Boxing Day

The term Boxing Day has always made me imagine turn-of-the-century pugilists, bare-chested and bare-knuckled with handlebar mustaches facing off in a makeshift ring. The day after Christmas has always been marked Boxing Day and I've never known why until yesterday when I chanced upon an article explaining the practice of giving gifts (boxes?) to the poor. 

Today is Boxing Day and there's no school and I don't have to wake up before the sun is up. Instead, I wake up and it's already morning, the clocks says it's 9 AM, and I can have an entire mug of coffee before taking the pups to the park. I'll hit the gym afterward, after feeding the dogs.

It's almost 1 pm by the time I get to the gym and the parking lot is full. Not everyone is at the gym. The movie theater is open as well. But the gym is crowded because there are high school and college kids as well as regulars who I haven't seen since the last time I came late. It's reassuring to see familiar faces even if I don't speak to any of them.

Cardio goes well. I'm a little shocked. It's been 4 days since I last worked out. But then again, it's been several hours since I woke up and I'd already had coffee and been to the dog park. Pull-ups go less well, and the last 3 reps are a real struggle. Thankfully, core exercises proceed like a no-brainer, even the side bridges. Because the first set of pull-ups ended with such difficulty, I do a second set. It's a lot harder after the first dozen. Well, at least the first dozen were good. 

My sciatica still bothers me, but less than before. Ibuprofen and gabapentin help. I wish it was totally better. I just have to keep doing what I'm doing which is basically cardio, stretches, core, light weights that don't aggravate those nerves... 

The new year will see temps in the 50s, a shock considering how low temps have been. Maybe the ice on our road will actually melt away before school starts for the new year. One night my thermometer dipped to zero. I'm not sure it registers neg numbers, but it is a digital thermometer. The cold has probably shortened the battery's lifespan...

26 December 2022
Frigid post Christmas Monday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 3
Time: 30 + 5 (5794)
Distance: 2.90
Cal: 325
Avg Hr: 154, 190-79

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 / Cobra Pose
Side bridge planks 10 each side
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga

HGPU 21