I think I tried to use every excuse in the book when I woke up this morning to go to the gym. I'd lie there in bed, hitting snooze, arguing with myself back and forth until finally I was fully awake and decided my JLO body wasn't going to happen by passively wishing it would, I had to take action. So I texted my workout buddy, who happened to be doing the same thing in her own mind (as we haven't been to the gym since last week and she's been sick), and kicked my ass into gear.
Needless to say I wanted to jumpstart my workout. When we got there, we both hopped on the arc. I pansied my way through 45 minutes on it-- I think biking 11 miles on Saturday made me self righteous as to think, that's enough cardio for the week, right? Can't I just sail by today? Hmpf. My buddy left and I went on to weights. I thought that I might hop back on the arc afterwards for another hour, since I half-assed my way through the first round, but of course I went back and forth with this idea in my head: do I really want to be in the gym 3 hours today? Is this a new habit I want to create? How will Lucy handle this? If I stay later today, I'll be later getting to the sauna= more people to piss me off. Can I even do that to myself?
Cardio:: Arc 45 mins
I upped a few weights to get my heart pumping faster on this slow morning.
Fly:: 2 sets of 15 @ 55 lbs
Rear Delt:: 2 Sets of 15 @ 15 lbs
Chest Press:: 2 Sets of 15 @ 30 lbs
One of these machines has the "plus-a-few" knob, and the other doesn't. It just so happens that the one that doesn't have the knob is in the track line that I prefer using, so I always forget to use the other side's machine for this one, as I'd rather be doing 40 lbs.
Pull Down:: 2 Sets of 15 @ 60 lbs
Row:: 2 Sets of 15 @ 60 lbs
Overhead Press:: 15/9/6 @ 40 lbs
Curl:: 15/8/7 @ 15 lbs
Arm Extension:: 2 Sets of 15 @ 15 lbs
Cardio:: Arc 1 hour
So I ended up pushing my limits and getting back on the arc. I told myself I would just go for 45 minutes, but as that mark neared, I knew I could keep going for another 15. So I did. I favored this decision for a few reasons.
1. I'm tired of my clothes not fitting, being between sizes
2. I'm sick of this plateau!!! I've lost 25 pounds since my max weight so far, but I am still stuck at 30 pounds heavier than my goal. That needs to change.
3. It was 6 am, which meant I got to watch Robin Meade on HLN, which makes me happy (until an immensely obnoxious "Comcast Newscast" report comes on at 15 decibels higher than the normal channel's volume and lasts for an excrutiatingly long time)
4. I really felt I had to make up for my sorry ass excuse for cardio prior to weights, because I really was not pushing myself at all, and just used the time to gab with my friend
5. I've heard that its better to do cardio after weights (I've also heard the opposite, which is why that's what I've always done) so it has to be like doubly awesome if I sandwich my weights with cardio on each end, ya?
As I anticipated, I got to the sauna when PT was in full swing (I think?), so there were more people there. It didn't really annoy me until I left though, and traffic was moving painfully slow while all I wanted was a nice shower to rinse off 3.5 hours' worth of sweat.
I suppose now is a good time to explain my sauna technique (? routine ?), because it took me a while to get in a swing, and I think I've finally found what works for me. First, it is an infrared sauna, which is unfortunate, but hey I'll take it. But what that means is that while it does make you sweat, it is very drying on the nose, throat, and skin. When I first started using it, I couldn't last very long because my throat was getting so dry and sore. To remedy this, I bring a washcloth with me. I run it under cold water, ring it out and place it over my face when I lie down. That way whenever I breathe in, it's always moist air, which helped. However, soon, I realized that the delicate area of skin around my eyes was drying out to the point where I felt like it was cracking like a desert floor. It wasn't actually, but it felt like it. And since I don't have many wrinkles around my eyes yet and I want to keep it that way, I began putting moisturizer around my eyes before even stepping into the sauna. I used to bring a giant spa towel with me to the sauna and get into it, but I quickly scratched that idea as it got to be a hassle finding loose clothes to wear afterwards, and an even bigger hassle getting into those clothes.
Would I rather have use of a regular sauna so I wouldn't have to go through all these checks and balancing? Absolu-fucking-lutely! And maybe one day, when I have some shower shoes and I incorporate packing my gym bag the night before into a daily routine, I would be able to take showers and change into nice loose comfy clothes after, so I relax and baske in my daily detox-- or even better, have a wet sauna in my home so I could just be naked for the entirety (ahh, fantasies)! But until then, this is what I do and I am, for the most part, content.
What I learned::
Ruts happen. Kick your own ass and you'll be grateful later.
Getting to the gym by 4 makes the whole day better
Getting to see Robin again makes the day better, too
Comcast is fucking obnoxious
Use the other Chest Press machine!
I hate my earbuds
I still need a damn water bottle
There's a lot to be said for accountability to gym buddies: neither Theresa nor I wanted to go today. And I can guaran-damn-tee-ya, if she'd texted me back saying she was still sick, or I hadnt texted her at all, we wouldn't have made it. I get the impression that she thinks she is using me to push her, but in reality, we push each other, and encourage each other just by showing up. That's powerful. I wish I had the mental capacity to realize that everyday at 3:15 am... maybe I should sleep in a less comfortable bed.
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