Month: December 2024

Texas Trip; Day 2 (Armed Forces Bowl)

I am on day 4 (second night in Austin) What a trip it has been!

Christmas: left about 3:30 and made it to Fort Leonard Wood, in Missouri. Few problems. Hampton Inn was price but, IMHO, worth it in terms of services, comfort; just a great room.

Day after: this was the drive to Fort Worth. Got advice about a large rain storm from a friend, so I drove to Oklahoma City and picked up 35 down to Fort Worth. The only rough part of the drive was some of the rain in northern Texas; it was dark and there was a lot of construction on I-35. But the toll ways in Fort Worth was worth it; took me directly to the Hampton Inn off 820. Saw some young Sooners fans there and more during breakfast.

27 December: Bowl day. Once again, I went to the Armed Forces Bowl. Amon G. Carter stadium has aged a bit; seat numbers were worn off. And the bowl didn’t have a solid fan block; there were OU fans all around me (and some Navy fans); got some “class of 8x didn’t have a real plebe year” joking in.
Parking: got there 2 hours early (saw the Oklahoma team busses arrive). Parked in the lots on campus. Got to the stadium ok; OU fans were lined up 90 minutes ahead of time!

When I was in line, I was behind a Coast Guard and Navy Captain (both female)

After the game: I got turned around and probably walked 1.5 miles to get back to my car which was 0.7 miles away; then I went to a Korean fried chicken place for dinner; got lost going there and started back by walking the wrong way.

The game itself:

My goodness. Though OU was depleted, they still had a ton of size and speed on the field. Opening drive: right down the field with no sweat at all. Navy: missed a wide open TD pass and had to punt. Next OU drive: again, no sweat. Navy: nothing. It was 14-0 and looking ugly. Again, Navy missed open passes.
There was a stop; but OU pulled off a fake punt and was threatening …but turned it over on downs.

Navy: finally, got a drive and scored and it was 14-7, which it was at the half.

3’rd quarter: spectacular 90+ QB keeper for a touchdown; Navy was now tied! Momentum had shifted but Navy missed a field goal after a turn over.

4’th quarter: Oklahoma missed a field goal (and dropped a couple of passes). Finally, Navy drives for the go ahead score to lead 21-14. And Navy forced a punt with 3 minutes to go.

But the Sooners defense stiffened, forced a punt and they got decent field position. Then with 6 seconds left, they score to cut it to 21-20. But they went for 2 and Navy sacked the quarterback, and then recovered the onside kick.

Phew! What an exciting game!

Now to Austin Kind of dark, lots of traffic (which moved) but I made it to the Austin SouthPark and I had a great day with my daughter.

Late catch up

I will talk about my trip (so far) in my next post. This is about my workouts.

Wednesday: Weights then 2 miles of walking at just under a 17 minute pace.

Weights: pull ups : mostly sets of 5; enough to get 50 reps
bench press: 10 x 134, 7 x 150, 7 x 150, 5 x 150 (tired)
trap bar dead: 4 inch: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 234. 6 inch: 10 x 280

high incline: 10 x 94, 10 x 94

Thursday: hotel in Missouri: 4.02 miles of treadmill walking in 1:00. First mile was almost 16 minutes; .5 miles at 4.1 mph, 2.5 at 4.2 mph (no knee pain that night)

Friday: (Fort Worth) 5K walk in 45:20 (note: increased and decreased incline at .5 to 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5 using 3 up, 2 down. then 1.3 mile stadium walk, 1.0 mile walk back, then at least 1 more mile of walking to restaurant. I had knee soreness that night.

Saturday: 2 mile walk on the crushed cinder trails round Southpark. Then 30 minutes of weights: 3 sets of 10 for each exercise:
dumbbell curl 25, then 20, 20. Standing press: 30. bench press: 50 (all they had)
machine: curl, row, pull down (130), fly (again 3 sets of 10 each..little rest

Catching up again

Saturday: 4 mile Moss/H neighborhood course at 16 mpm. This was before leaving for Indianapolis

Sunday: 2 mile strip mall walk 17:10 pace

Monday: prior to work: 2 miles at 19 minute pace. No knee brace; did this after lifting.

The lifting: pull ups: sets of 5 with one 7-3 set, and 1 penalty rep.
Bench Press: 10 x 134, 3 sets of 5 x 155

High incline: 10 x 94, 2 sets of 5 x 105
Trap bar deadlift: 10 x 94 pinch grip, 1 x 134 pinch grip
low: 10 x 134, 10 x 184. 4 inch: 10 x 234

Tuesday (today) Riverplex again: 11 miles in 40 minutes (10 in 35:10, the usual 1-2-3-4-5-6-5-1 with changes every 5 minutes). Then outside for 3.25 in 53:02 (knee braces).

Limited knee pain; almost unnoticeable.

Indianapolis: In perhaps the easiest trip I had up there, I took Jacob and Brian to the Titans at Colts. The Titans hit an early pass to go up 7-0 after 1, but the Colts outscored the Titans 24-0 in the 2’nd and built the lead to 38-7 with 6:50 to go in the 3’rd. The Colts were to rush for 335 yards with Taylor getting 218 of them. The offensive line opened up gaping holes.

