Category: illness

Pushing through it

Saturday night: I saw the Illinois State Redbirds beat Morehead State 41-13. While the Eagles were overmatched, they did take the opening drive for a touchdown (and botched the extra point). After a fumble and a punt, the Redbirds got a field goal to pull to within 6-3, which was the first quarter score.
Finally the Birds got rolling and it was 17-6 at the half.
Every now and then the Eagles could get a short drive, but they did not have good field goal kicking and had to go for it when they got to the 30 or so.
The Redbirds have a better kicker and tacked on 10 to lead 27-6 going into the 4’th quarter.

But, somehow, the Eagles rallied and put together a nice drive to cut it to 27-13, which it remained until 4:28 when a drive netted an “ice the game” touchdown. A scoop and score on the next series pushed the final margin to 41-13.

Sunday: West Peoria 8 plus 2 miles of campus walking: 14:36 pace (2:26:25). This was my best 10 mile walk since last September (Quad Cities half). Go figure.

Then we had a little mini-hike at Forest Park Nature Center (lower loop with Barbara and Neil)

Monday: slow 2 mile commuter walk over lunch (like today). I was nursing a sore shoulder (bench presses on Saturday?).
pull ups: 10 sets of 5
bench press: 10 x 134, 3 sets of 5 x 150 (very cautious)
high incline: 10 x 94, 2 sets of 5 x 110

Tuesday: cool. 10K course in 1:28:18 (14:14); didn’t push the pace. Saw 3 deer.

Wednesday: 2 mile commuter walk.

pull ups 8 sets of 6 pull up style, set of 5 chin ups.
Swiss Bar bench: 3 sets of 10 x 134
high incline: 10 x 94, 2 sets of 5 x 110
4 inch trap bar: 10 x 134, 10 x 184
Wagon wheel with the 60 lb bar: 10 x 230 (cautious)

Toxic dialogue

One thing that bothers me is some of the actions of ICE.
Yes, a nation has the right to control immigration. Yes, one should obey the laws. And yes, even Democratic presidents deported people. Personally, I wish we would reform a guest worker program to get people here that can and are willing to do beneficial tasks.

But that discussion is for another day.

What ICE doing is, well, unethical, incompetent and reckless. Yes, business has a saying “go fast and break things” but in an area where an error can seriously harm people’s lives, the humane thing is to MAKE SURE. Here is a case where a legal immigrant with a clean criminal record was secretly deported. In his case: he lost his wallet so he went to the appropriate agency to get a replacement green card, and that is where ICE got him. Actions such as these discourage people from acting ethically and following the law.

By all means, enforce the law, but do so ethically, competently and as humanely as the situation reasonably allows for. Yes, one has to be rough and harsh if one is, say, deporting a violent gang member.

Medicaid Rollbacks One misconception in liberal circles is that illegal immigrants do not get Medicaid. That WAS true up until 2020 in most states. But in 2020 (the year COVID started), aid was extended to all, without regards to legal status, in come states. Yes, that made sense at the time; after all, the COVID virus was highly contagious and didn’t care about your status. Fewer infected meant that fewer could pass it along.

But now that is being taken away. Yes, a host country can decide which non-citizens are eligible for subsidized services.

Steamboat 2025

This year, well, was very different from the previous 2 years. For the first time, Tracy and I did it together. It was fun; glad we did it. And Tracy won the 80-84 F age group (open category)

As far as our race: I was going to walk with her and we stayed reasonably steady the whole race, never varying much from 15:10 mpm until the very downhill last mile which got us to the finish line in 1:00:17. I had predicted this time for us.


As far as the race itself: it was different. They started us in “waves” but perhaps not quite as defined as they are in other races. They had the wheelchairs, USATF 4 mile waves (W , M, W master’s, M master’s, then some open waves going at 7:15) and we had a slightly different course and went in reverse of the traditional route.

