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.
I don’t intend the title to be that dramatic; by pain I mean “old injuries start to ache again” and by “body pain” I mean a moderate dull whole body arthritis style ache.
I had such a wave yesterday upon waking up. It got slightly better after moderate exercise but, I finally gave in an took a single Narproxen (had stopped this in November 2022). Took one in the evening and this morning.
Prognosis: much better today, though I felt the left glute/hip at 2 miles into my walk this morning (much better pace)
Before the walk:
PT mixed with pull ups: enough reps (10 singles of crunch pull ups, 10 singles of regular pull ups, sets of 5 singles and 5 total) to get to 50 reps total.
Bench: 5 x 134, 3 sets of 6 x 155 (better)
low handle deadlift (form check) 10 x 134, 10 x 185 much improved body position.
3 sets of 10 x 94 high incline
push ups/stretch: 3 sets of 20, 2 sets of 10 chest tap pushups
Then the walk.
Contrast the above to the last time I tried 184.
The second: back is almost parallel to the ground (“stripper squat” position). The top: much better positioning, though on rep 1 there was a bit of hips rising too fast.
The difference: position of the feet. In the first, the hands were closer to my side rather than in front of me; I felt a bit squished at the start.
Well, I was pretty achy last night and this morning. PT went ok and the walk; 1.6-1.7 were pain free and some pain toward the end.
This is certainly not the worst I’ve done.
But I gave into it and took 2 single doses of naproxen. That is a first in a while.
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)
Yes, it felt good; few streamed the classes. But it WAS tiring.
Maybe this will be the final test result I’ll post.
Workout notes: yesterday, full PT and 5 sets of pull ups; 3 were 6 singles and 2 were 6 reps (ok, 4 if you believe the critics)
I went into the office a bit.
Today: PT (full) and push ups: 5 sets of 20. Then one sort of rough commuter walk; I’ll have to roll a bit and I’ll have to stretch before walking. It wasn’t like the bad old days though..not even close.
Messed with some BinaxNow tests; one was bad, but I ygot negatives on two of the tests. So…maybe?
Workout: full back, dumbbell shoulder and 4 sets of 20 push-ups.
Today was the best I’ve felt in these past 2 weeks, both in terms of energy and in terms of symptoms. I might well have turned the corner.
The saga continues. Frankly, yesterday’s negative kind of surprised me. I did not feel quite that good. And last night: frequent urination again (not as bad as day 1). And low and behold: faint positive.
I was expecting this yesterday. But I feel ok as I type this and I got a few things done, took a micro walk (about 1/2 mile total) and did my back exercises. Push ups tomorrow with back, and online AGAIN.
Society It appears as if COVID is being accepted as being part of the background now, just another one of life’s risks. I really wish we had used this to invest in better air filtration systems for our schools, office buildings and the like.
I do like that we are going to go to some sort of “seasonal vaccine” to match the current strain. I’ll get one of those for sure. And I’ll probably become a regular mask wearer (indoor in large groups that I do not know), at least “in season.”
We will soon see if this is true, or fool’s gold. Wednesday will tell.
Today: full PT, and 25 pull up repetitions. Some back stiffness (sitting? Maybe walk tomorrow?)
This is progress from yesterday. For the timeline, go here.
Workout notes: not a whole lot. PT (mostly downstairs while B was gone..door open, masked up) and some on the porch.
Push ups: 4 sets of 15 flat, 20 inclined..just enough to keep shoulder mobility.
I am keeping track so anyone who gets COVID for the first time can see what one person’s timeline looks like.
Me: 63 year old male, 6′ 0″, 195 lb, vaccinated, boosted (2) and an omicron booster in September of 2022.
I do NOT know (for sure) where I got it; my unmasked meeting were:
colleagues (2) on Friday 6 January, basketball game bathroom 7 January, football game bathroom 8 January, trip with a friend (8 January) visit with 4 other people (evening of 8 January)
10 January (Tuesday) a planned workout turned out to be much, much harder than normal.
10 January (Tuesday) burning eyes and nose, onset of fatiuge
10-11 January frequent urination while trying to sleep. Fatigue, body aches, burning nose and eyes. Tested: very dark positive.
11 January (Wednesday) : fatigue, body aches, fever (99 to 101 F) Felt like death warmed over. Started Paxlovid.
11-12 January: another rough night; some drainage.
12 January: some drainage, fatigue, but improved symptoms
13 January: better night. Some symptoms.
14-15 January (weekend) Better still; just a tad tired, and that is it.
15 January: tested. Positive line is there but very much fainter. Ended Paxlovid (5 day course, 11-15 January)
16-17 January: *almost* back to normal.
17 January: positive line is oh-so-faint…does not show up in the camera.
18 January: taught class online. Vowed to return on the 20’th. Looking good!
18 January evening: “not so fast”. burning eyes and nose comes back. Mild fatigue starts to set in. Drainage starts; nose is like a spigot of clear, runny fluid. Ruin another mask with so much drainage.
18-19 January: (Wed-Thursday) rough night. coughing and drainage. Mild fatigue (NOT like day 1)
19 test: strong test line after only 5 minutes. Fatigue, light body aches, drainage, etc.
20 Taught online. Some fatigue, light drainage. Napped on and off after classes.
21 Jan (Saturday) tested. Different type of test. Emphatic positive (red line) Drainage is way down, burning eyes are down, feeling better but not “well.”
22 Jan (Sunday) slept through the night sans NyQuil. Taking nothing regular. Normal urination patterns, very little coughing and residual congestion; not much. Still felt anxious upon waking up. slightly more energy. Fainter test line.
23 January (Monday) woke up a bit tired…somewhat “allergy eyes and nose” but improved with morning coffee. Normal sleep..ok, still sort of a “second sleep” pattern but none of the frequent urinaton.
24 January: fitful night; lots of urination. Felt I was going to test positive the next morning. I did. It was faint, but there. Need to rest more and drink more.
I feel as if I am in purgatory. I don’t feel poorly enough to warrant slacking so much, but I am still contagious. And yeah, I tire easily..very easily. Even teaching online classes takes something out of me. Attitude is not good. Tired of this crap. Wish I had been more careful; won’t make that mistake again.
25 January: BinaxNow tests; I screwed up one test with too much liquid (tough to get the drops to be 6) and didn’t trust the second test (though it showed negative). This is the third: negative. The night before: some frequent urination; stomach upset at about midnight. Felt great throughout the day; taught online, did chores, just a tiny bit tired.
26 January. Negative (though mostly line on one side) Felt good enough to go to the office and work.
27 January. Negative. Taught and worked a full day, with PT, 5 sets of 20 push ups and a 1 mile walk after lunch. And..that wiped me out. Am tired. I feel I am out of it, but strength is low.
28 January. Negative. Did PT (leisurely) and walked 2 miles at 15:00 per mile (15:15, 14:45) on mostly snow free roads. Low energy; napped in the afternoon. Note: sinus headache when I woke up but two Tylenol were sufficient.
Physical therapy notes: 20 Jan: back exercises in my isolation room.
21 Jan: back and shoulder on the porch (30’s) and 25 pull up repetitions (20 of them modified, one “Honest” set of 5)
Pulse oximeter: 97-98. Not an issue. No wheezing, etc.
Misery idex:
Death days: 1 (11 January)
Man-flu achy days: 5 so far (12, 13 January, 18, 19, 20 January)
Cold-caliber annoying days 3 so far (14 January 21 January 22 January )
“I feel well” days 3 so far (15, 16 and 17 January: fool’s gold).
Life of an old goat 