Is It the Season?

Walking around Bear Mountain Park with my son's class was a lot of fun last week, but I noticed my sciatica flared a bit on the uphill portion. Temps dropped into the teens on Friday and my son and I both stayed inside. Periodically I have trouble with my eyes in that they feel really stiff. I'm not sure if it's the side effects of the glaucoma medication I'm taking, or something else, but it's hard to focus on reading when eyeball movement seems strenuous. It's not eye strain as the muscles don't ache. Maybe it's super dry eye? I use some OTC eye lubricating drops, which helps a bit.

My reading glasses are a last resort for making faint gray type legible. (If I use them too long, I have a lot of trouble refocusing my eyes for distance, which is a big problem when I'm driving my son back from kung fu now that it's dark so early. I don't have as much trouble if I don't use the glasses. Weird, right?) But my nose is drippy and drat! I've got a mild case of vertigo. Again. Ugh. My ear plugs and pops repeatedly, then clears. I still have vertigo, but only when I bend over. Well, this is really inconvenient.

My drippy nose is irritated and I worry about the irregularity at the tip of one of my nostrils. The skin is just slightly thickened there and I keep mistaking it for snot I've got to remove. I dab it with a cotton swab dipped in tea tree oil. My nose is pink at the rim, but I don't think anyone notices except me. My son has an appointment with a new dermatologist this week, and I'm thinking of making an appointment for myself to get this skin in my nose checked out. I'm worried it's a wart or some other viral entity that might lead to something potentially disfiguring and lethal. Because I'm a hypochondriac. And if HPV can cause cervical and oral cancers as well as genital warts, then who knows what other viruses can do? It's bad enough that I have a dark spot that bloomed on my cheek a few years ago. And a skin tag that appeared this year in the crease of my eyelid. I'm prone to cold sores, and apparently shingles so maybe I'm not being silly.

When I get to the gym, I overhear some ladies, who are probably a tad older than me, discussing the fact that they get seasonal bouts of vertigo. I keep my mouth shut because I don't have anything to add. Maybe it's some sort of late season allergy? I've had vertigo during the summer months, but not this summer. I'm thinking it was February before that, but maybe my memory is faulty. Perhaps it's the sudden change in temperature? Regardless, there's not a lot I can do about it, except be really careful not to fall.

The cardio area is surprisingly empty for a Monday. I'm here a bit earlier than normal, and only creepy PJ Pants is on the treadmill. I do my cardio session and then pull ups and push ups. All the weight-training advice forums state to do cardio AFTER weights, but that doesn't work for me. I have to do the thing I hate most first or else I won't do it. And that's cardio. Plus, doing 10 reps at a light weight isn't a warm up. Not for me anyway. I'm just a contrarian.

The Smith looks abandoned except for the 25 lb plates on the bar. No one's been there for the past 10 minutes so I claim it by draping my hoodie over the inclined bench under it and stripping off the plates. I see the smaller flat bench, but I don't want to lay flat down, especially now that I'm prone to nasty dizzy spells. Ugh. The rest of my workout is routine. I do my Reverse Inclined Flyes inside the Smith because that's where the 2nd adjustable inclined bench is. The Mayor is on the one in the DB area, and I tend to avoid any place he's to be found chatting. He and LoudMouth are mind-numbingly loud. (I'm ordering some sleep ear plugs too, because the best sleep I've had in weeks was the one night my hubs was camping with my son. My hubs doesn't always snore, but after a few beers something gets loose and sloppy in his throat and the noise is ridiculous. I hope the ear plugs work.)

My sciatica seems stalled. Not better, not worse. At least it's not spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal column that puts pressure on nerves. (Oh, hey, just like the sciatic nerve! Ugh.) My dad developed that as he got older. He'd been extremely active as a young man, and he had liked to walk a lot (he was a terrible driver). He wasn't one to complain much, but after he passed away, we discovered fentanyl patches in his nightstand. It didn't look like he had ever used them, and we tossed them in the trash. My dad was acutely uncomfortable being dependent on any sort of chemical or drugs. He liked to say he was too proud. It's probably where I get my stubbornness from. Luckily, there appear to be treatment options for this ailment, should it come to that. Of course, I'm seriously hoping that this is just me getting too ambitious with the RDLs. So, I'm taking it easy and laying off these types of stressors.

Tomorrow I'm planning a Cardio and Core day, even though, miraculously, the other Nexersys seems to be working. Perhaps Gym Owner got nervous when he saw me snap a few photos of the broken machine last week? I'm not sure that the Cross and Jab are working properly though, but I won't find out until I give it a whack. I hope I'm not disappointed.

