Kindly Póg Mo Thóin

Just moved on to Stage 3 of the New Rules workout! I’m taking my time, making sure that when I have injuries, or something doesn’t feel quite right, I take a step back and rest up instead of trying to work through it. What with the being old thing. And that’s working quite nicely.

But one thing is going to kill me in this stage — the body-weight matrix. For one of the workouts (you get an A and a B, and you alternate them), I have to do the following all at once at the end of an already-grueling session:

• 24 squats
• 12 lunges, each leg
• 12 lunge jumps, each leg
• 24 squat jumps

Rest and repeat.

That’s really fucking HARD at the end of a tough workout! And to make it more special, I did this first body-weight matrix in a dark playground by the on-ramp to the BQE Sunday night because I got to the gym too close to closing time to fit it in while there and had to finish on the way home. Which is just as well, because I was able to hold onto a piece of playground equipment with a death grip while doing the lunge jumps, which I thought were going to finish me.

But even though I was sure I couldn’t make it, I did. And then I visited a Mr. Softee truck on the way home.

Next up: getting involved in Scottish heavy events. I can throw 28 pounds. I might not be able to throw it far, or well, but I can throw it. The biggest hurdle is finding a place to practice, preferably somewhere that already has all the weights so I don’t have to hump them onto the bus.