An Extra Set or Two

It's colder than I expect when I walk out to the car this morning. Although minimally frosted, I still need to direct heat to the windshield before my son and I can leave for the school bus stop. The gym is oddly populated as I only see some of the regulars. Spring Break means a lot of families are traveling for the Easter holiday, some to visit family and others to vacation in warmer climes. Lazy Pedals is on the reclining bike in front of me, and soon he's joined by other regulars who just want to hang out and chat. Ugh.

I tap the Intervals program and set it for 20 minutes. Troughs are preset for incline 4 and resistance 1, while Peaks rise to incline 10 and resistance 8. Eight is too hard on my knees and I manually lower the resistance to 3. There's still a 5-minute cool down afterward. Ten minutes (or halfway) in and I switch direction and pedal backward, changing again at the cool-down. It's a lot less steps, a lot less distance and calories, but it's also 10 minutes less time which I can use later.

There's no one in the Aerobics Room when I enter. Then suddenly there's a fellow doing DB lunges, and a lady stretching on a mat. And then they're gone. And then Lazy Pedals is on a mat in the corner doing some stretch and his buddies M and Tank are there chatting with him. WTF? I have never ever seen him in this room before. I turn my earbuds up higher and leave because I have time for DB Shoulders. 

There's literally no one in the DB area. And then suddenly M, Tank and 2-3 other people are there grunting on benches, or draped over equipment chatting loudly. I turn up my earbuds again. Like I've said before, I like my wired earbuds because I can crank up the music and drown out all this annoying and mindless chatter. Can't do that with the AirPods I have (and only use as a last resort). 

Mindless is listening to a woman drone on about needing to get her hair done because her roots are showing when her hair is clipped up and how dead it all looks. Honestly, I don't care. I don't care that baseball season has started. I don't care about church functions and who's volunteering to make baskets. I'm at a gym, dammit. (I'm gratified to read that my perpetual lack of adequate sleep might be mitigated by exercise. Click here to learn more. I've gifted the article so you don't need to be a subscriber to read it.) 

I have time to include an extra set to the DB mix but remember that after 3 sets on Monday, the "cool down" set seemed light. So today I do 4 sets before the cool down, and this feels much better. Driving home from the gym, I see wild turkeys single file walk across the road into the conservation area from a front yard bird feeder. There are still a dozen birds on the lawn. I look again and a big tom is crossing the road. When he reaches the other side, he ruffles his feathers and gives me a show. Why did the turkey cross the road? To tell you he's the boss.

31 March 2023
Before the Storm Friday

Precor elliptical #1
Program Intervals 4/1 & 10/3
Time: 20 + 5 (3888)
Distance: 2.07
Cal: 230
Avg Hr: 142, 198-80

15 Hip Bridges
Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
15 Hip Bridges
Elbow Plank 60s
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12x
Fire Hydrants 30 x 2
Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga

Incl DB Press s/s Lateral Raises s/s Rev Incline Flys
10 lbs x 25/15/25 warm up
15 lbs x 25/15/25
20/15/20 x 25/15/25 x 4
15 lbs x 25/15/25 "cool down"

Unexpected Chill

The month of March keeps flipping between Jekyll and Hyde, the lamb and the lion. Yesterday was a moderate Spring day in the 50s. Today saw pre-dawn frost on the windshield and a wind chill factor that dropped the thermometer reading from 34F down to the teens. Saturday should hit 60, but with rain. Ah, April Fool's!

I skipped the gym yesterday and tried to track down a venue for my son's Eagle Court of Honor. Since the pandemic, it's been hard to find meeting spaces to host events that aren't outrageously expensive. It's not like we're hosting a prom or banquet. But the Eagle Court of Honor will be more of a big deal than, let's say, a HS graduation party. Because seriously, shouldn't everyone be graduating HS? Of course, my town is a sports-crazy town so maybe a lot of kids have already peaked? Cue Springsteen... 

My son also discovered that he's waitlisted at the last school on his list, and that they will let him know by mid-June whether they have room for him. Meanwhile, all his other schools (where he's been accepted) have deadlines of May 1 for deposits to hold a place for the incoming freshman class. Now he wants to visit the one school we skipped last summer to decide between that one and one slightly closer and slightly smaller. The latter school would be my choice, but one of his friends has accepted a spot at the former and having friends at school is a huge draw. While being waitlisted is disappointing, it's good to learn how to deal with things when they don't go to plan. 