Monday

35 x-trainer
Calories 168
Miles 4.62
Average Heart Rate 156

HGPU 26
Push Ups 60

Smith Inclined Press
Bar (30) x 15
50 x 12
70 x 12
80 x 12
90 x 8 x 3 sets
60 x 26
50 x 25

BB Front Raises s/s Upright Rows
20 lbs x 12/15
25 x 12/15reps x 3 sets

DB Laterals s/s Rev Incl Flyes
20/25lbs x 12/15reps x 3 sets

Rip Skulls
40lbs x 12reps x 3sets

Halloween is For Pushing

I feel like I look tiny here

An unnamed nor'easter took out a lot of trees and with that, power lines up in my neck of the woods. We didn't suffer any damage, but a friend had a tree fall across her parking area, taking out both her old minivan and her husband's brand new sedan. Our 20-year old generator kept our essentials running so we had water, heat, the fridge and a single light in the kitchen. Because we use a propane stove, we could also cook. Most of the houses on our road are totally dependent on electric, which is just crazy. Unless you also have a generator, like we do. But it also means no phones, no internet, no tv, no computers, no washer and dryers. There was also no school because downed trees had blocked major roadways. My hubs went to work and said all the roads to the highway were just fine. But as of this morning, several thousand residents are still without power in Putnam County. We got power back yesterday afternoon, although it blipped again in the evening. Just as well... it was time for bed anyway. I'm so glad that our smart phones keep time automatically as long as they're charged.

This is more like it!

My son went to school in his Halloween costume. I went to the gym, in holiday-appropriate clothes. There's no such thing, really, as Halloween workout clothes, so I grabbed my cotton skull tank from the Evolution store (online and in NYC), and a pair of orange skull pajama pants I got at Kmart some years ago. Ah yes, now who's wearing creepy pajama pants, right? I also pack clean clothes to change into later: striped XL girls leggings (also from Kmart) with matching half gloves, and a long sleeve spider web tank from Old Navy. Yup, that's the extent of my holiday costume these days.

At the gym, I note a few fun ladies who are wearing festive head wear: a tiny glittery witches hat, and a pair of large red horns. The big old WW2 vet (I don't know that he is or isn't) is wearing a T-shirt with cartoon ghouls and candy corn on the front. Well, at least some of us remember what day it is. I'm happy that I'm able to get on my favorite cross-trainer, and do my 30 minutes plus 5 minute cool-down. But I never use it to cool down. After push ups and pull ups, I see the Smith is empty. And whoever used it last is an idiot in re-racking plates. 5 lb plates behind 45s all haphazardly tossed onto the rungs. I guess as long as the plates aren't on the ground, it's considered good? Ugh.

I do a bunch of Smith Inclined Presses. There's a tiny bit of twinging in the right shoulder. Serves me right for not really warming up. I'm happy to do sets at a slightly higher weight than usual. And then finish with high-rep sets. The BB Front Raise also causes my right shoulder to twinge slightly. Ugh. I still add 5 lbs to the solid BB. Upright Rows don't seem to bother me at this light weight so I'll keep them in the routine for now. The DB area is empty so I head over there to do my DB Lateral superset with Reverse Inclined Flyes. And as soon as I set up on an Inclined Bench, I'm surrounded by guys. The Mayor, Little R, the middle-age guy who kept trying to catch my eye a few weeks ago, a younger tatted guy I see all the time, and at the very end of the line, a skinny late-30s woman doing multiple movements with plastic orange DBs. WTF? Is everyone doing a Push Day today?

A woman said I was cute.
Not sure if that's good.

It's hard not to trip over everyone. Ugh. When I'm finally done with my 3 supersets, I move my gear over to the breaker bench behind the Smith. The Mayor is on the Decline Bench across the way. I think Little R is done and might be on the machines. Hooded tat dude is doing cables. And the big middle-age guy has disappeared. I think I did V-bar press downs last time, so today is Rip Skulls. Then I see The Mayor place a plate on the Seated Press Machine directly in front of the bench I'm on. I'm surprised. He just did flat benching (I saw him spotting Little R earlier), then declined benching. Now he's doing machine presses? WTF? Perhaps I frown because then he walks away, and Maroon adjusts the plates and uses the machine for a few sets. That was weird.

I finish with a Mat stretch because it's been 3 days and I'm kind of stiff. The gym scale is not kind today and tells me 113.0 lbs! Ugh! Too much salt in my diet: mac and cheese and bratwurst yesterday. I did make a lovely turkey chili on Saturday with a packet of spice mix I found in my cupboard. I was worried, but the mix retained decent flavors. I remember buying it when I lived in Brooklyn NY. Still, I was surprised to see a 1984 date on the pricing label. I've lived in a few places in Brooklyn but I'm not remembering this particular store. Oh well... This was before websites were common enough to be listed on the back of packages. Now everyone has a website. I look up the brand, The Spice Hunter, and am pleased to see that not only do they still exist, but they sell their spice mix online and in stores like Walmart. Of course, Amazon is out of stock, but there's a chance my local grocery chain carries it. I've just never looked before.

