redbird | gym, and work (Reply)

I got back to the gym after work today, still not sure I was well--after an extended period of being short of breath even from walking any distance--but feeling tense and realizing I needed to lift weights.

So I did a whole 6.5 minutes of cardio as warmup, but got my heart rate up to 150, then did XpressLine.

I mostly left the weights where they were, but did 370 on the leg press, not 380 (I'd managed 8 reps at 380 at one point), and took the lat pulldown down five pounds after 4 reps, because I didn't have the lung capacity to do it at that weight. But I got through them all, even the biceps (10 to 12 on everything, I think 11 on biceps), with the trainer giving me advice and telling me that it had been a good workout. I had trouble starting with the triceps machine--when I first pulled it with my left arm, nothing happened--and then at the end the trainer, Omar, pointed out that I'd been putting more energy/strength on the left. I suspect I was (over)compensating for the initial difficulty.

I did three sets of 20 crunches, and 2 sets of 17 back arches--one effect of the move out of the office into the cubicle is that I don't have a good place to do floor exercises at work anymore--and finished with stretches.

Part of the tension is from not knowing how much longer I'll have a job, both in terms of whether it will continue to be available and in terms of what I can handle, physically. I'm getting up in the dark, and pretty soon will be leaving in the dark. (This morning doesn't count, it was rain-dark even after dawn.) That they still haven't set up my outgoing phone line in the cubicle is not a good sign, however--and is somewhat annoying on a practical level. This week, I can borrow Brenna's phone if I need to, because she's on vacation, but that's not a long-term solution. Neither is making all calls after 3 p.m. so I can use JuJu's phone. I don't need to make many calls, but it's useful to check in with