I developed a sore throat after covid and it is persisting. I am getting it checked out tomorrow.
My treadmill walk left me with a somewhat stiff back but stretching helped.
Basketball Bradley drew 10,400+ fans and defeated Drake 73-61, thereby winning the MVC crown and guaranteeing them *at least* an NIT bid. It was a 3 point lead at the half and Drake took a 42-41 lead..but BU went on a run and did not look back.
This felt like “old times” though BU last on the title in 1996.
Yes, my full workout took about 3 hours from start to finish, but..I really did not do that much.
Around 8:30 I started with a light stretch, followed by 2.15 miles of commuter type walking.
Then I mixed PT with pull ups/stretches:
3 sets of 10 singles (final 2 unsat), then 2, 6 (so so), 6, 5, 7 (57 total reps) mixed in with a LOT of physical therapy for both the back and shoulder. That got me to 10:10 or so.
Downstairs: bench: 5 x 134, 4 x 165, 4 x 165, 4 x 165, 4 x 160 (disappointing); maybe arched in one of the reps (butt down but I don’t need to extend my back under load)
high incline: 10 x 85 then 3 sets of 7 x 94 (touch in every single rep)
curls: 2 sets of 10, 1 set of 7, 7, 7 (burn) That got me to 10:55.
Then upstairs for MORE pt and stretching (open book, etc, included 5 sets of 10 full push ups, 2 sets of 10 chest taps).
Finally, started walk 2.15 at about 11:20 and finished at about 11:46
That is a lot of time to spend on doing..not much.
But the second walk went very, very well; no pain at all. It was roughly the same course.
Later: I walked to our final home game for our women’s basketball team. We were playing a team that was “midpack” in our conference and of course we got creamed 64-38 in a game was was even worse than the score might indicate.
The lead grew to 30 and, well, lots of women got to play. Unfortunately, our team was overmatched at almost every position; speed, quickness, athletic ability, everything. The ladies ARE scrappers; one is a former team trainer who stepped up to help out. But practice, hustle, hard work and desire, which our team has, can go only so far. I am confident our first year coach can get us going in the right direction and bring in players who can do what she wants the team to do. This was a rough transition year.
PT, and a walk that became hard about 2.5 or so; it was not the worst however.
I felt good enough to try a 1.3 mile commuter walk after lunch and it was..ok..was ready to stop.
It feels as if I am in a type of limbo; not quite well, not quite injured..and thank goodness, NOTHING like a year ago..or even April, May, June, July, etc. I’d say September or October like.
Oh yes, my mini-handles are here. Farmer’s walks when it gets a bit warmer outside. Can’t wait to try them out.
Basketball:
Before the game, I thought Bradley had a good shot at getting its first conference win, and after 1 quarter, I still thought that. But it was 53-37 after 3 and I thought that it was “same old, same old.” But then look at that 4’th quarter; BU had pulled within 2 with 38 seconds to go. 35 points in the 4’th: BU was making everything they put up. Normally, 35 points is a good HALF for us.
But it was not to be; Valpo hit their free throws down the stretch (ALL of them) and won in the end.
Today: I’ve had sort of a mini-rebound wave. I’ve had brief periods of just not feeling well, though my workout went fine. I quit my walk at just the right time.
Wednesday: PT, stretch, walk.
The second walk went great for 1.8 miles or so.
Today: weights and a short walk.
Mile 1 was 14:04. I quit at just the right spot. It was cold and rainy.
Weight: 196.
the weights: pull ups: single crunch/lumbar stretch combinations (5, 5, 8, 8, 6)
two sets of 5 then 10 singles.
Push ups (before) 2 sets of 20, 2 sets of 15, along with 2 sets of 10 chest taps.
Weights: low: 10 x 134, 10 x 190 (no bounce) 4 inch: 10 x 235 (no bounce) All felt …good?
Then high incline presses: 10 x 75, 10 x 80, 10 x 85, full range of motion this time. Lighter, but yes, I CAN get the full range of motion, engage the back, etc. I feel it (in a good way) and will stick with that. I think I can up the weight just a bit.
Then the walk.
Bradley Basketball
Bradley raced to a 37-26 halftime lead and extended it to 44-28 with 18 minutes left in the game. BU was getting great shots..and working to get them. But then BU got a bit complacent and Missouri State clawed back into the game, pulling within 6 at one point.
Nevertheless BU responded and won 64-54.
This is a very good Bradley team; 20-8, tied for first in the Missouri Valley conference. And yet..the average attendance is about 1900 LESS than the first team our current coach had..which went 5-27. The largest crowd we had this year was just over 6200 which would have been a below average crowd from 1992-2014…every single year.
“Win and they will come” has been scaled back. This year saw the worst attendance going back to at least 1978.
Workout: PT, deadlifts (134 x 10, 184 x 10, 204 x 10 low, 251 x 10 4 inch), 2 mile walk. PM: commuter walk from the game.
Both walks ended on “the verge of mild discomfort.”
Later, I took a flex shot; yep, not awful for my age (63) but the muscles are soft.