Tuesday Halloween

35 xtrainer
Calories 169
Miles 4.65
Average Heart Rate 158

HGPU 26
Push Ups 60

Smith Inclined Press
Bar (30) x 15
50 x 13
70 x 12
80 x 12
90 x 8 x 3
60 x 25
50 x 25

BB Front Raises s/s Upright Rows
20lbs x 15/15 reps
25lbs x 15/15 reps x 3 sets

DB Laterals s/s Rev Incl Flyes
20/25lbs x 12/15reps x 3 sets

Rip Skulls
40lbs x 12reps
45 x 12 x 2 sets

Keeping It Together While Falling Apart

It's starting to feel more like Autumn. Mornings are chilly but brilliant sunshine warms the day to a pleasant 70F. I like it. Yesterday was the the town's annual Columbus Day parade. Normally we skip this event, but since the Italian American Club asked our Boy Scout Troop to be their flag bearers, and to march at the head of the parade, we had to attend. Between the actual march itself, the walk through the street fair, and the long long walk back to the car, we covered over 5 miles.

In the past this hasn't been an issue. Consider it an urban hike since it was all paved roadway. But my joints aren't young anymore. The back of my left knee started to ache on the walk back to the car. Normally I only feel it on Cardio Day, when I've abused my legs with lots of cross-trainer and elliptical pedaling. I was wearing my Ariart Fat Baby western boots which are immensely comfortable because they have a wide toe box. But the bunion started to get weird and the toes on my left foot started crossing each other rather painfully. I had to slow my gait just to keep moving. Which leaves me with the dilemma of finding a shoe that's "just right". Too wide and unstructured and my toes have a free-for-all. Too tight and the bunion is exacerbated. Ugh. I need "Goldilock shoes"...

I get to the gym late again. I'm actually getting up even earlier than before because the school district has finally hired more bus drivers to provide more buses. My son's new school bus is suppose to arrive 10 minutes earlier than the original overcrowded bus. New bus driver means the bus will be late. Because they don't know the route. Or the stops. It actually arrives about a minute ahead of the original bus. But at least my son has a seat going to school now. And I can stop pestering and complaining to the Transportation Department.

The gym is virtually empty. I'm surprised to still see The Mayor though. Ugh. He's got plates on the Smith machine, but he's so busy talking that I'm not sure he remembers what station he's at. I do my cardio warm up. My right foot goes numb. The bunion, which is the top of the first metatarsal, actually hurts a little. I'd like cushier shoes, please! Ideally, I'd try on shoes until I find perfect ones, but that's nearly impossible since brick-and-mortar stores rarely carry Wide sizes. And online shopping is never really free, especially if items don't fit properly and need to be returned! Brands keep shrinking their sizes too. Ugh.

Pull ups are okay. They've been easier, or I've been stronger. Push ups are easy because I only do 50. There are still plates on the Smith. I do my entire core routine. The Mayor is still gabbing. Ugh. Too late for him. I march over to the Smith and remove the plates, grab a flat bench and set up for benching. The shoulder is still wonky so I'm cautious. Worse, the Smith itself needs servicing. The right side feels as if the tract is off because there's a noise, and a vibration that shouldn't be there. As I add weight, I feel my right bicep complain. Which is weird because Bench Pressing is a Push movement, meaning pectorals, front delts and triceps. Biceps should not be part of the equation. Ugh. I go easy and don't chide myself for only 6 reps at 120 lbs. I can't even get 25 reps at the lower weights either. Double ugh.

Well, at least the knot under my shoulder blade is gone. Yesterday, after I spent a good 10 minutes using my knot killer on the floor, I got my hubs to press the remnants out with his fingers. So the back feels much better today, and I've regained most of my range of motion in my neck. Because a knot under the left shoulder blade tightens shoulder and neck muscles on that side as well!

I stick to weights in amounts I know I can do. These feel okay. Unfortunately, the gym is starting to fill up with HS boys. Ugh. Shoulders and then triceps. I'm done! In the locker room, I often play a game with myself after the weekend, where I try and guess how much my bad eating habits have cost me. Okay, banana nut bread with peach jam, apple ale and pulled pork with sauteed cauliflower. Chinese lotus seed cakes. Liverwurst and Swiss cheese on crackers. British chocolate pudding from the UK Gourmet store. I timidly venture 112 lbs and hope that it's less. The scale tells me 110.8 lbs and I breathe a sigh of relief.

When I exit the locker room, I'm surprised to see The Mayor chatting at the front desk. Because he's wearing street clothes. Like he went home, showered and changed, and then came back to the gym. Weird. His car, a distinctive black Mercedes sedan, isn't where I saw it this morning when I came in (he likes to park in the upper lot, away from all the riff-raff of the shopping plaza). I tend to keep an eye out for people I don't trust. Probably just because I grew up in NYC...

