One of my dogs has both friends and mortal enemies. He's very reactive with a lot of behaviors like sleep running, obsessive compulsive licking and wanting to be the alpha dog. He's also anxious so he's not good in the car and needs sedatives to visit the vet. Thunderstorms and fireworks are also bad, but that's normal for a lot of dogs. Except the other dog, the shyer and more skittish, less friendly dog, can sleep through thunder and fireworks. But that one is constantly looking over his shoulder when we go for walks. Normally these two get along okay.
poor pup
Today, the bigger one was very stressed at not having playmates at the park. After an hour, I was putting them in the car to go home when a dog friend (and owner) arrived and I decided to let my guys go back to the park to play. A terrible mistake! Once inside the fenced area, my bigger guy turned on his "brother" and they got into a horrible fight. I managed to separate them as other dogs/people arrived. I was wearing my thin leather gloves and I could see a spittle of blood on it. Ugh. My hand inadvertently got in the way of some teeth. Although the skin was protected by my gloves, it's still bruised and a bit scabby.
I got someone to retrieve a spare leash from my car so I could take the big guy home separately from his brother. The big guy has a crate he's okay with. The smaller dog absolutely abhors crates or cages or any sort of close confinement. The bigger dog has inflicted a wound to the smaller dog, a round pink wound devoid of hair atop his head. It's not bleeding but I've never before seen a wound like that.
Once home, I kept the bigger dog in his crate but fed him with the door open. Afterward, I gave him some "calming chews" and lock him in until I got back from the gym. It's well past 1 pm by then, and I'm surprised to see Wind Breaker on elliptical #1. Machine #2 is occupied by someone I don't recognize but machine #3 is open so that's the one I use. No one uses #4 if there are other options since it doesn't register the incline or the resistance of the program selected. But you can pedal it just fine.
party time!
My sciatica hasn't improved at all so my foot is numb and the calf feels strangled by an invisible claw. My glute throbs. The only part of the leg that doesn't hurt is my thigh/quad. Weird, right? As if the sciatic nerve skipped that part on the way to the calf, ankle, foot, toes. I manage a decent set of pull-ups but it's painful in all the wrong places. I've spent the past three days trying not to aggravate that big fat nerve bundle. But I did have a great time at the Rocky Horror Picture Show with shadow cast and prop bag. Sitting is okay but walking is reminiscent of that last bout of shingles where I had to stop midway across the hospital parking lot because it was so painful that I actually cried. That's very unusual for me.
shadow cast players
It's this pain that makes me skip hip bridges and bird dogs in the Aerobics Room. This time the sciatica isn't mollified by walking or exercise the way it used to be. This time is different. Other things are also different. I look at my bare feet and notice that the right foot is even more different than just the mild bunion warping the angle of the big toe. Now the 2nd toe is longer. What? The left foot has a perfectly gentle slope descending from big toe down to the pinky. Perfectly normal for a woman. Men tend to have longer 2nd toes. I don't know why. The 2nd toe on my right foot is now longer than the big toe. It's not as if toes suddenly have a growth spurt when you hit your mid-60s so I can only surmise it's a weird tendon issue. The three hammer toes are also enlarged. It's a good thing I don't wear stylish shoes.
non symmetrical
Does this have anything to do with my sciatica? Maybe. Meanwhile, I've noticed my eyes seem swollen lately and my eyelids have developed redness with flaky skin. That's a classic symptom of an allergic reaction to eye drops. Mind you, I've been on the same eye drops for years now. I also believe that changes in the tissue surrounding my eyes are due to the Durysta implants running out of bimatoprost. Prior to this, I had been using travaprost eye drops, in the same family as latanoprost, which discolored the skin and dissolved surrounding orbital fat. The skin has lost the discoloration and my eye sockets no longer have that hollow look. But it's the eyelid rash that's disconcerting because what am I suddenly allergic to now?
Meanwhile, I've taken the dogs for their evening walk and as advised by other families who have adopted from Jindo Love Rescue, am treating them as if everything is normal and fine. The bigger dog gingerly sniffed the wound on the smaller dog's head. I'm apprehensive but the dogs behaved fine. The true test will be tomorrow when I take them to the park.
