Man, what a long, lousy week. Energy and motivation were seriously lacking. While I did get in most of my STS workouts (more in a minute), I didn't do much beyond them.

STS Disc #22 - Chest, Shoulders & Triceps

Wound up splitting this over two days. Got the chest work done on Tuesday. Felt ok, and lifted target weights. When I got to the shoulder work, I couldn't get the dumbbells up for overhead presses. Not a single rep. No strength at all. Decided to stop, rather than continue with lighter weights.

Got back to shoulders and triceps the next day, and did ok. Lifted target weights, and didn't feel too overwhelmed. Lacked energy to do much more.

All cardio last week was LIC on my treadmill. 30 minutes on Wednesday, after finishing #22. 60 minutes on Thursday. Was scheduled to do #23 on Wed., but I knew it wasn't going to happen on a weeknight. Moved it to Saturday.

STS Disc #23 - Legs

Like I said, moved this to yesterday, figuring I'd get it done earlier in the day and would be better fueled. Well, I made it through the entire workout yesterday afternoon, but at weights significantly below my targets. Still worked hard, but not 80%.

Followed it up with 60 minutes (a little over 3 miles) LIC on my trusty treadmill.

STS Disc #24 - Back and Biceps

Tried to do #24 on Friday evening. Got the back exercises done, at lighter than target weights, but didn't even try for biceps. I'm going to try and get them done later today.

In addition to working biceps today, I'll probably try for another hour of LIC on my treadmill. The guys are at Dover today, and it's usually a decent race.

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I'm thinking of writing off last week as a "rest" week, or something. Sticking with 22, 23 24 this week and the next. I feel like last week was just a waste of time. That said, this week won't be any better if I don't pull my head out of my rear and get myself back on track.

So what the heck is going on? I suspect it's a combination of things, some I can control, an others I can't. I've mentioned before that my diet has been less-than-clean lately. The excess of starchy & refined carbs has caught up with me. I tend to eat fewer vegies when I go on a carb binge. Doesn't help. Although I haven't weight myself, I can tell I've gained weight around my butt, thighs, and gut. Could feel my stomach against my thighs when doing deadlifts. Yuck. Obviously, I can control my diet. Been working on it this weekend, including planning & prep of meals for the coming week.

Work is always a downer. I'll work until I drop, which would be ok if I enjoyed my job. I don't, and the thought of 30+ more years of it is enough to bring me to tears. I've been trying to figure out what I want to do for years, but all I've come up with is a long list of things I know I don't want to do. Process of elimination works sometimes, but I won't be around forever. The idea of going back to school for a few years is becoming more acceptable, since I'm looking at working longer. I've been thinking about doing something in the area of fitness and nutrition. Don't think I'd be a good class instructor, but I could see myself doing one-on-one personal training. I like the idea of being able to work with people on nutrition, as well as fitness. Anyway, it's just a thought.

I'm frustrated and depressed by events out of my control as well. Pretty much everything happening in the U.S. today. I want to know what's going on, but it is so depressing. So Orwellian. (Rereading 1984 recently probably wasn't a good idea.) I get angry at events, and at feeliing powerless to do anything about them. They are beyond my control, and I shouldn't let them eat at me, but they do.

Thank God for distractions like the baby rabbits living in our back yard, and the wrens and cardinals nesting out there as well. We've decided that the red-tail hawks are nesting behind us, but they are laying low and we don't have a good view since the trees leafed out. B caught a glimpse of one yesterday, when he was floating in the neighbor's pool.

As far as I know, we're on track to get a puppy in August. Haven't heard from the breeder lately, so I'm assuming that no news is good news. Both B & I are looking forward to having a dog again. We're coming up on a year since we had to euthanize Sam.

I need to end this, but don't want to leave it on a low note. Ordered a squat rack on Thursday. Valor BD-8. Was all set to order directly from Valor, but saw a post on the Cathe forum about Overstock.com. Sure enough, they had it in stock, for $30 less than the manufacturer. Shipping included! It'll really be nice for bench presses. Looking forward to seeing how much I can squat with barbells. Although my forearms are getting stronger, I still feel like the discomfort I feel with heavier barbells is keeping me from squatting heavier. I'll find out in a couple of weeks.

Now, it's time to fuel up, then head downstairs to finish biceps and spend some quality time with my treadmill. If anyone is still with me, I apologize for the generally negative tone of this entry. It was just one of those weeks.