Dufisthenics

Road rage rules with this infuriated driver shaking his fist

So even though the physical distance to Planet Fitness is actually less then Retro, the drive often takes longer and is much more annoying.  To get to Retro I could stay mostly in a residential neighborhood with quiet streets.  Getting to PF requires me to merge into Tamiami Trail which is a freaking zoo and then try to get to the left lane two lights later to turn left into the shitty parking lot of the shitty shopping center the gym is located in.

So today I am waiting to make a right turn on red onto Tamiami Trail.  I see there is a beat up Taurus facing the opposite direction on Tamiami waiting to make a left turn. Well he was in the turning lane although I don’t think he had his turn signal on.  So a long landscape truck pulling a long trailer is the last vehicle before a small break in traffic so I make my right turn, the landscape vehicle due to it’s length blocked my view of the Taurus.  So as I am already entering the right lane of traffic I see the Taurus is making a U-turn instead of a left turn.  I accelerated and made sure I stayed in the right lane so he had space to complete his turn.  I was then able to accelerate further and merge into the left lane a couple hundred yards down the road.

So as I am waiting in one of the two left turn lanes to get to the shopping center I see a vehicle slowing to my left.  I glance over and see it is shitty Taurus U-turn guy.  He has his window down and is yelling something at me.  I normally am not the type to seek out confrontation but if it is brought to my door I will not turn the other cheek.  By the time my window was down he had rolled past my truck.  I just stuck my arm out the window and gave him a wave while yelling “Keep on moving buddy….”

So anyway yes, I do realize that by traffic law, a U-turning vehicle has the right of way in that situation.  However by the time I saw he was doing a 180 I was already partially in the lane of traffic.  Plus I did everything I could to allow him space and he was trying to get in the left most lane to turn anyway, just like I was, so me being the right lane of three gave him plenty of room.  Perhaps the guy was just having a bad day or maybe he’s a natural hothead.  If I reacted similarly every time a local driver did something annoying I would need to be on blood pressure meds.  Chill out dude, you never know what is going to be waiting for you when that window rolls down.

At the gym I had my own personal annoyance.  As I walked back to begin my lower body workout I noticed two Haitian guys sitting on the two leg extension machines, having a conversation.  I thought nothing of it as I assumed they would be long gone before I needed to use one of the machines.  Well after doing my warm up stretches, four sets of leg press, and three sets of leg curls these two guys were STILL sitting on the machines talking.  I finally had to break it up and ask if one of them minded if I actually did some sets.  The one guy jumped out of the way without making a fuss, seemingly they had no idea their use of exercise machines as lounge chairs for 20 minutes would inconvenience others.

I had a near blackout moment during the last leg press set.  With these Cybex machines your starting position is with your legs compressed.  With 310 pounds selected, which is only two plates short of the max, my field of vision started to narrow as I tried to push my legs for the first rep. It felt like my head was about to pop off my shoulders.  Once I barely got my legs straight I saw stars for awhile.  I just held the weight with my legs locked out for 30 seconds or more until my head cleared.  I then did three more reps and called it good.

Getting out of the PF parking lot is equally annoying.  All the time you have people making right hand turns that immediately want to be able to go all the way to the left lane.  So instead of making the turn when the closest lane is clear and then merging left they instead insist on waiting for all three lanes to be clear to turn which quite often is not possible.  It results in just one final poke in the ribs each day as to why I really dislike having to use Planet Fitness as my lunchtime gym alternative.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

Cybex leg press – 130lbs x 12, 190lbs x 10, 250lbs x 8, 310lbs x 4

Seated leg curl – 100lbs x 10, 120lbs x 10, 140lbs x 8

Seated leg extension – 110lbs x 10, 130lbs x 10, 150lbs x 4

One leg weighted calf raise (45lbs) – x10, x 10, x10