Category: baseball

Post I: workout and baseball

First the baseball game: nothing much to be said; it started out very well (3-0 Bradley) but it went downhill from there.

UIC has a good team: 30-13 overall, 13-7 in a tough Missouri Valley Conference.
BU is 12-32-1 (yes, one tie) and 1-9 at home. The team is trying but, well, circumstances are tough.

My workout: PT, deadlifts, 4.3 mile walk (W. Peoria via Moss plus a 1.2 Campus loop) in 1:02:05. First mile was predictably slow. Weather: glorious. Perfect.

The deadlifts: I was sort of a head case this morning:
low: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 7 x 225, 7 x 225 (wanted to not bounce my reps)
Wagon wheel (4.25 inch) 5 x 255, 10 x 255
6 inch: 10 x 280

Legs were quivering and that was the goal.

Deadlifts: today went well.

The monster walks: this is part of my daily PT that is boring, time consuming and unrewarding, at least in the short term. There are no PB, PRs to set. But I do them anyway because I sure don’t miss being in pain 1/4 of a mile into walking.

Mini break

I’ll have more to say about other topics in a bit, but right now is workout recording and a baseball comment.

Friday: 7.1 miles in 1:45:44. It was a bit slippery and I started slowly. Still I was at mile 5 in about 1:13:50. Then a final and a lot of grading.

Saturday: started with 5.2 in 1:13:04 (lower 4 plus a campus 1.2) Perfect walking weather and it felt almost effortless. I did 3/4 of my PT before the walk and 1/4 after (super setting with pull ups)
5 pull ups, 5 chins
5 pull ups, 5 chins
10 pull ups

8 chin ups, 4 chin ups

6 pull ups, 6 chin ups. Had the burn going.

Downstairs: bench press:
10 x 134, 4 sets of 4 x 155 (difficult..every set was hard)

curls: 3 sets of 10
high incline; 10 x 80, 10 x 85, 7 x 90 all being strapped in. Those latter reps were difficult; strapping myself in prevents recruiting the upper chest when tired. BURN.

Much to my surprise, B went to baseball game with me. Bradley lost to a strong UIC team 18-4; it was 15-4 when a rain delay occurred in the top of the 9’th. We left, ate Indian, and then I followed the carnage. One BU player had a 3 hit game. One of their players hit 3 home runs, got one walk and a double.

And the home stretch for spring 2024

And, OF COURSE, everyone piles on stuff right at the end. I almost have my final exams ready; just a few more questions to write.

And others have it far, far worse than I do.

Now for working out and baseball:

baseball: I saw three Chiefs losses in a row: 5-3 on Thursday, 5-4 on Saturday and 14-6 today. Today’s game was a bit unusual as the Chiefs lead for about half the game; it was a back and forth affair featuring hitting and some subpar fielding on both sides (wet grass a factor?) but it was 7-6 Wisconsin after 7. The Timberrattlers rocked the Chiefs for 5 runs in the 8’th and 2 more in the 9’th. It was a chippy game on several levels with the umpires ejecting the Chiefs manager in the 7’th and a dugout player, and then a Chiefs official got onto the Wisconsin bus drivers for whooping it up just a bit too much during the final innings. Not sure about that one.

What I was sure about is that 9 walks, 2 hit batters sure didn’t help. And there was a 3 run inning where the Chiefs booted two potential double play balls; the pitcher did better than the box score might indicate (in that inning).

The 5-4 game was a heartbreaker; competitive the whole way. It featured two Wisconsin runners beating the tag (so the umpire said) during rundowns and the Chiefs second baseman getting ejected the second time.

The 5-3 Thursday loss was in front of an all but empty stadium and featured 2 towering Chiefs home runs but little else.

It was a rough week against a strong team. But I had great company.

Working out:

I recorded yesterday. Today: PT, trap bar deadlifts, then a flat 4.3 miles at 14:37; my mile 2 to 3 (MacArthur to home via Moss) was 14:29).

The deadlifts…felt good? I think that my back exercises are helping.

10 x 110, 10 x 140, 10 x 190, 10 x 225 low (perhaps a bit too much bounce in the final set)

10 x 250 wagon wheel

10 x 280 6 inch

I did these in rain dampened basement.

Yesterday: I got 2 sets of 10 and almost a 3’rd. This is set 2.

And some chins:

after my bench press worksets I did some with the Swiss bar

I am still working on the correct weight for this exercise: this weight caused me pain on the top of the shoulders:

the high incline while tied in tight is very humbling. 10 x 80 works. 7 x 94 with a loose tie in is ok but wow..

Catching up again

I’ll talk about Thursday’s and today’s game a bit later.

Workout wise:

Thursday: pull ups total was about 55 reps in various sets

Downstairs for supersets: bench: 3 sets of 10 x 134 and a set of close grips with the Swiss bar.
deadlifts: 10 x 134, 10 x 184 low. Wagon wheel: 10 x 234, 10 x 250

high incline: 10 x 75, 10 x 84, 5 x 94 all with a yoga belt hugging me close.

