Strangely enough, it appears as if I have been post covid longer than I have been. I keep forgetting that I came out of isolation just a week ago yesterday.
I say this because I am a bit run down and achy; the back and glute: I would not say that I am back to square 1: far from it. But I am back to where I was in, well, maybe August/September, though I better know how to brace when I walk.
That is something to keep in mind about COVID: even those who were almost asymptomatic report some flare up of old injuries. I HAD symptoms (though never bad O2) and over the past 2-3 weeks: old frequent urination, heartburn, ache in back, some radiating pain, and a general overall “background” arthritic ache. If you are an older athlete with a history of injuries and you get COVID to the degree that I did, your training will be set back.
Today: it was 3 F when I walked (after PT)
Then later I followed it with a commuter walk of 1.3 miles in 22 minutes. (17 minutes pace)
And by “it” I mean the glute and the back. I still get aches from time to time; I have regressed over my COVID period. That isn’t a surprise; the virus attacks ALL weak areas.
I am not back to square one however. I know how to do the exercises, and I can handle 2 milers ok. I need to build up to more “commuter walks” and not sit so much.
Weight: 193.5 BEFORE walking, so I have not gained weight.
Workout: full PT mixed with pull ups. Did “crunch” singles: 7, 7, 8, 8 then two sets of 6 reps each for 42 total.
After PT, downstairs. Bench: 5 x 134, then 3 sets of 5 x 155 with a ton of rest.
Then deadlifts: 10 x 134, 10 x 184 low, then two single reps with 228, attempting to not let my hips shoot up too much. They were not great reps; maybe try with 204 next time. I see that my body CAN attain the position; but when the weight gets even remotely challenging I change to a back dominant lift.
Back up to push ups: 3 sets of 20 then 2 sets of 10 chest tap push ups.
Then the walk; it was painless until the final 0.1 or so and even then not that bad. Was not fast though. This was 1:20 slower than the previous 2 days.
But this cartoon convinces no one at all, though it might help liberals feel better about themselves.
The liberal point of view: “well, you’ll force a woman to carry a baby to term, but then put her on her own once it is born.”
But this is unconvincing to conservatives. Here is why:
Suppose you truly believe that abortion is the murder of a baby (I don’t believe this, but many anti-abortion types do…literally)
So, the fetus really is equivalent to a newborn baby.
Now: does ANYONE think it is ok to kill a newborn? (and no, I am not talking about extreme circumstances where the lives of the older living are at stake).
Of course not.
Now, is it inconsistent to believe that:
Babies must not be killed and
PARENTS are responsible for supporting the babies that they make?
I don’t think that is inconsistent at all, and that is the conservative point of view.
You make it, then you have to support it (but cannot kill it). Yes, this includes both the male and female.
Now, we can debate on how much support a society should give to poorer kids and what kind of support, but that is a topic for another day..and frankly it is a difficult one. Ok, I’ll drop my thoughts below (*)
(*) my thoughts: this represents my thinking, to a degree. But no, I wouldn’t attempt to sell this with “let’s be compassionate.” I’d take a more spreadsheet approach: I’d note that putting money into the bottom of the economy means more small and basic businesses will have more demand which leads to more jobs. I’d argue that kids that are not in grinding poverty turn out better and have more of a chance to escape and break the cycle; society, on the whole, benefits.
Yes, I know, there are always some who make poor choices no matter what, and some of these will benefit from society’s generosity. They ARE infuriating, and no, Dear Sanctimonious Liberal, don’t tell me who to get angry with. I don’t like crony capitalism either..one can dislike BOTH. That isn’t logically inconsistent.
But..no solution is perfect, and under “let’s make the bottom benefits more generous”, there are ALWAYS unpleasant, unrepentant morons that will benefit. But overall, I think society benefits.
Ok, on some level, January has not been THAT bad. I caught a Bears game, got a paper accepted for publication, completed an admin task (more to do in just a bit) and have hit a lull.
But..Jan 10-25 sucked; COVID. Yes, I did my duties online and even did my PT on most days; only one day was “please kill me” and about 4-5 were “normal flu” like days, others were annoying and testing positive. What set me back was the rebound infection.
But I am teaching in person again, easing back into it…and yeah, it was 3 F when I woke up, 5 F when I did outdoor pull ups and my walk (20 seconds slower than the day before)
Today’s workout: PT, push ups: 3 sets of 20, 2 sets of 5 chest tap push ups, 1 set of 11.
pull ups: 1 set of 6, 1 set of 6 singles, 3 sets of 6 single crunch pull ups
bench: 10 x 134, 6 x 145, 5 x 150 (didn’t want to strain)
deadlift (low handle) form check: 10 x 134, 10 x 184 (hips looked good..need to carry this with heavier weights)
high incline shoulder: 10 x 94 (two sets)
walk: some discomfort in the left leg (hamstring) need to roll a bit.
