Seams Are Killing Me

I awoke yesterday to a huge angry red welt on my inner thigh, courtesy of a several-days old insect bite that I got at the Bark Park. And it was through a pair of heavy knit pants! Seams inside all my shorts and pants have been irritating the bite for days regardless of how much itch cream (hydrocortisone 2% and/or menthol & pramoxine hydrochloride 1%) I slather. Yesterday I could measure the welt from my thumb to the pinky of my outstretched hand, and yet I didn't know exactly what that measurement was because I'd only ever measured the tip of my thumb to the first joint (1") and thumb to pointer (7"). Thumb to pinky adds only an inch (8") but I have really small hands. This is one big-ass angry red welt. 

Should've brought pup shampoo

I spent the day sorting and organizing the bulk of my son's "playroom" upstairs because I've discovered someone willing to take donated toys for her classroom of 7-8 year old boys. And my son has piles of mismatched Playmobile sets, Legos, Transformers, Bakugans, plastic farm & zoo animals, plastic bugs, military style action figures (dolls)... all the toys little boys liked to play with a decade ago. And hopefully, still want to play with. I also donate a bunch of oversized "icky bug books" that also has tremendous boy or budding naturalist appeal. The teacher arrives this morning, before I take my dogs to the park. She's just in time to get her car loaded because the skies open up and there's a good soaking downpour for the next 2 hours. The dogs love going to the park but aren't thrilled about being wet, and don't mind that we only stay 20 minutes. 

By the time I get to the gym, the skies have cleared to reveal a blistering hot day. The gym is surprisingly crowded with a lot of vaguely familiar senior faces. And a bunch of new teenagers. I'm wearing the softest exercise pants I own because pedaling the elliptical won't be any fun otherwise. I've also got on one of the new scoop-neck tanks I mail-ordered. The neckline doesn't strangle me and although the armholes look snug, the fabric is soft with enough flex so there's no chafing under my tender upper arms. Whew. My extremely rough, dry skin is also super sensitive.

I need to be home for a package delivery tomorrow, so today and Friday will be combo days: cardio, core, weights. I get an extra rep of pull-ups but only one set. Core is standard. I had a thought to do DB Shoulders but also maybe a few sets of Skull Crushers. And if I'm doing Skull Crushers, then how about a few sets of Rip Skulls? This is triggered by an article I read suggesting that people tend to work the front more than the back when modern life requires us to work the back twice as much as the front to counter our smart phone, tablet, laptop use where we all hunch forward. DB Pullovers is one of the exercises listed for the back. I'm surprised. (Of course, the article doesn't list pull-ups because most people can't do those.) 

Rip Skulls are basically pull-overs with a skull crusher tossed in, right? So, DB Shoulders for Friday. And I skipped Wall Squats today so I should do them again before the week's over because I really worry about my rising blood pressure. This one exercise is supposed to be great for lowering that. My brother tells me he's on meds for BP that's skyrocketed but it's interacting with meds for an enlarged prostate, resulting in dizziness and feeling faint. Does that mean his BP is now too low? My bug bite is still bothersome, but not nearly as inflamed as it was yesterday. Still, it's August, and there are lots of biting insects who want a piece of me.

30 Aug 2023 11:00-12:32
Wednesday Combo, Just Not the One I Planned
(Chafe free pants)

Precor elliptical #1
Program 2
Time: 30 + 5 (5642)
Distance: 2.85
Cal: 318
Avg Hr: 151, 191

HGPU 16

20 Hip Bridges
Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
20 Hip Bridges
Elbow Plank 90s
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12
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


Rip Skulls / Skull Crushers
30 lbs x 12/12 x 3 sets