I'm trying to come to grips on having eye surgery as early as next year. My glaucoma doctor tells me that I'm better off taking the risk of blurry vision than losing my sight. That last visual field test, which I knew was going to look bad, has her worried. My pressures are both, remarkably, 14. They've almost never been the same value simultaneously. But 14 isn't good enough. Everyone wants my pressures below 11. Drops aren't enough. I tell my doc I'm extremely resistant to having the bleb surgery, where they cut a flap into the eyeball to drain the fluid. There's a lot of issues with trabeculectomy or sclerostomy, and I'm paranoid enough to think I'll develop complications. She tells me that the newest techniques involve implanting drainage shunts, and have better success rates. But she recommends I have cataract surgery first. What?

Okay, apparently everyone, by the time they're 50 years old, has thickening lenses due to exposure to sunlight's UV rays. I noticed a slight color difference in my eye chart tests where one eye sees a yellow tint instead of the white background. The cataracts are probably why I have trouble seeing in low light, and why my vision is a little blurry upon close reading. My eye doc says that cataracts take up room that she needs to utilize for implanting a glaucoma shunt. Artificial lenses are thinner. And the shunt is made of the same material as the lenses so there should be no issue with rejection or inflammation. So after I manage to wrap my head around this, I'll need to see how much my health insurance will cover. Because it always comes down to that: how much is it going to cost. Sigh.

Monday

35 x-trainer
Calories 166
Miles 4.47
Average Heart Rate 149

HGPU 26
Push Ups 50
Scissors 50
Bicycle 50
Crunches 50
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Superman 3 x 30s

Smith Flat Bench
Bar (30lbs) x 15
80 x 12 right arm
100 x 12 still some rt bicep
120 x 6
110 x 12
90 x 20
80 x 20
Right pulley is grinding

BB Front Raises s/s Upright Rows
20lbs x 15/15reps x 3sets

DB Laterals s/s Rev Incl Flyes
20/25lbs x 12/15reps x 3sets

V-bar press down
20lbs x 12
30 x 12
40 x 12

First Days

Neither my son nor I got much sleep last night. He had slept until nearly 1 pm the day before so he was having trouble feeling tired at bedtime. Plus he was worried about all the new routines that going to a new school entails. I didn't get nearly as much sleep, but still got him up in time. And then I proceeded to get chores done before heading to the gym.

I'm feeling the sleep deprivation in an ugly way so I cut my first cardio session down to 20 minutes. Which means that overall, I won't be getting any great mileage today. My first, as an it turns out, my only set of pull ups are a decent 31 reps. Push ups suck and crunches and planks are standard. The Smith is vacant when I get there and that makes me happy. My right shoulder feels twingey though so I don't push any heavier than 120 lbs. I don't think those two rounds of Cuban DB Presses did anything to help me last week so I'm okay with not doing them ever again.

I do Smith flat bench presses and then Smith inclined presses. I've developed some upper pecs, which somewhat compensates for my otherwise flat-chested profile. I've also put on weight and of course, I'm not happy about that. (112.6 lbs!) But it's to be expected after a long weekend. At least I think I'm mostly balanced physique-wise. Over the weekend, I saw a guy at poolside who had a disturbingly ape-like shape. After discrete examination, I realized that he had extremely large front delts, but no pecs to speak of. His chest actually looked a bit concave. Overall, he was moderately muscular but those front shoulders threw everything out of whack.

After a few supersets of DB laterals and reverse inclined flyes, I finish with some moderate Rip Skulls. I'm leery of going any heavier than 40 lbs because I don't want to tweak my elbows. I punch in Program 1 on the Precor elliptical and work up a decent sweat. Today is the first day I've ever used actual Apple earbuds. They're okay. I've read that Apple's new phones will now be cordless. Yes, that's convenient because I hate cords. But it means Bluetooth headphones that requiring charging as much as the phones and pods do. I still have an old non-Bluetooth Apple iPod Nano.

I normally do a quick stretch and then a final set of pull ups after the cardio. Today, there's a puffy middle-aged man in the Stretch Cage. I check out the new Cybex torso rotation machine and do a few sets. The man is barely moving because he's checking out his phone. After 15 minutes of him in a vaguely stretch position, I give up and go to shower. I could've asked him when he'd be done (ahem, hint, hint), but I'm afraid that I can't actually contain how annoyed I am if I go ask him if he's actually doing anything besides occupying space. See? I'm still annoyed!

