Sore from Scrubbing

Yesterday was sunny and warm and I felt extremely productive. Although I had to wait for a package to be delivered (it needed a signature so no gym time), I managed to cut and remove wayward vines (most likely Oriental Bittersweet and wild rose) and branches, and scrub the bathroom before my birthday lunch with a friend. It was time well spent and afterwards, I went to the Job Lot to buy a new bathtub mat. When I got home, I spent another hour scrubbing until I was satisfied. 

A few hours later, my right hip stiffens and I'm surprised at how painfully sore it is. Well, not actually the hip but the muscles above and around it: lower external oblique and maybe gluteus medius. All from scrubbing the bathtub. Ugh. I scrubbed the tub a few months ago and didn't suffer like this? This is just because I turned 64, isn't it?

I developed such soreness that I resorted to rubbing Penetrex cream into the area before bed. And I was still stiff and sore when I got up this morning. Still, pups have to go to the park and trudging up and down the hillside helps loosen up the joints. My left forearm is sore from lopping branches and vines, but I don't notice that discomfort until I'm doing pull-ups. I get to the gym later than I want but at least I made it. 

Cardio is a struggle and I don't even get close to 2.9. Although the elliptical seems to think I've hit 190 bpm, the FitBit tells me otherwise. I suppose 154 is good since lower is better, right? Either I'm too tired and sore to hit my maximum, or my cardio endurance has improved and the heart rate is consequently lower. I think it's that I'm tired and sore and just not able to pedal as fast as usual. However, that being tired and sore doesn't keep me from pushing DBs around.

Breaker benches in yellow

The gym is crowded and both inclined breaker benches are occupied. There's no bench in the Smith machine spot. I don't know where the smaller inclined bench is so I'm stuck with the oversized adjustable inclined bench. It's too big, too high, too thick. The breaker benches empty when I'm halfway done but I don't want to stop everything just to switch to another bench, granted the breaker bench would be so much more comfortable to straddle for Reverse Inclined Flys. Finally, I get all my sets done and proceed to the Aerobics Room. I think about skipping Walking Lunges, or push-ups, or Wall Squats. But I do them all anyway. Because I can. 

Tomorrow is a reception for a members' show of the local arts council. My watercolor teacher encouraged us to enter and some of us did. I'm the only one who didn't enter a painting; instead, I had an iPhone print made at the CVS because my photo printer isn't working. It died during the pandemic and there was no way to service it. Now that we're mostly back to normal, I'll have to see about getting this behemoth with archival inks actually in working condition. 

The arts council called me this evening to confirm that my print is a vertical and should be hung the way I arranged the hanging wire. I'm a bit annoyed that they're second-guessing me, especially since not only did I sign the bottom of the matte, I also affixed a label to the back of the frame. Those two items alone tell you which way the image should be oriented. But it also confirms my belief that I have set the image in a purposely "unnatural" and tension-filled orientation. Yes, I did it on purpose to make you stop and look at it and wonder what it is that's mildly disturbing. This isn't my first art show.

15 March 2024 11:40-1:38
Friday the Ides of March

Precor elliptical #1
Program 2
Time: 30+5 (5688)
Distance: 2.87
Cal: 320
Avg Hr: 161, 190-82
Fitbit: 55-154

HGPU 15 (left forearm)

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

20 Hip Bridges
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
DeadBugs 20 x 5
20 Hip Bridges & 10 one-leg
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12
Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose
Fire Hydrants 20 x 2
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Arm rotations 20
Walking lunges 36 steps total
Neck stretch / Eye yoga
Wall Squat 90s (!!!)