Exercise Makes the Vertigo Better

I emailed my brother over the weekend to ask him if he still had Meniere's disease since I didn't think he'd suffered any hearing loss or tinnitus. Being my brother, he didn't answer the question. Instead, he went on for several paragraphs about how I should do a test with an ear wash kit to see if I had vestibular insufficiency. (He's exasperating to deal with, which is why I keep contact to a minimum. My sis hasn't spoken to him in years.) I tell him that since I'm able to put cold hydrogen peroxide in my ears without triggering dizziness, there's no need for me to buy an ear wash kit. I don't have vestibular insufficiency. He goes on with a weird pep talk and then tells me to take Claritin-D® everyday forever. I'm not even sure if he hasn't confused me with someone else at this point.

Plumbing issues at the gym today

I do go to the CVS this morning because I had coupons worth a few bucks, and a prescription refill to pick up. Strange that the Claritin-D is locked behind the pharmacy counter. But there are info cards on the shelf that list the active ingredients as well as directions for use. Well, well... it's got pseudoephedrine in it, as well as loratadine, an antihistamine. I buy a small box of generic loratadine, but the dose is higher than what's in the Claritin-D pill (10mg vs 5 mg). I have psuedoephedrine at home. So now the question is, do I need to take both or should I just try taking the decongestant first? Or I can try taking just the antihistamine? Today, the vertigo is only bad when I lean forward, like to tie my shoelaces. Then I get so nauseous that I'm worried about hurling. It's like getting carsick while in park. Exercising seems to help a lot. I don't feel dizzy or queasy while I'm at the gym! But I don't want to wear myself out and catch the flu or worse.

I watched a few YouTube videos on the Epley maneuver, which is suppose to help reset the otoliths in the ear canal if you have BPPV. But only if you can figure out which ear canal is problematic. Because doing this maneuver can make the vertigo worse. And determining which side has issues requires someone looking at your eyes when you lie down because they'll flicker. Um, what?! This morning I guess that it's my right side and do a limited version of the Epley maneuver while lying on my bed. Nothing feels any different. I'm still getting really queasy when I lean forward. So, it might be displaced otoliths, but in which canal? Because there's more than one. Ugh. Nothing is ever simple.

Here's one of many videos online that shows how to do the Epley Maneuver:

One thing that is simple is the recipe I got from another Scout's mom this weekend for a no-fuss beef roast. My hubs got excited enough to buy a 5 lb beef butt. Season, put on a rack, turn oven to 500F and roast 5 minutes for each pound of meet. Then turn oven off, and leave for 2 hours. My hubs was skeptical so we stuck it with a thermometer. The center read 175F. Done! This is probably the first roast we've ever made where most of the meat was the rosy pink we prefer. Serve with sauteed mushrooms, and a wilted salad. (Personally, I would've either cooked the salad greens or left it as actual salad, instead of how my hubs served it. My son bailed on the greens and I don't blame him, although I ate all of mine.)

I get to the gym at noon. My head is a tad sore so I don't want to push anything too hard. I just do cardio, basics and core, then a bit more cardio. The Mayor is blathering loudly by the time I leave the Mat. So loud that I'm thinking I need to get ear plugs just to hear my tunes! Ugh. In general, I feel pretty good, although my scalp feels sensitive, like my hair's been pulled too tight. There are some thoughts that vertigo can be caused by un-diagnosed food allergies that cause inflammation. Because my vertigo appears seasonally, I'm giving the auto-immune/allergy idea some credence. Which would explain why antihistamines and/or decongestants would help. It's just a matter of parsing out exactly what works, and how much. At least it stopped raining and temps are in the 40s. I'll probably get a bug bite though.

Monday 5.54 miles Cardio & Core

30 min x-trainer
Calories 143
Miles 3.87
Average Heart Rate 143

HGPU 30
Push-ups 60

Elbow Plank 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Elbow Plank 60s

20 min elliptical
Program 2
Calories 188
Miles 1.67
Average Heart Rate 150

Just Squeaking By

My son was quite disappointed in the new action spy flick The Man From UNCLE, but he doesn't have the benefit of historical memory, nor has he ever watched the original TV shows. Still, although I enjoyed this movie, it wasn't as exciting as Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, or even Jurassic World. If Antman is still playing next week, perhaps I'll convince my son to revisit that or Shaun The Sheep again. What was a bit disturbing was how similar the latest Napoleon Solo (played dashingly by Henry Cavill) was to Neal Caffrey of White Collar. Yes, a lot less Robert Vaughn and more Matt Bomer. Of course, I liked the new Ilya Kuryakin, played by Armie Hammer as I was never much of a Beatles fan (yes, a reference to David McCallum's popularity at the time).

In order to see the 11:00 show, we had to get to the gym at 9 am. We got there at 9:10 which was plenty early. Still, it was a mad rush for me to get everything done: an hour of cardio on two different machines, and some core/ab work. The new A/C has not been installed yet. But the gym is certainly cool enough when I start. Today, I am uncharacteristically not wearing my blue hoodie, so it takes me a good 20 minutes before I feel even vaguely warm. Perhaps that is a good thing because I do make great mileage.