My plan today is to do cardio, core and pull-ups. And that's just what I do. I'm hindered a bit on cardio because my inner left knee hurts when I step. But it's better when I pedal backwards. Eventually the discomfort fades for no reason at all. My body is like that, with arbitrary aches and pains that mysteriously appear and disappear. I got a little paranoid and for a moment I thought it was because I'd turned 63. But then I reassured myself that I've been having sporadic inexplicable pains, aches, burning feelings, etc all my life and it's rare that any of this persists for more than a few hours. 

Tomorrow I'm planning to do cardio, core and the DB Shoulder routine. But maybe I'll switch up the cardio and do Intervals on the elliptical. Because I can't even remember the last time I did that.

30 March 2023
Brisk Thursday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 3
Time: 30+5 (5552)
Distance: 2.82
Cal: 313
Avg Hr: 131, 194-73

HGPU 22

15 Hip Bridges
Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
15 Hip Bridges
Elbow Plank 60s
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12x
Fire Hydrants 30 x 2
Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga

StepMill (L)
Manual 10 min
Speed 6 (52-57)
Steps 526
Floors 32
Cal 77
Hr 136

HGPU 22

Still Slow But...

Precor elliptical Program 2 is a lot harder than Program 1, mainly because there's two sets of fairly steep peaks that I'm trying to "run" up, or realistically, pedal faster on. At least I make it to 2.8, so I'm hoping to do better tomorrow... like I've said before, cardio gets better as the week goes on even as other exertions start to fail. Pull-ups will most likely suck. 

There is no one in the Aerobics Room and that surprises me. But of course, Spring Break for the school district begins next Monday and some folks are already preparing for this most holy of holidays. Easter Sunday is the only day aside from Christmas that my gym is completely closed. Yes, it's open on Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, but for limited hours, so if you're desperate, you could get your exercise fix on. I've barely seen Lazy Pedals and Tat Armband not at all. Other regulars populate the gym so no area is ever totally deserted.

Since I never know how the week will end, I do the DB Shoulder routine today instead of waiting for Thursday or Friday. It goes well enough that I actually add another set at the end. I'm not confident to do a 4th set with the 20 lb DBs because fingers and hands get a bit numb towards the end. But I can drop back to the 15s and that set goes very well. Maybe I should stick a couple of 1.25 lb magnets to the DBs next time? 

There's an ex-model, mom-of-four in front of the freestanding BB rack. You'd think she'd know better than to stand inches from the rack, blocking access to every bar in front of her. People are stupid. And blindly inconsiderate. Even nice people. The fellow who reminds me of Jerry Orbach is in the Seated Chest Press looking a little lost. B and Tank are constantly chatting while M grunts doing heavy single-rep dead lifts. He's always making noise either moaning or slamming plates, or draped in front of the mirror, sitting on the DBs on the rack like an asshat. These are the people I'm glad I don't have to deal with.

I view myself in the mirror wall doing DB Lateral Raises and all I can think is "Wow, I've got some big arms." Not cut and defined, which would be super impressive but I'd need to drop 10 lbs to see that. But I'm big for a petite flower. And for those of you missed that obscure reference, I'm sad that Judy Tenuta passed away last year.

28 March 2023
Foggy Tuesday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 2
Time: 30+5 (5466)
Distance: 2.80
Cal: 309
Avg Hr: 140, 202-82

15 Hip Bridges
Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
15 Hip Bridges
Elbow Plank 60s
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12x
Fire Hydrants 30 x 2
Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga

Incl DB Press s/s Lateral Raises s/s Rev Incline Flys
10 lbs x 25/15/25 warm up
15 lbs x 25/15/25
20/15/20 x 25/15/25 x 3
15 lbs x 25/15/25

Slow and Easy

It wasn't so much getting up and into the car where I felt slow and stodgy. It was pedaling the elliptical and not being able to get close to 2.8 miles. Okay, 2.75 isn't horrible but I've done better. Of course, my HR doesn't usually dip down to 72 either, if that can be believed. I was nervous about pull-ups because of how sluggish cardio was but they were fine. But it's this weird weather, chilly and yet not chilly enough, so I'm warm enough to feel itchy but not sweaty. 

Core feels very routine and the Aerobics Room is cold enough that I put my hoodie back on for push-ups. Back in the main gym, I worry again about the second set of pull-ups. I look up and a regular I haven't seen in a year is on the treadmill. He bears a passing resemblance to the late Jerry Orbach (Law & Order's Det. Lenny Briscoe). Today I do the second set slow and with some thought. Usually, I hate to admit, I'm just trying to knock out as many as I can before my hands and fingers go numb and my arms give out from fatigue. 

Today is different. I'm not rushing. I'm slow and deliberate. And it seems to work because I get my reps. Then off to the step machine where I get pretty breathless pretty quickly. At least I got it all done...

