Repercussions Days Later

After staying up until 2:30 AM putting together display boards for my son's Eagle Scout Court of Honor, I was in no state to exercise when the sun came up. However, once I'm up, it's impossible for me to get additional deep sleep. I lay in bed and suddenly two hours have passed but I have no recollection of actually waking or even falling asleep. Most likely I've dozed but it doesn't feel very restful. Which means I skipped the gym yesterday, hoping to assuage whatever indignities the past weekend has inflicted on my limbs.

It started with my hammer toes suddenly cramping and going into spasms intermittently. Unusually, that was followed by my right hand while I was holding a spoon. My thumb and first two fingers clenched and locked painfully and I had to use my left hand to pry all the digits apart. Later, the ball of my left foot started to cramp. Still later, the heel of my left palm. I can't attribute all of this to lots of sitting in a car, or walking. Laying in bed was the only way to rest the feet and toes. Today, I'm so tired and groggy from the weather (fog-induced vertigo!) that I accidentally grab two different sneakers. It could have been worse; at least I had a right and a left, instead of a catastrophic two lefts... and in low light, the sneakers don't look that different from each other, unless you're looking at the soles.

Instant facelift laying down!

I'm not pedaling my best on the elliptical, but I am pedaling. Things really start to feel off at the Stretch Cage. When I do pull-ups, I cross my legs at the ankles and bend my knees to keep my body steady. It's better than letting legs dangle loosely because a swaying body takes away energy from the actual work of pulling up. Except today I can feel the beginnings of a spasm in the left hamstring as I cross my ankles. By the 12th rep I'm really paranoid about getting a charley horse before I finish the set. Because writhing on the ground is not something I really want to do at the gym. I drop my legs and keep my ankles crossed, but it's harder to keep a rigid body when at full length.

Even in the Aerobics Room, kneeling seems to be a threatening movement for the beleaguered hamstring. I avert any more spasms but think better of attempting a second set of pull-ups. No, I'll just walk the step machine for a few minutes. And then run off to the store to buy mini cupcakes just in case we don't have enough sweets for the dessert table.

28 April 2023
Brain Fog Friday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 2
Time: 30 + 5 (5398)
Distance: 2.78
Cal: 306
Avg Hr: 145, 176-83

HGPU 20 (rt side pre-spasm hamstring)

20 Hip Bridges
Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
20 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 (52-60)
Steps 542
Floors 33
Cal 70
Hr 144