Better Than Nothing At All

It's the day before turkey day and I had to gas up the car (will there be a line?), pick up pies I pre-ordered from a local farm bakery two towns over, and still make it to the gym. My sciatica hasn't changed at all, which means it's fine when I'm stationary and feels progressively worse the more active I am. Very frustrating. 

Everyone is picking up their pies and the farm is so crowded that cars have resorted to parking along the narrow, shoulderless road leading to the entrance. The fragrance of fresh baked goods wafts out from the open doors. I'm tempted to pick up an additional pie since there are stacks of pecan and pumpkin pies on the "not claimed" tables, but I resist and content myself with a few double chocolate muffins (my kid's favorite) and the farm's stellar corn muffins. My kid got back from college late last night, spent an hour unpacking and refreshing, then ran off to hang with HS friends until the wee hours. Oh, to be 20 again! 

I get to the gym by 2 pm. The shopping plaza has suddenly decided on cosmetic improvements: last week they painted the entire facade of the storefronts and replaced signage to make every store look like part of the team. This week, they've started repaving parts of the parking lot and the entrance and exit roadways. It's very inconvenient but nice to have those potholes finally addressed. 

The gym isn't very crowded. Wind Breaker is one elliptical #3 as usual. I get on #1. This is the latest I've ever been here, and I'm really tired from not getting enough sleep. I did hear my kid come back at 4 AM because I'm a light sleeper and one of the dogs made some oddly quiet woofing noises. And I still had to get up at 8 to bring the pups to the park. I did have a coffee but that only quells the morning headache that develops when the barometer is changing. Bad weather gives me a bad headache. 

My sciatica hurts a lot until the end of the elliptical program when my leg feels okay but my toes are still a bit numb. I just make it to 2.7 and that's gonna have to be okay. I manage a decent set of pull-ups, which I'm proud of. But that's enough. Because my leg and butt hurts as I limp away from the Stretch Cage. The Aerobics Room is nicely chilled, making the routine less stressful. Still skipping the hip bridges and bird dogs. Never doing a cobra pose again. The nerve flossing makes my hamstring sore. Push-ups are fine, but my toes tingle worse when I stand up. 

I got my test results back from the semi-annual physical and it's not good. Slightly elevated glucose on a fasting blood test suggests pre-diabetes. I guess I should quit eating all that leftover Halloween candy, and a good thing I didn't buy that pecan pie! The cholesterol readings are much worse. Not sure how much of it I can blame on unfiltered coffee, butter, and whole milk. Might it have been that steak my hubs cooked a few days ago? Or the burger he made last week? Lately, the only time I eat red meat is when he buys and cooks it. Maybe, but probably not, right? I might have to do a complete rethink on food just to get all my numbers down to where they should be. This is going to be hard work, and I am not looking forward to it. This is depressing, especially right before a traditional feast day... 

Meanwhile, the moderate temps today (50F) are giving way to winter temps tonight into the weekend. Good thing I dragged in a bunch of firewood for the stove! Well, at least we're not expecting snow. 

26 Nov 2025 1:57-3:11

Late Wednesday Cardio etc

Bare Basics w Sciatica

Precor elliptical #1 (2:36)

Program 2 — right ft numb

Time: 30 + 5 (5124)

Distance: 2.70

Cal: 292

Avg Hr: 144, 180-118?

New FB: 42-120

HGPU 18 —

right foot numb & throbbing lower calf/glute

(2:48)

Skip Hip Bridges

20 Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch

10 Nerve Flossing

Skip hip rotations

DeadBugs 20 x 5

12 nerve flossing x 2

10 Piriformis stretches

Skip hip bridges

Child’s Pose

Cat/Cow stretch 12

Child’s Pose

Fire Hydrants 25 x 2

Skip Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2

Arm rotations 20

Push-Ups 25

Air Squats 25

Neck Stretch / eye yoga