27 March 2023
Painfully Slow Monday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 1
Time: 30+5 (5322)
Distance: 2.75
Cal: 301
Avg Hr: 144, 175-72

HGPU 22

15 Hip Bridges
Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
15 Hip Bridges
Elbow Plank 60s
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12x
Fire Hydrants 30 x 2
Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga

HGPU 22

StepMill (L)
Manual 10 min
Speed 6 (52-57)
Steps 538
Floors 33
Cal 79
Hr 135
 

Double Post Friday

People seem to avoid doing the best they can whenever they can get away with it. My home WiFi was done for two days, not coincidentally since the Comcast bucket truck came and worked on a pole down the road. Suddenly there's a loose wire coiled up on my trash bin and I don't have WiFi! Today, Verizon sent a tech with a bucket truck to reattach the wire. It took him 45 minutes so I'm sure the Comcast crew (it was more than one guy) made a complete mess of everything. There are reasons we no longer use Comcast, and technical incompetence is only one of many. No gym today, but the dogs got to the park at 7:15 so they were calmer when the tech arrived this morning. 

I did go to the gym on Wednesday and Thursday though. And the elliptical I was using started to make a weird clunking sound. I looked down to see that the cover panel below the pedals was sliding down and rattling. It was easy enough to toe the panel back up into its proper position. I didn't even have to dismount! And no more rattling. The elliptical adjacent appears to be suffering from the same ailment and it looks unused. Probably because no one has figured out how to fix it or that they actually can. People are such lazy asses... am I becoming a curmudgeon in my old age? Nah, I've always said people are stupid. Do we think that machine will still be "broken" on Monday? Because people also don't tell the front desk about equipment problems either, as if management can read everyone's mind. 

My quarterly eye exam was yesterday and while the IOPs were decent (14), the Visual Field test was a bit iffy. The left eye tested fine with no changes to my vision, but the right eye showed vision loss. Not coincidentally, I also experienced the lights differently: instead of sporadic flashes of round dots, sometimes I saw bright vertical slashes of light. Well, that's not normal. I'm going to redo the right eye test but the next available appointment with a consult isn't until May. I'm okay with that. As far as I can tell, I can still see okay...

23 March 2023
No WiFi! Thursday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 3
Time: 30+5 (5704)
Distance: 2.87
Cal: 320
Avg Hr: 141, 190-78

15 Hip Bridges
Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
15 Hip Bridges
Elbow Plank 60s
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12x
Fire Hydrants 30 x 2
Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga

StepMill (L)
Manual 10 min
Speed 6 (55)
Steps 547
Floors 34
Cal 80
Hr 137

22 March 2023
Cloudy Wednesday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 2
Time: 30+5 (5668)
Distance: 2.86
Cal: 319
Avg Hr: 152, 202-86

HGPU 22

15 Hip Bridges
Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
15 Hip Bridges
Elbow Plank 60s
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12x
Fire Hydrants 30 x 2
Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga

HGPU 21

Just Doin' It

When temps peak in the high 50s, I don't expect to have to defrost the windshield right before dawn. But I do, and we almost missed the school bus because my son and I are both so tired. I'd like to blame the shift to Daylight Savings Time even though that transition was over a week ago. It seems as if night can't come soon enough. I don't need daylight in the evening when it's too cold and I'm too tired to do anything. I want daylight in the morning when I'm driving to the gym!

Cardio is a tad better today and I can skip pull-ups. Core is routine. I'm undecided when I enter the free weight zone but quickly toss my hoodie onto one of the two Inclined Breaker Benches in the DB area. B, M and Tank are literally draped over the other bench chatting loudly. I turn up the volume on my tunes. It's going to be a shoulder day after all. If I can get two shoulder routines done in a week, interspersed with pull-ups on alternate days, I figure I've got all my bases covered for a decent full-body workout. 

The DB shoulder routine feels good. Maybe better since it's the beginning of the week. I usually leave it until Thursday or Friday. Cardio gets progressively better later in the week but other exercises usually suffer from the opposite... Pull-ups seem harder. Maybe it's that perpetual sleep deprivation, or just a lack of recovery. Age might be playing a factor here.

We have kung fu weapons class later this afternoon and then our long-delayed Court of Honor, postponed since the third week of February. My son will finally get his Eagle rank patch although yesterday I found out that I will have to trek to the Scout shop to get the neckerchief. Ugh. 

This isn't an Eagle Court of Honor though. I'm not sure if we're actually going to hold one, although we would like to just so we can invite my son's teachers and mentors. There is talk of a "group" one with several Eagles, which would probably be easier budget-wise. We'd just need to figure out where and when... the pandemic has made everyone less inclined to gather in celebration. We've had Eagles leave the Troop without any ceremony and that's sad.

