It would seem that my brain is officially fried. The post for yesterday, which was titled “Monday Cardio and Core”, was actually a recap of my workout on Tuesday. I just discovered the error a few minutes ago (late on Wednesday) but, in my defense, this is the first time I have been near my laptop since early this morning. And to be honest, it’s not surprising that I didn’t catch the error then as I am not exactly a morning person. It’s not so much that I’m cranky or unhappy when I wake up – it’s more than I’m oblivious to the world until sometime after 11:00 a.m. You could probably sneak a convoy of muddy elephants through my kitchen while I sipped my first coffee of the day, and four hours later, my only clue that this had happened would be the giant, dirty footprints on the floor. Maybe. If I was awake enough yet to notice them…
Unfortunately, though, I can’t blame my usual a.m. fog for the posting mistake. I did, after all, write that post late on Tuesday. No, I’m afraid that particular mistake can be attributed to just one factor – my brain is totally and completely exhausted. Life has been… complicated, lately. And so I know that there are probably a lot of elements that factor into this exhaustion. But when all is said and done, I am attributing it to one thing, and one thing only.
Watching the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Seriously. I blame the Olympics. And more specifically, the IOC who selected Vancouver as the site of the current games, and the NOC who decided on the scheduling of the events.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m proud of my Canadian heritage, and the fact that the Olympics are being held in the country of my birth thrills me. And I love Vancouver. Truly. I even say that as someone who has actually lived there. BUT. Vancouver is in the PST zone. And I’m not. I’m not even in the CST zone where I normally reside. Nope. I’m in the same country as the Olympics, but I am in the EST zone. I am in a time zone that is not just one, not even two, but three hours ahead of PST. That means that the airing time of whatever event it is I want to watch is three hours later than the posted start time. The only saving grace here is that my family does not live in the NST zone (for the unacquainted, that is Newfoundland Standard Time), which is the most easterly of the Canadian time zones AND a full 4 1/2 hours ahead of the PST. Because guess what? Everything I want to watch is on in the middle of the night already… at least, the middle of the night in the EST.
Which, as I am a biological night owl, shouldn’t be a problem. Except that, of course, I live in the real world, not the biological-night-owl-world, and I have to get up at an hour that corresponds to the real world. Thus it is that I am not getting very much sleep. And when someone who needs a lot of sleep doesn’t get a lot of sleep, the resulting exhaustion leads to a complete and total mental meltdown.
Oddly enough, however, the meltdown seems to be limited to one of the intellectual variety. Because my workout today? I rocked it. And it was Leg Day, which, while fun, is usually the most exhausting session of the week. But today – it wasn’t. It was one of the best workouts I’ve had in a very long time. I felt good going into it, and after my first set of walking barbell lunges, I knew I was in the zone. Not the EST, but the inspired zone. I know that there are probably a lot of elements that factored into this inspiration. But I am attributing it to one thing, and one thing only.
Watching the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the gym, by myself, with a Mike Workout:
Jump Rope Warm-up.
Walking Lunges: 15 lb. barbell x 1 set; 15 lb. barbell x 1 set; 12 lb. dumbbells (24 lbs.) x 1 set.
Dumbbell Step Ups: 10 lb. dumbbells x 10; 12 lb. dumbbells x 10; 15 lb. dumbbells x 10
setted with: Swiss Ball Hamstring Curls: 10; 10; 10
Leg Press: 90 lbs. x 12; 180 lbs. x 12; 270 lbs. x 12 (I love this leg press!)
setted with: Single Leg Deadlifts (per leg): 15 lb. barbell x 12; 10 lb. dumbbells (20 lbs. total) x 12; 10 lb. dumbbells x 12
Abductor Machine: 50 lbs. x 15; 50 lbs. x 15; 50 lbs. x 15
setted with: Adductor Machine: 50 lbs. x 15; 60 lbs. x 15; 60 lbs. x 15
Kettlebell Plie Squats: 8 K x 12; 8 K x 12; 8 K x 12
setted with: Bodyweight Squats: 15; 15; 15
Stretching: Standing Quad; Standing Ham; Standing Calf; Standing Glute.
