Pain at the Pump

So the usual mini ulcer in my stomach started in the morning as I was already dreading going to my Tuesday night class. I put off doing my homework, knowing it was pretty easy, and started it while riding the metro to class. I finished it in class. I think the professor gave up on us after the midterm as most of the class did since whatever he taught was obsolete. We wouldn't be tested on it anyway.

So we got some good news yesterday - it was our last class. Granted, I have a huge project/paper due in 2 weeks, but no more lectures.

To celebrate, I went to the gym as I do after every class, and lifted. Had the room to myself and thought I'd make the most of my 30 minutes. I thought I'd try something new, too.

It's not the best thing to 1) lift the week of a race or 2) do heavy weights or even 3) do a new 'move'.

Figures I'd bust out all three at once.

I can't tell you the last time I bench pressed. I could guess and say it was sometime back in 1999. That's a pretty good guess, too. My usual weight regime includes mostly cables and dumbbells. I've shied away from the bench because of sore shoulders.

What the hell.

So I start off easy with the bar.. 45 lbs.. and knock out a set of 14. Cake. I do some tricep work then do another set of 14. I add a 5lb weight to either side and knock out 14 more. Bam. Move on to another, add 2.5 to either side, and start decreasing the reps. Eventually I take off the little stuff and add a 10 lb weight to either side and knock out a set of 7 reps and move on to squats and leg press. Again, the week of a race it's a bit of a no-no to be doing this stuff, but I figure it's good training. I continue to move quickly from machine to dumbbells and back to the bench. Finally, after moving up from the bar (45) to 80 lbs by 5 lb increments, I figure "whutthehell", take off the 2.5s on the end and add another 10 to either side. Why? Cuz it looks cool to have 2 10lb "plates" on the bar. Not as cool as the 45, 35, 25 racked on the bench across from me, but whatever.. I'm a chick. So with no one in the room to spot me, I do a final max push of 1 rep and call it good before moving on to my pull up work.

I feel nothing. No pain.

That's not a good sign cuz I knew I'd be feeling it today, if not 2 days later.. friggin DOMS.

In other news, with class being cancelled next week, like I did with last Thursday's class, I don't plan on telling my boss. I figure I'll leave at the usual time, but instead of going to the bar I'm going to get a massage. The chest should be fine my then, but if the massage therapist wants to work on it, that's all good. The legs will be sore, but not from the squats yesterday.. from the 24-hr run I have this weekend.

I can guarantee I won't be doing any squats next week.