Month: February 2026

Quick catch up

We are ready to go to the Illinois St. at Bradley game; the arena is sold out (lots of ISU fans) and the place should be noisy. And both teams have been very inconsistent; it would be a 20 point blowout in either direction, or a triple overtime nail biter.

Last night, the Bradley women got creamed 72-40. It was only 29-23 at the half but no contest at all in the second.

Workout notes:
Thursday: 10K course in 1:29:08 (14:23 pace); not as fast as Tuesday but a more even effort. No one to push me.

Friday: commuter walk: 2 miles
Pull ups: 6, 10, 6, 6, 6, 5, 5, 5, 5
bench: 10 x 134, 3 x 170 (yay!) 3 sets of 5 x 160
high incline: 10 x 94, 9.75 x 105 (not quite the lockout), 10 x 94

Saturday: 11.2 miles (two goose loops in 2:56:23 (15:49) slow but I let my mind wander all over the place, and it wasn’t that great of an effort, though I was winding down toward the end.

Alienated

I am just feeling sort-of alienated, though I wonder if a lack of sleep might be an issue. And, well, I think that I want a fight.

Instead, I had a workout on the porch. Beautiful weather for this time of year: I did pull ups in short sleeves!

It went 6, 10, 8, 6 then 4 sets of 5 (3 sets were chins)
bench: 10 x 134, 8 x 150 (boo!) 10 x 134
trap bar dead (low) 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 225
high incline: 10 x 94, 4 x 115, 5 x 110
2 minute plank.

2 mile commuter walk later.

Seeing what you think

Ok. The first poll question: is it ok for a man to call up a married woman and ask her out to lunch? I am NOT talking about a working lunch for work, a committee, a client lunch, lunch after something like a 5k, or grabbing luch during a break at work. Oh yes, he is not her husband.

I am talking about him calling her and making a specific date for lunch.

If you wish to participate, answer the above question first.

Now, let’s ask the same question: is it ok for a man to call a married woman and ask her out to lunch (same stipulations as above) but now, the lady is an octogenarian and he is younger?

Do different rules apply if the woman is elderly and the man asking is not?

I asked the first question on Threads. It was low response, but the answer was mostly “no, it is not ok.”

What do you think?

More “excitement” than I wanted

The good: 1:25:37 for my 10k course. I was at 56:52 at the 4 mile mark (end of the hills) and finished the final 2.2 in 29:45. It helped that another walker tried to challenge me going up Corn Stock Hill. This was my fastest time since November of 2023.

But there was some excitement: I noticed that the light appeared to be stuck at Maplewood and Main; I just jaywalked. Some dreadful kids were on a rampage with a stolen vehicle.

People are fed up with this sort of thing and are tired of the excuses and lack of accountability. People are upset about the so-called Safe T act, but some have pointed out that red states, which don’t have such nonsense, also suffer from a lot of violent crime.

Tumbling through the funk

One thing: I am going to have to cultivate a news habit: I’ve fallen so behind. I am wondering if I should have a newscast to lift weights to.

Speaking of which: warm day (by February in Illinois standards) and I walked 2 miles to go to lunch.
Weights: pull ups: 8 sets of 6, one of 5 (not as good as I had hopes)
bench: 10 x 134, 1 x 170 (harder than I thought it should be), 5 x 160, 6 x 155, 6 x 155
high incline: 10 x 94, 10 x 105 (ok; lock out on the left arm..not quite), 10 x 94

Weekend gone

Valentine’s Day came and went, and I am still married, so there is that. We went to a play (The Importance of Being Earnest) and enjoyed it. Yesterday, it was a double header movie day on the couch.

I got some working out in as well.

Saturday: I had a tough 10 mile walk in 2:34:44; I did several loops in Bradley Park: the spur, that mixed loop (about 2 miles) then a 1.3 mile Corn Stock loop then just enough on campus to get to 10+.

