It was 76 F, 72 percent humidity with cloud cover. I waited way too long to start: close to 10 AM. I just can’t seem to kick myself out the door early if I do not need to. And I tend to balk at the longer walks: I tend to remember how tough the first few were instead of how well the more recent ones went.
Garmin got it at 10.1 so I went with 10.2 . The course: it started with the usual Parkside to Bradley Park and the first part of the spur. Then on the first loop: I did a weird thing where I went past the Cornstalk building but took the alternate “lower on the hill” part, but then turned left to go past the Cornstalk tent area (down for renovation) then back DOWN Cornstalk hill and then got back on the loop in lower Bradley Park. That put me at 5.5 miles when I did a second Cornstalk loop (full one). That got me to 6.8. Then I did a mini no hill loop to take me up the Upper Bradley Park hill and that got me to 7.8 (very close to it) at the exit.
Then I returned by taking Parkside all the way to University then to Columbia Terrace. Then I walked the usual return and added a short Moss/Cooper loop to finish the 10+
And, FINALLY, just under 16 minutes per mile. Not fast at all, but the course was slippery in spots due to rain, and I never really felt bad.
And when I finished my shirt was completely soaked.
Yes, this would have been done in 2:10-2:20 when I was in Centurian shape, but that was 20-21 years ago. My body is not the same.
Today: I walked my 5 hill 5 miler plus 1.2 to 1:30:28, which, while not fast (14:35 mpm) was my fastest time for this course since last October (before my knee troubles) I was 30:38 for the final 2.2 miles (about 13:50 mpm) which was not that bad since it was done in a shower. The cooler day helped too.
Yesterday: 2 mile walk plus some weights beforehand: pull ups: 5 sets of 6, 8, 2 sets of 6, 5 “penalty set”. bench: 10 x 134, 3 sets of 6 x 155 high incline: 3 sets of 6 x 105 light low handle trap bar deadlifts: 3 sets of 10 x 134 (for loosening up purposes)
Commentary: I’ve kept my mouth shut on the issues of the day, more than I ever have. Reasons:
If I said what I truly think, I’d have no friends, no spouse, and I’d probably get disowned.
I also know that my knowledge and point of views are limited. Some of what I honestly think is true is either wrong, or partly wrong.
Yes, I voted for Harris. I’d do so again. But I do not think that all, or even most Trump voters are evil and stupid. I do not agree with everything that people think most liberals stand for. I honestly think that the vast majority of people from every demographic are at least “reasonably good” people, even if they completely disagree with me about things. And, NONE of us are perfect. We all have gaps in our knowledge, experience and are delusional at least some of the time.
So, the older I get, the more I keep my mouth shut.
When I finished: 83 F, 71 percent humidity. But the course was mostly shaded. I did 1 mile to Bradley Park, the “spur” course, followed by a full Cornstalk loop, lower Bradley loop, and a hill-less mini loop which put me at 7.07. Then I did the “Barbara”: Armstrong (should have crossed University at the light), Columbia Terrace, Sheridan, Moss, back home. Distance was 10.2-10.3 (I was shorted by .07 miles at the 2.5 mile point..so I’d guess my reading or 10.02 was 0.2-0.3 off though the “correct distance” feature in Strava gave me 10.47) and the pace was 16:06 or so.
It was ok, given the hills (8 from miles 1 to 7) and the warm day.
The harsh reality my 5K is slower this year and my long walks are about 1 minute per mile slower. I can talk about my “taking it easier” but I have slowed down, period. So, IF I do that Quad Cities half in September, I ought to think about aiming for 3:15 for a goal time, or about 14:50 mpm from the very start.
I had really believed that I could improve from last year, and I am not doing it.
On a positive personal note: I bought two novels during my late June trip to Texas. I’ve finished two of them. The third has a grip on me.
The books: Fleming’s Bond novel Moonraker and Dexter’s Morse Novel Service of all the Dead. It appears that the Morse TV series keeps Inspector Morse reasonably close to the novel version, though the TV version is a bit more sanitized, and perhaps the TV version plays up the Oxford education just a bit more.
