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| Hand Warmers |
The only downside is that, although they are small and fit in the palm of my hand inside a glove, they are solid. Which, with my short fingers, means I can't actually do anything with my hands while they're inside my gloves. That's not the case with the little packets of chemical hand warmers (Hot Hands) which are malleable. Since it's still winter and the Polar Express is on course to swoop down in a few weeks, I can see putting the electric hand warmers in my coat pocket when I go to the dog park.
The gym is steamy inside. And crowded. The gym owner isn't going to spend money on a/c when he can prop open the back door. It brought back memories of working out in the 80s at a hardcore basement bodybuilding gym in Brooklyn (5th Avenue Gym). Fun times! I reminisce about having bigger muscles and less body fat. Oh well. Growing old is hard.
I've been really tired lately. But so has everyone is my household. I fell asleep on the sofa with one of the dogs on Saturday. This is most likely because I'm not clocking the recommended 8 hours of shut-eye. I'm lucky if I get close to 7. My problem is that I'm a night owl and have always been this way. If I could sleep until 9 AM, I'd probably fulfill my sleep requirements, but I try to get the dogs to the park before 9. And the older I get, the more steps get added to my morning routine.
I'm pleased to only need 3 eye drops now instead of 4. Not sure if the Durysta is actually doing anything. Follow up appointment in January. The dermatologist says use sunscreen everyday. And other things. Need to slather petrolatum on my thighs to keep those pesky hives at bay. Seems to be working. But my heels and fingers have developed fissures from the dry cold. Petrolatum is my friend and I use a lot of it. Still, cuts are forming at the finger joints, and the skin around my nails is hard, dry and brittle.
I get on elliptical #3 and pedal program #1. I have my earbuds in but I can still hear all the people around me. I only start to feel more energetic during the last 10 minutes. Figures. Pull-ups aren't great, but not horrible. I'm still able to get three sets, even if not quite the reps I'd like. The Step Machine has a mind of its own, so I actually do better than last time, because the machine had a slightly more energetic pace. I have no control over it.
The LifeFitness cross-trainer is better and worse than the Precor elliptical. Better in that it has an arm option. Worse in that my toes and the ball of my feet eventually go numb if I use it too long. Today I felt my feet, even though they never lifted off the pedals, impact on the down stroke of the circular glide motion. I don't feel that on the Precor. Somehow, the pedal trajectory drops my foot down and my weight transfers for a moment to that singular point. (The Precor's glide motion doesn't create any impact stress.) Weird that I just noticed it today after years of wondering. Maybe I am getting more sleep?
I barely make 14 reps at my last round of pull-ups. Well, at least it's more than 12. That's my arbitrary criteria for doing a good routine. I'm happy the Aerobics Room has the a/c blasting. No doubt there was a Senior class earlier. My sciatica was bothering me all weekend, but after hip thrusts and piriformis stretches, it feels pretty good. There's only a slight tingle during Bird Dogs and none with push-ups. Even Air Squats felt okay.
I skip the Wall Sits. Maybe Thursday cuz tomorrow I take my kid to a morning dermatologist appointment. His acne is rather persistent, and the most effective treatment is a 5-month course of Accutane but he's never home for that long. So he's been using topicals that need to be reviewed and renewed, because health insurance is an ogre.
