Random Access

Friday – 15 May 2015
I should get around to writing this before it is no longer Friday.

Things have been good during my extended radio silence. What’s kept me from posting? Basically: Laziness. I’ll freely cop to that. That said, I had planned to write something this afternoon, but wound up getting wrapped up in a project and the next thing I knew,  it was time to get Team DiVa from daycare. Oh, well, better late than never. On the other hand, I got to have dinner with these two cuties, so it was worth it.

One of the good things of the past two-ish weeks has been that Sara and I have rejoined a gym. More specifically we joined Vasa Fitness, a rebranded gym that we used to go to before Team DiVa was born. We’ve been trying to figure out schedules that would allow us to both work out 2-3 times a week.

Another good thing from this week, was in a training class for work (at home!) which had an east coast-based schedule. That meant that I was up each morning for a 7:00 AM class. That also meant that my “lunch” time was around 10:30 each day. I used that time to go to the gym, instead. I actually like the idea of getting up a bit early and starting my day with a workout. My plan is to keep getting up around 6:30 and putting in forty-five minutes to an hour at the gym before getting on to the so-called “friction of the day.”

Sidenote (since I just made a Rush reference): I’ve been tracking my visits to the gym on Swarm/Foursquare with the tags #carveawaythestone. Why? Because it’s less typing than #OhDearLordHowAndWhyDidILetMyselfGetSoOutOfShape and a bit less embarrassing than #WhyDoesThisHurtSoMuch.

And, being back in the gym means that I need to start tracking my workouts again. So, let’s get the past couple weeks out of the way:

• Thursday- 23 April 2015
  • Elliptical: 15 minutes, 1.3 miles
  • Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets / 10 reps
  • Bench Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 90 lbs
  • Inclined Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 50 lbs
  • Fly: 3 sets/8 reps – 2 sets, 70 lbs; 1 set, 90 lbs
• Monday – 27 April 2015
  • Elliptical: 10 minutes, ~1 mile
  • Leg Raises (Roman Chair): 3 sets/10 reps
  • Rotary Lat Pulldowns: 3 sets/10 reps, 60 lbs
  • T-Bar Pulls: 3 sets/8 reps, 45 lbs
  • Standing Tricep Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 50 lbs
  • Seated Tricep Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 45 lbs
• Wednesday – 29 April 2015
  • Elliptical: 10 minutes, ~1 mile
  • Leg Press: 3 x 10 x 60 lbs
  • Leg Extensions: 3 x 10 x 50 lbs
  • Leg Curl: 3 x 10 x 50 lbs
  • Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 10 x 60
  • Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 40
  • Bench Press: 3 x 8 x 95 lbs
  • Reverse Punches: 3 x 10 x 10 lbs
  • Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3 x 8 x 20 lbs
  • Dumbbell Curls: 3 x 8 x 20 lbs
  • Wrist Curls: 3 x 15 X 30 lbs (forward)
  • Wrist Curls: 3 x 15 x 30 lbs (reverse)
• Tuesday – 05 May 2015
  • Elliptical: 10 minutes, 1 mile
  • Bench Press: 3 x 8 x 95 lbs
  • Shoulder Press: 3 x 8 x 50 lbs
  • Fly: 3 x 8 x 60
  • Vertical Press: 3 x 8 x 50 lbs
  • Dumbbell Fly: 3 x 8 x 20 lbs
  • Barbell Curl: 3 x 8 x 30 lbs
  • Dumbbell Curl: 3 x 8 x 20 lbs
  • Plank: 3 x 30 seconds
• Saturday – 09 May 2015
  • Fitness Assessment
    • Walking High Kicks: 2 x 10 steps
    • Walking Quad Stretches: 2 x 10 steps (each leg)
    • Walking Butt Kicks: 2 x 10 steps (each leg)
    • Kettlebell Overhead Tricep Extensions: 3 x 10 x 15 lbs
    • Kettlebell Squats: 3 x 10 x 25 lbs
    • Lunges: 3 x 10 steps x 15 lbs (each hand)
    • Hollow-Body Hold: 3 x 30 seconds
    • Russian Twists: 3 x 10 x 20 lbs
• Tuesday – 12 May 2015
  • Elliptical: 10 min, 1 mile
  • Smith Squats: 3 x 8 x 50 lbs
  • Leg Press: 3 x 10 x 60 lbs
  • Leg Extensions: 3 x 10 x 50 lbs
  • Leg Curls: 3 x 10 x 50 lbs
  • Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 10 x 60 lbs
  • Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 40 lbs
  • Seated Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 25 lbs
• Wednesday – 13 May 2015
  • Elliptical: 10 min, 1 mile
  • Lat Pulldown: 3 x 8 x 60 lbs
  • Short Grip Pulldowns: 3 x 8 x 60 lbs
  • T-Bar Pulls: 3 x 8 x 25 lbs
  • Row: 3 x 8 x 60 lbs
  • Standing Rope Pulldown: 3 x 8 x 50 lbs
  • Standing Tricep Press: 3 x 8 x 40 lbs
• Thursday – 14 May 2015
  • Treadmill: 10 minutes, ~0.7 mile (betw. 0 and 2% incline)
  • Leg Press: 3 x 8 x 80 lbs
  • Leg Press: 3 x 8 x 60 lbs
  • Leg Extensions: 3 x 8 x 50 lbs
  • Leg Curls: 3 x 8 x 50 lbs
  • Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 10 x 60
  • Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 40
  • Seated Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 25
• Friday – 15 May 2015
  • Elliptical: 7 minutes, 0.75 mile
  • Bench Press: 3 x 8 x 115 lbs
  • Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3 x 8 x 1 @ 20 lbs/2 @ 25 lbs
  • Dumbbell Fly: 3 x 8 x 20 lbs
  • Dumbbell Curls: 3 x 8 x 2 @ 20 lbs/1 @ 25 lbs
  • Wrist Curls: 3 x 15 x 2 @ 30 lbs/1 @ 40 lbs

And that was that. It’s going to take a while to get back to where I was when I stopped going to the gym, but I’m enjoying the journey so far.

Stray Toasters

• Since cutting the cord, nearly two months ago now, I haven’t missed cable.
• I’ve been quite pleased with and a occasionally surprised by my Comics-On-TV shows of late: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Flash, and iZombie.
• By way of Mike B.: Space X gets certified to launch NASA science missions
• I’ve seen Avengers: Age of Ultron twice now. I’ll see if I can’t type up a two-part review in the next day or two.
• Team DiVa asked me to play Candy Land with them last weekend. It was, not surprisingly, the first time I’d played the game in many, many years. And, it was fun, too.
• Check out this Flash Gordon animated short, by Rob Pratt
• Confederates in the Jungle
• I don’t recall how I stumbled across this item, On Being a Cripple, by Nancy Mairs, but it is a fantastic and fascinating read. It is long and, for some, might not be necessarily “easy” to read, but I think that it’s very much worth the time to read.

And, it’s well into Saturday morning, now. I guess I’ll just schedule this to post sometime after the sun is up.

Namaste.