It's only been a week but I was hoping that sciatic flare up would have subsided. It hasn't. In fact, it feels worse the more I walk around. Taking 600 mg of ibuprofen and 500 mg of acetaminophen has been brought some relief for a few hours. I only do that combo once a day because I'd like to spare my kidneys and liver from potential damage.
But going to the gym just once a week isn't cutting it either, so I limp my way across the parking lot. It's later than I planned but earlier than it could've been. The gym isn't very crowded and I'm glad that there's no one on any of the Precor elliptical machines. Actually, that's kind of surprising.
I did pass one regular as I entered and he was leaving. Wind Breaker shows up 10-15 minutes after I do. I'm not pedaling very fast because every step throbs up from my right foot through a clenched calve and lands like a kick on my right glute. I've been to the dog park every morning and trudging up and down and across the steep hill (while trying to corral the one dog who never wants to leave) has been quite painful.
It is curious that the pain isn't radiating down from my lower back/hip. Instead, it's traveling up from the unpleasantly tingly numb toes through the outer ankle, skips the knee but ultimately impacts the hamstring and glute. Or at least that's how it feels.
My dad, who I resemble in more ways (20/20 vision, not much gray hair, ability to create and maintain a semblance of fitness) than my mom (glaucoma, short stature, genetic dry skin and "poor circulation", food dysfunction) used to be decently athletic and trekked all over the city. Until he couldn't. The diagnosis? Spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the vertebral canal that holds the spinal nerves.
He told me how frustrating this pain in his calf was because it limited his ability to take long strolls. Ever vain, he never allowed himself to get fat and out of shape. He wanted to always fit into his nice clothes, and I admired his resolve. It's what I need to do cuz I'm starting not to fit my nice clothes. You hit your mid-60s and the body decides it's going to do whatever the hell it wants. In many ways, I think my sciatica is potentially a result of spinal stenosis. Gee, thanks dad.
Today, I don't even make it to 2.7 but at least I showed up. And I got my 2 sets of pull-ups, without any kipping. Especially since any sort of body assist actually makes the sciatic pain so much worse. Standing in the Stretch Cage with the leading foot, the right foot all numb and tingly is not a great feeling, especially since I need to push off it to reach up and grab the overhead bars. But I got it done. Steps weren't any easier, and I didn't slow the speed although it was an option if Speed 5 was too much. It was bearable. I also did not pedal very fast on the cross-trainer, knowing it was going to exacerbate the numbness in my feet anyway.
The Aerobics Room was nicely chilled, even though there had been a Senior class earlier. I had to skip the Bird Dogs when I remembered how much that position made my glute hurt all the way down to my numb toes. The same with the hip bridges, which is disappointing since that movement is recommended for sciatic pain relief. Instead, it made everything hurt more. The piriformis stretch felt okay and hip twists felt worse.
I kept alternating between "This is okay" and "Wow, this sucks." Push-ups were okay, air squats were sort of okay. And cat/camel and fire hydrants were fine. Bird Dogs suck and I'm not doing them again until I'm more recovered. Dead Bugs were mostly okay, but started to suck as I approached the 90th rep.
I am relieved by the fact that even big, strong, and much younger people
also suffer from such indignities. Recently I watched a Buff Dudes
YouTube post where the younger, bigger Brandon finds himself afflicted
with lower back pain
and a potential disc problem. His older brother Hudson is, of course,
very supportive. Hudson had also previously posted his attempts at
following a natural bodybuilding routine, impressively got his body fat
down to 4% (I don't remember exactly but it was really low), competed
against other older fellows, and scored several victories. They're fun to watch, especially when they get their entire family involved (Buff Dad and Buff Mom)...
Other than the requisite morning dog park, I have no plans to do anything strenuous, except enjoy going to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show tomorrow night. It's the 50th anniversary, there will be a shadow cast, and we bought prop bags. That should be fun! If nothing else, I'll be singing along. Yes, I know all the words...
I thought I had a pretty good workout on Friday. Maybe too good. Woke up Saturday with a sciatic flare up that persists to this day. I can't remember doing anything different, but I did push myself a tiny bit more at the Stretch Cage: standing on tiptoe and arching backward while holding the cage. It's a near total posterior chain stretch that I use to loosen up after a bout on the elliptical. Muscles should be all warm enough, but doing pull-ups involves different muscles. Friday, the arch backward might've been a tad more.