The Torso Twist is a boring machine, but it's either that or doing side-bends with a plate. And I don't really want to be wrestling plates. Crunches and scissors go fast enough. Even the planks go awfully fast. I do variations for each set and end with the bird dog, but on a bent knee. Next time I'll try doing it with a straight lower leg. (Set 1: 30 sec full; 30 sec elbow; 30 s full. Set 2: 30 sec full; 30 sec full left leg up; 30 sec full right leg up. Set 3: 30 sec full; 30 sec left arm & right leg up; 30 sec right arm and left leg up.)

I do admit to wasting a few minutes catching up with R. His wife was scheduled to have a C-section over a week ago and I wanted to ask how everything was. He shows me photos of his new daughter, and one of his 18 month old son cuddling her. His son is big, like a 4 year old, but of course, height runs in R's family. I tell him that I'm rushing through my workout because, "11 o'clock movie with my son".

Everything is good today, although I was hoping to do a bit more mileage on the Precor elliptical. Pedaling as fast as I can and I only log in 2.71 miles. That's a bit disappointing. I realize that part of it is determined by what program I'm actually running: today is Performance Program #1. Usually I do Program #3. These programs have you move forward through various inclines for exactly one quarter of the program. Halfway through you pedal backwards. Then forward. For the final leg you're pedaling backwards. There are three performance programs, with three different "courses". The online Precor manual calls them cross-training programs. I think #3 is the hardest, but perhaps I'm wrong. Perhaps it's #1!

Core and Cardio Workout
(7.04 miles total)

Cross-Trainer

Steady State

Calorie :   145 CAL
Distance: 4.33 mile
Speed :    8.65 mph
Duration : 00:30:03

TorsoTwistMachine

Set 1 : 50x25
Set 2 : 50x25

Plank

Set 1 : 00:01:30
Set 2 : 00:01:30
Set 3 : 00:01:31

Abs

Crunches : 25 Lap/Rep
Scissors : 50 Lap/Rep
Crunches: 25 Lap/Rep

Elliptical Training

Perf Prgm #1

Calorie :   313 CAL
Distance: 2.71 mile
Duration : 00:30:03

Lying By Omission

Well, we did NOT see the movie Pixels today, much as my son wanted to, because the theater is selling those tickets full price even though it's "$5 Tuesday". Sony Pictures doesn't allow them to sell discounted tickets to any of their films! It would've been nice if we'd learned that on the web site, but I guess the owner was counting on besieged parents and grandparents giving in to their whining brood and purchasing a slew of full price tickets regardless.

One woman told me she had been planning to spend $15 for her 3 grandchildren and didn't want to disappoint them. So, she wound up spending $24, and not seeing the movie herself. Instead, she got to sit in the concession stand area to wait for them. Sure, it's only $3 more per ticket, but I didn't want to reward them for bad behavior. I'm a mom! Worse, the theater had no showtimes listed, except for a flimsy 8.5x11 sheet of paper taped to a window. And no mention of Sony's policies. By the time you're in line to purchase tickets, you have expectations. It's hard to walk away. But some of us, actually a lot of us, do.

I was hoping to hit the 7 mile mark again, but fell short on the 2nd leg, the Precor elliptical. I did get a good cardio workout, though things need to change for the Core portion. I folded the foam mat in half but I still rubbed my tailbone raw doing sit ups. Of course, I'm wearing different shorts today. It's the seams that are killing me. I'm bored with the Torso Twist machine, and I changed my planks to do them with fully-straight arms, like the top portion of a push-up. It's much easier on the shoulders, but I might add some variations, like lifting opposing arms and legs. It'll break up the monotony of watching the stopwatch.

I see regulars like Shaggy, Tall Mustache, Shazam, PonyTail. I even see someone who looks vaguely like Venus. There are a lot of new people, and a lot of people who come faithfully but never seem to progress. Of course, there are people like the obese woman on the cross-trainer next to me. She would pedal three steps and then stop. Pedal three steps then stop. But her mouth never stopped moving. It wasn't that she was out of breath. She just never stopped talking. And the woman she was talking too was pedaling with good consistency. I'm sure this woman tells her friends that she's at the gym pedaling away but nothing's working for her.

Cardio and Core Workout
(6.87 miles total)

Cross-Trainer

Steady State

Calorie :   145 CAL
Distance: 4.23 mile
Speed :    8.45 mph
Duration : 00:30:04

Sit Up

Set 1 : 50 Lap/Rep
Set 2 : 60 Lap/Rep
Set 3 : 80 Lap/Rep

TorsoTwistMachine

Set 1 : 50x25
Set 2 : 50x25

Plank

Set 1 : 00:01:31
Set 2 : 00:01:30
Set 3 : 00:01:31

Elliptical Training

Perf Prgm #1

Calorie :   302 CAL
Distance: 2.64 mile
Duration : 00:30:00

Cardio and Core

Soggy and Disheveled!

