Go Down Fighting

The old dog has been having quite a lot of trouble with his digestive tract lately. Even when he was younger, he'd occasionally get a bout of the viscous orangey diarrhea. It appears to be bile-related, so I suspect the pup has had issues with his gall bladder, liver and pancreas for a long time. His lab work is usually normal except for certain pancreatic enzyme values. We already know he's got pancreatitis. I lay a lot of newspaper on the kitchen floor before I go to bed. This morning the dog again had an issue. It's not his fault. And he absolutely refused to have anything to do with the home-cooked turkey, rice, gizzards and sweet potatoes mix that contained his medicine. He's especially not fond of the Tylan powder (used to treat his digestive ills when he was younger), which I understand can taste bitter. He can smell it. I used to hide it in peanut butter, or balled up inside white bread nuggets. But the dog can't eat peanut butter anymore. And he's very discerning with his bread now.

The dog will lick flavored yogurt out of my hand. Plain yogurt not so much. Yes, the dog's got a definite sweet tooth. I drive to the vet and ask for something to treat the pup's digestive woes. Instead of probiotic paste, the dog is prescribed a new treatment: Visbiome®, a super-strong probiotic in capsule form that I can sprinkle on his food. It's suppose to be odorless and tasteless. We'll see... I have to buy more flavored yogurt, and while I'm at a different grocery store, I'll have to see if I can get some ciabatta bread. Ugh, there's only a loaf of olive oil, and a loaf of garlic. Well, garlic's definitely a no-no. I take my chances with the olive oil since the nutrition label suggests that there's barely any fat content.

Since the probiotic needs to be refrigerated and cars get hot in the summer, I have to go home and drop all this stuff off before I head to the gym. My son is still asleep when I leave the house for the second time today. It's past noon and the gym is mostly empty. It's also a really nice day out, bright and sunny with little humidity, and not too hot. (Of course, my lawn is sitting in 2" of water so I'm not seeing it being cut anytime soon either.) I do my warm up cardio and DB routine, stretch at the Cage and wrap my hands. The glare is always a problem on the kickboxing machine screen, and no different today. Ugh.

I decide that even though I skipped last week, I should be able to increase my rounds this week. I settle on doing 7 rounds Beginner, and 5 rounds Intermediate. That familiar burning sensation at the bottom of my lungs appears halfway through the Beginner rounds. I must be in horrid cardio shape because I don't remember feeling this way before I had my glaucoma surgery. This feeling persists through the 5 rounds of Intermediate, but halfway through that, I suddenly realize that it doesn't really bother me. Hurrah for tiny victories.

I am completely drenched though. I hurry to change and shower because I'd like to not be there when the crazy woman and her dog and kid show up. As I walk out the door, I hear the familiar thwack of the pads being struck. A small wiry man with a big headset (if I can see it from 15 yards it's a big headset) is whacking the other Nexersys. I've never seen him before, but I'm glad someone other than me is making use of them!

7 rounds Beginner FM

When I finally get home, the dog is eager for me to make him ciabatta toast. I put a tiny (0.8 ml) of CBD oil spread thin on 4 little pieces. He greedily gobbles them down. Then I mix a capsule of Visbiome into a heaping teaspoon of Chobani Smooth strawberry-banana flavored yogurt. The pup licks the bowl clean. Half an hour later he noses me frantically, because he knows when there's a disturbance in the bowels. I'm hoping the Visbiome eventually calms his system down. I don't think the tiny amount of CBD oil is causing diarrhea. Because the pup still enjoys his walks, toast and yogurt, and there's some hope that his issues can be treated reasonably, we're not ready to call it Done. But cleaning poop off the kitchen floor several times a day gets old really fast! I'm also tired of my house smelling faintly like pee. Ugh.

The old pup's still got some fight in him. I don't see anything in his eyes to suggest he's ready to leave us yet. He might be stubborn (oh yes, he's definitely that), or just not that bright (yeah, that too), so as long as he's willing to get up every day and tend to business, we'll be there too. I just need to buy the economy size disinfectant wipes, trash bags and paper towels...

5 rounds Intermediate FM

Nexersys Thursday
10 elliptical
Calories 86.3
Miles 0.79
AHR 140 / 171

T, Y & I Raises
5lbs x 15 x 2

Mid Band Pulls 15
High Band Pulls 15

Nexersys FM
7r Beginner
5r Intermediate

Hitting the Reset Button

After a reasonably nice weekend where it only rained for a few hours instead of all day, the weather has reset itself and we are once again deluged with Flash Flood warnings. But at least the temps have dropped and I can just run a fan instead of the power-mad a/c. The dog had to readjust to the chaos of having a full house again as soon as my son and husband returned from Boy Scout Camp. I think I've done at least 6 loads on laundry since they got home. The dog's digestive system seems to have calmed down, but I was worried this morning when his diaper seemed a bit too dry. Not that I'm happy about his soggy nether regions, but you always have to take note when there's a change.

The dog looked unhappy but he still went for his walk. However, he wouldn't eat his breakfast. I put a frozen loaf of ciabatta into the oven to freshen the crust. Normally he'd go crazy just based on the scent of fresh-baked bread. He took one small slice but nothing more. All his medications were mixed into his breakfast bowl. It's not unusual for him to let food sit for hours until he's finally desperate enough to eat. He just sat staring out the front door, looking sad. I had had my coffee and was washing my vitamins down with some strawberry yogurt. Normally I let the dog lick the foil cover but today he wasn't interested. He has a sweet tooth though, so I scraped my finger against the foil and wiggled it in front of his face. He licked the yogurt off. I offered my finger again with just a bit more yogurt. It's not enough dairy to cause any lactose problems, but just enough to reset his appetite. After an hour, he got up and polished off all the food in his bowl. Whew.