Later: 3 mile commuter walk at 15:30 mpm, went well.

Friday: 5 miles in 1:15 (14:25) lower Bradley course. Pouring rain over lunch.

Saturday: PT, pull ups, walk, weights.

The pull ups: 10, 10 (really), 8 + 5, chin ups: 8 + 5, 8 then 3 (attempted 4) pause pull ups (pauses on the way up, top, on the way down)

Walk: 10K in 1:26:35 (hill course for the first 5: 1:10:30, then 1.2 campus loop)

Then downstairs: 10 x 134 bench (felt heavy), 5 x 145, 5 x 150, 5 x 150
Swiss bar: 7 x 134 Middle grip: 3 x 115 (bad; pain on the top of the shoulder), 4 x 94 (bad)
High incline: 7 x 94 yoga belt (slight slide out) ,4 x 94, with the thick belt, 10 x 80 thick belt
2 sets of curls.

Toward the final week of class

I had time to make a baseball game: Bradley lost of Evansville 7-2, thereby getting swept. It has been a tough season.

The day, while chilly, was nicer than the day before.

Before that, I made time to do PT, do some deadlifts, and stroll 4.2 miles in 1:00:18 (14:20 pace; West Peoria plus campus loop); walk felt great.

The deadlifts went ok too; I was back to the “quivering legs.”
Warm up: 10 x 94, 10 x 134, 10 x 190 low

Work sets: 3 sets of 5 x 225 low (a bit disappointed that these were not easier)

Wagonwheel (4.25 inch advantage) 5 x 250, 5 x 250, 10 x 250 (felt it); idea was to not cheat by bouncing reps. These felt fine.

Other: the back had started to act a bit differently: more numbness in the left leg, less ache in the back, and the walking is going very well. I found that scoliosis stretches work well.

The Rogue Wagonwheel: it does not eat up a lot a sleeve length on the trap bar, and will leave room for 6 more 45’s on each side. In theory, you can fit 724 lb on the bar.

Repping out…

Yes, Bradley lost 6-1 in a game that was never close. BU didn’t play poorly in the field; they simply got outhit.

Now before the game, I did the work.

Usual PT; though I started PT with outside psoas marches and 4 sets of monster walks: 1 with the loose band, 2 with the tight ones, and 1 with double. In between: 8 pull ups, 8 chin ups, 7 pull ups, 7 chin ups, 6 pull ups, 6 chin ups.

Inside for the lying PT, then 8 more pull ups (filmed); more inside PT then 8 more pull ups (band to keep legs from spreading) Then 3 pause pull ups, 2 pause chin ups. (63 total reps)

Downstairs. Bench press:

10 x 134, 3 sets (tons of rest) of 5 x 155 (these were HARD).
Swiss bar: 7 x 134 regular, then 10 x 94 middle grip, then a weird set of 3, 3, 2 x 94 narrow grip (hurt the deltoid) then 10 x 64 narrow (felt much better).

High incline: big change here:

10 x 94, then 9 x 105 regular technique. Noticed that my hips were away from the support.

So 2 x 110 strict, the n 5 x 94 strict. I’ll have to lessen the weight I use.

3 sets of 10 curls.

That was probably my most thorough upper body session in a while.

Afterward, I walked my 5.15 mile course in cool temperatures: 56:30 at 4 (42:50 at 3) and I finished the 5.15 in 1:11:41; kind of crowded everywhere.

All good things must come to an end..eventually.

I watched my 5’th Chiefs game of the season..and saw my first loss: 9-4. The Chiefs started off on fire: first at bat was a triple, home run and a single. But eventually Beloit rallied and had a 5 run and 3 run inning to win 9-4. The Chiefs committed 3 errors and lost a key fly ball in the sun (with bases loaded, no less).

The upside is that, while the crowd was not large, it was the largest of the young season (save the education day game), and it was “Bark in the Park” Sunday.

Last night, the Chiefs won convincingly, 3-0 behind outstanding pitching.

Workout notes PT, deadlifts, flat 4 mile walk (4.3 in 1:02:08; 14:27 pace). I started off slowly; 30:15 after the brick street neighborhood in West Peoria.

Warm: in the upper 70’s at that time, to reach 80’s during the game.

Before the walk:

low: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 5 x 225 (easy), 5 x 240 (hard, sloppy)
Wagon wheel: 5 x 250, 5 x 260 (I think the wagon wheels discourage bouncing making these more honest)

6 inch (big trap bar) 5 x 280 (easy), 4 x 300 (hard).

And the downward trend continues

I am talking about my weight, not our enrollment numbers.

Last night: baseball double header: in the first game, the Chiefs fell behind 3-0 after the top of the first inning! But the pitcher got it together and threw well for the next few innings before being relieved. And Beliot’s pitching was bad. Final: 12-4 Chiefs.

The Chiefs completed the sweep winning the second game 6-2 to take a 3-1 series lead over the Skycarp.

