cheapo's log

[zorg]

Those numbers are looking pretty good!

[cheapo]

Since the weekend, glands on the right side of my throat have been very swollen, swallowing has been murder, and, at times, it has felt like my eardrum was about to rupture.

I made an appointment with my Dr. on Monday, but she couldn't see me until today. After a quick examination she called the nearby hospital which (thank god) was able to treat me right away.

I thought it was the mumps. Turns out, it is a Peritonsillar abscess.

I was taken right into a treatment room, ahead of everyone else already waiting. After another look around, the resident froze the affected tonsil. This may have been the most pain I have ever experienced. Xilocaine burns. Xilocaine injected into tissue already inflamed and filled with pus, hurts...it hurts a lot.

After the freezing, the resident inserted a needle into the abscess. A LONG WAY INTO THE ABSCESS. I thought he was going to push it out the other side (wherever that might be). He then suctioned out the pus, making sure to root around a fair bit with that damn needle. He extracted about 4 ml, which doesn't sound like much, but sure looked like a lot sitting there in that syringe. It looked like a strawberry smoothie.

They should give a body something to squeeze when they're doing this sort of thing. They had presented me with a blue plastic spitoon, but there was no satisfying way to squeeze something so brittle and oddly shaped.

The told me to take Tylenol and Advil for the pain. And prescribed a 10-day course of antibiotics and a day's worth of steroids. The steroid might make me irritable and agitated (roid rage!) and the resident confided that the one time he took it, he stayed up all night...something to look forward to.

Anyhow. I am feeling better.

[volleyball_man]

Yuck!

[zorg]

Just so you know, I read this at breakfast.

Seriously, get better soon.

[cheapo]

Sorry!

Thankfully I have experienced no noticeable steroid side-effects.

[anubis]

That sounds awesome! Here's to a speedy recovery!

[cheapo]

After staying away from the office Thursday, I returned to work on Friday. On Thursday, and even the preceding afternoon, I was feeling fantastic. The draining of the abscess must have taken a *huge* load off my immune system, because I felt very energetic and happy. But, it was not to last. On the bus, on the way to work, I started sneezing!

A cold! A cold, after all this?

I left work a little early, and spent the weekend taking it easy. I am still sniffing and coughing, but much less.

[zorg]

Damn! When it rains, it pours... Get better!

[cheapo]

Week 44

• Rest Week
  Sick (Peritonsillar Abscess)

Week 45

• Rest Week
  Lazy (In my defense, I had a cold and was on antibiotics)

Week 46

• Monday, February 9, 2009
  D1L6:
  • 16 rounds (-4 cf. previous D1L6, PR: 20)
    
    I am working on using good form. (That means I want my pull-ups to look like this (.wmv).) For this reason, my numbers are lower.
    
    Despite slowing down to allow more recovery time, I couldn't manage to get my chest to the bar on the 3rd rep of the last 7 or 8 sets.
    
    Kipping was not entirely eliminated, but was pretty minimal
    
  Wednesday, February 11, 2009
  D2L6:
  • Untimed
    Very good form, I'd say. Chest missed the bar a couple times, no more.
    
    
    Very hard!
    
  Saturday, February 14, 2009
  D3L6:
  • 12'27" PR
    Pull-ups: 32 (6-3-3-3-3-4-1*-3-3-2-2)
    Push-ups: 64 (20-10-10-8-8-6-2)
    Squats: 64 (32-16-16)
    My plan for D3 is to perform the exercises with good form one week, and to aim for my best time by kipping the pull-ups the following week.
    
    All exercises performed with very good (although not perfect) form. As much as I told myself to take all the time I needed to perform good dead-hang pull-ups, I found myself rushing a little and either kipping a bit or not getting my chest to the bar or...both.
    
    *This rep was done as part of the preceding set, but I touched my feet to the groud, so I count it as its own set.
    

[volleyball_man]

Glad you are back at it!

[cheapo]

Week 47

• Monday, February 16, 2009
  D1L6:
  • 18 rounds (+2 cf. previous D1L6, PR: 20)
    Good form. Good result.
    
  D2L6:
  • Skipped.
    Travelling on business.
  Saturday, February 21, 2009
  D3L6:
  • 9'57" PR (-2'37" cf. previous D3L6)
    Pull-ups: 32 (10-5-4-3-3-2-2-2-1)
    Push-ups: 64 (20-10-6-5-5-6-5-4-3)
    Squats: 64 (36-14-7-7)
    
    That was bananas!
    