This was last year’s Firecracker 5k: I am wearing red. I powerwalked it in just under 34 minutes (by the chip); the couple boxed in yellow ran it slightly faster than I (by the chip). But we finished at about the same time as you can see.
I saw them at the packet pick up (they were getting into their car) and I said “hi.”
This year, I am doomed to be slower as I’ve had no speedwork to speak of and even a 13:30 pace (in practice) is moderately challenging. But I hope to improve on the 38:30 that I walked this spring.
Ah, my first Firecracker was a 26:53 4 miler in 1981 and my first time at THIS race I ran 20:40 for 5k (in 1998). I also had a 42 minute 10K in 1982 and a 5:59 road mile in 1999 (last sub 6 mile ever).
On the other hand, 3 years ago, I was in too much pain to even walk a 5K, period, so there is that.
Today’s workout
Easy 4 mile walk (16 minutes per mile)
Yesterday’s Baseball I am still shaking my head. The Chiefs bombarded the Cubs 21-2 behind 21 hits and 5 Cubs errors. This was the most runs the Chiefs have scored at Dozer (though they once gave up 21 runs). The stage was set with a massive moon-shot of a grand slam in the 4’th to put the Chiefs up 4-2 (hard to believe that the Cubs actually LEAD for 1/3 of the game) and from then on, the dam burst.
JOSH KROSS UNLOADS THE BASES WITH A GRAND SLAM!!! 🚀🔥
But this weekend: I saw the Chiefs win 4-0 on a day when the whole team looked sharp. Then on Sunday, they got bombed 10-0. It was 3-0 when the Chiefs put in a usually reliable short term reliever-closer who got bombed out of the box. It was soon 8-0 after 4 and it never got better.
I guess some just go to be with their loved one.
Book notes: I am reading an Inspector Morse novel. Early on, the author describes a woman’s nightgown by using an offensive racial slur as a modification for the color brown. This was written in 1979! Evidently, this was a common practice at the time (I looked it up). Wow..that was 46 years ago and this was from a different country (UK) but, at least modern dictionaries describe that as being “taboo” and “offensive.” I admit that this startled me a bit.
Workout notes: Sunday: I did a slow 5 mile walk (16:32 pace) and it actually felt good; it took some of Saturday’s stiffness away.
Monday (today) 2 mile slow walk with weights.
pull ups were a CHORE. 9 sets of 5, one of 7, no set felt super good. I did PT in between sets, outside. downstairs: Bench: 17 reps of 134, 3 sets of 7 x 150. 4 inch trap bar: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 228, 10 x 244 high incline: 10 x 94, 6 x 105, 6 x 105 curls: 3 sets of 10. I honestly got a small pump in this workout.
Thursday: Very hot. I started just after 7:20 and ended after 9: my 6.2 mile “5 hill plus a Moss ave. mini loop” course in 1:46:22 (16:59 pace!) I just didn’t want to put any effort into it. And I had a run in with a loose pit bull on Parkside “oh, he never does that…” a “beautiful person’s” dog. I said a few cuss words. But that was NOT my slowest mile!
Friday: easy 17:20 pace 2.2 mile on campus after some weights. Pull ups: a struggle: 5 sets of 6, 8, two sets of 6 mixed grip. I am doing more “chin up” style. Bench: 10 x 134, 10 x 150 (hard!) incline: 5 x 134, 4 x 134 (missed rep 5) 4 x 134 (missed rep 5) high incline: 2 sets of 10 x 94…this finished me off.
Saturday: 10 miles on the Rock Island: walked to the 0 marker and continued to the very start of the non-pavement portion. Then out to Dunlap, through, turn around at the trail head north of Dunlap (5.3 miles) then back to the Alta trail head. Time:2:42:12; 15:53 pace. It was not hard.
It was 86 F, 58 percent humidity at the end (as opposed to 89, 62 on Thursday) but the shade made it sort-of comfortable. And the pace…well..it was designed to get me through the miles.
A remarkable inning
On Thursday, I watched the Chiefs demolish the Beloit Sky Carp 14-5 to improve to 2-4 (now they are 3-4 for the second half of the season; that is important).
But HOW the did it was remarkable.