21 March 2023
Frosty Morning Tuesday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 1
Time: 30+5 (5558)
Distance: 2.82
Cal: 312
Avg Hr: 138, 181-78

15 Hip Bridges
Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
15 Hip Bridges
Elbow Plank 60s
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12x
Fire Hydrants 30 x 2
Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga

Incl DB Press s/s Lateral Raises s/s Rev Incline Flys
10 lbs x 25/15/25 warm up
15 lbs x 25/15/25
20/15/20 x 25/15/25 x 3 sets

Spring Has Sprung

At 5:24 pm today (EDT) the sun will apparently be in position to beam straight down on the equator, or both the northern and southern hemispheres, equally. And then it'll be Spring. It's still pretty cold and there was black ice from road seepage although temps should hit the 50s today. Mounds of snow lurk in the colder shadows though. I get to the gym earlier than I expect but an entire weekend of eating out has taken a toll on my endurance. I don't make it to 2.8 miles today. I do, however, manage everything else.

Saturday, my husband suggested we go out to celebrate my birthday so we went to our favorite steakhouse. My son had chicken. Usually he has a strip steak with truffle oil mac & cheese. But lately he's been eschewing red meat when we eat out. His tastes are changing but he's becoming less adventurous, not more, which is a bit worrisome. (He used to love brussel sprouts and now he tells me that broccoli is a better vegetable. Okay... so Friday I made a baked corned beef but with broccoli on the side.) I had the angus beef stew and my husband had my second choice, braised short ribs. Next time I'm getting the short ribs because they're definitely the best item on the menu, in my opinion. 

Sunday we saved room to celebrate my friend's 80th birthday. She organized the whole thing on her own and invited a dozen friends and family to a private party at a local restaurant. Needless to say, we were quite satisfied with the drinks, appetizer, main course and assorted desserts including two different birthday cakes, and take home goodie boxes of Boston creme cupcakes and plastic Easter eggs filled with chocolate candies. Looks like I'm eating salad for the rest of the week! 

There are no storms in the forecast and temps should hover in the pleasant 50s for the week. I'm debating when to bring another load of firewood into the house. Just because the days are 50F doesn't mean the nights don't cool down into the 20s.

20 March 2023
Vernal Equinox Monday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 3
Time: 30+5 (5424)
Distance: 2.78
Cal: 306
Avg Hr: 140, 184-76

HGPU 22

15 Hip Bridges
Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
15 Hip Bridges
Elbow Plank 60s
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12x
Fire Hydrants 30 x 2
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga

StepMill (L)
Manual 10 min
Speed 6 (55)
Steps 539
Floors 33
Cal 79
Hr 141

HGPU 20

Not a Lick of Green

Today I'm on elliptical #2 just to be polite as there's a guy on the rower directly adjacent to machine #1. Besides, I haven't been on #2 in several weeks. It's St. Patrick's Day and the radio and TV are all abuzz with commuting reroutes because of the infamous parade that closes off streets and makes sidewalks impassable with green sparkly tourists and denizens alike. 

I remember trying to cross avenues to get to work, only to be stopped by mobs of revelers spilling green foamy beer everywhere. Now drinking isn't allowed on the trains or the sidewalks and people might be more civil. But I don't know since crowds and parades have never been my thing. My son's appointment to get his passport renewed at the Post Office got cancelled this morning because the one person in charge of that function isn't available today. Then why allow the appointment? I'm thinking he called in sick to go to the parade in the City.

No one at the gym is wearing green. I'm wearing my typical gym clothes: black pants, black tank, blue hoodie. Later I'll be wearing a tigger-striped orange hoodie (a hand-me-down from my son) with an orange fleece pullover underneath and a green, long sleeve T under that. My favorite hoodie, blue with a stars-and-galaxy print, is in the wash because I wear it all the time. Maybe I should've bought two...

After doing core, I head into the DB area where there are only a few regulars. I knock out my sets, feel pretty good and have time to see if the local RiteAid carries mousetraps. I set a few last night but they weren't in the right places as I could hear gnawing right before dawn. I need to buy a few more. (And I'm steadfastly against the cruelty of glue traps, unless I can set them free in a field far from my house with a good dousing of mineral oil.) For the past two nights, I've been awakened by weird noises and I'm thinking "Good grief! How freaking big is this damn mouse that's moving furniture in the middle of the night?" It's probably a pack rat and I've seen that while most are small like field mice, a few have approached large hamster size. Ugh.