The three Hs of summer are my latest excuse for a less than stellar cardio workout. Yes, it's hot, hazy and humid. Even though my gym is air-conditioned, I feel as if I'm drowning a little when I do my first 30 minute cardio session. The LifeFitness cross-trainers seem harder these days and barely halfway through, my right foot goes numb from the toes down through the center of my foot. Ugh! All sorts of ridiculous thoughts course through my brain, like maybe this is diabetic nerve pain and I'll have to have my foot amputated! Luckily, the tingling goes away as soon as I stop pedaling. This doesn't happen with the Precor elliptical. Even though the machines have similar functions, they are vastly different in their programs and how they affect my body.

The cross-trainer's motion is harder on my ankles and knees but I can wear my hoodie without any problem. The elliptical is much easier on my leg joints, but the same hoodie's zipper front bangs into my thighs as I pedal. Oh well. I still can't justify using the recumbent bike. It's just too lazy. I can pedal for 10 miles and never break a sweat because I'm not actually moving my own body weight (as on a treadmill or other device where you are supporting yourself).

I do straight-back sit-ups, the torso twist machine, and then planks with a tiny variation. Because forearm planks have been hard on my shoulders, I decide to try plain ol' straight arm planks which look like the up position of a push-up. It's much easier on the shoulder. 60 seconds and then drop to elbows for 30 seconds of forearm planks. With each set, I increase the straight-arm part and cut the time for the forearm part. My shoulders still complain, but not as much.

I'm still late to get my son out of the Child Care room, but we have time to go home for lunch. Off to see Antman today. Yaaay!

Core and Cardio Workout
(6.54 total miles)

Elliptical Training

Steady State

Calorie :   142 CAL
Distance: 3.58 mile
Speed :    7.13 mph
Duration : 00:30:09

Sit Up

Set 1 : 50 Lap/Rep
Set 2 : 60 Lap/Rep
Set 3 : 80 Lap/Rep

Plank

Set 1 : 00:01:30
Set 2 : 00:01:30
Set 3 : 00:01:30

TorsoTwistMachine

Set 1 : 50x25
Set 2 : 50x25

Elliptical Training

Perf Prgm 3

Calorie :   256 CAL
Distance: 2.96 mile
Duration : 00:30:00

Summer Means Dresses

It's over 80°F and the humidity promises intermittent thunderstorms. So it's feeling quite tropical here. I'm glad there's A/C at the gym. I'm tempted to let my son sleep in and to forgo cardio and abs today, but he wakes up in time for us to rush over there just as two other boys are entering with their mom. "Those are the boys I usually play with," my son whispers to me. So it's a good thing. I'm sure they'll be gone in about an hour. I have exactly two hours to get myself in gear, work out, shower, change and drop my stuff at the car before the movie starts. It's $5 Tuesday and we're going to see the dog movie, Max. It's like those old Disney films where we know who the bad guys are right off the bat. Nothing wrong with that every now and then.

I'm admittedly not as fast as I used to be on the LifeFitness cross-trainer and only log in 3.74 miles. On good days I can reach 4 miles. I'm having trouble getting to bed at a decent hour and no doubt that is impacting my workouts. A quick hamstring stretch and then a turn at the Torso Twist machine. I see a few regulars and a lot of newbies. The fit older lady pulls me aside again to ask me to nag the gym owner about replacing the Stretch Cage. I don't see him today, but assure her that I will. Again, I grab a mat from a pile from the doorway and do sets of sit ups at the Nexersys kickboxing machine. Then sets of planks on the newly vacant foam mats. I have my hoodie and shorts on. My hair is drenched and I'm dripping a big puddle under my face during each plank session. The hoodie zipper hits my thighs uncomfortably when I'm on the elliptical so off it comes. But I'm still drenched when I'm done with the 30 minutes of Performance Program #2. I look like I just climbed out of the pool when I head to the locker room.

I don't have time to stretch, just shower and change. It's so hot outside that I've just got underwear and a loose Hawaiian dress to toss on before retrieving my son for the movies. Tomorrow he has camp, but then we rush off to swim class two towns away. It's a heated pool so I'm contemplating wearing a loose dress again instead of shorts. It's summer after all.

Tuesday Cardio and Core
(6.67 miles total)

Cross-Trainer

Steady State

Calorie :   145 CAL
Distance: 3.74 mile
Speed :    7.47 mph
Duration : 00:30:03

TorsoTwistMachine

Set 1 : 50x25
Set 2 : 50x25

Sit Up

Stiff-back

Set 1 : 50 Lap/Rep
Set 2 : 50 Lap/Rep
Set 3 : 50 Lap/Rep

Plank

Set 1 : 00:01:30
Set 2 : 00:01:30
Set 3 : 00:01:30

Elliptical Training

Perf Prgm #2

Calorie :   258 CAL
Distance: 293 mile
Duration : 00:30:00