Obviously, I finished much further back than normal, save for the time when I walked with Barbara, years ago. Yes, I walked last year too, but then my “chip time” was just under 44 and people around me were mostly doing their best.

Now, at an hour, you had “participants”, people posing for photos, people engaging in long phone conversations, people with braces, old people (I saw several octogenarians), overweight people, etc. On the way back..I got to see the swift 15K runners; that was fun. It really is a different world back there.

This was definitely one of the “fun ones.” I am glad I did it and I am glad I did it this way.

Afterward, I sneaked in 3 sets of trap bar deadlifts (low handle this time): 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 225

Steamboat History

1998: 15K 1:08:22 183/844 (sticky) Was running just under 20 for 5K in those days. 22:50/23:05/22:27, 29/71 AG 167/603 men
1999: 15K 1:07:53 187/725, place was a bit worse; roughly 20:40 for 5K in these days 22:38/23:01/22:13 39/76 AG, 170/511 men
2000: 4m 27:51 After a 10K/half marathon double and 1:35 half a few weeks earlier.
2001: 4m 29:13 Lake Geneva Marathon 3:40
2001: 15K 1:11:16 (126/381) Fall 15K 23:20/24:04/23:51
2002: 4m 43:15 (walk)
2002: 15K 1:14:33 (run; fall) 167/405 24:10/25:07/25:16
2004: 4m 33:10 (two 24 hour walks in May; 101 and 88)
2005: 15K 1:23:13 (26:40/27:39/28:43) McNaughton 100 in April, Marathon on Memorial Day.
2006: 4M 42:10 (walk), FANS 24 in June (83 miles)
2007: Walk with Barbara 1:10
2008: Walk with Barbara 1:13
2009: run 1:27:23 (9:22 mpm) Place: 519/726 29:21/29:49/28:43, 34/43 AG
2010: walk 4 miles 39:32.
2011: walk 15 km 1:48:02 37:12/36:24/34:26
2012: run 15 km 1:36:55 29:26/33:54/33:35 679/835
2013: 15K 1:29:04 (29:34/29:53/29:38) 40/50 AG, 552/866
2014: 1:29:57 (29:22/30:46/29:49)
2015: 1:34:28 (30:49/32:49/30:50) (2 weeks after FANS 59.9) 579/804, 376/461 males, 173/219 male masters, 36/43 AG
2016: 1:41:57: 31:40/34:37/35:40 667/822, 413/458 male, 196/221 master male, 30/33 AG.
2017: walk 1:55:52: 37:04/39:41/39:07 Just not in very good shape.
2018: 2:15:55 walk/jog…gave up after 2 miles and mostly walked (22:15). 39:20/48:19/48:16
2019: 1:38:36 31:44/35:12/31:40 (3 loop version, rainy and cool)

2020: covid cancelled, 2021: cheered on Tracy (injured), 2022 injured (back)

2023: walk with Lynnor: 54:46 (cool day, 27:28/27:18)

2024: 4 mile walk 43:44 cool day, 22:16/21:28
2025: 4 mile walk with Tracy: 1:00:17 (social).

Building back up

Slow, 2 miles in 3 F walk after weights:

pull ups (it was -3 at the time)
5, 7, 6, 6, 6, 8, 5, 5, 4 (hands were cold; not great reps)

bench press: 10 x 134, 6 x 150, 7 x 150, 6 x 150
high incline: 10 x 94, 5 x 105, 5 x 105
curls: 3 sets of 10
4 inch deadlifts: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 234

Note: no knee pain last night (treadmill the day before)

Note: while I feel 100 times better than I did last week, I still coughed after the higher exertion sets.

Yesterday: 3.1 on the treadmill in 45 (per Garmin; my treadmill’s reading gave me a sub 13 pace), then a 1.2 mile commuter walk.

