8/26/08

Zero kidney pain today, so anything else that happened was going to be cool with me. I wasn't willing to wander into Austin this evening, so I've stopped at a rest area outside Salado for a while.

Now we play a little game called FMCSA Calculus... I had ten hours available today under the 70 hour rule. I stopped for fuel, drove 8.25 hours, and did a post-trip inspection. So I now have 1.25 hours under the 70 hour rule, right? Okay, let's continue...

At midnight, I pick up 6.5 hours from eight days ago. That will get me to 7.75 hours under the 70 hour rule. Still with me? Good...

Unlike many of my colleagues, I am a fan of using the split-sleeper provision when it helps my cause. Let's see what it can do for me now. I can spend 8 hours at this rest area instead of 10, allowing me to get through Austin at 3am instead of 5am. Then I should hit San Antonio at 4:30am instead of 6:30am. Sounds good to me so far. If I can't clear those two cities at those hours, I can never clear those two cities at any hour. Now let's see how the 11,70, and 14 hour clocks play out...

Today alone, the 11 hour rule was irrelevant since I only had 10 total hours available under the 70 hour rule. My 14 hour clock would have expired tonight at midnight. The 8 hour break takes me past midnight (getting me those other 6.5 hours under the 70), extends my 14 hour clock to 8am, and allows me to use the other 2.75 hours (out of 11) that would have been allowed in a normal driving shift if not hampered by the 70 hour rule. So I can drive my 2.75 hours to get past Austin and San Antonio, then take a 2 hour break to complete my split. At that point, I get back the chunks of my 11 and 14 that I used before the 8 hour break, allowing me to continue on to Laredo. So, at least to me, the split seems like a much better option than the standard 10 hour break. Are we clear?

[Workout B]
One-arm Row - Added ten pounds to each set, maintained reps
Curl - Kept same weights, lost one rep
Front Lateral - Added 2.5 pounds to third set, maintained reps
Stiff-Legged Deadlift - Added ten pounds to each set, maintained reps
Hammer Curl - Kept same weights, added one rep

So that's that I guess. I have to keep adding weight until those big muscles get to the breaking point, so the strain on my arms cuts into the smaller muscle movements a little bit. (Ladies, are you paying attention? Ole Joey has a really strong back...) So yeah, it's tempting to cut down on that and try to curl more but this isn't my first rodeo. I used to be a bit of a weightlifting aficionado. One of the first lessons that the 'roid freaks at the gym taught me was, "If you want bigger biceps, keep doing your squats." You have to get that core built up nice and strong and then the 'beach muscles' come along for the ride. It's gonna be a long autumn...