Working it out

Friday: 5 miles: the usual low loop (56:30 at 4) and extended it to 5; watch went bonkers and gave me a 9:36 mile 5 (yeah, right). Call is 1:11:36 for 5 (14:19 pace). I got soaked as it rained hard during the first 3.5-4 miles or so.

Later: 2.18 miles at 16 for my commuter walk.

Today: slept in; late start. Longish PT (extra psoas marches, monster walks) and pull ups:
weird set of 12 singles, alternating overhand, chin up, mixed 1, mixed 2. Then 4 sets of 6 (pull ups, chin up), then 8 pull ups, 7 chin ups, 3 pause pull ups, 3 pause chins (these were hard) I paused on the way up, then at the top for each rep.

Downstairs:

High incline: 5 x 94, 5 x 105, 3 sets of 5 x 120 with 6-7 minute rests, 2 x 125 (wanted 3)

Bench: 2 sets of 10 x 134 regular, 8 x 134 Swiss bar. 3 sets of 10 curls.

Then after lunch, leisurely 5.1 mile walk (15:30 mile 1?) 1:15:33. Got it going later. New scourge: e-bikes. Good grief. Ok, they weren’t that bad but I don’t like them.

It has been busy

I just realized I have not posted from Tuesday (Chiefs home opener), Wednesday (Bradley game vs. Lindenwood) and Thursday (today)

Baseball: The Chiefs won their hope opener 5-3; they were cruising along until Beloit got a towering home run to left field to cut the 4-0 lead to 4-2.

Wednesday: Bradley lost to Lindenwood 11-9 and committed 3 errors in the process. It was 11-6 going into the bottom of the 9’th but Bradley’s 2n’d home run (or was it 3?) started off a rally.

Note that a key play came on a Lindenwood squeeze bunt that was effective..and the throw to first base was botched.

The slot at Dozer was open because the Chiefs played a day game.

Workouts I know…sports, workout. But I’ve been obsessed with work stuff.

Tuesday: weights at a 4.1 mile commuter walk, dodging the construction trucks. Time was 56:58 (West Peoria plus campus) for 13:54. This came after the weights: pull ups were 10 sets of 6. The downstairs: high incline: 5 x 94, 5 x 105, 1 x 115, 1 x 134 (struggle), 2 sets of 5 x 120, 2 sets of 4 x 120

Bench: 2 sets of 7 x 134 with the Swiss bar, 1 x 134 straight bar, and 3 sets of 10 curls.

Wednesday: did the 5 mile hill course (the 5 hill out and back in Bradley park) 1:12:34 (back felt ok) then a 2 mile commuter walk.

Thursday: tired from the games and some tingling/numbness in the left glute/hip. Not sure, but the lifting:

pull ups: 10 single pull ups, 10 single chin ups, 4 sets of 6 (chins, pulls), 8 pull ups, 6 chin ups, then a 45 second hold.

Superset dead lifts and presses: bench: 1 set of 10 with 134, 3 sets of 8 with 145. high incline: 3 sets of 10 x 94. The deads:

low: 10 x 134, 10 x 184
Wagon wheel 4 inch: 5 x 234, 5 x 250 (more challenging than I had hoped.

6 inch (big trap bar) 5 x 280. That was enough.

Later: an achy commuter walk (5K) 16:05 pace.

Baseball is back!

Yesterday: I decided on a 2 loop Cornstalk course: Cornstalk loop then lower loop; this was about 5.4 miles total (1:19:08, 14:39 pace). It was stiff..just a bit, but my later commuter walk (2.23 miles at 17:00) was unremarkable.

Today: I decided to start by walking 4 miles (lower loop) and ended up dodging a 5K race in progress: almost all women. 58:48 or 14:35; slowish but was pain free. Finished the rest of PT while I did pull ups (less rest); 2 sets of 10 singles (pull ups, chins), then 5 pull ups, 5 chins, 7 + 4 pull ups, 5+5 chins.

This, plus the compressed pull ups, lead to fatigue in the high incline: 10 x 94, then 4 sets of 4 x 120..followed by 2 misses with 134. Did NOT have the endurance to grind.

Then superset with 3 sets of curls and 7 x 134, 7 x 134, 9 x 134 with the Swiss bar (sore right shoulder earlier..ok now?)

Yesterday I had one of those days where the knees, lumbar and shoulder took turns irritating me.

I got some trap bar data.

Silver bar: (thinner handle): 9.25 inches to the top, low. 13.25 inches to the top, high. 4 inch difference.

Black bar (thicker handle) 9.5 inches to the top, low, 15.5 inches to the top, high. 6 inch difference.

Wagon wheel: raises the bar by 4.25 inches from the regular.

Silver with wagon wheel: 13.5 inches to the top low, 17.5 inches high. So, the wagon wheel gives 4.25 inches at the low position, 8.25 at the high position.

Baseball: finally, I made a game, the first game of a double header (Sunday’s game moved to today). It ended 14-0 Missouri State, though I was happy to be at a game.