Week 1487

This week was all about recovery. 

We drove out to spend time with the in-laws (who we have a great relationship with as they are incredibly respectful of us and our relationship and we have a lot of shared interests) in Missouri. 

The road trip consisted of the dogs being… stacked… on top of each other in the back seat and the cats quasi-roaming around the car. We don’t trust Moose not to pee in the car so she gets the luxury of sitting in one of our laps for 12 hours. 

Pain point identified: this method may have been worse than having the luggage falling on the dogs like last time. Cheaper solution than a new car: roof rack/luggage rack and waterproof bags to cover everything. We also need a bigger cooler as the cats eat raw and I am transitioning the dogs back to it as well to try to help Truman be less itchy. 

Our routine was mostly the same throughout the week - get woken up by the dogs barking at my father-in-law as he left for work, me taking the dogs out and feeding them, going back to bed, waking back up, eating, playing with the dogs, taking a nap, watching the dogs almost get killed by the horses (this only happened once, fortunately), eat, take the dogs out and feed them, play a game of cards, take the dogs out, watch a movie or play video games, take the dogs out, go to bed. 

Meals and what I did with the dogs varied but it was much colder than it was supposed to be when we packed for the trip so I didn’t walk the dogs nearly as much as I intended to. This was also the first week in a long time that I didn’t go to the gym at all. The first time since the week of 11/04/24 to be exact. 

This trip was nice as I was mostly able to disconnect from work and focus on spending time with everybody. I played Fortnite with my in-laws and we racked up 15 or so crown wins. (I think it was more but would rather under-estimate than oversell how good we are). 

Most of the week, I spent time trying to find Black Friday deals that I could justify spending money on but there really weren’t many pain points that I needed to address. I ended up buying a few sets of headphones to try out as I’d like to have a main pair and back-up pair so I don’t have to raw-dog the gym. 

I currently use the Buds2 Pro, which I have loved, but they keep turning off if I am laying down while using them and I can’t seem to resolve that issue. I got the Technics AZ100 (I am returning these are they don’t fit my ear well), the Shokz Open 2+ (returning these as the fit wasn’t secure enough for my taste and I have no idea how people can stand having something smack against their head with every step - sound quality was solid, though), and the Pi8 from Bowers&Wilkins (I have liked these the most - my only qualm has been that they are so deep that the outside touches the outside of my ear at times, which can bug me a tiny bit - no issues with fit at the gym, though). 

I also bought a Functional Patterns course that was on sale (I use Rakuten and Capital One Shopping and recognize that Black Friday was no different than some discount codes they use but whatever), to learn more about myofascial release. Got some of the balls and rollers to assist with that as well. 

I bought a raw feeding course through Will Atherton as it was half off and we are getting a fridge for the garage (part of my Christmas gift to my wife along with some storage racks that I spent Sunday assembling to help clean up the garage that I have been promising to help with for 3 years now) and will have the storage space to actually support. Feeding the dogs raw will entail going through ~ 6 lbs of meat per day so we need the storage that can facilitate me buying said meat in bulk. Consider that pain point addressed. 

During my weekly check-in with Jack (my dietitian through The Bodybuilding Dietitians) that I may take a break from working with him. I have been feeling anxious about whether I can sustain what I have been doing with his support and that signals to me that I need to show myself that I can do it. I have also been interested in the RP Hypertrophy app and seeing the difference of how they program. 

Music: Sunny Nights - LeRoyce, Vallie Mode - Dom Vallie, THE CYCLE - THAT DUDE DAX

Podcasts: Mark Bell’s Power Project (much to my wife’s chagrin)

Pain Points: traveling in a car too small for us and the dogs (the cats could fit in a Smart car).