I'd barely been on the elliptical 5 minutes when Wind Breaker stalks past and climbs on elliptical #3. Thank goodness I'm upwind. But he looks different: he's dyed his hair or at least the top of it, a dark brown that borders on black. Which is weird because he's kind of an old guy that only comes to pedal the elliptical for a few hours, and nothing else. At least he's not prancing around in spandex.
While my "mileage" on the Precor didn't improve from Wednesday, I did manage to do three sets of pull-ups without embarrassing myself. Yes, kipping was involved but that's okay. If I wanted perfect form pull-ups, I'd be left with sets of 4-5 reps and that's not satisfying. I trudged up the step machine while my left hip ached. It's been complaining lately which is annoying since the sciatica is primarily a right leg/hip/calve imposition. Once I got past all that, I actually found myself enjoying the cross-trainer. Or maybe it was that I had my tunes and could sing along to myself.
I felt really good by the time I was done with cardio and pull-ups. I haven't felt this sort of exhaustive satisfaction in months. Admittedly, I was tired and since I did want to hit the grocery before picking my kid up from the last shift, I cut the Core routine short and ended without push-ups or air squats or even Bird Dog planks. The planks have been putting my hands/wrists to sleep lately. My mom and grandmother always complained about "poor circulation" but I don't think that was a cardiac issue. I'm leaning towards a connective tissue problem aka ichthyosis vulgaris in varying degrees. My body has always been sensitive to pressure which is why tight or snug clothes are unbearable. The flesh does not maintain it's structure and succumbs to external pressures, compressing nerves and blood vessels.
It will get worse with age as skin and other tissues tend to get drier since they lose more ability to retain moisture. My skin feels unexpectedly dry today, bordering on "hard" (as in not soft). Humidity is low and I need to use more moisturizer. I don't know how a person can keep their internal structures moisturized though. (Seriously, there's only so many supplements and vitamins one can ingest daily.) Blood vessels are considered a type of connective tissue and no one wants stiff, inflexible veins and arteries.
 |
| https://training.seer.cancer.gov/anatomy/cardiovascular/blood/classification.html |
Meanwhile, at the grocery I see orange and black displays of candy. Wait, it's August so that should mean Back To School stuff, not overpriced candy for the end of October. I'm both sad and elated. Sad that my kid will be away until Thanksgiving. Happy that I don't have to get up super early to drive to the shopping center. I can return to my previous exercise routine, and hopefully I won't be so sleep deprived. But I'm going to miss the little chats I have with my kid driving to and from that part-time summer job. Next summer there will probably be an internship. Fingers crossed.
No comments:
Post a Comment