It didn't hurt. But I've discovered that I often do things that don't hurt at the moment but cause something to impinge on that huge sciatic nerve that reacts later. It's very frustrating. Normally, walking around eases the sciatic pain I wake up with. Not this time. Walking around has made it worse all weekend. I even skipped yesterday because I needed to find a comfortable position for relief. Plus I felt very tired and had unsightly under eye bags. Comfortable turned out to be sitting almost semi-crouched with my knees closer to my torso than normal seating allows. I'm not sure how that eases the strain. I just go with what works.
I've had this issue with sciatica for some years now. It's why I've stopped doing Seated Rows at the cable machine. I can pull more than 65 lbs but when I do, my sciatic nerve screams at me the next day. I've stopped doing dead lifts and so many other movements. I can still drop down and touch my elbows to the floor with straight legs shoulder's width apart. I can roll forward and put my head on the mat while seated cross-legged. It's all things I could do for years. Except now, the sciatic nerve on my right side gets horribly upset and takes days if not weeks to calm down. My foot and lower calf have been going numb while just taking the dogs to the park. I started dosing myself with ibuprofen again, and rubbing a good dollop of the arthritis cream Voltaren on the afflicted areas.
And if it isn't because pulling/pushing weights aggravates my sciatica, then it'll be bad for my glaucoma. So I do what I can do, and try not to get too bored with myself. And try not to forget why I shouldn't be pushing to do more. It's no wonder I'm not as excited to hit the gym like I used to...
I just read that taking 3 ibuprofen tablets AND an acetaminophen together really helps with pain. I've just been taking the former while eyeing a bottle of the latter. But tomorrow I'll try the combo. Today, I also twisted oddly this morning and had to deal with a peculiar soreness under the shoulder blade. It wasn't much of a problem until the second set of pull-ups. Maybe it was because I was tired, but the sciatica AND the lopsided soreness made the movement much more difficult.
I got to the gym late and while I was expecting Wind Breaker on machine #3, he was actually on #2. And some other guy was on #3. But #1 was free. I hesitated for a second because I really dislike that old dried mushroom smell, but I didn't smell it today. When the guy on #3 finished and left, Wind Breaker immediately reclaimed that machine. I did okay on the elliptical and the first set of pull-ups. The step machine was harder. And the second set sucked since my foot was asleep (very distracting) and the sore back made me feel lop-sided. Pedaling the cross-trainer did not feel good. It was only 15 minutes and at least the numbness didn't spread past my toes and the front of my foot.
The Aerobics Room was freezing and felt very good. There were several other people in there all doing their own things. I pushed through my general routine, but sciatica was not happy with Bird Dogs, or push-ups. Oddly, Air Squats were okay. I'll probably skip tomorrow.
I've had a craving to make watercress sandwiches. Yesterday I made the British staple "cheese and pickles" sandwich (saw it on the British crime show Endeavour), aka bread spread with butter, layered with Branston pickles (more like a chutney) and mature cheddar. I added some sliced cherry tomatoes. It was a big sandwich and took me hours to eat. I'm finally seeing bagged watercress in the grocery after years of not seeing it. I read a recipe mixing chopped watercress into egg salad. That sounds yummy -- I really like egg salad.
I've also been watching some odd old TV shows. Yesterday, I discovered a hysterical series created, written and starring Alan Tudyk. It only ran for 2 seasons but I'd never heard of it before. Cameos included Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Castle, The Rookie), Sean Astin (LOT, Stranger Things), Amy Acker (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Gina Torres (Suits, 911), Henry Rollins... Tudyk's latest show, Resident Alien was great but unfortunately ended with the series finale in season 4. (I have yet to watch it since programs don't always end on the streaming network they began on.) This earlier show, Con Man, is hilarious, but I can see where it'd piss off a lot of industry people. It's apparently based on Tudyk's actual experiences trying to escape typecasting (Firefly).
21 Oct 2025 12:35-2:36
Tuesday All Cardio
Sciatic Flare Up Since Sat Morning & Side Strain from Twisting WTF?!
