Indulgent Weight

I spent most of yesterday bingeing on streaming movies and eating poorly. The same is true of Saturday, although I did have a nice showing of friends at my photo reception. I still hope to make a sale or two of some of my prints. Fingers crossed.

Today I didn't really have much of a game plan, except to avoid Bench Pressing because the right shoulder just isn't right. The left elbow isn't good either. I do 30 minutes on the cross-trainer by the door and realize that none of these machines have working TV units. That's fine with me because I don't like the glare of the screen, and I find programming to be distracting. I'd rather pedal along to music anyway. I only do one set of pull ups today. The left elbow is surprisingly tender, and I can't think of anything I've done over the past few days to aggrieve it so.

I can't get on the sit up board for Knee-Ins, so I skip right to push ups and core stuff. My right shoulder complains after push ups. That doesn't usually happen. Crunches and planks feel normal. I do another set of push ups, and the shoulder feels okay. Weird. There's Big Guy on the Smith. He's a regular. Middle-aged but massively built, quiet but consistent. I've seen Flirty Girl chat with him. But no one is on the ellipticals! Opportunity to use the one I want! There are only 4 and one has a massive glitch in the flywheel. One moves perfectly. The other two have other defects that make them noisier and the pedaling a bit rough.

It's difficult for me to skip pull ups once I'm at the Stretch Cage again, but I don't want to wreck my elbow. Instead, I pull out the green silicone band I got from physical therapy, and do two sets of Band Pulls. Then I find a flat bench, drape my hoodie over it and do the T, Y & I DB Raises with tiny chrome beauty bells. Right then and there I decide that today's a Shoulder Workout and grab a pair of 15 lb DBs to do Shoulder Presses. My right shoulder twinges just a little. I use the same pair to do Front Delt Raises. A blonde girl next to me grabs a large DB and does a weird goblet squat movement. It's not quite what I imagined a goblet squat to look like. Maybe because she bends over as if she was rowing the DB between her legs, but she's also partially squatting? I'm not judging. Really.

The Mayor is barely audible except when a few older men join him. Then it's the Dumb and Deaf Club. Mind you, I have Billy Idol blasting on my iPod the whole time. I decide no super sets today. Just regular 12-rep, 3-set routine stuff. But I up the weights each time I move on to the next exercise. DB laterals seem okay except the front right shoulder twinges every now and then. Instead of Reverse Inclined Flyes, I decide to do Bent Overs. The best place for a short person like me is at the old OHP station. It's basically a cage with a platform in back, and a slot to attach a seat in front. The seat contains a forward foot bar. Except that someone has removed the seat, and haphazardly placed it near the frame. But it's not locked into the OHP structure, which makes it a bit iffy to sit on.

I can drag it into position, but I don't have the leverage to pull the knob out and push the bar into the slot simultaneously. Ugh. Just as I'm about to balance myself precariously on the seat, Big Guy (who is on the Smith adjacent to me) motions that he can fix that. Cool! Another gesture and I thank him with an okay sign as he gives me the thumbs up. Now that's gym etiquette!

It's also my last weight exercise for today. I drop onto the Mat to stretch out my back and shoulders, and then head into the locker room to shower. The gym scale elicits a silent gasp of horror from me at 112.4 lbs. Good grief. That's quite enough sitting around and gnoshing on junk for this month! Tomorrow my son has a movie date with a friend. We all plan to see the latest Planet of the Apes movie, although I'd still like to see Baby Driver... maybe I'll be motivated enough to sneak out in the morning and do some cardio beforehand?



Monday
6.65 total miles

30 min x-trainer + 5 cool down
Calories 171
Miles 4.07
Average Heart Rate 148

HGPU 26 (left elbow!)
Push Ups 50 (right shoulder)
Crunches 3 x 50
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Push Ups 50 (shoulder okay)

30 min elliptical
Program 1
Calories 293
Miles 2.58
Average Heart Rate 148

Mid Band Pulls 15
High Band Pulls 15

T, Y & I Raises
3lbs x 15
5lbs x 15

DB Shoulder Press (light)
15lbs x 12reps x 3

Front Delt Raises
15lbs x 15reps x 3

DB Laterals
20lbs x 12reps x 3

DB Bent Overs
25lbs x 12reps x 3

At My Age...

I don't feel old. I don't think I look old either, but I'm always surprised when I see someone in the newspaper who is apparently 20 years older than they appear. Like Katherine Switzer, the Boston Marathoner in today's paper, who doesn't look anything like 70. Maybe that'll happen to me too? People my age, where I live now, are grandparents and musing about retiring. I'm still looking for reasonable employment that still allows me to look after my son. The hubs tells me that he might be in Houston for weeks at a time when the project finally kicks in.