Sunday: 5k walk (16:48 pace) after deadlifts:
Deadlifts: 10 x 134, 10 x 134 (wanted to record my form at a non-challenging weight), 10 x 184, 10 x 225 (kind of ragged)
6 inch handle: 4 x 300, 5 x 300, 5 x 300

Thursday-Friday

Well, I made it to the end of the work week. I have not slept well, though my mood has been much improved over the past few days.

Thursday: hilly 10k course in 1:26:46 (14:00); best time for the course, post knee episode last year. In fact: maybe over the past 18 months? I had to get it done to take my “wife/friend” to the doctor’s office.

Today: 2 mile commuter walk. As far as the rest: pull ups: set of 10, then 4 sets of 6, one of 7, two of 5
Bench: 10 x 134, 1 x 175, 4 x 160, 6 x 155, 5 x 155
high incline: 10 x 94, 5 x 110, 5 x 110

curls: 7-7-7 set (decided to bring these back)

Made it to Wednesday

I might not have been busy-busy but, well, I slept well last night: finally.

Workout notes: Monday: 2 mile commuter walk. Pull ups: better than average:
4 sets of 5, one of 10, 4 of 5.
Bench: 10 x 134, 1 x 175, (easy), 5 x 160, 5 x 155
high incline: 10 x 94, 10 x 105 (yay!) 10 x 94

Tuesday: easier walk; a 6.6 mile W. Peoria course in 1:32:53 (14:04). Not as fast as last week but this was outside on wet pavement.

Wednesday: Walgreens 2 mile walk, weights were: pull ups were hard today; mostly sets of 5 and a dreadful set of 10 Bench: 10 x 134, 10 x 150, 10 x 134
Wagon Wheel: 10 x 200, 10 x 200, 10 x 230

High incline: 10 x 94, 5 x 115, 5 x 110.

Bradley Basketball: Bradley beat Belmont 95-84 in overtime; it was tied at 80-80 at the end. BU hit a 3 in regulation to tie it, and Belmont tried to stall for the last shot and threw the ball away. In OT, Belmont got into the “foul foul foul” situation which led to the final margin.

Note: Bradely hit 17 of 36 from 3. Belmont got a lot of dunks. But a dunk, while exciting, is worth 2 points.

B, my “wife/friend” went with me but I was in no mood for a selfie.

Midway through the Super Bowl

I’ve had a chance to blog but haven’t taken it.

Workouts: mostly with rage:
Slept horribly on Thursday night. Friday: was a zombie. What happened:
Pull ups went well: 5 sets of 6, 10, 4 sets of 5.
Bench press: 10 x 134, 5 x 160, 5 x 160, 6 x 155
high incline: 10 x 94, 5 x 115, 7 x 105

2 mile commuter walk prior to a talk.

Saturday. West Peoria plus extra 10.15 in 2:33:17 (15:06 mpm)
Later: pushed my…not sure what to call her…my legal wife but really sort of a housemate…around for 2 miles on the wheelchair.

Sunday: 2 mile commuter walk.
Deadlifts: straight bar: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 225
Wagon wheel trap: 2 x 300 (waited too long between sets; reminded that I missed my Dad’s birthday yesterday due to petty concerns..sure he died 22 years ago but that isn’t the point…) then 10 x 260

Later: pushed my “good friend/legally my wife” for 2 miles on the Riverfront. I enjoyed it.

Women’s game

The Bradley Women used a smothering defense to hold a decent Northern Iowa team to 33 percent shooting and won going away 69-47.

I took Barbara to the game but wasn’t in the mood for a photo. I won’t say any more than that.

In the morning: it was 17 F when I left the house. I did the “5 laps of the inner circle loop plus 2 boxy laps and some smaller laps to get about 6.4 miles (Strava had it as 6.6; Garmin got it at 6.3 but had me doing a 15:50 final mile; I was faster than that. I walked mostly between 14:07 and 14:35 (one sub 14 thrown in) and felt good the entire way. BUT it was outside and not on the fast track.