I got to the gym later than I planned but at least I finally made it. Actually, I had planned to go yesterday and got ambushed by a neighbor I had spoken to a few weeks earlier about a tree on the property line. From my driveway, it's dead with white bark and a sparse crown of autumn leaves. It's hard to see from my neighbor's driveway. Instead, what's more noticeable is a bigger tree that appears to be leaning toward my house. From my property, we're viewing it head on, and the lean is not visible. A tree guy showed up 30 minutes later than expected, and by the time we had agreed to a price, course of action, and a timeline, well, I had lost my incentive to head to the gym.
I really don't want to fight over equipment when the gym is full of HS and younger kids. If I can't make it during that Goldilocks time, then I just don't go. Today, the gym isn't crowded when I arrived, but elliptical #1 is occupied and Wind Breaker is on #3, as he will be for hours. I get on the Life Fitness cross-trainer. It's far from my favorite machine. I don't even break a sweat pedaling those 15 minutes so it's a paltry warmup.
The pull-ups are good though, and that's at least one consolation. Cuz cardio's been better, but not recently. The step machine is actually better although I entered the same 8 minutes with a 2 min cool down and increased the speed to 5. I'm finally warm enough! My hands are a tad sore/tired but I'm still able to knock out my pull-ups without resorting to desperate kipping. Elliptical #1 is finally clear. I don't get anywhere near 2.8 but sweat is dripping off my nose. Unfortunately, I can smell that weird dried mushroom odor emanating from the fellow two machines down... Ewwww.
I have a small internal debate as to whether I want to do a 3rd set of pull-ups. I've bailed the last several sessions, but today I feel confident enough to attempt this last set. Mentally, I tell myself that getting 12 is the absolute minimum, 15 would be great, and anything more than that would be awesome. It does surprise me to get 18.
Satisfied, I head to the Aerobics Room. It's unpleasantly warm even though the Senior class vacated it a few hours ago. I do the basics and I'm okay with it. Maybe I'll make it to the gym next week more than twice. We'll see...
I am a bit concerned about the latest news regarding lead levels in protein powders. It's alarming to see two familiar names: Optimum Nutrition (serious mass) and Ensure (plant based protein), although they are near the bottom of the list for concern and are specific products I don't use. (We have used the ON gold standard protein shakes, but not lately.) Yes, not as bad as the top two protein powders that have tested for a thousand times more heavy metals than the lowest products. But still... I'd like my protein shake to not have anything harmful in it.
After the very not exciting "not-a-nor'easter" this past weekend, we got needed rain and thankfully, not a lot of wind. Still, I didn't feel much like braving the wet after spending an hour at the dog park with the pups. They don't care what the weather is as long as they get to run off leash to sniff and pee on a bunch of interesting shrubs, leaves, dirt, rocks, trees, branches... I found an old gift card to a big chain bookstore and wondered if it was still good. Luckily, there's such a store at the big mall and I was able to use it to buy a cute little book on carnivorous plants. It's the perfect accompaniment to the plants my kid has in their dorm room, waiting to be gifted to a friend.
The dogs and I spent two hours at the park today because after 45 minutes solo, I got a text asking if we would still be there in a bit. Knowing that there would be other pups to play with always induces us to stay. The iffy weather made it unlikely that some of the more problematic pups would show. My pups got to play for another hour and then we all had other things to do. Still, it meant being late to the gym. Especially since the highway department decided today was the day to pave and patch an assortment of different roads all over several towns. Spent a lot of time sitting in traffic and by the time I got to the gym, it was 1 PM.
I got lucky. Elliptical #1 was free and I did my "cardio day" routine. I wasn't wearing my FitBit since I only noticed this morning that it had a low battery warning and had to be put on the charger. I got two sets of pull-ups, and since the Matrix Stair machine has been repaired, I got my 10 on that. Ended with 15 on the cross-trainer, and then, I walked away from the 3rd set of pull-ups. I'm trying to convince myself to go to the gym tomorrow and push some weights. But that'll still involve 35 minutes of cardio and a set of pull-ups: my version of a warm up.
