free weight area. Most of the women are working legs: squats, hack squats, lunges, hip thrusts. Except for the one ditzy gal who trails the gym owner and squeals when he sets her up with the shiny, pretty chromed BBs on an adjustable bench. She's bigger than I am but this might be her first training session.

I focus on doing my shoulder routine and everything is going as planned. But the 25s feel unstable in my hands and the right shoulder worries me. After completing the set, I decide that doing a ladder (increasing then decreasing) would give me enough reps to satisfy a workout requirement without endangering myself. Yes, I'm concerned about having the 25 slip out of my hand and fall on me. That would really hurt! My knee is already bruised purple from dogs running recklessly at the park and slamming into me while leading a pack of galloping canine ruffians... No need for further injuries.

7 October 2022
Changeable Friday

Octane LX8000 (Vs July 2021)
20 min +3 cool down
Program Manual 1 lateral 4
HR 121-156 / 85-156, 122 avg
Cal 160 / 156
Distance 3.09 / 1.47
Floor 49 / 47
Steps 2956 / 2816

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 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga x 3 (right eye lid edge!)

DB Incl Press s/s Lat Raise s/s Rev Inc Fly
(ladder up/down)
10 lbs x 25/15/20 reps
15 lbs x 20/15/25
20/15/20 lbs x 20/15/25 reps
25/15/25 x 25/15/25
20/15/25 x 25/15/25
15 lbs x 20/15/25

The Rain Has Gone

I skipped the gym yesterday and the day before and torrential rains were only partly to blame. I can finally see the floor in my son's room, and now have 3 large trash bags of almost brand-new shirts and pants that he's never going to wear. Luckily, the HS is having a clothing drive in a few weeks so these bags now live in my hallway until then. 

I suspect we're over that drought watch now, and leaves are definitely starting to flame bright orange and red, although the red Japanese maple in my front yard isn't even close to any sort of crimson. More like a dusty brown on top and green underneath. It also needs pruning because the tree now overhangs the roof. It's gotten really big in 30 years!

Today is Thursday, an off day, and the gym's not horribly crowded. Elliptical #1 is available and I'm pedaling program 3. I try to vary the programs even if the core exercises are exactly the same each time I work out. Pull-ups are better today. Everything else is routine. I decide to work on triceps and luckily the Breaker Bench I like is vacant. Unfortunately, just as I'm about to approach the BB rack, a chubby girl with giant headphones grabs the 30 lb bar. I've never seen her before and I don't want to stare but she has that Down's syndrome look. She's probably perfectly normal but again, I'm not staring so... I grab the 20 lb bar and every magnetic disc I can find: three 2.5 pounders and a pair of slim 1.25 discs. I use them all to bring the bar up to 30 lbs, but it still feels ridiculously light. 

Just as I'm about to do the first set of my routine, the girl finishes her one set of BB Upright Rows and re-racks the bar. I bite my lip and do my 2 sets before exchanging the barbells where I slap two 1.25 lb discs onto the 30 lb bar. Six more sets at 32.5 lbs starts to wear on my elbows. I could add more weight but I'd have to cut the reps down to 6-8 and I'm not sure how the elbows and wrists will react. 

Today's my wedding anniversary: 21 years. Of course, it's a weekday, there's school and after school activities, and tonight the HS is offering a meeting on financial aid for the college bound and their parents. Also, the husband is working tonight and won't get home until the wee hours... so we'll celebrate this weekend. Probably at a local steakhouse. Yum.

6 October 2022
Anniversary Thursday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 3
Time: 30 min + 5 min cd (5618)
Distance: 2.85
Cal: 316
Avg Hr: 152, 188-79

HGPU 23

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 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga x 3 (right eye lid edge!)

Skull Crushers / Rip Skulls
30 lbs x 12 reps each x 2
(20 lbs BB w/ 5 lbs each side)
32.5 lbs x 12/12 x 3 total sets

Hate That Machine

I was in the middle of a dream when the alarm woke me up and I've been slogging all morning, first because 45F is kind of chilly and second, because I'm tired from trekking around at the NY Garlic Festival yesterday, and third, eating poorly. Well, eating unhealthily... like sharing a giant slice of strawberry shortcake with my son, or eating popcorn slathered with garlic butter. 

Too much fat and too much salt. I'm paying for it today. I feel like a slug. The weather is brisk and overcast and the gym is kind of crowded. No one on the treadmills but at least 3 different women on the ellipticals. So I get on the LF cross-trainer. Not fond of this machine, but better than the treadmill...

However, every time I use the cross-trainer, I lose a bit of stamina from my shoulders. This is evident in pull-ups because I don't feel strong and confident and that's unusual. It's a struggle to make it to 20. And because of that, I make sure to do a second set after all is done, and I can squeak out one more rep. I also do 10 minutes of stair climber to bring cardio to 35 minutes total. Maybe tomorrow will be better...

 

3 October 2022
Brisk Tired Monday


LF X-trainer # 3
Program manual
Time: 20 min + 5 min cd
Distance: 2.75
Cal: 201
Avg Hr: 115-140

HGPU 20

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 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga

StepMill (L)
Manual 10 min
Speed 6 (52-55)
Steps 542
Floors 33
Cal 79
Hr 135

HGPU 21