Day off work today, what with the holiday being celebrated a day early. I actually didn’t make it to the gym until almost 7:45 pm, about when I would have gone had it been a regular workday. Earlier in the day I had bought some shin guards for the Muay Thai lessons, and spent some time kicking the bags. They sure do make a difference, I can kick as hard as possible without pain. I did a total of four 3-minute rounds on the heavy bag, alternating between two rounds of punching and two of kicking. Next came the Hammer Strength decline press, with a new record: 4 x 350, 5 x 360, 4 x 360, 6 x 320, 3 x 6 x 300. This machine comes with a seat belt, which makes it a bit easier to stay in place when pushing heavy amounts. I used it today and it helped. Next, I ran one mile at 5.9 mph. To finish the session I did Hammer Strength MTS rows, for another record: 2 x 6 x 120/120, 2 x 6 x 115/115, 3 x 6 x 110/110.
Thursday, July 2
Feeling like a teenybopper
Age is generally a relative thing. Let’s say you are, oh, 35 years old. Go to a Jonas Brothers concert and you’ll be as ancient as the redwoods compared to other people in the joint. Stop by a retirement community and you’ll be a mere stripling compared to everyone else. Today I got the 6:56 to Flatbush Avenue after arriving in Ronkonkoma on the shuttle, it being an M-3 consist for a change. I was able to get a single seat, though given the relatively low level of crowding in the car it wasn’t necessarily a big accomplishment. What I noticed, indeed couldn’t help but notice, is that almost all of the other riders in the car were men in late middle age or above. There were hardly any women and hardly any men under 55. Compared to most other trains the 6:56’s ridership skews male and older, but never to anything like this extreme. Today’s train should have been called the Flomax Express … okay, Flomax Local. You know what I mean. We made it to Brooklyn without any riders having died of old age, quite a miracle if you ask me, and for a bit of a change I got a 5 train to Fulton instead of my usual 2/3. Unlike the 6:56, it was quite crowded, and also unlike the 6:56, there actually were some people without gray hair.
I got to Penn quickly enough after work, on a 3 from Fulton, though as soon as I entered the LIRR concourse at Penn I knew from the crowding that something was up. What I saw was more than just the crowding that one would expect on the start of a long weekend. It turned out that service had been suspended on the Huntington and Port Jefferson lines due to a derailment west of Huntington. Of all wretched times to have such a situation. Of course it did not directly affect me, but it could just as easily have happened on the Ronkonkoma line. I got the 5:41 to Ronkonkoma, absolutely jammed today, and the crowding was made worse by the luggage many riders were carrying. A 50ish woman took the seat next to me and spent much of the time on her cell phone. Of course I had my iPod to cover the sound, and in any event the noise level in the car was much louder than usual what with the weekend travelers. As we approached the Hicksville stop the conductor announced that service to Huntington and Port Jefferson had been restored. I later found out that the derailment was fairly minor, just one set of wheels on one car off the track, and that it had been caused when a broken water main had undermined a track section. We made an unscheduled stop at Deer Park, with no announcement why, but made it to Ronkonkoma and the shuttle on time.
Gym: after five days in a row, I was just too worn out to go tonight.
Wednesday, July 1
Fulfilling all the stereotypes
Another day driving to Ronkonkoma instead of getting the shuttle from Medford. I was planning on getting the 7:32 to Penn, and unlike Monday I made sure to leave myself enough time to avoid missing it. In fact had I hustled just a bit I probably could have made the 7:19. The 7:32, at least in the car toward the rear where I rode, was unusually SCA-free, scarcely even a necktie to be seen. I’m not going to, you know, complain about that. The car got quite crowded, albeit with normal people, and even before we left Ronkonkoma a fairly tall woman in the 25 to 30 age range took the aisle seat next to me. Before the trip into Penn was over she managed to fulfill all three younger-woman stereotypes: 1) she talked for several minutes on her cell phone, the one different thing being that she talked in a foreign language (Greek, I think); 2) she spent about 15 minutes putting on all sorts of cosmetics; and 3) she eventually conked off with her head leaning back and her mouth gaping wide open. In a way it was quite amusing to see her fulfilling these stereotypes. Heck, stereotypes usually are fun! I spent most of the ride reading, and it went by quickly enough. I had to wait almost five minutes for a 3 train to Fulton, longer than usual for rush hour, but when it arrived it was less crowded than the lengthy wait would have led me to believe.
