My walk wasn’t THAT bad but it took me a while to get going and I was stiff: 1:31:02 for the 6.2 miles on hills. It wasn’t my worst; not even close. But it was not one of my faster walks.
It seems that, these days, how well I do depends on how lose my back is and if the nerves are free.
But now the Garbage remark
I admit that got under my skin in ways that the other insults did not, and I have no Puerto Rican heritage. Funny how that works.
Will this be his Clayton Williams moment?
First my workout ( and I am stiffer than normal as I type this)
pull ups: a couple of sets of singles, one set of 10, lots of sets of 5 (one of the singles were chins)
downstairs: 10 x 134, 6 x 150, 6 x 150, 6 x 150 bench
curls: 3 sets of 10
high incline: 7 x 94, 7 x 94, 7 x 94
2 commuter walks totaling 4 miles (1, 3)
I feel so stiff, which is weird given that the weather is actually warming up. I did have a slight scratchy cough today.
Election: this is from FiveThirtyEight:
You know what I can tell from this? Nothing at all. Well, maybe a Trump lean in Arizona. But that is it. Realistically, given that polling error is likely to be correllated, anything between a 319 total for Harris and 312 for Trump is possible. This is not a 2012 situation, at all.
An icky pro-Harris ad (by the Lincoln Project). Yes, the Lincoln Project, run by anti-Trump Republicans, knows what they are doing. But they put this ad out:
And frankly, it makes me squirm. I grew up with blue collar parents and my mom and dad did NOT always agree; they argued at times and, at times, voted differently in both primary elections and in city elections. The same is true for the parents of my ex.
I could not stomach living with a woman who was hesitant to speak her mind to me. I would not be interested in such a woman. Period.
I took the weekend off! That meant: 2 football games on Saturday and 2 football games on Sunday. All 4 of the teams I was cheering for…lost
About the workouts: Saturday: walked 10 miles (usual ball field course) this time in 2:34 (10.4 miles; I was 2:28:50 at mile 10) . That course IS getting easier.
Sunday: 2 mile walk before the games (14:30 pace) after some deadlifts:
10 x 134, 10 x 184, 5 x 225 (bad set), 10 x 225 (better), 2 x 300 6 inch (bad set), 5 x 300 (better).
The football
First up was Navy vs Notre Dame. Navy came in 6-0 vs weak competition. ND came in 5-1 vs much stronger competition. It was never close:31-7 at the half and ended 51-15. Navy turned it over 6 times; it was clear to me that they were rattled. Despite the frequent short fields, ND rolled up 466 total yards. Navy did break a couple of long quarterback keepers.
If anything, the Navy vs ND game was MORE competitive than the Illinois vs Oregon game, at least at the half (35-3). Compared the Ducks, the Illini appeared to be playing in slow motion.
The Illini did dominate the 3’rd quarter with two long drives, one which ended in a touchdown, and the Ducks tacked on a 4’th quarter field goal to make it 38-9. The Ducks piled up 527 yards of total offense to 293 for the Illini.
Pro: I got to watch the Colts fall 23-20 to the Texans. in an emotional roller coaster of a game. It appeared as if the Texans were about to salt the game away with a long drive, but a goal line fumble appeared to be returned for a touchdown with 3 minutes to go. BUT, the lineman was down by contact…and the Colts went nowhere. They punted with 2 minutes to go (4’th and 23 on their own 2), held, had one last shot, but got sacked on their Hail Mary attempt.
But, I suppose the key play came with 23 seconds before the first half, when it appeared that the Colts would go in with 10-10 tie at halftime. This boneheaded call lead to a Texans TD and 17-10 halftime lead.
Then came the Bears. The Commanders dominated play for most of the first 3 quarters but only had a 12-0 lead to show for it (4 field goals) and the Bears struck with the 3’rd quarter ending.
So it was 12-7 and with 5-6 minutes left, the Bears had first and goal from the 1! And they run a play with a lineman carrying the ball?
The Bears defense holds, the Bears get the ball back and smartly drive again. And then a PI in the endzone gives them the ball at the 2, and this time they score. The make the 2 pointer and they lead 15-12 with 26 seconds left in the game! Washington has 1 time out.
So, Washington gets the ball to midfield with time for one more play. Hail Mary:
Note the Bears’s DB. You cannot make this up.
Saturday: two blowout losses. Sunday: 2 heartbreakers.
At least Texas held on vs a spirited Vanderbilt team to win 27-24, recovering an onside kick in the final 45 seconds.
Yes, ElectoralVote.com shows Trump above the Electoral College threshhold, if one counts the “barely Trump” states. The election is still as toss up. I just wish I could get a few of my brothers (other guys) to realize that Trump offers them nothing (unless they are worth several million)
Workout notes I lifted in the morning and did a 2 mile walk over lunch and just over 1 mile after work.
