Day 20

The thing that amazes me about my body is that I have no real perception of it, at least none that has any grounding in reality. Even so far as how my clothes are fitting is all based on relativity – jeans can shrink in the drawer if not worn for a while, right? So yesterday after Legs & Back and Ab Ripper X, I put on my new birthday dress and went out like a champion to eat a veggie burger with extra steak fries (Red Robbin doesn't officially offer a free burger on birthdays anymore, but I explained my sob story of how we all used to get the emails about our free birthday burgers and no none of us have gotten them this year and it's my birthday so is there anyway I could still and an overpriced ice cream and a glass of red wine with some awesome friends who love me despite my inability to properly time manage aka answer the phone or generally be available to hang outs like I used to.

This morning, post-birthday, is a different story. my blood feels altogether thinner than usual, my stomach an unhappy bloat of an organ is sitting atop my pelvis in protest to the mixed messages I've been sending it all week with these familial restaurant outings (and today's Mother's Day!), and my legs and back, rather than feeling as strong and tree-sturdy as they did yesterday, are now drained and aching. I put on the same dress I wore yesterday, and while it fit more loosely than the day before, just didn't look right. The mind is a wonderland.

Anyway, the workout. As I may have mentioned, my s/o – let's call him E. – got me some nice exercise equipment for my birthday, including a resistance band and a pull up bar. Funny thing about the legs and back exercise: it's significantly harder if you actually are working out your back. For the past two weeks, I had been either skipping over the back exercises, doing arm presses (same motion, different muscles), or doing a different dvd altogether, opting for the "lean" exercise du jour. Yesterday I realized just how much of a weakling I am, in this awkward space in fitness that is too strong for the band but too weak for more than one pull-p or chin-up at a time luckily the bar is low enough and the doorframe narrow enough that I can cheat and jump up to the bar without letting go, or use my feet to keep me going. Using my legs was the best option, since this was also a Legs day so it wasn't going against the muscle confusion basis of P90X, and my arms never actually stopped working. I've been told by someone who's finished P90X that he could barely do one pull-up when he started, and now he can do 10 pretty good, so I'm not too far off track. I also pushed it extra hard with the leg workouts and could feel it this morning in my butt walking down the stairs to make some much needed coffee.

Today is Kendo. After spending Mother's Day with E's mother and brother, we're now going to see his punk band play at some new venue on the outskirts of town. I think I will be shadow boxing and hi-ya-ing well into the wee hours of tomorrow.