    I was aiming for some speedy kipped pull-ups,
    instead my kips felt as though they were jerking me the wrong way.
    Instead of boosting me to the bar,
    they felt like an extra piece of work that was tacked on the the pull-up.
    
    This was happening somewhere in the second half of my journey through L5.
    

[cheapo]

Week 48

• Monday, February 23, 2009
  D1L6:
  • 22 rounds (+4 cf. previous D1L6, New PR)
    
    Form was looser.
    
    Good workout though.
    Did lots of hard work.
    
  Wednesday, February 25, 2009
  D2L6:
  • Untimed.
    
    This is hard!
    6 pull-ups is hard.
    19 push-ups gets hard after 2 or 3 sets.
    32 squats is hard: I never completed the squats without a little break!
    
  Saturday, February 28, 2009
  D3L6:
  • 10'56" (+59" cf. previous D3L6, PR 9'57")
    Pull-ups: 32 (8-4-3-2-2-2-3-3-3-2)
    Push-ups: 64 (24-10-8-4-5-5-5-5)
    Squats: 64 (36-17-11)
    
    Pull-ups in green were done with good form.
    After those, I could not have kept doing even sets of 2, so I started kipping.
    It seemed logical at the time.
    (This is supposed to be my perfect form week!)

[cheapo]

Week 49

• Monday, March 2, 2009
  D1L6:
  • 25 rounds (+3 cf. previous D1L6, New PR)
    
    Sorta moderately good form on pull-ups.
    Kipping, but not crazy kipping.
    
  Wednesday, March 5, 2009
  D2L6:
  • Untimed.
    
    Push-ups are still killing me!
    
  Saturday, March 8, 2009
  D3L6:
  • 8'18" PR (-2'38" cf. previous D3L6, -1'39" cf. previous PR)
    Pull-ups: 32 (14-6-4-4-2-2)
    Push-ups: 64 (10-8-8-6-5-5)
    Squats: 64 (32-15-17)
    
    As I watched the clock approach 8 minutes,
    I started to panic a bit and go extra hard,
    because I thought I already had a sub-8-minute time.
    I want to do better, not worse than my PR!
    Turns our my PR was 9'57", so I smoked that.
    
    Weight: 91 kg (201 lbs)

[cheapo]

Week 50

• Monday, March 9, 2009
  D1L6:
  • 26 rounds (+1 cf. previous D1L6, New PR)
    
    Last week's count of 25 might not have been entirely accurate.
    What happened was that twice during the workout
    I was dead certain that I had forgotten to mark a set in my log book,
    so I marked down 2!
    
    This week, I figured I'd better verify that I really can do 25.
    If I only did 23 last week, as I half suspect,
    getting 25 would be a challenge.
    
    Well, I managed 26! Which I am happy about.
    I am still not sure about last week,
    but I know this week's number is right, so onward!
    And upward!
    
    Photos.
    
  Wednesday, March 11, 2009
  D2L6:
  • Untimed.
    
    Did two piked pull-ups in the fifth set.
    
  Saturday, March 15, 2009
  D3L6:
  • Skipped.

[cheapo]

Week 51

• Monday, March 16, 2009
  D1L6:
  • 26 rounds (±0 cf. previous D1L6, ±0 cf. previous PR)
    
    I was aiming for 28, or maybe 27.
    I got 26.
    I'll call it a consolidation week.
    
    Photos.
    
  Wednesday, March 18, 2009
  D2L6:
  • Skipped.
    
    Legs were awfully sore after D1.
    Level 6 is the first time the three exercises have been equally challenging.
    
  Saturday, March 22, 2009
  D3L6:
  • 7'19" PR (-0'59" cf. previous D3L6, -0'59" cf. previous PR)
    Pull-ups: 32 (16-6-3-3-3-1)
    Push-ups: 64 (20-10-5-5-5-5-5-5-4)
    Squats: 64 (40-12-12)
    
    I figured out again how to kip!
    I cheated a bit on range of motion in the pull-ups.
    Very pleased nonetheless.
    
    A good finish to week 51.
    Now, should I celebrate 1 year during week 52, or after?