Meanwhile, the Flutter Flyers have finally arrived and I need to pack them in a card for my friend who's birthday is Sunday. She's invited us and family to celebrate her 80th at a local restaurant. I actually got her chocolate. The Flutter Flyers are for her cats... And proceeds are supposed to help monarch butterflies.

17 March 2023
St Pat Friday

Precor elliptical #2
Program 2
Time: 30+5 (5576)
Distance: 2.84
Cal: 315
Avg Hr: 155, 186-79

15 Hip Bridges
Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
15 Hip Bridges
Elbow Plank 60s
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12x
Fire Hydrants 30 x 2
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga

Incl DB Press s/s Lateral Raises s/s Rev Incline Flys
10 lbs x 25/15/25 warm up
15 lbs x 25/15/25
20/15/20 x 25/15/25 x 3 sets

Better Without Arms

The first nor'easter of 2023 dumped a heavy mix of snow and sleet over a 24-hr period, which meant shoveling the driveway, car and walkway twice, once Tuesday afternoon and once an hour before the school bus. (There was a 2-hr delay just so everyone could clear what needed to be cleared.) I got to celebrate my birthday by heating up a store-bought wild greens and phyllo pie. Yummy! It was Pi Day after all! 

My son helped me shovel. We stayed home, got a wood stove fire going most of the day and watched it rain, snow, sleet, snow, rain, snow for hours. Technically I'm old enough now to collect social security, but it's better to wait it out. Only 4 more years until I hit "full retirement" age, if the gov't doesn't move the finish line...

Wednesday saw multiple delays but at least the main roads were clear. There was enough heavy wet snow to bend our 10 ft hedges into the roadway. It was cold enough to keep icy lumps and clumps solidly in the branches. At least until today when temps hit the mid-50s, the ice melted and the hedges sprang back up. Still, any area that hadn't been shoveled or plowed at least once remains snow covered and ice-crusted. 

Yesterday, it was too late to go to the gym and I took the frantic dogs to the park because Tuesday was a no driving anywhere day. (It was hard enough walking them on the road while being pelted with icy wet stuff.) A State of Emergency will do that, and although we only got 8-10," other areas were hit with up to 17" and downed trees, treacherous roads and power outages. Wednesday was bright and sunny and pups were delirious to run through the snow. Better when another dog showed up to play!

The gym isn't as crowded as the parking lot would imply. I'm happy just to make it past 2.8 on the elliptical. I fare better on pull-ups. It's as if I suddenly remembered to pull with my back and not my arms. Always easier to use your whole body rather than those spindly appendages with the weak joints. Seriously. After core and stretches in the Aerobics Room, I do another set and then finish with the step machine. 

There are only two step machines. A girl is just exiting the one on the right so I use the the left one, which is actually a better machine--the TV works and the steps hit 60 before dropping to 55 for most of the session. The other machine has a dead TV and seems more erratic with the speed setting. I'm not paying that much attention to the TV but still change the channel from some soap to a business one. At least I can glance at news about markets and the economy.

Tomorrow I'm going to work that DB shoulder routine because I won't have to worry about shoveling. At least for this week. Not sure about next week. The weather is crazy these days. Tomorrow is also St. Patrick's Day, so I guess everyone will be wearing green?

16 March 2023
Post Nor'Easter Thursday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 1
Time: 30+5 (5574)
Distance: 2.83
Cal: 313
Avg Hr: 146, 192-80

HGPU 22

15 Hip Bridges
Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
15 Hip Bridges
Elbow Plank 60s
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12x
Fire Hydrants 30 x 2
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga

HGPU 20

StepMill (L)
Manual 10 min
Speed 6 (55)
Steps 539
Floors 33
Cal 79
Hr 148

Trifecta Disastrous

Winter Storm Sage is due this evening but whether it actually deposits thick white snow or heavy wet slush is anyone's guess. The nor'easter should clear our area by Wednesday morning, which leaves all of Tuesday for conjecture. The advent of Daylight Savings didn't make the morning any easier today since we've all gotten used to being able to see down the road, and now we can't without headlamps. 

Because the state has issued an "emergency preparedness" alert, I drive down to the gas station to fill up before heading to the gym. I have half a tank but jeeze, what if this storm actually hits us with blizzard conditions? I'm hoping not, as the dogs will be disappointed not to go to the park. We went today and no one was there in the cold drizzle, but at least they got to run about and sniff all the latest news from everyone who was there previously. Weather doesn't really bother them.

