Join us in this thread during the beautiful month of October, as we celebrate our physicality and what our bodies can do when they're released from the chairs that normally hold us captive.



I put this picture up because when I looked at it, I could actually **smell** the wet leaves and feel dampness on my face.

As for me, I've some catching up to do:

Saturday, Oct. 1: 60 minutes on Stairmaster stepper, resistance at five, with me puzzling over foot placement, whether centered, weight on heels, weight on toes. A few wobbles & grabbing the rails before going on hands-free. I'm glad that this machine is in the front row, right at the windows overlooking the river, and I can't see how people react to my occasional rail grabs.

Sunday, Oct. 2: 15 minutes arc trainer, resistance at eight
60 minutes shoulders, chest & triceps routine.
45 minutes arc trainer, resistance at six, felt like a light run.
This is the pushup workout. I have a very large maroon bruise on my left knee and a smaller matching maroon bruise on my right knee. Next time I'll drag a pad over for the pushup intervals in the weight area. (I should mention that I'm pretty sure these bruises have something to do with my taking Motrin or Tylenol every three hours for my root canal for the past three days on the dental surgeon's instructions. Because I have done this before without bruising.)

Monday, Oct. 3: 45 minute spin class, seriously heavy resistance, on an unfamiliar brand of bike, with a teacher who usually keeps us seated & pushing & pulling. Getting to the class was scarier than the spinning alongside all hardcore Upstate runners in the class. I didn't like driving through the countryside in the dark through a fog at 5 AM but that's what one must do out here, to get to something that was just a two-block walk away from me every day, if I wanted it. No deer in the road, fortunately.

In the evening, 60 minute Kripalu yoga class.

Hi Saef! Love the fall photo.

10/1:
biked to and from DH's 5k race (he set a PR and took 3rd in his age division!), 15 mins each direction
15 min dog walk

10/2:
60 min-ish dog walk, involving a good arm workout of trying to teach Booboo to walk correctly on the leash

10/3:
30 mins pilates:
- 10 min legs/thighs
- 10 min abs
- 10 min back

I had the ganglion cyst in my wrist drained this morning. I was hoping getting rid of it would let me be able to put pressure on my hand again but so far no dice. It is still very sore from being poked with needles so hopefully it will get better.

How are we already on October 3?
Let's see if I can recap....

October 1: 60 minutes walk with dh and Dewey. I woke up this morning with an extreme pain in my neck-- couldn't turn my head at all so didn't think the gym was in the cards.

October 2: 90 minutes Bikram Yoga. Neck was much better though certainly not back to normal. Thought yoga might help but it didn't seem to do anything one way or the other.

October 3: 60 minutes Body Pump. Neck the same today so I'm just going to ignore it and hope it goes away soon. I'm pretty sure it is due to stress.

Totals:
3 days
210 minutes

Nice picture, saef. Thank you.

I've decided to spend a fortnight (= two weeks) really working on rehabbing my poor old body. Then we'll see where we are. I can't go into winter with a niggly back.

So I was at the gymn this morning and yesterday morning. I put in a complaint about a personal trainer who approached me yesterday. He was pushy and patronising. That's no good, friends. Up with this I shall not put.

See you tomorrow, I hope.

10/4
26 min doggie powerwalk
5 min swiss ball crunches

didn't want to go to the gym tonight after working both jobs as it is cold and wet outside. Did make it though.....

Oct. 4: 60 minutes elliptical

Totals:
4 days
270 minutes

Tuesday, Oct. 4:
20 minutes Stairmaster stepper, resistance at five, with just a few wobbles
60 minutes arms and shoulders routine
40 minutes back on the Stairmaster stepper, resistance at six, more wobbling, but more confidence as I figure out how to keep moving on this machine

Wednesday, October 5:
45 minute spin class with a different instructor who does seated sprints and faster intervals with lighter resistance than Monday's instructor. My spin bike was having technical problems, though. It stuck sometimes when I peddled while standing and it would give a kick & keep going from momentum after the sprints. It took me a while to confirm it was the bike & not me. I feel so displaced in this new gym, among a different type of gym-goer, on different equipment (a StarTrac bike as opposed to a Life Fitness bike) and with different styles of spin instruction that my confidence is shaken and I feel like I'm beginning all over again at this. So I wasn't completely sure it was the bike; I thought I was doing it all wrong.
60 minutes Kripalu yoga class. A lot of breathing and then, a lot of abs work.

Wednesday

Gymn (that's three days in a row). I'm giving concerted attention to how my body feels and what makes it feel better. This is helping my niggles go away. The physical ones, anyway! The others may take a bit more time.

Oct. 5: I went to the gym for a Zumba class because I thought it was Thursday! Oops..... stayed and did the elliptical instead.

60 minutes elliptical

Totals:
5 days
330 minutes

Thursday: gymn again (4th time this week). Back is slightly niggly again and has been made more so by another test drive.

The test drive was in a Peugeot Partner Tepee. Er, who thinks up these names? It's quite a nice van/car although the steering seems a bit vague. Fantastically big wing mirrors. I told my mother you can fit a goat in the back. My sister thought that could be quite smelly. One of the videos I've watched features a St Bernard - that's how big it is. (NB I put that bit in for the animal lovers.)

Silver, I was watching Top Gear on BBC America once and they were test-driving cars with giant dogs in them, including a St Bernard. Was this one of those cars?

10/5: nothing

10/6: 29 min dog powerwalk, 1 min crunches swiss ball

No, it wasn't Top Gear, just one of the adverts. Have a look at two of them! My brain is currently full of brake horsepower and mpg and the rest. Let me share!

With dog.

Without dog but with music.

Birchie, I'm trying to figure out what, exactly, is on that family's "to do" list for that particular day. Apparently they're going to return some unsatisfactory topiary to a garden center, they're going on a ramble & also plan to do some birding, they're taking the dog to be clipped, and then perhaps they'll do some fishing? (I connect the husband's hat with a trout fishermen's attire. You stick the flies through the brim.)

Thursday, Oct. 6:

20 minutes Stairmaster stepper, resistance at five
60 minutes back & biceps routine
40 minutes Nautilus elliptical, intervals, resistance at nine and four

Saef, it's challenging, isn't it? Yet they seem confident that all will go smoothly and no difficulty will raise its head. I find it amazing that each topic (for want of a better word) stands alone and does not seem to impinge on anything else. And it's all so clean.

Is this the experience I'd have, should I buy this vehicle? I don't think it would have the stamina for our lives somehow.

But the wing mirrors are Huge. I really like them.