<p>I got a little exercise this morning with a brisk 2 mile walk home from the car repair garage. Car decided to blow a radiator hose yesterday and was dumping coolant almost as fast as I could pour it in. One of those non-discretionary situations where you have to top it off, limp it to the garage as fast as you can, and leave it until they can fix it – because continuing to drive it was not an option. Being able to walk a couple of miles is fantastic in that kind of situation. It’s so much easier to just take the damn car and not have to arrange schedules for two people to drive up and back and all that. Drop it off. When it’s fixed, I’ll walk up and get it. Two miles is nothing, which is pretty amazing considering that walking a quarter mile just about killed me 18 months ago.</p>
<p>I figured I’d do an Airdyne workout this afternoon. My plan was to do six 1/2 intervals. But, I got greedy and did the first two intervals faster than I’ve ever done and proceeded to hit the wall. So, I finished up four 1/2 mile intervals and called it a day. </p>
<p>Sum total: 2 mile walk and 20 minutes of Airdyne intervals. Not too bad.</p>
<p>Bromfield- not good. I hope it all resolves quickly.</p>
<p>Rest day for me. I don’t say that very often. Just. Worn. Out. Between the job search stress, the readying the house to list stress (we are building a new house) and the travel yesterday (on my birthday), I just needed a break.</p>
<p>Work day for me - deadline on Thursday and I want to get it all out of the way well before the end of Thursday when everyone else will try to update the system too. I did pack my bag and have clothes and just left it in the car so it will be ready if I work out tomorrow.</p>
<p>Happy belated 39th birthday, MOfWC! Of course, you turned 39 again, we all know that. :)</p>
<p>Rest day for me, too. My legs are still sore, so getting in and out of buses is a bit challenging. The bus drivers who regularly see me on their routes probably think that I twisted an ankle or something like that. Ditto folks at work - I did not tell anyone about my weekend adventure, so on Monday I was ridiculed by a coworker for taking the elevator to the third floor, “You should take the stairs, exercise is good for you!” Ahem, I’ve been exercising for roughly 4 hours on Sunday!</p>
<p>Ok, I decided that I would walk to the pet store to get some diet food for my cat. H weighed her, and she gained another pound since June! This calls for drastic measures and austerity.</p>
<p>10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 Bench Press tonight. Started out at 95 pounds and added 5 pounds each set. Ended at 140 pounds. That’s 55 reps right there. Then I did one last set to exhaustion which was 7 more reps at 140 pounds.</p>
<p>Did a little of two stretching videos this morning. I’m working from home this morning and pulled out my storage bins of old clothes. Nothing in there that I could salvage except for smaller dress shirts. I put some of the recent stuff in storage and made a pile of clothes to donate. It will be nice to have some of that stuff gone.</p>
<p>Now I will actually have to spend money to find smaller clothes and have to go through the fittings. I’m not sure if M or L is the way to go. I have big shoulders so L is good there. I’m really looking forward to not having the tight squeeze in my dresser.</p>
<p>Bromfield – You have had an incredibly tough run with this. Has anyone discussed perhaps trying hyperbaric wound healing? There have been some stories I’ve seen that this has helped with wounds that have not been healing, though I have no personal experience. It is offered by many of the major not-for-profit hospitals around here, which is at least some indication that it isn’t a fake remedy.</p>
<p>I’ve reached another five pound milestone – September has gone really well after an August that was too hot. I think I just wasn’t moving as much in the extreme (for us) heat. I had to take a bunch of pants in to be altered. I figure the loss of a few pockets is better than having pants that fall down, and alterations cost a lot less than buying a hopefully intermediate wardrobe. Knit tops are a lot more forgiving, so I think that front (ahem) is pretty much ok. </p>
<p>Did a really tough exercise yesterday – plank on a balance ball, up on my hands. It was supposed to be a 30 second interval for each set, but I never made it more than 18, so I ended up doing two for each set mixed with my other exercises. Tough, tough, tough.</p>
<p>Marshalls and TJ Maxx are moving a lot of the short sleeve stuff to the clearance racks. I picked up a nice Reebox short sleeve tech t (white with gray accents) for $5. They have a ton of these adiddas shirts ($12) which should be moving to the clearance racks. And, they have the really nice Champion C9 solid color tech t shirt for $5.99. Nothing in long sleeve yet except adiddas 1/4 zip pullovers that are no big bargain at $21.99 (although they are really nice and just the ticket for a second layer when the house is a little chilly at night.</p>