Meanwhile, at the gym today, my cardio effort was decent and pull-ups felt hard. I finish my standard routine with 10 minutes on the stair machine, trying to silently sing along to my tunes. I'm moving fast enough that it's difficult and sometimes impossible. Luckily, no one can actually hear how bad a singer I am. 

Automation is supposed to make things easier. Lately, it's just getting in the way. My son's passport expired and he can't just renew it; he has to apply for a new one because he was younger than 16 when he first got one, and now he's older than 17. The explanation is that this is to prevent unauthorized adults from taking children out of the country. Seriously, does this really work? At some point we'd like to visit Canada. And maybe Iceland. I've always wanted to see Nova Scotia too, but not during black fly season...

Luckily, the main post office in our town is a passport center. Unfortunately, you need to make an appointment through their website. A little bar just sits there and spins trying to "initiate" the process. What process? Opening an appointment app window? I don't know. After 20 minutes I give up and wonder about rebooting my computer. In real life, the post office is empty with no waiting customers, but nope. They can't do the passport without an appointment. Ugh.

Tomorrow I might be shoveling slush so I spare the shoulders from undue exertion. Or maybe the storm's a bust and all we get is rain. Which is fine. Tomorrow's my birthday but I don't really have any plans to celebrate, since we might or might not have school, kung fu, Boy Scouts... Maybe I take my son for a meal at a local place after school, if there is school? Everything's flexible so we'll just see what the day brings...

13 March 2023
NorEaster Daylight Savings Monday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 3
Time: 30+5 (5658)
Distance: 2.86
Cal: 318
Avg Hr: 137, 192-74

HGPU 20.5

15 Hip Bridges
Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
15 Hip Bridges
Elbow Plank 60s
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12x
Fire Hydrants 30 x 2
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga

HGPU 20

StepMill (R)
Manual 10 min
Speed 6 (52-55)
Steps 532
Floors 33
Cal 78
Hr 132

I Hate Daylight Savings Time

I took yesterday off so that I wouldn't be too tired to clean up all the twigs and branches in our front yard. My husband had already gone through it with a chainsaw and removed the bigger branches. Those are neatly stacked next to one of our wood piles. The smaller twigs and branches are just debris, but so much of it that it took four wheelbarrows to get it all out of the yard. And it all had to be picked up by hand because neither pitchfork nor rake would work. That's a lot of bending over for a few hours after I got a load of firewood into the house. It's been chilly at night and with the thermostat at 60F, the wood stove helps raise temps to a more comfortable 65F.

The work was literally backbreaking but only after I had a chance to cool down afterward. Then my left back hip got very stiff and achy. Happily, a good night sleep (not long enough) seemed to put everything right, but cardio was quite challenging this morning. At some point I'll probably mention to my primary physician that the cardio machines register a hugely variable heart rate when I'm exercising. Or I could just get an Apple Watch which has a reliable fitness tracker and heart monitor. But I hate wearing watches, bracelets, rings, necklaces... so maybe not.

I continue with my routine core and stretching, then see that the Stretch Cage is free. Last time, I did my second set after the step machine and it was really hard. Today I do them before the second bout of cardio, and it's much easier. So much so that I probably could've done more than the 21 I counted to. Sometimes I need to forgo limits because the mind can mess with the body's ability to perform subconsciously. My forearms are tired though. And my quads stiffened up later in the day. 

There's another storm in the forecast for tomorrow night into Saturday. And another one scheduled for Monday into Tuesday... Yep, it's still Winter. And I'm not happy about the start of Daylight Savings. I was just getting used to driving during a sun glare morning, and now we'll be getting up in the dark again, and having to re-accommodate ourselves to anther sun glare drive in a few weeks. Why?! I had plenty of daylight yesterday to do yard work! Daylight Savings time is absolute torture for everyone. Monday will see a higher rate of auto accidents and heart incidents. Just wait... 

9 March 2023
Crisp Thursday After Yard Work

Precor elliptical #1
Program 2
Time: 30+5 (5610)
Distance: 2.84
Cal: 316
Avg Hr: 142, 192-74

HGPU 21

15 Hip Bridges
Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
15 Hip Bridges
Elbow Plank 60s
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12x
Fire Hydrants 30 x 2
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga

HGPU 21

StepMill (R)
Manual 10 min
Speed 6 (52-55)
Steps 543
Floors 33
Cal 79
Hr 124

In a Hurry

I ran out of dental floss last night. Quelle catastrophe! So this morning, after getting the child (I know he's 18 but he's still a child to me) on the school bus, filling the car with gas, I went to the local grocery (en route to the gym). Ugh. While it's larger than the supermarket it replaced and it displaced the adjacent CVS (claiming it didn't want drugstore competition), it's personal hygiene selection is greatly lacking. 

