26th Dec 2020
It's probably not surprising but since phase 2 of P90X, I've had to sit in the toilet with my shower at highest heat... spraying it at my thighs, calves and knees, at descending order of priority.
Plyometrics is a killer on my thighs, so much so that if I only thought of it the first time because by evening, after sitting down for a few hours after the workout, my thighs could not handle standing up and would cramp up when I get up, and sometimes stay cramping even when I sit back down. This is the sort of fatigue-led cramp that DOES NOT go away by stretching.
When it first started, after stretching for entire minutes in vain, I guessed that hot water might help it relax. This cramp was possibly caused by a lactic acid buildup from anaerobic activity during the 1-hour long session of jumps and squats, so enlarging my blood vessels should help my blood rinse it off.
It probably did, since this works. Also tried to look for a bath tub but they're at least S$80 for one that I can rest in, since there is no tub that holds just my lower body as I sit other than the walk-in tub, and walk-in tubs are not popular for reasons I have mentioned in an older rant years ago.
Not willing to spare S$80 when I could just spray hot water at my legs for half an hour while reading on my phone.
Despite the brutality, I persist because the weekly Plyometrics session works. Seriously, it used to seem like an insane idea to do lunges for an entire minute just for warmup, but now I can really do it solely to raise my heart rate a bit. My mouth doesn't even need to open up to breathe by the end of it, which is awesome.
31st Dec 2020
Last day of probably the nadir of a generation, though not the nadir of my life. Physically, could be one of my best years; romantically, could be one of my most confidence-boosting years, mentally, could be one of those strange years that let me understand myself better; financially, hopefully it is the nadir.
As in all of life, one cannot assume most things - worse things may be on their way. Who really knows?
I got the impression that lots of people thought a vaccine would end this pandemic issue, but with the concerns regarding the multitude of vaccines available, it is not feasible to make it compulsory for the public.
Therefore, it will take yet another array of various means to get the herd immunity we need to end these measures we have now to curb the spread of the virus.
2021 will be a year of a completely different set of challenges, including paying for whatever people have done in 2020 that should not have been done.
What will historians think of this entire period?
The world is definitely changing, eg in the airline industry. Everyone who had been betting on big planes with large business class cabins is going to pay for the gamble because with online conferences being forced on everyone now, companies are realizing that you don't need to pay a fortune to get so many people to those meetings. Some will still have to meet personally, but in a drastically reduced number.
In fact, ZipAir is already offering flat bed economy recently in Japan. Flat bed used to be solely the luxury of first class, then in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it was brought to business class. Simultaneously, you may have noticed that first class has been gradually disappearing, eg even in some of the largest Airbus planes during trans-Atlantic flights, I have seen only 4 of those in the cabin, and in many planes they don't even exist.
This is the trend, and it is being sped up by the pandemic. Soon, we should see flat bed economy seats, and as someone who's tried flat bed business class, I can safely say sleeping makes a world of difference in our flights. I may have said it before in that post about my business class experience, but I'll say that again - the main selling point to me is the bed, the food and champagne are just bonuses.
Anyway, I'm, of course, stressed. Wondering if I should do something completely different career-wise or if that's the escapist in me talking.
Legs and Back was reduced in intensity yesterday. Right knee felt funny - no pain, no ache, just weird, so decided it was better to play it safe, and just stuck to the toughest alternatives that were still comfortable, eg 80/20 speed squats (80% on one leg, 20% the other) became more like 60/40 for the right leg.
Not worth it to take the risks like I used to.
Butterfly pea! One actually sprouted! I had given up hope when the two on top starting becoming mouldy, but it's been 2-3 weeks since they were planted and one actually grew! And this is after another plant was transplanted into that pot because I didn't want to waste the soil.
Now it's going to be weird.
In the meantime, my brinjal sprouts seem to be doing well. I had to keep my windows ajar because crows were coming in to bite the leaves, one a day. They don't touch my gingers though, strangely.
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