<p>I loaded up on a bunch of bargains from Sierra Trading Post: really nice Columbia long sleeve cotton t’s and mock turtlenecks for $8 to $10 each – even nicer than the LLBean stuff @$20. That and some great deals on pullover sweaters and fleeces and I’m all set in my new size for everything except long sleeve tech ts. Bargain hunting at Marshalls is far and away the best bargain there, but it requires patience. The only thing I’ve found there are the incredible NIKE golf mock turtle tech shirts ($19) and a couple of Timberland “thermals” that are like fancy t-shirts. I can make do with LARGE long-sleeve tech-ts until I find some bargains. I have to order my fav LLBEAN midweight fleece lined winter warmup jacket (perfect for 20 degrees to 40 degrees, especially just going to and from the car). The LARGE is swimming on me.</p>
<p>arabrab:</p>
<p>On your balance ball plank, are you talking hands on the ball and feet on the floor? Or feet on the ball, hands on the floor? They are both tough. I think the hardest one is elbows on the ball, feet on the floor. That one makes me sweat bullets, especially when you start “stirring the pot” or moving the ball forward and back.</p>
<p>Congratulations on the five pounds. Sounds like party time again! Nothing like having to go to smaller clothes. Alterations don’t make sense for men’s clothes. It costs more to take them in than buy new – at least for the staples.</p>
<p>I’m going to stop off at Marshalls and Sports Authority on the way home tonight (they’re in the same strip mall locally) and will take a look at what they have. I’m still fairly partial to Adidas. I need some cotton t-shirts too. I like to wear cotton t-shirts to the office from time to time in-between dress shirts. The tech shirts are generally too light. I’m going to order off the corporate website as you can’t go wrong with the company shirt.</p>
<p>I’m not thinking about winter yet as I plan to use the XL stuff this winter and then look for L stuff in the spring. I’m in the process of donating a ton of stuff. Next up is going through the suits that are huge.</p>
<p>I did plank with my hands on the ball, elbows just slightly bent. The ball moved a bit, but that was part of what made it tough – it wasn’t me trying to do it.</p>
<p>Went to the plastic surgeon yesterday. He’s a big gun–chief of plastic surgery at big teaching hospital and on Harvard medical school faculty, etc. He mentioned hyperbaric, but said I wasn’t a candidate for it. He’s recommending another type of treatment, which should help the wound heal much, much faster. (It is healing–which was good to know.) I’ll find out more tomorrow. I’ll be hooked up to some kind of mechanical device that puts pressure on the wound and keeps it moist. Sounds lovely? Good news is that it’s only for a week or two and . . . walking is good–keeps the blood flowing to the ankle. I’m off for a walk!</p>
<p>Cardio dance class. Was a lot of fun and a great workout today. Which was good, because I was going to do a New Rules workout today afterwards. Turns out that my quads are so sore from yesterday, that I will skip it. I think it was the plyo lunges that did it, not sure.</p>
<p>I just fell through the cracks. Marshalls just got racks and racks of casual Dockers, every size under the sun, except I’m now a 33 waist and they never get 33s. Oh well. I’ve found a couple pair and paid Kohl’s prices for some dressier pants and Levi’s jeans.</p>
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<p>Oh, yeah. That is really hard. I think it has to do with needing to squeeze with the arms and hands to stabilize the ball. That seems to fire the shoulders in a way that is really tiring.</p>
<p>Bromfield – that sounds promising. I’m glad it isn’t more of the same; this plastic surgeon sounds like the kind of specialist you need. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you that this time it all works. For good.</p>
<p>I’ve always found 33s to be rare. I have 34s, 32s and 31s but no 33s. I think that finding odd sizes is a lot easier under 32 because the percentage shrink goes up.</p>
<p>Marshalls just doesn’t do much with odd sizes. They usually have about four pair of mens 33 waist in the whole store. I’ve actually lucked into a couple of good deals, but it was a fluke.</p>
<p>I actually could wear anything from a 32 to a 34 depending on the pants, where they fall viz-a-viz my waist, etc. I think my actual waist is now 32.5 inches with a tape measure, but my hips, butt, and thighs make 33s more comfortable. I don’t see that changing as long as I keep doing squats and deadlifts.</p>
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