Small items are hung off hooks over the top shelf. Which mean not only is there little selection (I discover that they don't carry the specific item I'm looking for), if they did I wouldn't be able to reach it anyway. I'd have to retrieve someone to help me, and at 7 AM, there's not a lot of people in the store. Not a lot of workers, not a lot of customers. Only one cashier to man both a single checkout lane AND one self-service lane, which is behind the cashier. Bad design planning as she can't watch behind her while ringing up a customer.

I buy other items and put them in my car, knowing that the cheese and yogurt will be fine; even inside the car, temps won't go past 38F. I get to the gym later than usual and I still need to buy dental floss. So I cut my cardio time down to 17 minutes and decide to use the Octane "elliptical" machine. I like the Precor elliptical more as that gives me a better cardio workout and less silly lateral movement. (I don't really think that does much except put my knees in peril.) I do get warm in a prickly heat sort of way. 

There's a guy I've never seen before in the Aerobics Room holding a controlled crunch position. Later I see him in the free weight area. I'm distracted by my phone and things not related to exercise or the gym, and it takes me a while to get all my "chores" done. Afterward, I could leave, or get on the step machine, or maybe do some triceps. I think the last time I did skull crushers was probably Valentine's Day, so that's what's next. There are new faces in the free weight area and I see B chatting up Armband Tat. I'm very happy not to engage in conversation with anyone. You all know that's not why I go to the gym! Happiest when there's no one in my way!

7 March 2023
Late Tuesday

Octane #1
Program Manual 1 / 5width
Time: 15+2 (strides 2058)
Distance: 1.51
Cal: 114
Avg Hr: 115, 169-58

15 Hip Bridges
Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
15 Hip Bridges
Elbow Plank 60s
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12x
Fire Hydrants 30 x 2
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga

Skull Crushers (Numb cold fingers)
30 lbs x 25 reps
Rip Skulls x 20
SK 35 lbs x 25, 20, 15

Twins for a Week

Today my brother and I are the same age and will be until my birthday next week. Then I'll be old, or at least old enough to collect Social Security, but not at full strength. I can wait. I just wish the government would stop moving the damn finish line.

There's frost on the windshield so it's nippy in the morning, but temps rise up into the 40s, which is really good on a sunny, windless March day. (The dog park will be very pleasant.) I'm tired, of course but I pedal away on the elliptical, do my requisite pull-ups, then core etc. in the Aerobics Room. I have a lot of errands to run today so no dawdling. Ten minutes on the step machine and then another go at pull-ups. Oddly, the step machine hangs at 55 steps per minute at Level 6 so no need to toggle between Level 6 and 7 today.

The second round of pull-ups are less successful, probably because I'm distracted. The Stretch Cage is unusually close to another machine and there's a guy standing right up against my station. Granted his back is to me, but part of me can't help but worry about him knocking against the cage. I wait a few minutes but he's probably staring at his phone. Ugh. I can't wait but I'm not entirely focused the way I should be. He's still there when I finish my set and walk away to the locker room.

6 March 2023
Brisk Monday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 1
Time: 30+5 (5530)
Distance: 2.82
Cal: 311
Avg Hr: 138, 186

HGPU 20.5

15 Hip Bridges
Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
15 Hip Bridges
Elbow Plank 60s
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12x
Fire Hydrants 30 x 2
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga

StepMill (R)
Manual 10 min
Speed 6-7 (52-62)
Steps 541
Floors 33
Cal 79
Hr 132

HGPU 18 (so much harder)

What's That Smell?

I got to the gym parking lot and there was a firetruck with flashing lights out front. The restaurant next door had its doors wide open. When the ladder truck leaves, I walk into the gym and immediately notice a strong odor of propane. The front desk confirms that it was a leak from the adjacent kitchen but everything is cleared for use. Well, alrighty...

I'm tired and feel very sluggish so cardio is quite the effort. At least I made it past 2.8 today. And I got my two sets of pull-ups in before and after core. I toyed briefly with the idea of doing another DB shoulder routine but two things make me reconsider: a twinge in my elbow/shoulder and the fact that I need to buy some groceries before taking the pups to the park. The sun is out and temps are very moderate, especially for March in the northeast. There's a storm in the forecast for tonight into tomorrow and no one can tell us if we're getting rain, sleet, snow, or all of the above.

I use the step machine for 10 minutes, knowing that set at speed 6, the machine hovers mostly at 52. To compensate for that, I push the machine to speed 7 and it revs up to 62 and sometimes 64 (steps per minute). I keep it there for 5 minutes then drop back to speed 6 for the remainder 5 minutes. I try to sing along with my tunes (no one can hear me anyway) but I'm moving fairly quickly. It's all good.

