Inching Along

Today I had my regular oatmeal and instant espresso breakfast before heading to the gym. The temperature is already mid-60s and promises to peak just under 90. Thank goodness there's A/C at the gym. My husband is finally taking my car to the dealership shop tomorrow to get that Check Engine light looked at. It's only been on since last September but my car shouldn't explode like Penny's in Big Bang Theory. It shouldn't because our auto shop said it was the exhaust system. But they weren't certain what specifically was wrong, and it would be hit or miss to fix it. Better off taking it to the dealership shop they said. I have my fingers crossed. We've decided that if the car repair bills are more than a few thousand dollars, well, we could probably get a 2014 Forester for the price of an older pre-owned vehicle since this is Inventory Clearance Season. My car has 146.000+ miles on it. I'm kind of hoping it'll go to 200K but with the body starting to bubble and rust, well, many a Subaru has fallen prey to rot and rust, not mechanical failure.

I'm always tired and sluggish when I get to the gym lately. My vertigo is almost gone, but I still have a residual feeling of unease. I wake up with my ears feeling wet and hot but it's nothing. The popping is annoying but there's less of it. At the Cage Stretch, I can touch my nose to my shin and the room doesn't spin wildly. Yay!

Starting cardio with a gentle jog (130 Stride Per Minute pace) for 5 minutes helps me with the 4 minutes of Tabata that follow. Then I vary the Incline for the remaining time until I hit 2 miles. I'm happy that my heart rate now behaves like a normal athletic heart and isn't dramatically erratic. A quick Cage Stretch and then the Nexersys. I've decided to do fewer Beginner rounds and increase my intermediate rounds. But the machines fall blank and silent in the middle of the first round. WTF?!

One of the trainers is showing a new client some of the equipment. As he moved a bench out of the way, it unplugged the power cable for all the machines along one wall, my Nexersys included. Well, at least it was only the first round and not the last round of a long bout. These machines don't store any data if the power's interrupted. I have my hair in two oddly placed pony-tails because I hate having my hair stuck to my face when I'm boxing and kicking. A single pony-tail leaves odd strands that frame both sides of my face.

My husband finds that really cute like animé characters, but I find them annoying. The only reason I haven't cut my hair is because my husband really seems to like it, especially when I keep changing 'hairstyles". I guess it's like being with someone new each time. He's been extremely attentive lately, perhaps because I keep telling him how good he looks since he dropped 25 lbs just doing HIIT cardio, some P90X routines, and eating better. It's almost like we're dating again. Except of course, now our son just rolls his eyes at us.

My form falls apart at the last round of the Intermediate level which means I've planned this correctly. I'll try to do this again on Thursday, but the septic tank people are coming Thursday morning for their bi-annual inspection and pump. Unfortunately I think there's a clog in the line somewhere. I'm just hoping they don't have to rip up my vegetable garden to get to the line because the snow peas have just started to flower. Maybe it's just a clogged filter. I'm hoping anyway.

I've gotten used to doing 4 min of Tabata during both the 2 mile and 3 mile sessions. As tired as I am, I can still do this. And it might seem crazy, but I'm considering adding another minute to the latter. The last thing I need to do are Abs: 3 sets of 50 crunches. And 2 sets of Pulse Ups but I tend to keep my elbows over my face instead of down on the ground by my sides. That might make them easier. LOL!

I'm so sodden that my pony-tails are dripping. The gym scale reads 112.2 lbs. I'm surprised because I stuffed myself with pasta and turkey meatballs last night. But it's so hot that we'll probably be eating those yummy sardine and avocado sandwiches for dinner tonight. I bought more sardines, a few tins of brislings (King Oscar brand), more avocados, fresh cilantro, a cilantro plant for later harvesting and another rosemary olive oil boule. Tomorrow is Back and Triceps Day. Oh boy.

Cardio Tuesday

Exercise Name

1 RM

Lifting Logs

Elliptical Training

N/A

Calorie :   171 CAL
Distance: 2.02 mile
Speed :    --
Lap/Rep :  --
Duration : 00:22:00

Boxing

N/A

Calorie :   --
Distance : --
Speed :    --
Lap/Rep :  14 Laps/Reps
Duration : 00:56:00

Elliptical Training

N/A

Calorie :   252 CAL
Distance: 3 mile
Speed :    --
Lap/Rep :  --
Duration : 00:33:00

Crunches

50

Set 1 : 50 Laps/Reps
Set 2 : 50 Laps/Reps
Set 3 : 50 Laps/Reps

Pulse Ups

50

Set 1 : 50 Laps/Reps
Set 2 : 50 Laps/Reps

 

photos for actual stats:

 

If I'm Cutting Back Then Why...

The one weird thing I noticed yesterday was that I got hungrier sooner even though my workout was half of what I normally do. Same breakfast. Same cardio. Same stretching. Just loads less weight-lifting. Today I didn't do any weight lifting although I still did cardio, some stretching, abs and then a few rounds on the Nexersys. So I got done a bit earlier than a normal Tuesday, but by the time I hit the shower, I was ready to eat my arm. I figured I'd check out the protein powder my husband sporadically uses when he works out.

It mixes with water or milk and promises 20 gms of protein and an assortment of other stuff I don't really care about. But since I've had bad experiences with bringing protein with me (unless it's RTD like Ensure High Protein, or the nasty-tasting Muscle Milk), I had to wait until I got home to fix it up. I mixed it with lactose-free skim milk and it tasted like Strawberry Quik, not necessarily a bad thing. But after a while, I developed a headache that reminded me of taking too much cold medicine. I'm sensitive. And I'd only mixed up one scoop -- the directions say use three scoops but who's going to absorb 60 gms of protein?

I enjoyed the cardio session and didn't hold back, just making over 4 miles. To make sure I didn't forget to do abs, I did them right after cardio. Then Cage Stretch. I wanted to hit the Mat Stretch next but there was a convention occupying the Mat so I wound up grabbing my kickboxing gloves and hitting the Nexersys instead. When I was done with my 6 rounds in total, the Mats were still occupied! So I stretched out on a portable mat in the hallway. It's too thick and bouncy for a lot of things I do. I'm noticeably stiffer today. Even a tad sore and I don't even know why. If I'm cutting back, perhaps it's not enough for my body to just not do weights? Perhaps it's the cardio (which, truly, I hate) that's really exhausting me. I've always felt that moving weight was so much easier than "running" for miles at a stretch. So maybe tomorrow, normally a double Cardio leg day, I'll only do 4 miles instead of 8+. It'll be interesting to see how I feel afterwards.

Tuesday Cardio Workout:
35 min Hill 6 = 4.02 miles Yay!
Cage Stretch with BW Heel Dips & Calf Raises and Side Kicks
Nexersys Follow Me Avatar 3 rounds Beginner Female
Nexersys Sparring Avatar 3 rounds Beginner Female
Mat Stretch, etc

Again, accuracy is best during the 2nd round but the power is good.

Not as many points as last time, not as many strikes, not as much power as the Follow Me round, but it was a good work out.