Monday, February 8

Today was the first day of the week-long intensive job training, which for today only was in a branch office near Exit 40.  It was somewhat “virgin territory” as I don’t usually drive farther west than Exit 41.  Granted, we’re not talking about lengthy exploration of unfamiliar terrain, as there’s only a mile or two between the exits.  Being unsure about traffic I left home around 7:45 even though I didn’t have to arrive until 9:15.  There were a few slowdowns, most notably around exits 57 and 49, but none of them were particularly bad.  I never went below about 25 mph.  Of course I arrived way too early and ended up sitting in my car in the parking lot.  Speaking of the parking lot, it seemed far too large for the office park it served.  If somehow the lot were full, the office buildings would be jammed far beyond capacity.  Weird.

Traffic was a lot worse when I left the training session just after 5:00.  The 25-mile trip on the Expressway took about 55 minutes, with several slowdowns.  Two of them were in the same place as the ones in the morning (though of course in the opposite direction), at exits 49 and 57.  In both cases traffic came to a dead stop for at least a couple minutes.  It seemed illogical that the afternoon’s traffic should have been so much worse than the morning’s, but that was the case.

Gym: tonight was yoga night, but I was just too worn out to go.

Sunday, February 7

A somewhat desultory mid-afternoon gym session on Super Bowl Sunday.  After 30 minutes ellipting, I did Hammer Strength shoulder presses, 8 x 85, 8 x 90, 8 x 95, 8 x 85, and then moved on to Precor triceps extensions, 2 x 10 x 105, 2 x 10 x 110.  I had wanted to do some cable rows, but after a couple of attempts just couldn’t get into them.

I found out by telephone that tomorrow’s initial session of the intensive training will be at a different location, several exits farther west on the Expressway.  That’ll mean even more traffic.

Saturday, February 6

Just got back from a good if delayed Leg Day at the gym.  Some decent numbers, too.  Precor leg extensions: 8 x 195, 8 x 200, 8 x 205, 8 x 210, 8 x 215, 2 x 8 x 190. SLDL’s: 8 x 215, 3 x 8 x 225.  It’s nice to be back to 225 on this exercise, though unlike 225 on a bench press I don’t use four 45-pound plates on the bar so it’s not as much of a milestone.  You have to use smaller plates during SLDL’s or otherwise the weights will hit the ground before completing a full range of motion.  Next, I decided to switch to biceps from legs and did a few sets of EZ curls, 8 x 80, 8 x 90, 8 x 80.  Using the 90-pound bar was a bit of a struggle, I wish the gym had an 85-pounder.  Finally, it was back to legs for Life Fitness leg curls, 2 x 8 x 200, 2 x 8 x 190.

My new insurance agent license came in the mail today.  I wasn’t expecting a state document to be hand-lettered by cloistered monks on antique vellum parchment and decorated with gold leaf.  Even so, it would have been nice for the bureaucrats in Albany to have used something better that the sort of cheap flimsy paper sold in bulk displays at the office supply store, the stuff you’re not supposed to use in the photocopier because it’ll cause the copier to jam up so completely you have to call the service technician.

Friday, February 5

Oh, no.  I was supposed to go to the gym today for Leg Day, as things turned out I didn’t go at all.  Mostly I was just too worn out, and in any event I’ve gone every day for over a week. Missing one day won’t be the end of the world.

Thursday, February 4

Today’s the penultimate (I love that word) weekday of my nothing-to-do period.  I had a pretty good gym session, knocking off 64 reps of cable rows: 2 x 8 x 195, 2 x 8 x 185, 2 x 8 x 175, 2 x 8 x 165.  The top weight is a 5-pound increase over last time.  I also did kettlebell swings, 2 x 10 with a 50-pounder.  Although the weight’s not too much, the fact that this is a power exercise makes it surprisingly exhausting.  Doing a set of ten reps is like running a mile on the treadmill.  I also ellipted for 30 minutes at a relatively fast pace.

Wednesday, February 3

While today was another day with no work-related things to do, in the late afternoon we did our income taxes (federal and state) on Turbo Tax.  There seemed to be more offers to sell extra services than there had been last year, though that could just be my impression.  One thing I did not remember from last year is that it costs $30 if you want Turbo Tax to deduct its fee ($65 for the two returns) from your refund.  That seems excessive, so we paid separately. Still, I can’t complain too much, as the whole process didn’t take much more than a half-hour.  My taxes for next year will be a lot more complicated.   Like most insurance agents I’m technically self-employed, even though I sell for only one company, and will have to pay estimated taxes.