The Aerobics Room is absolutely frigid because it's Tuesday so no blood-poor Seniors. The room is much better when it's cold. Since it's already half past two and I still need to do grocery shopping, I only do the basic routine and no extras. Nothing exciting. I do watch my form while doing push-ups and wonder about how anyone can consider a mere dozen an elite status for a woman over 50. Talk about lowered expectations. Anyone flashing back to those MadTV skits? No, just me?
I don't have an excuse for why I'm getting to the gym so late these days. I didn't even have errands to run, and I left the dog park "early" to give myself more time. But that doesn't seem to matter. There were no other pups at the park but at 45F, my dogs were joyously frisky. Until they got bored and wondered why no one else was there to play with. I get to the gym late enough so that 2 of 4 Precor elliptical machines are in use. Wind Breaker is on #3 and a different regular on #1. I'm not squeezing between especially since I don't like the odor that wafts off WB.
There's only 1 person on any of the LF cross-trainers, so I get on #3 and do 15 minutes. It's both more difficult and less cardio challenging at the same time. I barely get warm enough to sweat but I have to be mindful of numb and tingly feet. The first set of pull-ups reflects my not warmed up enough status. I have to curl my lower body halfway through the set as I try not to use the kipping motion to assist the upward movement. Disappointing.
Precor #1 is free so that's my next stop. I make a decent effort so nothing close to 2.8 but at least it didn't totally suck. I'm thoroughly warmed up and the pull-ups reflect that. I'm able to do more reps and focus on holding my body still while I hoist myself up. Lower body swaying really saps your energy and focus when trying to knock out reps. I'm pleased.
The last cardio on my list is the step machine. The machine I normally use is still out of commission, and the one next to it is being used. Which leaves the two giant machines situated where the Nexis stations used to be. Gosh, I really miss those faux boxing machines. It's been such a long time since I've been on the new StairMaster equipment that I spend a few minutes figuring out the controls and what I want to do. Nothing fancy. Just basic stair climbing. Two minutes at each speed until I get to 3. I've only tapped in 10 minutes and I'm not sure if there's an automatic cool down. Not all equipment have this function.
After 10 minutes, the machine tells me that it's a cool down period but doesn't tell me how long it'll run or if it's up to me. It tells me I can just hit the stop button. So I do. Then off to the Aerobics Room. It's frigid in there, which is just fine. There's a frost warning for tender plants tonight and temps have dropped by 20F between today and yesterday.
I do my basic routine including the 25+ push-ups and 25 air squats. Meanwhile, I muse about a silly article about how many push-ups you can do correlates to your fitness level. Apparently, a woman in her 50s is considered "elite" if she can do 12-15. Are you kidding me?! (Honestly, I feel like such a sap for quitting after 25 but it's only because my glaucoma doc says to limit the reps.)
When I leave the gym, I sit in my car a moment to down some calcium pyruvate and niacin, hoping they'll repair my damaged optic nerves, or at least slow down their deterioration. I try to take my different supplements separately to minimize interactions. The bulk (B12, D3, fish oil, zinc, lutein & zeaxanthin) I'll take with half a banana and a cup of coffee in the morning. I've shipped my fancy coffee machine to be repaired, so now I'm back to grinding beans and using a single cup filter. Actually, the coffee is pretty good this way and it'll lower my cholesterol because the paper filter will keep the cafestol out of my brew. I glance up and see the ugliest truck ever. Yep, it's a rare cyber truck. I thought they only came in steel gray. This one appears to be a weird taupe color. Maybe it's just dirty. I mean, I think they're too heavy to go through a commercial car wash, right?
The Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival began over this past weekend and culminates today when there is a supermoon. I'm happy I finally figured out how to get my phone to take decent photos of the moon instead of a blurry white orb. I'm also getting used to the new iPhone 17 since transferring apps doesn't mean that the passwords have been saved. I spent most of yesterday updating and re-entering apps and passwords, which is probably the reason I don't update my phones very often. But the camera appears to be less distorted, even if every app has reconfigured settings and controls.