The lifting: pull ups: 2 sets of 5, 10, 10, 4 sets of 5 plus 3 penalty reps.
downstairs: bench: 5 x 134, 4 x 160, 5 x 155, 5 x 150, 5 x 150
High incline: 8 x 94, 10 x 94, 5 x 105 plus 1 set of curls.
Though I am feeling sleep deprived I did ok.
I was pissy this morning. I got a small twinge in my shoulder in addition to my usual aches and pains..feet, knees, back, etc. I was just sick of it all. Bad mood. So I decided to walk my full workout anyway and…first mile was 13:50 and 1:25:39 (13:49 pace) for my 10k course which was my usual out and back hill course plus campus loop. I was 35:07 at the turn around, 56:42 at the exit and 1:10:08 at the 5 mile mark; 15:31 for the final 1.2. The chilly temperatures and the dry surface helped.
Go figure.
Yes, that would not have been an especially good time 10-15 years ago, but that was then. It is one of my faster times this year and post back-issues period.
And that is how it goes for me: it seems that today’s best workouts were “ho-hum” many years ago and downright bad 20 years ago.
And yes, I have aches and pains, as do most 65 year olds. But, I find that moving improves things and keeping still makes them worse.
You can’t wait until you feel optimal to get out there. And there is a fine line between pushing through those age related things and trying to work out while injured.
My hilly 10k course was finished in 1:29:42; started a bit later than normal. Tired.
Unusually warm weather for this deep into October..but there it is.
Yesterday: too lazy; finally got going after lunch with deadlifts and a slow 5k walk. While on the walk, I got stung in the back of the head by a wasp.
The deadlifts:
10 x 134, 10 x 190, 10 x 225 low
5 x 300, 5 x 300 6 inch
Today: pull ups: 5, 5, 10 + 2 penalty, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
downstairs: bench 10 x 134, 4 x 160, 4 x 155, 5 x 150, 6 x 145
high incline: 10 x 84, 10 x 84, 7 x 95
curls: 3 sets of 10.
It never looks like much.
Yes, there are far more important issues: the US election and my own work situation. But college football is a great escape from all of that. And no, you won’t hear any “I could have done better” nonsense from me.
When I played high school, I was, at best, mediocre, probably slightly worse. Anyone who was destined to see the field on any level of college football (D3 on up) whipped my behind. I was too slow and lacked explosive power. Still, I worked hard, trained, and did my best and started on one (small school) conference championship team.
And I still looooove football season.
Still, before leaving for Champaign with Harry (my football buddy), I found time to get in a 10 mile walk: 10.35 in 2:35:54, or 2.5 minutes faster than last week on the same course. Note: I was 31 minutes at 2 miles and just over 2:30 at mile 10, so I did finish the net uphill course at slightly faster than a 15 minute pace.
No, I am not going to win any awards walking like that, but it is nice to get the miles in and I am grateful to be able to do that. It was not that long ago (February 2022) when I still had stabbing glute pain after walking only 1/4’th of a mile.
We left early, got to Champaign early and much to my surprise, the stadium, and even the student section started to fill up *early*. That is extremely unusual for Illinois football; it was almost like being at an Iowa or Notre Dame home game!
So, the game itself: Illinois took the opening kick off and got a field goal. A second field goal followed as the Michigan offense sputtered and fumbled. Then came another turnover followed by a touchdown and a 13-0 lead!
Michigan did get its act together for one drive near the end of the half to trail 13-7; a botched snap/hold lead to the Illini field goal attempt being blocked.
A key moment occurred in the 3’rd quarter. Michigan was stopped, punted, and Illinois appeared to be stopped. But then the Illini executed a perfect “fake punt” with an off tackle run for a big first down, and then punched it in. A two point conversion followed to make it 21-7, which was what the final score turned out to be.
Michigan had two more drives: one ended in a blocked field goal (botched snap/hold), one ended on a failed 4’th down and another with an interception off of a badly thrown ball. That finished them.
Illinois was much more inspired and played a much more disciplined game; Michigan just made mistake after mistake. They actually outgained the Illini 322-267 and held the passing attack to 80 yards. But the 3 turn overs were HUGE.
The above photo (taken by a friend) shows how crowded it was. The lady on my left was virtually in my lap at times during the game. I smiled and said “it’s ok; I wrestled in high school” and “football watching is a contact sport.” But seriously, though these seats give you a great view, the East side is very crowded. I will switch to the West side for next season, but that leads to the typical fan dilemma: what do I value the most?
Do I open my wallet for club seats? (after all, I drive a 2006 car, the house is paid for and I walk to work! Just what am I saving my money for?)