Tonight’s gym session was varied and quite satisfactory.  I started out with deadlifts, 6 x 6 x 255.  Last week I had used 245 and considered going up to 265 for tonight before deciding that a 20-pound jump might be a bit too much at this stage.  Next week I’ll go for 265, once again with the 6 x 6.  Next came flies on the Precor machine, 10 x 130, 10 x 135, 10 x 140, 10 x 145, 2 x 10 x 125.  Like last time I tried to avoid having the working weight go back onto the stack at the end of each rep, thereby maintaining continuous tension.  I then moved onto EZ curls, 4 x 8 x 80, followed by Hammer Strength shoulder presses, 8 x 75, 8 x 80, 8 x 85, 8 x 90, and finished with triceps pushdowns on the Precor machine I’d used last time, 2 x 8 x 110, 2 x 8 x 100.

Tuesday, February 2

Not much to do today, as I await next week’s start of the intensive training phase.  But hey, today’s a holiday – Groundhog Day is my favorite holiday – so a day off is in order.  I went to the gym in the late afternoon and ellipted for 45 minutes.

Monday, February 1

I made a quick trip to the workplace a bit after 9:30 this morning, which was late enough for me to miss all but the tail end of rush hour.  Just a few fairly trivial slowdowns on the Expressway.  Coming back about an hour later was smooth travel all the way.  One thing I found out is that all next week I’ll be in training from 9:30 to 5:00.  If today’s any guide mornings shouldn’t be too bad, but coming back at 5:00 is likely to be pretty miserable.  After the training phase is done I’ll most likely be in the office on Monday afternoons until 5 or a bit thereafter, so I’ll have at least one day per week of dealing with the heart of rush hour.  Once a week should be tolerable.  Other than the mandatory Monday afternoon meetings I will be able to pretty much set my own schedule, and therefore should be able to work around traffic peaks.

Tonight being Monday it was yoga at the gym.  While waiting for the session to start I did some triceps rope pushdowns, 2 x 10 x 80, 2 x 10 x 90.

Sunday, January 31

Weird. I went to the gym with the intention of doing either some serious ellipting or treadmill running.  When I arrived, however, the idea of imitating a hamster on a wheel seemed totally unappealing. Can’t explain why.  Instead I ended up doing some weights, nothing earth=shattering but not too bad either.  Cable rows: 2 x 8 x 190, 2 x 8 x 180, 2 x 8 x 170.  It was just a couple of weeks ago that I could barely manage eight at 170, so I’m definitely making progress.  I next decided to do some biceps work, something I rarely do even though (or, possibly, because) it’s an obsession with many gym-goers.  After trying one of the machines without being able to get a good angle I decided to use an EZ-curl bar, and did 4 x 8 x 70.  Not a particularly good weight for that exercise, but no doubt it will get better. Finally, I decided very cautiously to try some shoulder work, mindful of my still-sore left shoulder.  I used the Hammer Strength shoulder press, 2 x 8 x 80/80, 2 x 8 x 70/70.  It didn’t hurt much if at all, so that’s a good sign.

Saturday, January 30

Not much to do today, with the licensing test being over.  In fact I’m facing over a week of idleness until the intensive sales training begins on February 8.  Though I’ve passed the test, it will take a couple weeks for the state to issue the license, so I can’t yet do any sales solicitation. It’s been years and years since I’ve had so much time on my hands without any work-related responsibilities. Guess I’ll have to use the next week in a productive manner, in other words doing stuff other than watching junk on TV, playing Super Mario Galaxy, and of course wandering through the vast quagmire of the blogosphere.

Today’s gym session was relatively short but decent.  I did some more of the machine-related upper body exercises that I’d done the other day, still not being quite ready to take the plunge and resume bench presses.  Precor machine flies: 10 x 115, 10 x 120, 10 x 125, 10 x 130.  These went well and represented a decent weight increase from last time.  Life Fitness triceps pushdowns: 4 x 8 x 100.  This was a different machine than I used the last time and so the weight amounts aren’t directly comparable.  I also ellipted for 40 minutes at a reasonably fast pace with moderate resistance.