I found a Taiwanese brand of moon cakes at H-Mart that is preservative-free. It's my favorite flavor: chestnut. Other brands from mainland China tend to have a laundry list of ingredients, and a lot of preservatives. (I did also buy a sampler pack of different flavor moon cakes from China to save for later in the year. It's not like they go bad.) There's a running joke among Chinese redditors about leaving moon cakes out for months, or unopened packages being edible years past the technical expiration dates. The pastries are so expensive that no one can casually toss them in the trash without huge pangs of guilt unless the cakes are spoiled. Which they never are.
I got to the gym late. The parking lot was full with the Senior class in session. I could still use elliptical #1. Wind Breaker was already on #3, his mostly white hair topped with an unnatural brown. His dye job has grown out. Pull-ups worry me because my right shoulder has been unusually achy. I can't think of anything to cause this injury, except maybe hoisting gallon jugs of water off the top shelf of the grocery. But that's usually only 5 containers, and only every few days. If the water is close to the edge of the shelf, I don't have any problems. If there's only jugs further back, then I have to climb up on the bottom shelf which is stocked with 40 lbs bags of water softener salt. Which means I'm not moving them. I just have to not slip off them. But surely, that can't be the reason my shoulder has been achy all weekend?
The second time I reach for pull-ups, the shoulder starts to complain and I get fewer reps. But I always get fewer reps for the second set. I don't even attempt a third set today. Perhaps just looking for an excuse but I had to skip the step machine since it refused to move past "Pause" when I hit the Go button. It's now officially Out of Service. I did complete my 15 minutes on the cross-trainer though.
The Aerobics room isn't very cold but it never is after the Senior class. We're having unusually warm weather in October so I'm glad I haven't put away my summer clothes. I'll probably skip tomorrow since I have to pack up our fancy coffee machine and ship it back to the manufacturer for repair. And a friend of mine said she had recorded a segment about Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter's performance of Waiting for Godot in NYC. I actually bought myself a matinee ticket for that show later this month. No one I know is interested as far as I can tell, so I'll be solo. In order to afford this ticket, I opted for the nose bleed section. I also invested in a pair of small, lightweight birder binoculars. My eyes are good, but not that good.
I've been enjoying watch old TV shows, like Wire in the Blood, a British "detective" show from the early 2000s. I watched it when it first aired, but I seem not to remember very much about it except for the main characters. It's much more entertaining now. I'm also checking out a new flavor from the Ensure hi-pro beverage folks: caramel. It's much better than the weird cherry cheesecake. I still think vanilla is the all around winner.
I have to credit a billing error for getting me out of the house and en route to the gym, albeit much later than I'd like. I got an email from my propane service telling me that I was late on paying them and they'd hit me with a service fee. What? I didn't get a bill. Sometimes the mail gets mixed up and I wind up with other people's bills, magazines, etc. I usually circle the correct address and write Please Deliver to Correct Address and pop it back into the box. But I don't know what other people do if they get my mail.
The propane company has an office on a small side road less than a 1/2 mile from my gym. I had sent a reply email to the company about the bill but I'm one of those people who absolutely hate waiting to settle errors like that. Which means, yeah, I'm so close to the gym I might as well go. So I have to pack my gym bag and don gym clothes, which always takes me a bit. It turns out that I'm not the only customer who's been billed a service fee for an overdue bill that was never received, and after I write them a check (cuz I'm old-fashioned and actually still own a checkbook) they rescind the fee and we are all smiles.
That also means I'm not on the elliptical until close to 1 PM. The gym is not very crowded, probably because it's a really nice day. Temps are very comfortable and it hasn't rained in ages. The heat did kick on in the wee hours because it'll do that when the thermometer reads 46F. Dogs were frisky, and bored when no one arrived until we'd been there for an hour. I like weather like this: cool enough for decent clothes, no biting bugs. But since humidity is low, my skin is dry and itchy.
The elliptical feels very difficult and I'm resigned to abysmal stats because my thighs have no energy. I'm struggling to pedal and keep up the pace. It's not until the last 7 minutes that I'm actually able to push harder and faster. Damn, that's a long warm up. But I do get much closer to 2.8, although not quite. I have no expectations that pull-ups will be good today. I'm only going to do one set and then move on to push around some weights.