For a bit of variety after work, I walked to Park Place for a 3 train to Penn instead of getting it from Fulton. Walking along Fulton Street is annoying due to an endless (and, I’m sure, gargantuanly expensive) reconstruction job, though it’s amusing to see all the highly paid unionized workers standing around doing not much of anything. Following a quick ride on the 3 I got the 5:22 to Ronkonkoma. Many more SCA’s than the morning’s train, although because it was an M-3 consist with the slightly larger seats the presence of SCA’s wasn’t quite as critical an issue. In any event, a woman of about 35 took the aisle seat next to me, and unlike her morning’s counterpart she didn’t do any stereotypical stuff, unless you count doing several word search puzzles. I read, or just looked out the window, and the ride went by fairly quickly.
Gym: I was rather worn out and considered not going, tonight would be the fifth day in a row, but finally I decided to have a quick session. All I did was deadlifting, at a low weight but for multiple reps, specifically 6 x 6 x 225.
Tuesday, June 30
Standing (okay, sitting) firm
Today was a repeat of last Friday in one respect. After arriving on the shuttle from Medford, and seeing that the 6:56 to Flatbush Avenue was using M-7’s, I decided to take the 7:04 to Penn rather than waiting for my usual 7:19. It worked out well for me last week and I was hoping for a repeat. It didn’t turn out as well today, but could have been far, far worse than it actually was. The car wasn’t particularly crowded at first, quite likely because there was a group of six young people – three boys and three girls, but not (as far as I could tell) couples – traveling together and being a bit loud and raucous. From what I gathered, they had just graduated from high school. As I’ve noted before, noisy youthful exuberance doesn’t bother me, but drives many SCA’s crazy. Eventually they quieted down and the car gradually became more crowded. Disaster nearly struck when a large SCA plopped down in the aisle seat next to me. He wasn’t quite large enough to make the ride a horror show, but it certainly would have been unpleasant. As soon as he sat down he tried to wriggle around and push me to the side to make more room for himself. I knew that if I did move it would just make a bad situation even worse, and used every bit of strength I had to resist his attempts at pushing me aside. It is with great pleasure and satisfaction that I report that he gave up trying after a few seconds and actually got up to sit elsewhere. Victory! A non-SCA man took his place moments later, which was fine by me because he must’ve weighed a good 50 pounds less than the first one. I had an easy ride into Penn, and waited only a couple of minutes for a 3 train to Fulton. While I had a seat the whole way, we were stopped for several minutes outside Chambers Street due to “train traffic ahead of us.”
No seats on the 3 train I took from Fulton to Penn after work, but no delays either. A fair tradeoff, if you ask me. I got the 5:41 to Ronkonkoma, which was using an M-3 consist today. It made for an easy ride, with an average-sized woman in her 40’s taking the aisle seat next to me. I sent most of the ride reading, and we got to Ronkonkoma and the shuttle without delay.
Gym: I arrived quite late, just before 10 in fact, and was very pleased that the air conditioning was actually working. I ran two miles on the treadmill at 5.9 mph, making 6.5 miles for the week so far. I then did the Hammer Strength MTS rows that I wasn’t able to do yesterday, and did very well at them: 8 x 115/115, 6 x 120/120, 8 x 110/110, 8 x 105/105, 8 x 100/100.
Monday, June 29
Amazing, an LIRR rider who should gain some weight
I’d been planning on driving to Ronkonkoma this morning to get the 7:32 to Penn, but that was not to be. For a variety of reasons I was late in getting out of the house and then ran into some unexpectedly heavy traffic on the Expressway. By the time I pulled into the parking lot it was just before 7:30, and there was no way I was going to make the 7:32 even if I ran. Not that I would run, as running for trains is a hopelessly SCA thing. I could have made the 7:40 to Flatbush Avenue, but not being in any particular hurry I waited for the 7:57 to Penn. It wasn’t a bad trip at all, moderately crowded but delay-free. A woman in her 30’s took the seat next to me at Deer Park or Wyandanch (I don’t remember which) and was no bother at all. I waited less than a minute at Penn for a 2 train to Fulton and actually had a seat the whole way. Even though it’s a short ride, having a seat is nice.
To my mild surprise I also had a seat the whole way after work, on a 3 from Fulton to Penn. Must be the summertime ridership decline. I got the 5:22 to Ronkonkoma, which didn’t seem particularly crowded, in fact I had hopes that the seat next to me would be empty the whole way. Just before departure, however, a blonde woman wearing a rather short dress took the seat. Something seemed off about her. After a few minutes it dawned on me – her legs were thinner than they should have been. I wouldn’t say that she was anorectic, and at about 30 (as best I could tell) she was a bit old for such conditions, but she would have looked much better with another 10 to 15 pounds. Too bad she couldn’t “borrow” some avoirdupois from an elephantine SCA. It was another easy enough ride to Ronkonkoma – space was clearly no problem – though my repeated attempts at playing Tetris met with a distinct lack of success.