Tuesday Workout

20 min X trainer
87 cal
2.20 miles
6.56 av spd

HGPU 31
Knee-Ins 50

Push ups 100

Crunches
3 X 50

Bird Dog Planks
2 X 60 sec

Smith Flat Bench
20 reps X 30 lbs (bar)
80 lbs X 15
100 X 12
120 X 12
90 X 22

Smith Inclined Bench
30 lbs (bar) X 15
50 X 12
70 X 12
80 X 8 X 2
80 X 10

DB Lateral Raises s/s with
Rev Incl Flyes
20 lbs X 12/20 X 3

Rip Skulls
12 reps X 30 lbs, 35, 40

30 min elliptical
Program 1
286 cal
2.54 miles

4.74 miles total

Cybex torso rotation
12 reps X 30 lbs

Road Rage Transference

I spend so much time sorting out the mess of paperwork that accompanies my son's summer camp applications that I'm in a foul mood by the time I get to the gym. Paperwork, phone calls and massaging the calendar eat up my mornings lately. It's not just this morning though. Yesterday I drove behind a car that hit the brakes with every sign on the road, not just the warning signs for curve ahead. I literally wanted to get out of my car and beat the other driver with a shovel by the time we got to the traffic light. It was green. And the driver rode the brake the entire way through. There's no cross traffic at that light. It only exists to allow trucks from the nearby construction site onto the roadway. And there were no trucks anywhere. Today I feel the need to move a lot of iron. For my sanity. And the safety of other drivers.

I cut my warm up cardio down to 15 minutes today so my mileage doesn't even top 5 miles. Oh well. I only do 50 push ups as well. And no core work at all. Did all that yesterday. The Smith is free so I wrestle the flat bench into position and do a few sets. My right shoulder and left elbow complain a little. I don't push for the max, but I do enough reps to feel worked out. Then I replace the flat bench with the bigger Adjustable Incline Bench and do a few sets of Incline Benching, finishing with reps. I see a guy I haven't seen in at least a year. He usually does power lifting moves although he's not big and fluffy like most of the guys.

My last real exercise is those DB laterals superset with Inverted Flyes. Three sets with 20 lb DBs is tiring, but I know I can do more. I've been slacking lately because I usually do other movements. Today I figure I'll splurge and muscle through 3 more sets at 25. Now I'm done. Except for the cardio. And another set of pull ups. I don't even stretch because I just have enough time to shower and change, and shop for groceries before the school bus comes.

I used the prescription estrace cream last night. It's got an unfortunate texture, similar to those creams prescribed for yeast infections. It doesn't really absorb very well, and makes me feel sticky, like I've accidentally smeared toothpaste on myself. At least it's not minty fresh. The Smoky Mountain cream has a nicer texture and disappears into your skin without any stickiness. The applicator for the estrace cream needs to be redesigned as well: it's difficult to clean because of a small groove around the edge of the plunger tube. The texture doesn't help either. It was probably designed by a man.

Tuesday Workout
(4.38 miles cardio; 20,936 lbs moved)

Cross Trainer

Warm Up

Calorie :   67 CAL
Distance: 1.85 mile
Speed :    7.41 mph
Duration : 00:15:03

Hammer Grip Pull Up

209.07

Set 1 : 112x26

Wide Hand Pushup

50

Set 1 : 50 Lap/Rep

Smith Machine Bench Press

168

Set 1 : 30x20
Set 2 : 80x12
Set 3 : 100x12
Set 4 : 120x12
Set 5 : 90x25

Smith Machine Incline Bench Press

114.67

Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 50x12
Set 3 : 70x12
Set 4 : 80x13
Set 5 : 50x26

Dumbbell Lateral Raise

35

Set 1 : 20x12
Set 2 : 20x12
Set 3 : 20x12
Set 4 : 25x12
Set 5 : 25x12
Set 6 : 25x12 SuperSet with

Dumbbell Reverse Flyes

41.67

Set 1 : 20x20
Set 2 : 20x20
Set 3 : 20x20
Set 4 : 25x20
Set 5 : 25x20
Set 6 : 25x20

Elliptical Training

Prgm#2

Calorie :   285 CAL
Distance: 2.53 mile
Duration : 00:30:00

Hammer Grip Pull Up

212.8

Set 1 : 112x27

Eating Well and Feeling Well

You know you're tired when you get up at 5:30 am to pee, blink your eyes and it's suddenly 7:30. I stayed up too late, once again, exploring TV shows on Hulu. TV shows that I'd never seen before or even heard of, probably because they're Japanese or Taiwanese, but with subtitles. The first one was a peculiar (aren't all Japanese animé?) murder mystery that uses a junior high school kid (gender indeterminate) as protagonist. The second, called Tiger Mom, explores the parental anguish of the working mother of a "princess", and princess isn't a good thing. So I didn't get enough sleep, and worse, my son wasn't asleep when I went to check on him. Instead, I wound up reading him the first chapter of the deluxe iBook edition of Winnie the Pooh, because I'd read this to him when he was 4 yrs old but he didn't remember it at all. He just wants to hear my voice telling him stories.

