T-Bars and Sweet Treats

My weekend was the perfect mix of calm and chaos, and it was a great chance to put the worst of my head cold behind me and get back into the gym. 
Friday night, the night we usually have a family dinner out, my husband and I decided we would rather save our cheat meal for Saturday when the kids would be out of town on an adventure with my mom.  Even though I agreed it would be more enjoyable, I am so in the habit of eating my cheat meal on Friday nights that it felt a little disappointing to be staying home and eating boring food.  But, I managed to eat on plan and everything was fine.  I was looking forward to our meal on Saturday. 
After we drove to drop the kids off, we headed back to town and took care of a few errands, I stayed on plan the whole time, which was challenging but not impossible.  Then, we hit the gym.  The program called for legs, but my husband advised against it, saying it is the most taxing on the central nervous system, and since I am still not 100% better, he thought back would be a better place to start.  So I trained back.  Since it is a new set of weeks, the workout was different, and I really had a KILLER workout.  I was introduced to T-bar rows.  I think they are my new favorite move, my back felt so great when I was done with them.  When I work out I do it slow and controlled, and try to concentrate on controlling the weight as I stretch on the negative.  I can really tell that I am hitting the muscles correctly because the blood rushes into them and by the time I am starting to feel the burn, I know I am making progress. 
Feeling that I had completely earned it, we showered and headed off to dinner at a nice Mexican place.  The chips and beans tasted so warm and wonderful, and the meal was spicy and good.  I was too full to finish my plate, so my husband helped.  Afterword, we stopped at our local frozen custard shop for a treat.  I normally don't like frozen custard and choose something lighter, but that night I was feeling like I could handle it, due to the workout.  We hadn't been to this particular shop all summer, which is charming because it is designed like an old fashioned ice cream stand, where you order at the window and eat outside. 

Zesty's Frozen Custard

I had a vanilla custard with Andes mints blended in.  It was good, but I should have ordered a smaller size.  We ate our treat while walking along the Fox River Trail, which has beautiful views of the river.

Dock at Fox River

and we had a nice leisurely stroll and talk about the future, and the past, and how lucky we are and how great our kids are.  Its the kind of thing some parents don't get a lot of opportunity to do, and we have been fortunate to have more than our share of it since we moved back by family.  I will miss these times alone when we move away.  On the walk back to our car, we came upon an old, abandoned house, overgrown with greenery, it was an interesting sight.

Despite the creepy appearance, our moods were too lifted to watch a horror movie that night, we instead opted for a Woody Allen movie from our collection.  And we laughed.  Then I slept so deep and wonderful.
Sunday was supposed to be a rest day, but the morning was too beautiful to let escape, so I went for a morning walk.  The air was brisk and refreshing, the sun peaking through some clouds on occassion.  The animals were scurrying about getting ready for the day, and I found myself smiling while I was walking.  It feels really good to be back. 

This tree is down my street in a field.  I call it Perfect Tree because when it is full, it's shape is simply perfect.  I wonder if anyone else notices it as they drive past.

Once we picked up our kids, the quiet was shattered, but by then I was so happy to see them, that I didn't mind the noise.  We had a pretty mellow day together. 
This morning was a bit more chaotic than I like my mornings.  I was up at 4:30am, heading off to the gym for Leg day.  It took me a full hour for my workout this morning, as the weight was heavier, requiring longer rests between sets.  Also, there were 4 sets of most movements, so it took longer than a simple lighter weight/less sets type of workout.  I used the leg press for the first time in about 25 years!  It actually felt pretty good!  There were squats and double lunges and single leg squats.  Then when I got to the last move, leg extensions, I was simply out of time, so instead of doing the recommended number of sets/reps I just did one giant drop-set.  My legs and glutes were so trashed but I didn't have any time to think about it, as I had to get home, and get myself and my kids ready to leave in less than an hour's time.  The morning was very rushed and chaotic, but it all came together in the end.  Sick babysitter means a little extra stress, but there is little that my family can't tackle.  So here I am at work, geared up for a long shift, wherein my muscles will begin to tighten up and eventually get sore.  I say, bring on the pain, that means I did what I intended to do today!  Man, it feels good to be working out again!!
Tomorrow night I will train arms with my husband, so I will only have to tackle a half hour of cardio in the morning.  That means sleeping in, which makes me happy. 
I hope everyone had a great weekend.  Hey, if you haven't tried T-bar rows, you gotta try them.  You will feel invincible afterword!!  Have a great Monday!