kentcowgill.org/blog

August 15:

I almost skipped today. I went to see the doctor, taking public transportation, and the bus was really crowded. Which made me stand the whole way. Which made my back hurt a lot more. Which is a little ironic, since I was going to the doctor to help alleviate my back pain. We also had another nanny interview, which made me not be able to rest my back after I got home. Long story short, my back hurt, and I wasn't sure it would stop hurting before I had to go to bed. But it ended up feeling good enough, so I went ahead and did my...

Push ups: 27 (oh wow, my inner upper arms are kind of sore today, but) then 21 (not so bad this time around, but still not great, but) then 21 (kind of running out of gas towards the end there, and) then 18 (oh you gotta be kidding me, there's another set after this?) then maxed out at 25. The minimum, I might add. Rested about 90 seconds between sets for a total of 112 in about 8 minutes. No idea how I got the max on the last set.

Chin ups: 9 then 8 then 6 then 5 then maxed out at 7. Resting about 90 seconds between sets for a total of 35 in about 7 minutes. Lisa went to bed early, so I had to move the chin up bar to a shorter door. So these were a little easier, since I let my feet hit the ground after each chin up. I wonder if I could have done as many on the taller door upstairs...

Wee bit of bad news about going to the doctor today. They weighed me, and my weight appears to be the same. Granted, this is just after a hearty lunch, and it was a different scale, and I was wearing all my clothes (which I haven't been at home), so this may not necessarily be an accurate reflection of my real weight. But I guess I was secretly hoping I had lost maybe a pound or two in the four weeks I've been doing this. And of course it's not pounds that matter - I would happily weigh 10 pounds more if it were all muscle.

August 16:

I got out on my bike. I had to hurry back, because Lisa had somewhere to go, and I needed to watch Matthew. So instead of the circuitous route I took to get there, I took as close to a straight line as I could. Also, I had completely forgotten that this weekend is the Air and Water Show along the lake, so it was really unwise to go down the lakeshore bike path starting around Armitage. It was wall to wall people, none of whom had any idea that people might be using the bike path for - you know, biking?

I really wish I had the opportunity to go a little further, because I'd really like to keep steadily increasing the mileage of my rides. And it's also been a few years since I've been down the Lake Shore Bike Path, especially further south than McCormick Place. But I did get down to Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium.

View Larger Map

August 13:

I stayed home from work in the morning to take Lisa back to the oral surgeon, but I found myself with a little extra time to make up for missing kettlebell last night. So I did the three circuits, hopped in the shower, and went to the oral surgeon with Lisa. She's doing fine, BTW. The swelling has gone down a lot and she only has a little bruising on her cheeks.

Later in the evening, it was time for my push ups and chin ups. I plan to do week 4 day 1 column 3 for push ups, and I figure I'll try to do week 1 column 2 again on chin ups.

Push ups: 27 then 20 then 20 then 17 then maxed out at 23. Rested about 60 seconds between sets, for a total of 107 in about 7 minutes.

Chin ups: 7 then 5 then 5 then 4 then 5. Resting about 60 seconds between sets, for a total of 26 in about 6 minutes. I could hardly do the last two of the four and the last three of the last five. But I took a rest for a beat or two, then gave it my all. So I hit all the targets today, but just barely.

And I rested August 14th, too. And I swear it's completely unrelated, but I'm finally going to go to a doctor to see about my back pain. I really just wanted to go to a physical therapist, but they seem to only accept "patients" with "prescriptions" from "doctors" for physical therapy. I just don't want my doctor giving me drugs. Ibuprofen is about all I'm willing to take, but I can't keep taking it like I have been lately.