Finally Friday

It's been raining for the past two days, and we still have a lot of snow. I took a selfie of me standing at the edge of the dog park where the packed snow is high enough for me to clear a 6' fence by 18". Yeah, we got a lot of snow. Dogs hit their 7 year mark last weekend and are a lot less playful these days, although going to the park to run about is a necessity. They also love getting attention from other dog owners, acting as if no one has ever petted them before. Fakers. 

What critter is this?

One of their dog friends discovered "treasure" and ran around with it dangling from his mouth. It's some sort of partial skeleton but we're at a loss as to exactly what sort of creature. Is it a bird? The pelvis seems wrong. Maybe a rabbit or a squirrel? What's surprising is how most of the leg bones are still attached via desiccated ligaments. We (humans) managed to grab the bony prize and put it in a trashcan. Dogs were quite bummed but soon distracted by other things. 

I got to the gym very late today but it wasn't too crowded yet. Eventually the HS kids will show up and overrun the place. Today, I got on elliptical #1. It was set with the pedals at a high incline, so I suspect that Thanos had been using it earlier since he's so much taller than the rest of us mortals. Wind Breaker was pedaling on #3 as always. 

Pull-ups were good until my fingers got tired. My sciatica is still present but a lot less annoying these days. Doing less is definitely working for me. Any excuse not to exercise, right? I feel guilty but not that guilty since my sciatica feels better! The step machines are vacant but I've already done 35 minutes on the elliptical, so I only do 12 minutes there. 

Actually, I wasn't sure how much cool down time the machine applies when I punched in 10 minutes. With 17 minutes, the machine gives me a bit over 3 minutes (3:24) -- I'm not sure how it's calculated. Next time I'll set the timer for 15 and see what shows up during cool down. No second round of pull-ups -- the gym was full of kids and I wanted to hit the Aerobics Room before that got crowded. 

The only movements that were sciatica-aggravating were Dead Bugs and Bird Dog planks. But the foot numbness and tingling didn't last too long. Next time I'll do Walking Lunges instead of Air Squats. I'm sure if I do them more frequently, I'll be less sore the next day. 

6 March 2026 1:42-3:19

Late Rainy Friday

Bare Basics w sciatica

Precor elliptical #1 (2:20)

Program 2

Time: 30 + 5 (5

Distance: 2.74

Cal: 298

Precor HR: 151, 188-79

Fitbit: 42-142

HGPU 18 (tired fingers)

Easing back Matrix StairMaster (L) (2:35-2:47)

Manual timer 10 + 2

Speed 4 (40-45) / 2 (33-29) / 1 (24)

Steps 489

Floors ?

Cal 75

Hr 172?!

20 Piriformis/Hip flex

10 Hamstring stretches

DeadBugs 20 x 5 (sciatica!!!)

10 Piriformis stretches

Child’s Pose

Cat/Cow stretch 12

Child’s Pose

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2

Arm rotations 20

Push-Ups 30 (legs shoulder width)

Air Squats 25 (next time Lunged)

Skip Neck Stretch / eye yoga