The second inning went well; the Chiefs scored 2 with a 2 run home run and a single to drive in another. So it was 3-1 after 2, nothing remarkable about that. But then came the 3’rd. In this inning, the Chiefs reached first base by walks and singles; they had NO extra base hits and the Sky Carp made no errors. There WAS a wild pitch.
But, in this inning, the Chiefs scored 10 runs! There wasn’t enough room on the score board to register the 3’rd inning!
The bull pen held on enough for the Chiefs to win 14-5. But the bottom of the 8’th was interesting. The Sky Carp put in a position player to finish. He hit the first batter and proceeded to throw “lob” pitches.
I have never seen a game quite like this one.
Books
I decided to try to read more, so I bought some fiction from Half Price. I finished the first of these: Moonraker. I’ll say this: this is NOTHING like the Bond movie with the same name, though the villain is named “Drax”, the villain decides to kill bond and the female lead character with the rocket blast (instead of doing it directly) and, of course, tells Bond of his fiendish plan (which, well, is a bit outrageous) prior to leaving them to die.
Of note: it is the female character who first finds out what the plan is by..yes, doing a mathematical calculation! The female character is very capable in the book. And there is another important difference.
Remember the book was written in 1955 when the world was still recovering from WW2 and the Iron Curtain had just come down. The rocket in question was a “atomic capable” glorified, improved V2 type of weapon.
But I am NOT working efficiently. I’ve done a few things though. Some of it is using a tin can to bail out water from a ship that is flooding.
I’ve worked out some too. I had a slow 2 mile walk after pull ups: 5 sets of 6, 10, 6, 6 bench: 5 x 134, 3 x 154, 2 x 165, 1 x 180 (yes!) (**) incline: 3 sets of 5 x 134 curls: 3 sets of 10 dumbbell incline: 14 kg plus 2 lb just under 33 lb: 3 sets of 10 shoulder supported
The bench: this age grades to 265 for a 23 year old, which is what I was doing at this weight at that age. Go figure.
Sunday: I came to understand that deadlifts the day after a long walk just does not work for me. So, the only exercise was a pleasant 5K walk at 16:40 mpm or so.
Then came a double header; Saturday’s game was rained out. B was there for the first one. The Chiefs swept the division leading Riverbandits convincingly 9-5 and 9-4. Neither game was close. Both games saw decent relief pitching. In the first game, their top prospect struggled a bit in the first inning but then settled down.
Monday: pull ups, 5k walk, weights, in that order.
pull ups: 5 sets of 6, 2 sets of 7 (one chin, one pull up), 2 sets of 5 (mixed grip) bench: 10 x 134, 3 sets of 5 x 160 trap bar low: 10 x 134, 10 x 184. 4 inch: 10 x 224 high incline: 7 x 105, 7 x 105, 6 x 105
Interestingly, the low handler trap bar made me sore the next day! I need to make it a point to do some low handle stuff with lighter weights.
Today: Rock Island trail. Yes, I didn’t take my Garmin.
2:12, 15:00, 14:51, 15:09, 14:51, 14:50, 14:59, 1:57. This was 1:33:52 for about 6.3. Note: there were people on the trail for the first mile then it got pretty empty after that.
The video is post walk. The walk: some gym had an event going on; it was a weird sort of triathlon which included a mile run, boxing and something else. I declined.
The walk: Garmin shorted me a bit and gave me the turn around about .12 miles further than last time. So you could call it 10.4 but I called it 10.3 in 2:43 (15:52 pace). This was about 13-18 minutes slower than I would do this course “in the day.” I can’t say it was difficult but I took a nap in the afternoon.
It takes me longer to recover these days. Here is the course profile. Note: the return was about 3 minutes faster than the out; it is easy to see why.
Visitation, play (9 to 5), retirement party. Notice a theme there: all mostly older people activities! Yesterday: short walk, deadlifts: 4 inch: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 225, 10 x 245, miss at 305
Today: 2 mile walk (again), pull ups: 4 sets of 5, 8, 6, 6, 5, then 5. Grips: regular, chin up style. Downstairs: more sweeping (getting ready to lay down rubber tile) bench: 10 x 134, 3 sets of 5 x 160 high incline: 3 sets of 6 x 105
Life of an old goat 