Do I get the seats that *I* want (first row of the West balcony) if that means that my old-to-elderly friends won’t be able to access them (steep, no rail steps to get to them) or do I shoot for the top of the West balcony (more easily accessible for my friends)
Ok, where now?
Objectively, I see this team as not being quite as talented as the 2022 team and there is some ball to play.
The game at Oregon next week: that will be a tough one. And I see the games vs Minnesota and Michigan State (who soundly whipped Iowa) as being toss ups; should be favored against Rutgers and Northwestern. But NU will be sky high for the Illini.
Yes, my predictions for the season were off; I saw something like 5-7 to 7-5 but I had no idea that Kansas was bad and Michigan was mediocre. I thought Nebraska was mediocre, and yes, that game was an overtime game.
The Illini have some some close games vs bad to so-so teams and that may well show up next week.
In the conference, I see:
Elite: Oregon and Ohio State
Very good: Penn State and Indiana
So-so bowl teams: Washington, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan Sate, Michigan (maybe), Minnesota, Nebraska and Illinois perhaps being the best of this group.
Marginal: Rutgers, UCLA, Northwestern, Maryland, USC
Bad: Purdue
Other teams
I sure wish I could go to the Navy vs Notre Dame game. Yes, ND (who beat Georgia Tech) will probably throttle undefeated Navy, as Navy has greatly benefited from a severely weakened AAC. Mediocre Memphis is the best team Navy has played. Still the Midshipmen are 6-0 and bowl bound; I hope it is a bowl that I can make. Oh yes: the Mids beat Charlotte 51-17.
Texas got exposed by Georgia, who completely dominated them in the first half. The bottom line is that UT got way too much credit for blowing out bad Michigan and Oklahoma teams. I see Texas as “5-10” good, not “top 3 good.” Still, an opening round playoff game in Austin might be fun; imagine if, say, ND was the opponent?
Ok, time to stretch and workout.
Well, some work tasks have been completed, but more stuff on the horizon. Lots of uncertainty.
Workout notes:
pull ups: singles (mixing grips) 12, 3 sets of 5, 8 plus 5, 2 sets of 5. Tiny bit of a struggle.
bench: 10 x 134, 6 x 150, 7 x 150, 4 x 150 (exhausted)
incline: 3 x 134, 4 x 134 (out of gas)
high incline: 10 x 84, 7 x 95, 5 x 100
then a 1 mile then a 2 mile commuter walk. These felt ok.
I am usually amused by articles/posts like this one:
I think it is far more basic than this.
First of all, let me pay a compliment to the Harris campaign: I love their “Red, White and Blue” stuff, and they have not been anti-male or anti-white, etc.
But, much of where one ends up politically depends on the public “vibe” of those who vote a certain way. And to be honest, many liberal activists are open hostile to “cis-gender hetero white men”; they, of course, are the main cause of all of the country’s problem and the possessors of something known as “privilege.”
And so, why would a white male, or even a male in general, be attracted to such a party? People are not going to stay where they are told to “shut up and listen to….” or to be told to vote as if they were in demographic X.
Add to that the tendency for liberal activists to support every social outlier while almost sneering at the mainstream and we have a “no place for me here” type situation.
I don’t like Ann Coulter but…there is a nugget of truth here:
And so…what to do?
I’d remind my brothers of this: yes, some, even many who vote D are full of it and unpleasant to be around. Yes, you DO have valid grievances.
But when push comes to shove, you have much more in common with the Black guy working with you outside in 30 F and sleeting weather than you do of the 800,000 dollar a year manager who is looking to cut your position so as to enhance his bonus, and Trump is fully on that manager’s side, not yours.
You have legitimate grievances and there are lots of clueless liberals who won’t admit that. But voting for Trump won’t help you *at all*; a Harris administration will do more for you than a Trump one will, even if some Harris officials use “they/them.”
Please don’t thumb your nose at the toxic liberal “activist” loudmouth at the expense of your own welfare.
So, how is the election going?
Basically, this. But most of the swing states are within margin of error. The October 17 version of ElectoralVote.com has an interesting chart:
I’ll assume no more than a 4 point polling error in either direction, and that polling errors are positively correlated (same direction in each swing state). If we have a 2016 effect (shy Trump voter) where Trump is underpolling by 4 points, we could see this:
If the polls are under counting Harris voters (like in the 2022 midterms) the map could look like this:
Note: giving there are 538 votes, she can’t have a 271 edge, since 2x+271 is odd. This this edge is 276 which is close enough. And no, I don’t think there is a snowball’s chance in Hades of this map happening.
I see 317 as a realistic possibility for Trump and 322 for Harris. Where we actually end up? Who knows…the 2016 effect or the 2022 effect?
Life of an old goat 