3 March 2023
Propane Odor Friday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 3
Time: 30+5 (5566)
Distance: 2.83
Cal: 313
Avg Hr: 137, 194-85

HGPU 20

15 Hip Bridges
Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
15 Hip Bridges
Elbow Plank 60s
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12x
Fire Hydrants 30 x 2
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga

StepMill (R)
Manual 10 min
Speed 6-7 (52-62)
Steps 574
Floors 35
Cal 83
Hr 127

HGPU 20 (so much harder)

The Nameless Winter Storm

It's March 1st and we have snow. There's also another storm brewing out west so we might have more precipitation by the week's end. I'm not sure why this past storm (that raged across the entire country) doesn't have a name. In our neighborhood, schools got cancelled before the first drops fell, and when there was finally precip, it was frozen mist and then tiny pellets of sleet, like being pummeled with salt. Eventually, big fat flakes came down and we got several inches of white stuff. There was a lull late morning and my son and I both shoveled and salted our walkway and the driveway. 

I took the dogs to the park and had to shovel out the gates so we could enter. (I keep a snow shovel in the car during the winter, along with emergency stuff like blankets, trash bag, smaller shovel, duct tape.) Although the town did an exceptional job with the roads and the main parking lot, the dirt lot that services the dog park was left unplowed. Until today, when I called their office while I was at the park and bitched about watching a parks & rec plow truck drive by plowing nothing. Two other dogs were also at the park and only owner one was brave enough (besides me) to park in the snow and slush. The other parked alongside the plowed road. I doubt the plow truck driver will clear the sides of the road even though that's where a lot of dog owners leave their vehicles, but we'll see tomorrow.

It's March 1st and my dogs' birthdays according to their rescue, Jindo Love Rescue. Now they're both 4 years old, but of course, they can't tell time or know what a birthday is. They go to the park, play with their friends, come home and eat lunch, and the monthly Simparica Trio to keep them safe from heartworms, fleas, and ticks. Tomorrow temps are supposed to hit the mid 50s, so it's possible there are mosquitos, fleas and ticks out there. 

The gym parking lot is crowded when I arrive, but the gym doesn't look very busy. Not many people at the cardio stations and I doubt if that's because everyone is suddenly into lifting weights. But according to CNN, that's just what gym goers are doing: lifting weights or performing functional exercises instead of toiling on the treadmill. Click here for that article. Can we blame, er, credit CrossFit for that?

I'm happy to do my mix of cardio, weights, core, and stretching, although I do get nostalgic for times when I could lift a lot heavier, was a lot thinner, and had eye-catching muscles. Now, I catch a glimpse of muscle only when I'm actually moving those DBs... Cardio isn't too bad today. It's warm inside and I resist taking my hoodie off until I get to the Aerobics Room. I know there's a Boot Camp class later but nothing is set up inside the room, which means that the class will take place by the front door, in the Functional Gym area. It's so loud I can hear it while I'm showering with the water running full blast! 

After cardio and core, I set up for DB Shoulders. There's hardly anyone there and that makes me happy. Except for a regular who seems nice enough but maybe a little clueless. I've seen him around for the past half year: trim, graying hair, tat armband, nice arms but by no means a body builder or power lifter. 

He goes to great pains to swap out an inclined bench in front of the DB rack for one that's sitting at the Smith machine. (I personally have favorite inclined benches as well so I understand the effort.) But he positions himself so close to the rack that I have to pause and wait for him, mid set, to pull his bench a few feet back so I can exchange DBs. And of course, I have to mutter out loud (I'm wearing earbuds so I don't know how audible I am) "You're too close to the rack." Duh. People seem surprisingly bad at spatial awareness. 

Tomorrow I might do the stair machine, or maybe the cross-trainer (as much as I hate it, it probably is the machine that most closely resembles Nordic walking, see the NYTimes article here) in addition to the elliptical. There's another storm in the forecast for this weekend. I'm thinking it's probably going to rain...

1 March 2023
Post Snow Storm Wednesday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 2
Time: 30+5 (5724)
Distance: 2.88
Cal: 322
Avg Hr: 147, 200-75

HGPU 20

15 Hip Bridges
Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
15 Hip Bridges
Elbow Plank 60s
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12x
Fire Hydrants 30 x 2
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga

Incl DB Press s/s Lateral Raises s/s Rev Incline Flys
10 lbs x 25/15/25 warm up
15 lbs x 25/15/25
20/15/20 x 25/15/25 x 3