I'm not surprised that my mileage is terrible on the cross-trainer warm up. I do a quick stretch next to the CF area just as Scruffy walks by. He's using the cable station there. I really don't know what guys expect from me by walking by so close. I'm there to work out, so I tend to keep my eyes to myself and just focus on the next exercise. And if you're nothing to look at, well, I'm not going to be looking either. I'm not mean. I'm just not chatty. I see The Mayor in the free weight area. He's not as loud today, probably because he's lecturing a boy on something. I'm not sure if it's even his kid, but the boy, tall, blonde and skinny, looks really bored.

At the Smith, I do my standard routine. Today my right shoulder doesn't feel bad at 130 lbs so I go ahead and put another 5 lbs on the bar. I get 6 reps at 135 lbs. It's not horrible. I could probably do another set. But I don't want to stain the shoulder too much. I drop down to 100 lbs, hoping for 25 reps but okay with only 23. I really feel the back of my upper right arm during Inclined Smith Presses. I'm not sure why though. Because it's hard for me to catch my breath during this movement, I'm okay with just sets of 8 reps today.

One-Arm Lying Lateral Raise

The DB area is a zoo with random bodies and equipment littering the floor. There's a pair of 25 lb DBs at the OHP station but no one is there. That's my cue to grab a pair of 20s and use that area for my delt supersets. The short beefy Latino kid who's always smacking the weights down is quieter lately. Instead it's Ponytail who's busy throwing the bar down. His brown hair is longer than mine, almost down to his waist. Sometimes he wears a singlet. He focuses on power-lifting moves and he doesn't talk to anyone. But this tossing the bar down is a new thing. There are signs that say "Please Don't Drop the Weights". Perhaps they should amend them to say "Please Don't Throw The Weights Around No Matter How Frustrated You Are With Your Weakness"?

I can't find the 8 lb Beauty Bells anywhere so I start off with the 5 lb DB to do One-Arm Lying Lateral Raises. It's an awkward movement, and my right shoulder struggles to do this with the heavier 10 lbs DB. I'll give this movement another week before I look for something else to replace it. A movement that might not bother my shoulder as much.


Still, I feel pretty good today. Maybe it's because we spent Saturday at a Practical Primitive wild edibles foraging class in NJ. Once we got home, I was able to pick wood sorrel along with the kale in our garden and have them both with our dinner. Wood sorrel is my new favorite green thing: it's refreshingly lemony and I love the tiny heart-shape leaflets that children always think are shamrocks. We also had some salmon our neighbor caught in Alaska last summer and had flash frozen. It was delicious pan-fried in butter, dusted with salt, white pepper and garlic powder. Sunday, I finally cooked up the 10 pints of blueberries that's been hibernating in my fridge, and made jam. I use a little sugar, about 1/5 the amount called for in most recipes, the zest of one lemon, and half its juice. That's it. No pectin means there's an intense flavor which only comes from cooking it for 3 hours on the stove, stirring to prevent scorching. Yum!

After a few sets of RIP Skulls, I decide to do Close Grip Benching for reps. I always fail on the 3rd set with 75 lbs so today I decide to drop that last set back to just the bar. 50 reps isn't really that hard. But I weird out the guy on the bench next to me. I don't know why since he's pressing for weight with plates on his bar. I'm just a small woman, with admittedly sizeable arms, doing reps. I really don't want to do HIIT cardio but I find myself on the elliptical anyway. I do 5 minutes, then 5 minutes of LISS to get my heart rate back down before another 5 minutes of HIIT (Tabata style). Then a leisurely 15 more minutes of LISS. After most of the Mat Stretch (because I won't have any time tomorrow) I'm ready for a cool shower. I'm still finishing with cold water for as long as I can stand it. At least I'm not sweating when I leave the locker room and head out into the 80° parking lot.

Monday Push Day Workout
(4.03 miles cardio; 20,860 lbs moved)

Cross Trainer

Warm Up

Calorie :   74 CAL
Distance: 1.86 mile
Speed :    7.38 mph
Duration : 00:15:08

Smith Machine Bench Press

176.67

Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 80x12
Set 3 : 120x10
Set 4 : 130x8
Set 5 : 135x6 Yaaay!
Set 6 : 100x23

Smith Machine Incline Bench Press

114

Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 70x12
Set 3 : 90x8
Set 4 : 90x8
Set 5 : 90x8

Dumbbell Lateral Raise

35

Set 1 : 20x12
Set 2 : 20x12
Set 3 : 25x8
Set 4 : 25x8
Set 5 : 25x12
Set 6 : 25x12 SuperSet with

DB Seated BO
Reverse Fly

37.5

Set 1 : 20x15
Set 2 : 20x15
Set 3 : 25x12
Set 4 : 25x12
Set 5 : 25x15
Set 6 : 25x15

Dumbbell Lying One Arm Lateral Raise

13.33

Set 1 : 5x12
Set 2 : 10x8
Set 3 : 10x10

Barbell Reverse Grip Skullcrusher

52.5

Set 1 : 15x12
Set 2 : 37.5x12
Set 3 : 37.5x12
Set 4 : 37.5x12
Set 5 : 37.5x12

Barbell Close Grip Bench Press

120

Set 1 : 45x25
Set 2 : 65x25
Set 3 : 45x50 Yaaay!

