Skipping Mondays

When temps dip into the 20s, I'm still at the park with the pups but not very motivated to change into my gym duds. Yesterday was dreary, and I don't sleep well on weekends. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights aren't at all restful. It's stressful and tense and I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Living with an alcoholic is like that. Honestly, I'm always happier and calmer when he leaves for work on Monday, and not at all distressed if he doesn't come home the following weekend due to work scheduling. I'd rather do errands on Monday, get myself sorted and rested, then head to the gym on Tuesday.

Today is warmer and I'm comfy in my own bed (although I still need a new mattress) when the alarm sounds. I don't know if it's the later wake-up time (no more Daylight Savings Time until March), the binaural sleep videos I've been streaming, or the fact that I've cut the amount of meat I eat during the week, but my cardio has been really good lately. It's kind of freaky. Three days of relative inactivity so I'm prepared to struggle to make 2.8 on the elliptical. 

Imagine my surprise when I make it to 2.9 again. The elliptical console displays SPMs (Steps Per Minute), calories, HR, and Time Passed. The SPM display also toggles between total steps taken and miles. Normally, once I make it to 300 calories, I tap the SPM button and it tells me 2.7 or 2.71 miles. This is usually 29 minutes in and since I don't slow down for the 5-minute cool down that follows immediately after, I have 6 minutes to do another tenth of a mile. It sounds easier than it is. Lately, "300 calories" displays "2.68 miles". Which makes me panic and wonder where I've lost the 2-3/10s of a mile. Weird. And I peddle like crazy and think I'll just miss the mark at 2.88... but I don't? It could be the equipment, but since I used a different elliptical last Friday, and the results were the same, it's got to be me. 

Pull-ups were reliable and only the last rep needed a bit of body English as my knees pulled up to help. The gym is very quiet and there aren't many members. Good for me! I finally remembered to do the added movements to my Core workout with side-bends and hip twists. I even lunge-walk across the room and back after Air Squats. I cut back 10 reps on crunches and add another set of 20 to Dead Bugs. Of course, the hardest exercise is the 90 seconds of Wall Squats. I have to skip the second set of pull-ups because la Grande Dame is in the Stretch Cage like a spider monkey. I'm not waiting around.

I go to the grocery and finally see packages of rambutan. I was looking for those last week. They were cheaper two weeks ago, disappeared last week, and are now a tad more expensive but the package is bigger. The last time I remember having rambuttan was in Hawaii where we bought some off the back of a pickup. These odd-looking fruits resemble floppy sea urchins, and are like a drier, less sweet version of lychees with a thick papery skin, firm white flesh and a pit in the middle. They don't have the same perfumey quality as lychees either. Which can be a good thing. Or not... 

14 November 2023 11:19-12:52
Tuesday Chilly & Dull

Precor elliptical #1
Program 2
Time: 30+5 (5784)
Distance: 2.90
Cal: 324
Avg Hr: 157, 200-84

HGPU 17

20 Hip Bridges
Crunches 50
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
DeadBugs 20 x 5 alt/ss = 100
20 Hip Bridges
Elbow Plank 60s
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 26
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch w side bends & twists 25
Walking lunges 38 steps total
Neck stretch / Eye yoga
Wall Squats 90s (last 30 face flush)