My son and I got to the gym really late today. It was nearly 2 pm and pouring. People I've associated with early morning were also showing up mid-afternoon. We settle on the recumbent bikes, and I discover that my bluetooth earbuds no longer work. Ugh. I leave all my stuff on the bike and rush back to the locker room to grab another pair of ear buds. I have another wireless pair, but they're old and refuse to pair with the iPod. Grrrrr. Finally, I grab a pair of wired Skull Candy earbuds and plug them in. Now I have to attach the iPod somewhere on my clothes! Ugh. Riding the bike and walking on the treadmill are both mitigated by having a TV monitor with close captioning. I get to watch Supernatural, and even though I've seen every episode, there are so many seasons that I have no problem watching them over again. After all, they've got 300 episodes aired so far, with season 14 about to start in a few weeks.

I make a point of disconnecting from my tunes as soon as we're ready to do other things. Like pull ups. Otherwise I'm speaking too loud, and there's no reason for that. The gym is playing a weird assortment of tunes today as I hear Voulez Vous Coucher Avec Moi Ce Soir. My son is trying to figure out what their shtick is since it's not Throwback Thursday, or Country Western Wednesday. I tell my son that we're hitting the reset button on Pull Ups. Now that we know we can knock out reps, let's focus on better quality. I ask him to let his arms extend a bit more. He doesn't drop into a full extension but part of that is because he's tall enough to worry about his feet while pulling himself up outside the edge of the Stretch Cage.

I tell him "just do 5" and he does. He agrees that having arms less bent is harder but he can do sets of 5 okay. I manage to do sets of 15 with a partial extension. I already know that my elbows and forearms suffer tendon damage that will last for days from full extensions. It's not worth it! I can breathe until I reach 15 reps. Weird, right? Analyzing my routine, I see that when I start to tire, I shorten the distance by keeping the elbows more bent, but this cuts into inhalation time, so I'm consequently breathless. I'm better off dropping the reps and taking full breaths. I'm not panting between sets anymore and I feel better. Of course, I've also cut my reps down by a third (from a total of 70 to 53)!

We decide to go straight to the Smith and save core and push ups for later. Later, we realize that it's a mistake to leave these movements for the end, when we're tired and our arms are shaky! Well, my arms aren't, but I don't tell my son that. The Smith is in desperate need of servicing, or at least having the tracts cleaned. The bar sticks in the track and feels heavier than usual. Maybe it's not even counterbalanced anymore? At one point, my son sets the bar higher than I can reach and I start laughing.

Meanwhile, he spies an odd insect on the floor next to the equipment and stoops to take a few pictures with his phone.
"What is it?' he asks.
"I have no idea. Grasshopper?"
"No. It doesn't hop. It crawls. Weird."
"But look at those long back legs. Like a grasshopper."
"I think it flies," he says and just then it takes off and flutters away.


My son uses two Cybex machines (deltoid raises and leg press) while I knock out my DB supersets. This week I've moved up to 20s. I tell my son to wipe down everything before he gets on because I just read an article about all the nasty germs resident on gym equipment, with the surprise being that the leg press seems to have more nastiness than many of the other pieces. Weird and gross. There are a lot of guys in the free weight area, but I've seen most of them before. They have to know that this is my son with me. No issues.

I give my son the choice between skull crushers or V-bar press downs. He chooses the latter because he's never done them before. I can see from across the gym that 1) that station is free and 2) the V-bar is already attached. I won't have to chase down a box to stand on to put on the proper handle. Whew! We manage to slip a 5 lb block sideways onto the stack halfway through our sets. I have to admit that my son is pretty good at following directions. He doesn't show a lot of enthusiasm, but that's just how he is. I tend not to look overly enthusiastic either. But I smile a lot more when he's with me.

Tomorrow, if I don't have jury duty, we're going to see the Pooh movie. I've already seen it, but it's sweet enough that I'd see it again. I called the Court House to find out if I need to show up tomorrow. No one has changed Friday's message, which tells prospective jurors that no one is needed for Monday, but only Monday. Call back after 5 pm each day! But, no one has updated the message. I know because I've called 5 times already. Ugh. Seems reasonable to assume that there's no jury selection happening tomorrow.

Reset Monday

15 recumbent bike
Level 1
Calories 60
Miles 1.57
AHR 100

30 treadmill
10% Incline / 3 Speed
Calories 264
Miles 1.49
AHR 119 (74%) / max HR 175!!!

Reset HGPU 15,15, 15, 12 (57)
M 5, 5, 5 (15)

Smith Inclined Press
(sets for both of us, unless otherwise noted with an M)
Bar (30) x 15
50 x 12
70 x 12
80 x 12 (me only), M 80 x 8
90 x 12 (me only)
60 x 25 (both of us)

M Lateral Machine
30lbs x 12 x 3

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

Cable V-bar Press Downs
20lbs x 12 (both of us)
30 x 12, M12
35 x 12 (me)
M25 x 12 x 2
40 x 12 (me)

Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bicycles 50
Crunches 30/20
Push Ups 50, M20

Stretch