Can barely walk today. I trained hard last night and barely made it out of there. I warmed up with a run, then used the heavy bag for 20 minutes before starting 3×20 rep squats with 135, 185 and then 225lbs. After the first 40 reps, the 225 was brutal. I stood there panting with the bar on my back, taking 5 or 6 deep breaths between each rep. But I didn’t stop until 20, and the veins in my quads were pulsing. If there was a person who wanted to feel their limit, but not take an hour to find it by running or swimming or whatever it is they do, the best test is 3×20 rep squats with at least your body weight on the bar. If you can grind that out, you’re in good shape. If you can’t, it’s an easy goal to shoot for– it’s just a number, and you can take as long as you need to get there. When I was on rep 17 and 18 I bet a full 10 seconds passed between each rep. There were sweat drops on the floor below me. When it was all over, I was absolutely empty.
The only state in which I feel tranquil.
Someone canceled a meeting at the last minute just now, so I have a free hour. What a neat thing, the gift of time.
Also, my legs are wrecked, so I’m feeding them.
Big conference on Friday to prepare for, I have to do an hour. Thursday morning I have to do 30 minutes at a staff meeting. Thursday afternoon I have to do an hour workshop.
I’d rather be actually managing my projects. And I’d rather be secretly working on my dissertation, the thing that keeps me up at night. But the public appearances are important, and need to be done well. Hell, I might even shave for this one.
Last night we had a guest join jam, the husband of an ex-coworker, saxophonist. There were four of us, plus him, and surprisingly, it worked well. We went off into the world of high distortion drone, and he picked up the thread right away, and played improvised melodies over the top. We lasted two hours and all agreed it was fun and that’d we’d do it again. We talked about doing something like this for a long time, and as I was uncertain how things would turn out, there was a bit of nervous energy leading up to it. Only two of us have actually played with anyone but each other, so this was a big step, and it was worth it. I’ll try to get a copy of the recording up somewhere.
