Iron rails & iron weights

Thursday, May 8, 2008
10:36:00 PM EDT
SCA Shuffling

An easy enough morning today.  The shuttle was on time at Medford as usual, and in another sign that my masochism is lessening its grip on my psyche I took the 6:56 Flatbush Avenue train at Ronkonkoma rather than the cattle-carish 7:04 express.  It wasn't too crowded, and no one sat next to me until Hicksville.  It of course was an SCA who took the seat, and I noticed he had the  typical SCA physique - not obese, in fact only slightly overweight, but soft, with zero muscle tone.  He was about 40, and while he might've been reasonably fit in his younger days it was obvious that for the past several years his sole physical activity has been the weekly round of cartball.  I got off at Jamaica to get the 8:01 dual mode to Penn.  No sooner did I get onto the platform than an M-3 consist on Track 1, a through train that (supposedly) does not stop at Jamaica, stopped halfway down the platform.  Several LIRR workers went up to the train and began keying doors open, and there was a lot of stuff being said on their walkie-talkies about getting the passengers off.  It was evident that the train had experienced some major mechanical meltdown and wouldn't be moving anytime soon.  That would be a problem for the 8:01 I was planning to catch, as it uses Track 1 and was supposed to arrive in a few minutes.  Fortunately the 8:01 was re-routed onto Track 3 and arrived on time. I waited maybe five minutes for a 1 train to Houston Street, which was within the acceptable range if perhaps a shade longer than I would have preferred.

I walked to Penn after work and boarded the 5:41 to Ronkonkoma.  Second later, a large SCA plopped next to me.  Oh no.  Just as I prepared myself for a miserable trip to Ronkonkoma, he apparently re-thought his decision and got up to sit elsewhere.  Thank God.  Well not too much thanks, because within ten or 15 seconds after his departure another, even larger (but of course!) SCA took his place.  This time I got really jammed good and hard into the sidewall and knew that the ride would be a chamber of horrors.  But the Deity hadn't totally forsaken me, because after about 30 seconds the SCA, like his predecessor, got up to go elsewhere.  Two strokes of magnificent luck in a row!  Of course a third SCA then took the seat, but unlike the first two he weighed under 250 pounds and I had (just) enough room.  It was a tolerable if not pleasant ride to Ronkonkoma and the shuttle.

Gym: Some good back work and some rather uninspired leg work.  Cable rows: 4 x 8 x 180, 2 x 8 x 175.  No complaints about these.  I then did some squats, but quickly ran out of energy and couldn't do much: 8 x 135, 8 x 225, 8 x 255, 6 x 275.  Ugh.  Not wanting to pull the plug on leg work I then finished with some seated leg extensions, 2 x 8 x 180.  Better than nothing, sort of.


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