Because I'm really short (height-challenged?), I have a routine to get into position to reach the overhead rungs on the Stretch Cage. Most of the time, I get my right hand on the upper center back rung, and then I can swing my left hand up to the roof bars. Normally, I can keep my feet on the shin-high platform although only on tip-toe. Today, I slipped right off that platform (those damn Hokas have slippery soles) and wound up in a dead hang off the overhead rungs for a split second. Just enough time for me to wonder how much harder is this going to be? There's always that fraction of a second where doubt starts to percolate. But it can be quashed with less thought, and more do.
So I do. I pull my nose up past the roof bars and drop halfway. I've admitted before many times that I don't do a full descent because it totally wrecks my elbows and the tendons in my forearms. No point to doing that. And the pull-ups today are actually easier and done with better form. I only get 18, but I'm happy with that.
The free weight area has a few bodies in it. I snag a flat bench, the 30 lb BB and a pair of DBs. I haven't done the triceps routine in such a long time that I almost forgot how to perform the skull crusher/Rip skull combo. My arms took several reps before they stopped feeling unsure and tentative. The bar felt unwieldy and heavy until muscle memory kicked in and suddenly it was easy. That was kind of weird.
The Aerobics Room actually felt like the a/c was on even though there had been a Senior class earlier. I do my basic routine and remember to at least do a Wall Sit at the end. I can only hold that position for 90 seconds before I'm forced to stand up. I'm saving Walking Lunges for later in the month. When I don't have anything planned for the next few days afterward.
Monday is the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival and a day to celebrate by eating mooncakes. Most Asian countries celebrate this holiday. Of course, no local shops or restaurants carry this delicacy. I grew up eating these pastries and have had to mail order them. Monday is a bad day to eat out: most restaurants are closed after being open for 6 days. I've asked my hubs if we can go to the Korean grocery chain H-Mart to buy moon cakes, and he agreed. Right after the town's Columbus Day parade and the local Harvest street fair. I wonder if he'll remember that Monday is our 24th anniversary.
I've completely forgotten that one of the complaints about one of my glaucoma meds is that it seems to induce fatigue. One patient says she can barely drag herself out of bed each day. I still think my problem is not enough sleep and a cursed circadian rhythm that has me fairly awake at 1 AM but pleasantly dreaming at 7 AM. If it weren't for pups who need daily park romps first thing in the morning, I'd probably sleep until 9 AM. I'm often going to bed at 2 instead of midnight. I need to plan my nighttime routine earlier.
It was 46F when I got up this morning and the dogs were very happy to run about. But there was no one at the park and after an hour, they were bored and frustrated. Which meant I should've been able to hit the gym earlier. Instead, I got to the gym after the noon bell and it's not like I had errands to run. I did most of those yesterday. I have to admit that the weather has been really lovely, right at that Goldilocks range with crispy gold leaves raining down gently from numerous trees. Not hot, not cold. Perfect weather. And next week we'll be bracing for a heatwave of 80F in the middle of October in New York.
The gym wasn't very crowded. Wind Breaker pedaling on elliptical #3. I climb on machine #1 and find it difficult; there's no energy in my legs. It doesn't help that one of my knees aches sporadically, as if I've stepped oddly. Luckily, it goes away without any adjustments on my part. I'm happy just to have made it past 2.7... talk about lowered expectations! I got my 3 sets of pull-ups done, each set progressively worse than the previous. I actually take a very easy approach to the last cardio machine, the cross-trainer. And for the first time, 20 minutes doesn't make my toes or the balls of my feet go numb and tingly. But it's a real struggle to get myself up on the Stretch Cage at that point.
The Aerobics Room is nice and crisp. I do my standard routine. Push-ups feel better than they have in weeks. I don't do Wall Sits or Walking Lunges because I'd really like to come back to the gym tomorrow and push some weights around. If I make it here tomorrow, I'll definitely do Wall Sits. Maybe even Walking Lunges. Maybe.
It's October and we never get trick or treaters on our road so I've taken to decorating and putting out a bucket of self-serve candy for the folks who do make it to our door: delivery folks. I can tell that this is popular: we get a lot of package deliveries. But I'm not leaving the bucket out at night. There are bears and raccoons about and I don't need candy wrappers strewn through the yard.