Gym: oh, no. Call me naive, but I thought that air conditioning had been invented decades ago. Apparently no one ever told the management of Ultimate Fitness. It had to be a good 85 degrees in the place, which is utterly ridiculous for a gym. Somehow I managed to run 2.5 miles on the treadmill, though I had to take a break of about five minutes after the first 1.5 miles. I did the first 1.5 miles at 5.9 mph and the remaining post-break mile at 5.8 mph. Memo to self: wearing thick sweat pants instead of shorts is not a smart idea when the gym is a furnace. After the treadmill, I did kettlebell swings, 3 x 10 with the 50-pounder. While I had wanted to do some Hammer Strength MTS rows, I was just too drained to do any.
Sunday, June 28
Today’s Muay Thai/MMA lesson was the most brutal of all. Five rounds of sparring with the instructor or his assistant, the first one at about one-third speed and the last one around three-quarters speed. When it was over I was quite sore but also quite pleased with myself.
Saturday, June 27
A pretty good Leg Day. I began with a 2-mile run on the treadmill, the first mile at 5.9 mph and the second at 5.8 mph. Next came some work on the Hammer Strength decline press: 6 x 345, 8 x 330, 8 x 320, 8 x 300, 2 x 6 x 300. Getting the six at 345 is a new record. After last week’s machine interlude I now got back to squats, albeit not going for any records: 8 x 135, 8 x 225, 8 x 255, 8 x 275. Good depth on all the reps. Then came SLDL’s, 8 x 215, 2 x 8 x 225. I finished the session with Precor leg extensions, 8 x 200, 8 x 205, 8 x 210, 8 x 215.
Friday, June 26
Trying something new
It wasn’t that because today is my birthday that I decided to try something new. That probably had nothing to do with it at all, and in any event I’m way past the point at which birthdays are something to be celebrated. Although I’ve heard that when people get really old, like 90 and above, they often get the sort of enjoyment out of birthdays that otherwise only children experience. Guess that’s because making it another year when you’re over 90 is quite an accomplishment! In any event, today began in the usual manner, with the shuttle from Medford to Ronkonkoma. The 6:56 to Flatbush Avenue was using M-7’s today, so I resigned myself to waiting for the 7:19 to Penn. As I was waiting, however, I noticed that fewer people than usual were waiting for the 7:04 to Penn. Generally that’s a train to avoid because it stops at Deer Park, basically a SCA-filled Ronkonkoma Junior. The 7:19 is a safer choice because its only stops after Ronkonkoma are at Central Islip and Brentwood, two working-class, heavily Spanish-speaking communities with relatively few SCA’s. Perhaps my birthday imbued me with a bit of recklessness, but just before the doors closed I finally made up my mind and boarded the 7:04. I found a window seat on the 2-across side near the middle of the consist and wondered whether the SCA who would sit next to me at Deer Park would weigh under or over 250 pounds. Over seemed like the safe bet. Well call it a cosmic birthday gift or something, but no one at all sat next to me the entire way! Such luck is almost unheard-of on a rush hour train. I suppose, thinking more dispassionately, the fact that no one sat next to me is more likely attributable to the fact that ridership on Fridays in summer tends to be light. Whatever the cause, it was a pleasant result. I had a nice easy ride into Penn and then waited only a couple of minutes for a not-too-crowded 3 train to Penn.
I had a fairly long wait for a 2 at Fulton after work, not quite long enough to be annoying but longer than it should have been, but still got to Penn in time to get the 5:22 to Ronkonkoma. It was moderately crowded when I boarded a few minutes before departure, but after some searching was able to find a vacant aisle seat on the 2-across side. It goes without saying that except in rare cases I studiously avoid the 3-across side on M-7’s. That’s playing with fire … okay, suffocation to be precise. A 40ish woman was sitting in the window seat, and spent almost the entire ride to Ronkonkoma diddling around on her Blackberry. Probably no other invention has been such a boon to the work-obsessed. I spent most of the ride reading, except for the five minutes or so near Mineola when I was fuming, due to a delay caused by “signal problems.” Friday afternoon delays are always annoying, today’s was especially bad because the family was taking me out to dinner after work and I didn’t want to be delayed. We got to Ronkonkoma about six or seven minutes late, and because the other trains also were running late, the shuttle didn’t get underway until almost ten minutes behind schedule. Which isn’t to say that I was sorry I hadn’t driven to Ronkonkoma, it was raining torrentially by the time we got there and I would have been completely soaked getting to my car.
