Once the weather turned nice again, I released my rehabilitated friend back into the wild. I was sorry to do so but I thought the spider would have a better, if possibly much shorter life, living out in the world than in a cage.

I kept a scorpion under similar circumstances some years later and was pretty surprised when it turned out the scorpion, unlike the spider, didn’t grow its legs back. (At least that one didn’t.) My experience with the spider had caused me to assume it would.

Sun, April 4th: Calories: 2064, Protein: 109 g.

Mon, April 5th

• Morning Walk: 3.35 miles, after which we did a little balance work.
• Captains of Crush Gripper (Trainer, 100 lbs.):
  • (Set 1): Left = 6 mm x 5 reps, Right = Closed x 1 + 4 reps
  • (Set 2): Left = 6 mm x 5 reps, Right = 2 mm x 4 + 1 reps
  • (Set 3): Left = 4 mm x 4 + 1 reps, Right = 2 mm x 4 + 1 reps
  • (Set 4): Left = 4 mm x 4 + 1 reps, Right = 2 mm x 4 + 1 reps
  • (Set 5): Left 2 mm x 1 + 4 reps, Right = Closed x 1 + 4 reps
• Pinch Grip Lift (Hub): I have never done this before so I worked up to a couple of sets holding 18.5 lbs. to see where I was at. The next time I do this I’m going to try a slightly different grip to see if it makes a difference.
• I did a full body warm up with some dynamic stretching, indian club and mace work. Also also practiced an alternating hands version of the Swing & Catch with the 10 lb. mace.
• Standing Leg-Assisted Pull Ups: 4 sets x 8 reps
• Standing Ring Rows: 5, 7 reps; went to about 45 degree angle to make it easier and did 10, 12 reps
• DB Curls: 25 lbs. x 4 sets x 8 reps
• KB Russian Swings: 35 lbs. x 4 sets x 8 reps
• Cross Body Hammer Curls: 15 lbs. x 4 sets x 12 reps (Added in some hand pronation on the last two sets.)
• Face Pulls: 12.5 lbs. x 4 sets x 12 reps
• I finished the work out with some stretching and yoga poses, including Cat-Cow, which is my current favorite.

Calories: 2178, Protein: 151 g.

• 

• 

I hope you enjoyed the video and pictures of Golf Ball Spider, who lives the next town over from us. The person, who took the video and extracted the pictures, kindly gave me permission to use them but declined a video or photo credit.

Tues, April 6th

• Dead Bugs (2-ct): One set of 37 reps, then 63 reps (rest-pause as needed) = 100 reps
• Full Squats: One set of 30 reps, then 70 reps (rest-pause as needed) = 100 reps
• (Super Set):
  • Standing Cable Leg Curls (ea. leg): 20 lbs. x 4 sets x 12 reps
  • Standing Calf Raises: 4 sets x 20 reps
• I followed along with the “30-Minute Recumbent Bike Workout” video on the Vive Health channel, which I’ve done a few times now over the past couple of months. During the workout the presenter has one get off the bike three times and do some squats. For my three sets I did 10 Cossack Squats for the first, 10 Leg Extension Exercise (each leg, Taekwondo) for the second, and finally 20 Front Snap Kicks (Taekwondo).
• I worked a little on foot dorsiflexion with the cable machine and then did the Muay Thai “Front Teep” lesson on the globalmartialarts.university site.
• I concluded the workout with some stretching and Yoga poses, including the Cat-Cow and Cobra poses, which both seem to do good things for my spine.

Calories: 2356, Protein: 162 g.

Wed, April 7th

• Morning Walk: 2.33 miles. We concluded with a little balancing work.
• I did two sets of the MV Workout with my 5 lb. mace. Then I worked on the Swing & Catch and Alternating Swing & Catch, kind of mixing the two together now that I’m getting better at doing it. As always I was careful not to swing the mace near my face.
• Finally, I worked on the Muay Thai left jab and front teep using various targets (for the teeps), such as trees, one of the tires of our Land Cruiser (for low strikes) and practicing my footwork over various surfaces (rocks, pavement, leaves) and going up and downhill as well as the usual flat surfaces.

Calories: 2104, Protein: 151 g.

Thur, April 8th

• Morning Walk: 3.33 miles. We concluded with a little balancing work. Calories: 2252, Protein: 124 g.

Fri, April 9th

• Morning Walk: 2.19 miles. Afterwards, we did some balance work. Calories: 2321, Protein: 132 g.

Sat, April 10th

Calories: 2250, Protein: 106 g. (I lost 2 lbs. this week. My total loss thus far is 32.0 lbs.)

---

* My father varnished up the husk and I kept it in my room on a shelf for years. For all I know it might still be somewhere in my ancestral home though my old bedroom was repurposed a couple of years after I flew the nest, so it might have ended up in the trash.

For those of you who have the itch to watch a spider molt (speed up in places!), well, your wait is over.