But the Titans didn’t quit. They cut it to 38-15; the Colts missed a field goal, then the Titans got two more touchdowns with one 2 point conversion, and soon it was 38-30 with 3:05 to play.

But the Colts got a couple of first downs and then punted to the Titans 11 with only 3 seconds in the game, and the final pass was intercepted.

In the NFL game, the only sure lead is a win.

Update on a good quote

I posted this recently:

It turns out that President Hinckley was quoting a Unitarian minister: Jenkin Lloyd Jones (and he never pretended otherwise). The full quote:

“Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just like people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is just like an old time rail journey … delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.”

I love it. And wisdom is wisdom, wherever you find it.

Now for my “not-bliss-but-not-bad” day: very lazy. Got up late; no knee pain.

Knee, shoulder and lumbar PT

Pull ups: 4 sets of 5, 10 plus 2 extra penalty reps, 4 sets of 5 (2 with mixed grip)

Bench press: 10 x 134 lb, 3 x 165, 4 x 160, 5 x 155, 6 x 150, 7 x 145

Trap bar deadlifts: 10 x 94 lb pinch gripping the plates, 1 x 134 lb (shown..first time I got this) the 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 234 (4 inch handles), high incline: 10 x 95, 6 x 100, 6 x 100.

Then a 2 mile walk. I averaged a lumbering 17 minutes per mile; I really kept it easy.

Aging and expectations

Note: I am NOT religious but I think that sometimes religious people have wisdom to offer. Here is such an instance:

I’ve talked about this before. I remembered this again today. I was in my dentist office. I’ve used the same dentist office for over 30 years and the receptionist has worked there the entire time. You might say that we’ve aged together.

Today, I was a bit achier than normal (all my joints) and I asked her if that was sometimes the case with her. She nodded her head “yes.”

And so it goes. If I were as logical as Spock, I would only care whether or not I hurt. But seeing my aches and pains as being normal for 65 (and yes, it gets worse, as my elders remind me) well…that is a bit of a relief. I am not being “robbed.”

Shoulders: rotator cuff issues: Os acromiale  has made me vulnerable to rotator cuff impingement. My doctor said that if I wanted to remain active, I’d have to do rotator cuff exercises for the rest of my life.

Lumbar: I’ve been through this, too many times. I have spondylolisthesis which causes stenosis (S1, L5, L4, L3). No surgery is needed, but I do PT for this daily and have modified my exercises to avoid excessive back extension(though I do limited McKenzie press ups)

Knees: severe patellofemoral arthritis in both knees. I’ve had a long history of knee problems (dating from 1978). But I am in a bit of limbo: arthritis limits me a bit, but my knees are not band enough to require replacement. That is weird, given I had operations in 1978, 1979, 1984, 1984 and 2010. But walking (within reason) is still pain free, though I am in “rehab” mode right now. I have yet to take a pain pill for this episode.

Anyway, though everyone’s list of maladies are different…no recent surgery required for any of mine! You might say that I am normal for a 65 year old. I was not dealt a particularly bad hand of cards, or even a bad hand at all.

Workout notes: a bit unhappy with 193 before workout weight. But I went to the Riverplex after my dental appointment and did the following (PT in the morning, as usual)

Bike: 35 minutes (9.3 miles; the important thing was 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1 (level every 5 minutes)

Walk: 3.2 miles of walking outside. Kind of slow but I had knee wraps and was tired (yes, tired) from the bike. That was a bit embarrassing.

A couple of weight workouts

Just catching up; I’ve been napping way too much!

Two days ago (Monday) weights and a slow 2.2 mile walk.

Weights: pull ups were a real struggle (10 sets of 5)

bench: 5 x 134, 1 x 154, miss at 175, 3 sets of 5 x 154.
High incline: 2 sets of 9 x 94
trap bar dead: 10 x 94 pinch grip, 10 x 134 4 inch, 10 x 184 4 inch, 10 x 234 4 inch

Today:
pull ups: 8, 10, 10, 5, 5, 7, 5 (much better)
bench: 10 x 134, 1 x 174
incline: 3 sets of 5 x 134
trap bar dead: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 234

slow 2.18 mile walk.

Note: I had slight pain last night, and the warning sign that I might have it was outer lateral tendon tenderness and slight warmth. I have to limit “faster” paced walking.

Still overestimating myself

4 mile walk by the Riverfront: 1:01:22 with 1 mile being under 15 (15:20 pace). Walking weather was fine, but I just had no “pop” in my step. Not yet. Both knees a bit achy but that isn’t a surprise, given the temperature drop headed our way.

No heat and swelling in the left knee so, I do NOT anticipate pain tonight. I did not do the bike as I went 4 miles and not 3.

Note: Barbara had her best rehab walk (with walker), reaching 3/4 of a mile and only resting once, after 0.57 miles.

not quite back yet

The left knee: no swelling. No night pain last night. The real test is tonight.

I tried to go for 4 miles: 4.1 in 1:04:46 (15:50 pace; kind of steady). Yes, it was 40, misty, surfaces were wet; tough to walk fast on. Still, 4 miles was an actual effort, even at this sorry pace. And I napped in the afternoon.

I forget: it has been 3 weeks since my positive COVID test. It takes about 4-6 weeks to be ready to train hard, provided the knee permits it.