Today's an abbreviated workout because I have a physical therapy appointment at 12:45 pm. Just enough time for me to get my cardio in, and maybe some push ups and planks. I'm lucky I'm able to squeeze in a few pull ups too. But I don't give myself enough time to recuperate from push ups, and my pull ups fail after the 24th rep. PT isn't doing much for me, but we'll see just how achy the shoulder is after today's stretching. I only have one more session scheduled for next week, because all these co-pays add up, and I'm sure I'll be reeling from the credit card bill this month.

I see a few regulars. Snowbird has returned with more liver spots. Creepy PJ Pants and The Mayor, Shaggy and Big Mountain Glasses Dude. Yep. All here. No one looks much different. Perhaps that's the point? A very large woman steals longing glances at me. I try not to notice. Snowbirds are back from their winter respite, and boy does it show on the roads. Yesterday I trailed another Subie down the hippety-hop road. I've been traveling down this twisty windy hilly road for over 20 years so I know it fairly well, so I can do 30 mph without using my brakes very much. The Outback in front of me crawled down this road at 20 or less.

Okay, this road can be intimidating if you don't know it. But when he gets to the stop sign to enter the main roadway, he suddenly swings the car to the left, into the oncoming lane, in order to make a right turn. This completely negates the whole point to driving a Subie, with the all-wheel drive and super-tight turning radius. WTF? Does he think he's manning a semi? Others just appear to be on antihistamines as they straddle the yellow line. They're not even looking at their phones as an excuse. Ah spring...

Tuesday
6.21 miles

30 min x-trainer
Calories 148
Miles 3.61

Knee-Ins 50
Push Ups 50, 50, 30
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s
12" HGPU 24

30 min elliptical
Program 2
Calories 298
Miles 2.62

Slow Progress

I got to the gym late, as usual. First I had to drop off a "sterile" sample of dog pee at the vet's office. The dog is basically healthy, but they were concerned about trace indications of bacteria and white blood cells in the last urine sample. First they suggested I bring the poor dog back so they could take a sterile sample. I asked how they planned to do this. They said they wouldn't use the syringe because that would require flipping the dog on his back, and he's not going to put up with that. "Oh, we'll just lay him on his side and catheterize him."

"Really? You think he's going to let you do that?" It took two assistants, a muzzle, and a third pair of hands just to clip his toenails last week. So the vet's office reluctantly agreed to give me a sterile container, and I could catch some mid-stream urine for them to culture. That's probably the most expensive pee sample ever. I gotta find a new vet practice because I can't afford this one any more. I'll get the results back in a few days. I hope it's just a dose of clavamox. I wonder how much that'll cost.

I just barely get my 6 miles today. My leg still bothers me. My shoulder not as much. I knock out my push ups, crunches, planks with no problems. I always feel better when I'm warmed up. Before I do the DB delt superset, I grab a pair of 5 lb chrome-plated beauty bells and do 15 reps of the T, Y and I raises while lying on my stomach on a flat bench. Twice. They don't hurt, but I can feel a slight strain in my right shoulder, the damaged one. And then I knock out my DB lateral raises superset with reverse inclined flyes. And the shoulders feel pretty good! Back to the elliptical for 30 minutes, then a quick set of pull ups before rushing off for my follow-up appointment.

The doc tells me that the rash looks good. It's barely visible. My blood pressure is totally excellent at 112/70. (It hasn't been that good since HS when I remember it being 110/70.) She also tells me that in her experience, light rashes are usually accompanied by worse pain than heavy rashes. Also, upper body shingles, with the exception of the trunk or head, are usually milder in discomfort. That would explain why my husband's case of shingles down his left arm wasn't nearly as painful as my leg. I still feel as if someone is jabbing a big meaty thumb inside my hip and groin. My knee feels swollen, and my ankle hurts intermittently. Ugh. But it's better than it was. And it should continue to get better, until it's totally gone. The only good thing is that I've acquired a semblance of immunity from further shingle outbreaks for at least 3-4 years. Just in time to qualify for the shingles vaccine, because I'll be 60. Oh joy... 

Monday
6.11 miles

30 min x-trainer
Calories 148
Miles 3.52

Knee-Ins 50
Push Ups 50, 50, 30
Crunches 3 x 50
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s

T 5lbs x 15 x 2
Y 5lbs x 15 x 2
I 5lbs x 15 x 2

DB Lat s/s Rear Incl Flyes
20/25 lbs x 12/15 reps
20/25 x 15/15
20/25 x 15/20

Rip Skulls
40 lbs x 12 x 3

30 min elliptical
Program 1
Calories 294
Miles 2.59

12" HGPU 26