I did watch the Bradley women lose to Southern 83-59; SIU lead for most of the game, but it was 55-47 going into the 4’th; too much inside, and too much quickness at the guard spot.
Note: the game got chippy; BU had an intentional foul called, and on one common foul, the team’s players drew technical fouls (one on each team).
SIU had a 6′ 5″ center who was able to get a “wedged ball” by jump that required no run up.
The deadlift videos: improved but the low handle position: still having trouble getting the back angle correct.
Last night the women played a good Missouri State team tough. They lead at the half.
Bradley lead 50-49 going into the 4’th and it was still a 1 point game with 2 minutes to go.
But alas Missouri State made the big plays between 2 and 1 minute (steals, breakaway lay ups) and ended up winning 74-64.
I took a couple of shots.
Today: the men dominated Murray State 83-48; it was close with 3 minutes to go in the half, then BU went on 13-0 run to take a 31-21 lead into the half.
The bigs dominated the paint and blocked 5 shots; help defense was outstanding. Then in the second half, BU started hitting 3 point shots and the slaughter was on.
An aside: Illinois knocked off no. 24 Rutgers 69-60 and Navy blew out Army 70-53.
Yes, finally, a reasonably warm day! (by February in Illinois standards).
I broke up my workout: first PT and deadlifts. Then T. came by to deliver a lamp. She is an Army vet and KNEW I wore the Navy shirt for her benefit.
Afterwards, I walked my West Peoria 5K course.
Bodywise: I had some glute ache after deads in my RIGHT glute, but in the evening, just the usual in the left. The walk itself: some minor tingles at 2.2 then again at 2.8 but nothing like the bad old days. The walk itself went well.
The deadlifts: I decided to tackle the “hips rising too fast” problem. I think one issue is mobility, though I show decent mobility with 134. Another issue might be that my feet are a bit too far back; I’ll try to scoot them up just a bit.
From 1 week ago with light weight. I wonder if my feet are slightly more forward? The back position looks much better.
Afterward, I decided to catch a Bradley Women’s basketball game against Belmont. I told B that I thought BU would play a competitive first quarter, and that they did: they made 4 of 6 three point attempts to lead 20-17 after 1. But then came reality; it was 34-29 at the half and 55-37 after 3 quarters. The lead reached 22 points then Belmont put in their reserves and coasted to a 68-54 win..that really wasn’t as close as the score might indicate.
Rough season for the Bradley women; they are starting from scratch.
From my end: I am just grateful I got to go and plan to make the rest of the home games (both men and women)
The mismatch: Struggling Valpo visited Bradley and the result was 88-66, though it was 49-24 at the half and the lead blew up to 33 points. Overall, Bradley shot 58.3 percent from the field and went 12-27 from 3 point range; but just prior to halftime, it was 6-10. BU had lots of uncontested 3 point shots and dunks.
12 Braves saw action.
4476 was the official attendance and it was a somewhat above average crowd for this year. The crowds just aren’t what they once were.
But before the game, I did a PT, deadlift and 5 mile walk.
Deadlift: 10 x 134, 10 x 184 low.
Intention was to boost my 4 inch lift to 6-8 reps with 270 (got 10 x 265 last week) but I made a mistake: 45, 25, 25, 10, 5.5, 5, 2.5 on each side; that plus the 44 lb bar makes 280, not 270. So when I tried, I was surprised at how hard the first rep was and so struggled to do 5 before I quit. I almost panicked. Then I recounted…”oh sure.” So I did set 2 with 280; and while it was challenging, it went easier because I was mentally prepared for the weight.
10 x 280 at 8 inch finished the festivites.
Then the back felt positively great for my “3 to 5 mile walk”; did a complete upper Cornstalk loop and then a half lower loop. I really felt good.
Workouts:
Yesterday, weights and 5K walk. Walk was a slightly less comfortable than I’d like.
Weights: 70 push ups with PT: 7 sets of 10, including 2 chest-tap/push ups
Pull ups: sets 10, 5, and singles (to get to 50 reps; some were chin ups)
Bench press: 5 x 134, 1 x 155, 1 x 170, 1 x 175, 3 x 165, 4 x 160, 4 x 160
curls: 3 sets of 10
Swiss Bar incline 3 sets of 10 x 94
Then the walk.
Today: lots of PT, more stretching, then a 10K walk (some discomfort at 3.5) but less discomfort than yesterday.
Weight: 193 before walking.
Basketball:
Last night: the women got hammered by Northern Iowa. Oh, it was 35-30 Bradley at the half. But at 34-9 3’rd quarter but Northern in command (a LOT of 3 point makes) and it ended 83-64.
Today: the men pounded Illinois Chicago 79-45, and were up 39-13 at the half. The lead was over 40 points at one point.
I got up to beat the storm; I did PT and then started the walk at 7:23: 30 degrees. Finished: 9:00: 19 degrees. Slight outside the hip discomfort at times. Somewhat slippery at times..not terrible.
Later: drove SLOWLY to the Bradley Basketball game; they won 74-55 in a game that was not that “close”; they had a 30 point lead late; it was 36-19 at the half. The defense was smothering.
Not many were there though.
Life of an old goat 