Elliptical Training

Calorie :   215 CAL
Distance: 2.17 mile
10 min HIIT
20 min LISS
Duration : 00:30:00

Willful Blindness

There's nothing wrong with ignoring the fact that you used to lift heavier, that you used to be thinner or leaner, that you were younger. Once. We all were. Once. Sometimes you have to be willfully ignorant of past history, otherwise you'd never get off the couch, mired in self-pity and excuses.

I haven't gotten enough sleep but that's not really an excuse. It will cause me some memory issues throughout the day because sleep is inextricably entwined with daily brain functions. I'm only concerned that this fatigue is going to negatively affect my workout today. Cardio seems surprisingly okay, although I've noticed that my endurance seems to ebb and flow. I don't make steady, continuous gains like younger athletes. Perhaps that's because I'm decades older than most athletes in their prime? Regardless, I'm here now and it's early enough that I can actually grab the Smith after my cardio warm up.

I haven't moved past 130 lbs on the Smith Bench even though I've done it in the past. But those attempts always left me feeling I had injured my right front delt. No need for that. I'm not trying to prove anything. I'm benching several pounds more than my body weight, and for a 55-year old woman who's not using supplements, I think that's pretty damn good. At some point I'll look my age, but hopefully that won't be any time soon.

Lack of sleep is catching up with me. I do a few sets of Inclined Benching on the Smith, adding reps for each set. It's counter-intuitive. It's also proof that I'm a lot stronger than I think I am. The DB area is really crowded today. R is here early and he's chatting with a lot of the other guys. He and his wife are expecting a baby girl in a few weeks. He's planning to relocate to a better school district in the near future, although his town has come up fairly high on the list of Best Suburbs to Raise a Family. He's not comfortable talking to me much when there are a lot of peers about. It's okay. I don't have anything much to say to him anyway.

DBs feel heavy doing Lateral Raises and Reverse Bent-Over Flyes. But I still do them. Benches are crowded so I skip Close Grip Benching for triceps and go straight to RIP Skulls by the DB area. It's crowded there too. Mostly it's a younger crowd though. High school and college boys, I'm guessing. I'm surprised to see that the cable station for Press-Downs is vacant. I haven't done these in a long time. They are harder than I remember. Bummer. I pyramid the weight up, and reps down. Then reverse. And I soooo don't feel like doing it, but I march back up the cardio platform and get myself in gear to do 10 min of HIIT cardio, followed by 20 min of LISS. It's not really feeling any easier.

I haven't done Dive Bomber Push Ups in a very long time, mostly because of my wonky right shoulder. I don't plan to start doing them today either. But I do my other stretches. I feel like I've been here all day between 45 min of cardio, weights, and stretching. Time to shower and change!

Monday is Push Day
(4.05 miles; 18,345 lbs moved)

Cross Trainer

Steady State

Calorie :   71 CAL
Distance: 1.91 mile
Speed :    7.62 mph
Duration : 00:15:03

Smith Machine Bench Press

164.67

Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 80x12
Set 3 : 120x10
Set 4 : 130x8
Set 5 : 110x12
Set 6 : 90x22
Set 7 : 90x3

Smith Machine Incline Bench Press

126

Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 70x12
Set 3 : 90x8
Set 4 : 90x10
Set 5 : 90x12

Dumbbell Lateral Raise

35

Set 1 : 20x12
Set 2 : 20x12
Set 3 : 25x8
Set 4 : 25x8
Set 5 : 25x12
Set 6 : 20x15 SuperSet with

Dumbbell Reverse Flyes

37.5

Set 1 : 20x15
Set 2 : 20x15
Set 3 : 25x12
Set 4 : 25x12
Set 5 : 25x15
Set 6 : 25x15

Barbell Reverse Grip Skullcrusher

52.5

Set 1 : 15x15
Set 2 : 37.5x12
Set 3 : 37.5x12
Set 4 : 37.5x12
Set 5 : 37.5x12

Cable Triceps Pushdown

60

Set 1 : 30x12
Set 2 : 40x10
Set 3 : 50x6
Set 4 : 40x8
Set 5 : 30x10

Elliptical Training

Calorie :   209 CAL
Distance: 2.14 mile
10 min HIIT
20 min LISS
Duration : 00:30:00

The Delayed Workout

Today was the first day of camp for my son and I was at a loss as how to dress him. An overcast 59°F does not hold the promise of pool time. So I dressed him in a hoodie, long sleeves and pants, and packed swim gear (trunks, rash guard, two towels) and warm weather clothes (T-shirt and shorts) with a change of underwear and socks (just in case) and stuffed it all into his new camp back pack. Thank goodness this year's model is the largest yet with several zipper compartments. Because every camper has the same exact backpack, I sharpie his name onto the front panel and tie a multi-color string to one of the zippers. No case of mistaken backpacks here.