A few days ago, B posted a meme that lampooned religious violence. One of her old boyfriends (probably in his 80’s) complained about the meme…and his complaints were less than well received.
That made me think:
Why was he so confident about expressing his opinion and
Why did he think it would be well received.
So..what was going on? My guess: he is probably well respected in his church, and when he speaks there, the others listen and appreciate his insights. But Facebook is not his church.
And I think about that about myself. In class: I know more math than my students and they KNOW that. So in class, I get listened to. At a conference, my credentials are respected. Now some in the audience may know more math, and often, they are better at it. But they know that I know the topic I am talking about.
But..on something like Twitter? Well, if I am not talking academic/math stuff, well, there is no reason for anyone to, a priori, take me seriously. Who in the heck am *I*? And on math topics, I hope my knowledge shows though, but you have to know some math to make a judgement.
Online, few have any prior knowledge of us and..if we are talking about something that someone feels passionately about, well, I, as a stranger, am not going to move them, at all.
Yes, I still belong to two, and I might use the indoor track or perhaps the pool at some point in my recovery from COVID and, well, to be honest, recovery from the back stuff too. 2 miles walking seems doable.
But as far as lifting at the gym: I last lifted in March 2020, right before we went online. I have yet to lift in a gym since. But I did add to my own home gym and I enjoy the pull ups, push ups, bench presses, etc.
But…at the time I left, I admit that I was enjoying the gym atmosphere less and less.
Gone are the days when people, who didn’t know each other, worked in. And there are things like this:
It seems that few ever thing about other people and that other people might be trying to work out as well.
But …where this video stuff was non-existent for most of my gym using life (1972-2020), perhaps part of the reason is age. I do like an occasional self challenge but most of what I do is to try to keep from further falling apart.
Hey, my bench…I got 176 this year, and I got 314 with the low handle trap bar deadlift in December 2021. I am over 100 lb weaker in the bench and about 100 lb weaker in the deadlift than I once was.
No, not 100 percent; not even close. But I did have a leisurely paced workout that didn’t kill me.
PT with 5 sets of 10 push ups
Pull ups: 2 sets of 6 crunch style singles, 2 sets of 6 and one set of 6 singles.
bench: 6 x 134, 6 x 145, 6 x 145
high incline: 3 sets of 6 x 94
4 inch dead: 5 x 134, 5 x 184, 5 x 228 lb.
Then a 2 mile walk: Put a slight effort into it.
The deadlifts: second 3 reps looked better than the first 2, where my hips shot up. Overall: slight cough is there at times, mood: I get irritated easier, sort of tired.
First 2 miles felt really good; rolled on the hip/glute afterward.
First some personal stuff: this morning, I did my PT in a very leisurely manner. Then I walked 2 miles on a route which was 95 percent snow-free. Averaged just a hair under 15 mpm (15:15/14:45).
Not much pain, but I do have to roll a bit…and this is now infections go: your recently weak areas get exposed.
I had almost 2 week of symptoms. And I noticed the following: of a group of 3 friends, two with small, slender builds had almost no symptoms at all, whereas the 3 with higher BMI (I am 6 feet, 195 lb pre COVID) had worse symptoms.
Technically, my symptoms would be classified as “mild” as I never had breathing problems; O2 was 97-98; main symptoms were disrupted sleep, fatigue, body aches, old injuries flaring up. Fever was only 1 day, coughing is slight and I did have mild drainage, except for one day where it was heavy.
Still, the experience is unpleasant enough for me to work to avoid in the future; the mask is coming back (I got slack for couple of days).
Public Opinion and masking Yes, I posted a photo of my getting ready to teach a class by Zoom and I posted a video of my wearing a mask while doing push ups.
And OF COURSE, someone had to comment on the mask, each time.
“Mask for Zoom?” and “Bro, take the mask off.”
Context: in the photo, it was my day of my first negative test. It was in the home office room, which has two folding doors leading to the living room, where my wife hangs out. So, I wanted to limit the amount of virus I put in this room (that she uses) and in the adjoining room; this was NOT my isolation room (nicked name “the goathaus”)
In the second case (the video) I had another negative test. But I was doing these in the living room where my wife was, so the mask was to protect her (unseen in the view of the camera.
Moral: if it looks strange that someone is masking, there may be more there than meets the eye. Sometimes, I am walking a short distance between indoor buildings and don’t want to bother with the “on/off”, especially if I am bundled for winter.
Yes, it felt good; few streamed the classes. But it WAS tiring.
Maybe this will be the final test result I’ll post.
Workout notes: yesterday, full PT and 5 sets of pull ups; 3 were 6 singles and 2 were 6 reps (ok, 4 if you believe the critics)
I went into the office a bit.
Today: PT (full) and push ups: 5 sets of 20. Then one sort of rough commuter walk; I’ll have to roll a bit and I’ll have to stretch before walking. It wasn’t like the bad old days though..not even close.
Life of an old goat 