Best Distance So Far

I skipped the gym yesterday and went to my doc appt with concerns about my blood pressure. My doc scolded me for not bringing my home device with me so she could determine how accurate it is. The thought had never occurred to me and no article has ever suggested it, but they should've. The doc and her tech both take my pressures several times, different arms and conclude, yes, I have hypertension. I'm not surprised since it runs in my mother's family. 

The doc prescribes Losartan Potassium and tells me that it has no side effects. It shouldn't be a problem with my glaucoma meds either. When I look up the drug online, I run across articles stating that this drug can be beneficial to glaucoma patients as it can reduce IOPs. It might protect retinal ganglion cells. It also seems to heal corneal damage. Sounds like a wonder drug, but of course, I remain cautious and skeptical.

I take the first pill at night because I'm leery of the rare side effects like dizziness. But I don't feel anything even vaguely akin to discomfort from it. It has no impact on me waking at 2:30 AM because one of the pups frantically needs to relieve himself. I ask my son, who is awake and online with friends, to take the dog out since I'm not dressed. He says he just took the dog out and the dog did nothing but stand in the road. He takes the dog out again. I go back to bed. At 4:30 the dog is whining and I can smell he's had an accident somewhere in the house. I dress warmly and take the dog out. 

The dog isn't quite as frantic and walks aimlessly. But I know him. We stop at a bare spot in the brush and twigs and after 10 minutes of his circling, sniffing, changing his mind, circling again, sniffing, tangling his leash in the bare shrub branches, circling, sniffing, he finally shoots a stream of "not water" out of his butt. I give him two pepto tablets when we get home and he falls asleep on the sofa. Meanwhile, I clean up the mess on the staircase. And then I go back to sleep. Unfortunately, neither the FitBit nor my iPhone can parse out and accurately record interrupted sleep. They both determine I've only slept between 4:30 and 7:30. What happened to 12:30 to 2:30? I wasn't awake!

The alarm sounds at 7:30 and I hit the snooze but don't actually fall back to sleep. It's cold and I'm tired but dogs still need to go to the park. Especially the one pup who didn't go out at all hours of the night. Well, at least I'm not dizzy. I get gas and drop off my plastic bag recycling en route to the gym. The parking lot isn't as crowded because it's not "Five Dollar Tuesday" at the cinema. But the gym is even more crowded than last time. I squeeze between two guys I've never seen before who are on ellipticals one and three. I'm happy to take number two. No one wants machine four: it clunks when you pedal it.

The schedule calls for Program 3 and I start singing to myself as I pedal. I vaguely wonder if everyone thinks I'm doing a Taylor Swift type workout. That's cool. Jeeze, I've been singing to myself on the elliptical ever since I joined this gym, back in 2011 but sporadically. Now I'm much more consistent as I believe it helps increase oxygen intake, and that's before I read about how the superstar prepares for her shows. But I'm glad I'm not the only one who sings while doing cardio. I just sing to myself because I honestly can't carry a tune, and no one needs to be subjected to that kind of dissonance.

The guy on number one finishes and then hops on the stationary bike in front of me. A big guy who I've seen before hops on the elliptical and pedals for 20 minutes. The guy on my right just finishes right before I do. This is the fastest I've ever pedaled, as evidenced by the distance: 2.96. Wow! I wonder if the Losartan had anything to do with this because sleep deprivation certainly never helps. I'm so tired and spacey that I lose count of how many sets of Dead Bugs I've done, so I do two more. So that's either 5 or 7 sets of 20 reps. Luckily, I'm still able to do push-ups, air squats, walking lunges and just barely, 90 seconds of wall squats.

My right shoulder has been twinging so I don't do pull-ups today. Instead, I muscle through the DB Shoulder routine. It shouldn't hurt as much or be as potentially damaging as pull-ups because I can control the range of motion better during those three movements. Pull-ups are a lot harder to control, especially with a wonky shoulder joint. If everything feels okay, I'll do pull-ups tomorrow. But I probably won't be kicking butt on the elliptical... maybe 20 minutes on a different cardio machine. Or 20 minutes of Intervals. I'll still be singing to myself though.

4 January 2024 11:22-1:13
Arctic Thursday & gym is crowded
First day on losartan potassium

Precor elliptical #2
Program 3
Time: 30+5 (5985)
Distance: 2.96!!!
Cal: 334
Avg Hr: NA 163, 198-84
Fitbit: 58-165

20 Hip Bridges
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
DeadBugs 20 x 5 alt/ss = 100 (or 7?)
20 Hip Bridges & 10 one-leg bridges
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 stretch w side bends & twists
Walking lunges 43 steps total
Neck stretch / Eye yoga
Wall Squat 90s

Incl DB Press s/s Lateral Raises s/s Rev Incline Flys
10 lbs x 25/15/25 warm up
15 lbs x 25/15/25
20/15/20 x 25/15/25 x 3 sets!