Whew!

Wednesday, 30 December 1998

Yes, I joined Eastern Athletic last night. Today I had my orientation. That means that I told a trainer what my goals were (1: lose weight; 2: improve upper body strength) and what my current level of fitness is (none; I've seen pudding more fit than I am), and she took my around the club having me try out various devices. I weighed myself beforehand -- 302 pounds (with sweatclothes, without shoes).

She started me out on the treadmill. I did about 8 minutes at an average of something like 3 miles/hour at a 2 or 3% incline. Then we went to the weight room, and I used three machines whose names escape me now, having me do 2 sets of between 10 and 12 pulls or pushes on each machine, with weights set from 0 to 25 pounds. Then she had me do some stretches, and that's when my stomach muscles cramped up. After I recovered, she showed me a few more stretches, and then I went back to the treadmill and did another 15 minutes at between 2.5 and 3 MPH, with a 2% incline.

My plan is to work out every day. The trainer recommended that I not use the weights more often than every other day, but I can do more aerobic work (treadmill, rowing machine, recumbent bicycle) on the non-weight days.

The plan for the rest of the day was:

1. Go to Sahadi's (on Atlantic Avenue) for some whole allspice to put in one of the new spice mills I picked up at Ikea over the weekend. (The other mill currently holds black peppercorns.)
2. Hit Wo-Hop's (in Chinatown) for some shrimp congee and egg rolls for lunch (since I'd had only some green tea and a sweet potato for breakfast).
3. Do a bit of shopping at Pearl Paint, on Canal Street.
4. Buy tickets for the 7 PM New Year's Eve They Might Be Giants concert at Tramps on 21st Street.
5. Meet Kevin at Crossover for comics shopping at Cosmic Comics on 23rd Steet.

Here's how it actually worked out:

1. Sahadi's -- Pretty much as planned. A quarter-pound of whole allspice only costs a dollar, and is about twice what I needed. I also picked up some spicy nan bread which ought to go well with roasted garlic. (Note: Buy head of garlic tomorrow.)
2. On the way to the Court Street subway station, it was so cold that I couldn't bear the thought of walking from Canal down to Wo-Hop's on Mott. So I stopped in at a soup place that had a very nice (if expensive) shrimp curry and corn chowder. My lips were still tingling slightly from the curry twenty minutes later on the subway.
3. Skipped Pearl, went directly to...
4. Tramps, where I discovered that the 7 PM show was sold out. The 10 PM show cost twice as much, so it looks like Chris and I will be going to a movie or something instead tomorrow. To make up for not going to Pearl, I browsed in A.I. Friedman's and a paper store on 18th Street. Also in Bed, Bath, and Beyond, looking over the food processors, which I may be able to get more cheaply on the Web.
5. Met Kevin, as planned. Cerebus was the only comic out this wekk I was interested in, so I also picked up James Kochalka's Tiny Bubbles on a whim.

Then off to Tor Books to do some envelope-stuffing for The New York Review of Science Fiction.