Gym: what with the aforementioned dinner, no gym tonight.
Thursday, June 25
When your wishes come true …
Only rarely in my years of LIRR riding have specific wishes come true. And the thing is, when they do come true, it’s not necessarily a good thing. I was able to work a slightly shorter day today, and as a result drove to Ronkonkoma rather than getting the shuttle from Medford, arriving in time to get the 7:32 to Penn. The south side parking lot was moderately crowded when I arrive around 7:25, not what I’d call empty but not full by any means. That same moderate-crowding theme carried over to the train as well. I rode near the east end of the consist and not even a third of the seats were taken when we left Ronkonkoma. The car filled up gradually, with the seat next to me finally getting taken at Farmingdale by a tall but not wide man in his 30’s. It was an uneventful ride into Penn, no delays or anything. One rather unusual thing happened on the 3 train I took to Fulton. There was a skell working the car, nothing odd about that, but he was playing a clarinet. I’ve never seen a skell playing that particular instrument. Violins, saxophones, trumpets, guitars, but never before a clarinet. He wasn’t getting much money and got off at Chambers to try his luck in another car.
Thanks to being able to leave early, plus a very short wait for a 3 at Fulton, I got to Penn just in time to catch the 5:01 to Ronkonkoma. It wasn’t nearly as empty as I though it would be. A young woman took the seat next to me at Woodside and was chattering very loudly on her cell phone in a language I didn’t understand (Korean?) Even with my iPod churning away it was impossible to drown out the sound. I really hope she gets off at Jamaica, I thought to myself. Maybe then I’ll get some peace and quiet. Well, my wish came true. She indeed got off at Jamaica, and the man who took her place was silent. That’s the good part. The not-so-good part is that he weighed somewhere north of 250 pounds. I wasn’t squashed into goo like in the March 11 horror show, but that doesn’t mean it was pleasant. I so wished the noisy woman, who must’ve weighed less than half of what this man weighed, hadn’t gotten off the train. Cell phone babble can be ignored to some extent, especially when it’s in a foreign language, but squishy fat pressing up against me cannot be ignored. It was a barely tolerable ride to Wyandanch, when Tubby moved to another seat, though the rest of the way to Ronkonkoma was easy enough.
Gym: Some decent deadlifting to start the session. 8 x 225, 8 x 155, 6 x 275, 4 x 295, 3 x 315, 6 x 265. I then worked on the Hammer Strength MTS row, with some progress over last time: 8 x 115/115, 8 x 110/110, 8 x 105/105, 8 x 100/100. Dunno why I did this declining weight pattern, it’s not my usual thing, but it worked out fine. I then did four 3-minute rounds on the heavy bag, two punching and two kicking.
Wednesday, June 24
Cutting it too close for comfort
Sometimes it comes down to a matter of just a few pounds. Like on the 7:19 from Ronkonkoma to Penn, which I got this morning after arriving on the shuttle from Medford. It didn’t seem too crowded, and I actually had hopes that the seat next to me would stay empty the whole way. Because it stops only at Central Islip and Brentwood after Ronkonkoma, I would know soon enough if that would be the case. Needless to say, it was not the case, as a 30ish man wearing a dress shirt and tie, but no suit and therefore not an SCA, took the aisle seat next to me at Brentwood. He just barely fit into the available space without making my life miserable. Note the emphasis on the “just.” Seriously, if he had weighed five more pounds, heck, if he’d had a big breakfast this morning, I would have had a wretched trip into Penn. As it was, the ride was tolerable, but I hate cutting things so close. There weren’t any delays into Penn, but I had to wait a bit longer than usual for a 2 train to Fulton Street, something like six or seven minutes. When the train finally arrived, there was a faint but distinct odor of skell permeating the car. Perhaps the delay resulted from the police having ejected a skell at an earlier stop.
I had a comparatively scent-free ride on a 3 from Fulton to Penn after work. In an unusual thing for rush hour, I actually had a seat the whole way. The 5:41 to Ronkonkoma was a lot more crowded than I would have expected, given the comparative non-crowding of the morning’s train. One thing I’ve noticed is that the extent of crowding in the morning is not necessarily reflective of the what the afternoon will be like. I don’t know why that’s the case. Anyway, no close calls on this train, as a woman in her 50’s took the aisle seat next to me and left me with ample room, or what passes for ample room on the LIRR. I spent most of the ride to Ronkonkoma and the shuttle reading, with some Tetris and a few minutes of texting.
Gym: I’d been planning on deadlifting tonight, once more other things intervened and I wasn’t able to go.