I arrive at my eye doc appointment ridiculously early and resign myself to waiting. Picking through all the AARP magazines, I find a pristine copy of Real Simple. At least this has somewhat vaguely useful articles in it. My IOP is higher than it should be at 16. 16 is low for a normal person, but I have glaucoma and the docs all want to see the numbers down in the 12-13 range. Like it was last August. I'm afraid that I have the type of body that can't maintain any steady measurements. My BP and heart rate dance all over the place so I'm not surprised that my IOP fluctuates as well. My regular eye doc mentions the SLT procedure and tells me to discuss it with my glaucoma specialist. Of course, I won't see her until August.

The gym isn't terribly crowded at 11 am so I'm happy. But I feel lethargic, which is actually kind of normal for a Monday. I'm always worried that two days of inactivity have caused my body to revert to its natural slug-like nature. 30 minutes on the LifeFitness cross-trainer isn't great and I barely bust a sweat. But I'm warm. I don't even stretch because I'm eager to get to the Smith machine. Tattoo Tank is finishing his last set of Flat Bench presses. Normally he's on an Inclined Bench, so I'm a tad confused. I warm up on the Breaker Bench behind the Smith with just the bar and 25 reps.

I don't really feel strong today, but I get my minimum lifts in: 8 reps at 130 lbs. I still worry about overly straining my right shoulder so I drop the weight down to 90 lbs and do another 25 reps. Then I swap the benches out but I'm having some trouble catching my breath with 90 lbs. I drop the reps, and finish with high reps and a light bar. Stamina is more important to me than strength right now.

Shoulders are next. I can hear The Mayor chatting with a tall, thin young woman in the DB area. He really talks too much, and too loud. I grab a pair of 20s and do my delt routine, but I can't find the 25s. Morons have put them in the rack where the 5s belong but I don't see them. Instead I get 4 magnetic discs (2.5 lbs apiece) from the front desk to affix to the 20s. Then I grab an 8 lb Beauty Bell and do sets of One-Arm Lying DB Raises on a Bench. I have better control with the 8 lb DB, but it's still a really hard movement, especially after the Lateral Raises and Reverse Flyes.

After my standard Close Grip Bench Presses and Rip Skulls, it's time for more cardio. I don't really want to do HIIT cardio today, but that's irrelevant. My concession is to do 5 minutes of HIIT (15 sec On / 45 sec Off) then 5 min of LISS, and then 5 more minutes of HIIT, followed by the remaining 15 minutes of LISS. I barely have time for a quick lower back and shoulder stretch. I don't want to be sore for tomorrow's Cardio and Core Day when I'll have my son in tow. But I have to rush home, get laundry started and then rush off to get my son from camp. Of course, he'll want to hang out, jumping on the Bounce Pillow for a good 30 minutes, but I'm all for physical activity. Tomorrow we'll see the movie Max after the gym, and then there's a MindCraft Mod-making class at the library. Oh boy!

Monday Workout
(4.0 miles total cardio; 20,603 lbs moved)

Cross-Trainer

Warm Up

Calorie :   68 CAL
Distance: 1.87 mile
Speed :    7.48 mph
Duration : 00:15:02

Barbell Bench Press

Warm Up

Set 1 : 45x25

Smith Machine Bench Press

Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 80x12
Set 3 : 120x10
Set 4 : 130x8
Set 5 : 90x25

Smith Machine Incline Bench Press

Set 1 : 30x12
Set 2 : 70x12
Set 3 : 90x8
Set 4 : 90x8
Set 5 : 90x6
Set 6 : 50x25

Dumbbell Lateral Raise

Set 1 : 20x12
Set 2 : 20x12
Set 3 : 25x8
Set 4 : 25x8
Set 5 : 25x12
Set 6 : 25x12 SuperSet with

Dumbbell Reverse Flyes

Set 1 : 20x15
Set 2 : 20x15
Set 3 : 25x12
Set 4 : 25x12
Set 5 : 25x15
Set 6 : 25x15

Dumbbell Lying One Arm Lateral Raise

Set 1 : 8x12
Set 2 : 8x12
Set 3 : 8x12

Barbell Close Grip Bench Press

Set 1 : 45x25
Set 2 : 65x25
Set 3 : 75x12

Barbell Reverse Grip Skullcrusher

Set 1 : 15x12
Set 2 : 37.5x12
Set 3 : 37.5x12
Set 4 : 37.5x12

Elliptical Training

Calorie :   204 CAL
Distance: 2.13 mile
5 min HIIT, 5 min LISS
5 min HIIT, 15 min LISS
Duration : 00:30:02