Still on the upward path

I felt good enough to try more of a workout.
PT
Pull ups (while it was snowing): 7, 7, 6, 5, 5, 6,5, 4 (mixed grip), 4 (mixed grip), 1 (to get to 50 reps)
Swiss bench: 10 x 134, 3 x 150 (missed with rep 4), 7 x 134 (first rep was a pin press)
regular bench: 5 x 150 (harder than it should have been)

high incline: 10 x 94, 5 x 105, 5 x 105
curls: 3 sets of 10.
Then a 15:4x ish walk outside on *mostly* plowed walks. I wore my heavier shoes.
Had some knee pain last night so I iced today.

Coughing: still cough during exertion (right afterward) but it has calmed down quite a bit.

Plan: maybe a bit harder tomorrow: challenge myself to 5K?

Basketball obsession: watched the Bradley men on TV (picked up just before halftime due to the longest game ever before) and the Bradley women on ESPN+; at first I had the women on the phone and the men on the laptop. Both won 2 point games (Drake, Indiana State). I payed more attention to the women’s game as it ran a shorter time; then I watched the conclusion of the men’s game.

Post flu

First workout back, post flu. Ok, not quite “post” as I did have coughing fits here and there, mostly after exertion, change in air temperature, etc.

Pull ups: 5 singles, 5 singles, 4 sets of 5 (7 F outside)

Swiss bench: 3 sets: 10 x 134, 10 x 134, 9 x 134
curls: 2 sets of 10
high incline: 7 x 94, 10 x 94

Later: 2.18 mile commuter walk on almost dry walks (which are now covered…again)

Why I felt “weird”

On Sunday, a routine workout felt harder than it should have been and tired me out. I felt burning in the nose: the type before a bug hits.

Bam. I did not test, but the symptoms point to the common flu.

Monday: managed a 1 mile walk; body aches, fatigue and a dry cough. Taught my classes remotely and went to bed afterward.

Tuesday: worked remotely. Cough. Body aches. Fatigue…up the stairs was a major chore. Slept the afternoon, went to bed at 6:45. Nasal drainage. Headache

Wednesday: today: much better. Only 1 shot of Dayquil. 1 mile walk; stairs, light snow shoveling were all ok.

I’ve been masking around others (especially B) and sleeping in the “goat house.” Coughing: occurs in infrequent spurts.

I am hoping for some light lifting on Friday.

Feeling a bit weird

My cough is much better, but my nose feels as if I had swam 5k in a heavily chlorinated pool. It just burns.

Knee pain: much less of it Saturday night. I had a LOT of it on Friday night; wonder if I am cycling wrong. Next time: check the seat height?

Workout notes:

Saturday: started with a slowish 5K walk (16:54) and then weights;
pull ups: 5 sets of 5, 8, 4, 3 sets of 5, 4 singles. Kind of a rough one.
bench (Swiss bar), 10 x 134, 4 x 150, 4 x 150, 4 x 145, 5 x 145
incline: 4 x 134
high incline: 2 sets of 10 x 94
curls: 2 sets of 15.

Sunday: deadlifts: 4 inch: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 234, 1 x 300
6 inch: 10 x 280 (good thigh burn)
Then I drove out to Rock Island trail: missed the Alta road turn going out: 4 miles in 15:15 per mile, with the final mile being 14:47.

New month: same (older) me

Friday (31’st) drizzle. Walked my lower Bradley course (wet) in 55:29. I was 41:33 at the park exit and held on. Slight knee pain that night (didn’t ice after the workout). Still, it was nice to average under 14 min/mile again.

Saturday: Riverplex: 10 fake miles in 34:01 on the bike; then went outside on a course which was slippery because of frost..at first. 16:41 for just over 4 miles.

Friday night: caught the women’s gave vs. Missouri St. MSU got off to a fast start, lead by 10 at the half and won 72-61. BU tried to rally but turned it over too much. Still, the team IS improved from last year.

I wore a mask due to the throat tickle I have. The mucus cutting pills have really helped with the cough.