Tuesday and the Days Are Shorter

Because the summer sun is no longer smacking me the face at 6 AM, I'm able to sleep until my alarm sounds at 7:05. While I don't feel refreshed and springy, I'm also not dead with fatigue. I've been aiming to get into bed by 11. Not quite there but closer. I wind up text chatting with my son about his day as we're both readying for sleep. Yesterday he accidentally slept through a morning class because he woke up when his alarm sounded too early for breakfast, wanted another hour of sleep, and didn't get the alarm reset properly. So he woke up mid-afternoon. Ugh. 

It's something I've worried about with him for years now since he has slept through every phone alarm. I actually bought him a loud digital alarm clock he has to get out of bed to shut off. (He was able to make up the class by downloading videos of the course.)

Pups go to the park and I spend a lot of time brushing wads of loose fur off them since there is no one else in the entire park. Probably the threat of weather. I've never regretted buying the Furminator dog de-shedder on the recommendation of a vet tech many years ago. My dogs respond by trying to sit as close to me as possible, nudging each other out of the way. Later, I get ready for the gym but first I need to bring my plastic bag recycling to the nearest grocery since my residential recycling doesn't take film plastics, and a another stop to return some BSA troop training material that I uncovered while cleaning and sorting through my house. I'm rediscovering a lot of previously lost items. Meanwhile, I have Hoarders marathons streaming on YouTube on my old iPad that I can bring to any room in the house. It's very motivating!

It's nearly noon by the time I get to the gym and the parking lot is almost empty. Weird since it's also Five Dollar Tuesday at the cinema next door. And I'm tempted to get a ticket for Barbie, or Oppenheimer, but I trudge off to the gym. I missed yesterday because I had a glaucoma follow-up appointment and I was prepared for disappointment, but my pressures are good at 13-14, down from 17. Which means I can continue my exercise routine without worry for now. Hurray for tiny victories!

The gym has maybe 4 members and 2 staffers. I have my pick of cardio machines so of course I'm on my favorite elliptical even though I could use the Expresso bike or the Octane or the Step Machine. After I start pedaling, more people show up. Eventually kids from the HS will arrive and it'll be unpleasant. I don't quite make it to 18 reps like last time, but I still feel pretty good about pull-ups. (Seeing other people's faces when I do them gives me a bit of a kick.) And it still feels good the second time around even if I don't get as many reps. I had to change my focus during the second set and that helped me to relax into the movement, making it just a tiny bit easier. But I also lost count so I'm not absolutely certain I got 16. (Of course, this only matters to me and no one else.)

People sporadically enter the Aerobics Room to do quick floor exercises. That 90 second elbow plank is not getting any easier. Nor is the Wall Squat. I only make that to 90 seconds as well, although the push-ups and air squats are fairly routine. I'd do more push-ups if I wasn't worried about raising my eye pressures. Maybe doing another set? The set doesn't even have to be 25 reps. I remember doing a descending set back in college, starting with 25, then 20, then 15, 10, 5. Equals 75 reps. And you can be certain to be sore the next day the first time you do it. Now that I've thought about it, I might actually do that on Friday.

The inside of my hoodie. Ugh.

The only thing really annoying me is that I made the mistake of washing a new fleece blanket I bought for my son's college dorm. Instead of washing it solo, I put it in with my other laundry. It shouldn't've been a problem but it shed little fleece balls all over all my other clothes that are impossible to remove. Ugh. Yes, this item is getting a one star review. It's super soft and cute but can never ever be washed. Not very practical, right?

12 Sept 2023 11:50-1:26
Busy Busy Tuesday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 2
Time: 30 + 5 (5546)
Distance: 2.83
Cal: 313
Avg Hr: 148, 202-76

HGPU 17

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
Wall Squats 90s

HGPU 16?