Gym, Gym, Gym, Gym

Ah, yes, another Friday at the gym. Yet again, I chose a stationary cycle that was not completely functional. I did not discover this until I shifted levels on the bike, and no apparent increase in effort was required. Sigh... Just spinning away, I guess, did the required job of warming up the legs, but this is getting old. I'll have to more carefully choose my machine next time. A little stretching after that, and then it was time for the main event.

Core stuff was rigorous, but only intermittently awful. The plank stuff, with the new longer times, gets to be tough towards the last 15-20 seconds of each "rep." Those are good exercises, though. Leg exercises were the same old thing, but after consulting Wednesday with Ron, my massage guy, I think I may need to add standing calf raises, to get the gastroc muscles, and he thinks big boy leg presses should be on my list. I'll discuss those new options with Alex, who is our gym guru. His physical therapist got him doing those exercises when he was hurt, so I want to hear why they're on his routine.

The arm stuff was big fun. I'm ready to move up on bicep curls next time, to a 60 lb bar, since I did 2x15 @ 50 lbs for the second workout in a row. Moved up on bench today, too, to 90 lbs, and did 2x10 at that weight. On seated rows, moved up to 80 lbs, for 2x12 reps. Stayed with 30 lbs on the dumbbell overhead tricep extensions, but got to 2x12 reps there. I know that arm strength is not all that important for running, and may even be counterproductive, but I'm not going to add a lot of body mass to my ectomorphic frame. It can help burn calories, though, so I continue to do the longer upper body workout.

It was a good one today, and tomorrow is a shorter run, at 10-12 miles, but still hilly. Should be fun, and the cool mornings are still with us, so it'll be nice. I think most of the Chicago people will be rejoining us, too, so that will give us more people to hang out with during the run.