Category: weight training

Made it to Wednesday

I might not have been busy-busy but, well, I slept well last night: finally.

Workout notes: Monday: 2 mile commuter walk. Pull ups: better than average:
4 sets of 5, one of 10, 4 of 5.
Bench: 10 x 134, 1 x 175, (easy), 5 x 160, 5 x 155
high incline: 10 x 94, 10 x 105 (yay!) 10 x 94

Tuesday: easier walk; a 6.6 mile W. Peoria course in 1:32:53 (14:04). Not as fast as last week but this was outside on wet pavement.

Wednesday: Walgreens 2 mile walk, weights were: pull ups were hard today; mostly sets of 5 and a dreadful set of 10 Bench: 10 x 134, 10 x 150, 10 x 134
Wagon Wheel: 10 x 200, 10 x 200, 10 x 230

High incline: 10 x 94, 5 x 115, 5 x 110.

Bradley Basketball: Bradley beat Belmont 95-84 in overtime; it was tied at 80-80 at the end. BU hit a 3 in regulation to tie it, and Belmont tried to stall for the last shot and threw the ball away. In OT, Belmont got into the “foul foul foul” situation which led to the final margin.

Note: Bradely hit 17 of 36 from 3. Belmont got a lot of dunks. But a dunk, while exciting, is worth 2 points.

B, my “wife/friend” went with me but I was in no mood for a selfie.

Midway through the Super Bowl

I’ve had a chance to blog but haven’t taken it.

Workouts: mostly with rage:
Slept horribly on Thursday night. Friday: was a zombie. What happened:
Pull ups went well: 5 sets of 6, 10, 4 sets of 5.
Bench press: 10 x 134, 5 x 160, 5 x 160, 6 x 155
high incline: 10 x 94, 5 x 115, 7 x 105

2 mile commuter walk prior to a talk.

Saturday. West Peoria plus extra 10.15 in 2:33:17 (15:06 mpm)
Later: pushed my…not sure what to call her…my legal wife but really sort of a housemate…around for 2 miles on the wheelchair.

Sunday: 2 mile commuter walk.
Deadlifts: straight bar: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 225
Wagon wheel trap: 2 x 300 (waited too long between sets; reminded that I missed my Dad’s birthday yesterday due to petty concerns..sure he died 22 years ago but that isn’t the point…) then 10 x 260

Later: pushed my “good friend/legally my wife” for 2 miles on the Riverfront. I enjoyed it.

Already Wednesday

How time flies! I am a bit tired…with good reason.

Workout notes:
Walking: commuter walks on Monday and Wednesday: Monday I had a 1 and a 2. Wednesday: 2 miles.

Tuesday: 1:19:02 for 51 laps of Markin; I had one 8 lap stretch over 19; miles 4 and 5 were under 12 (or 8 lap segments anyway). This was 5 minutes faster than the week before, but really cannot compare to a time on those park courses. And my legs felt it the day after.

Weights: Monday: 50 reps for pull ups (10 sets of 5), bench: 10 x 134, 5 x 160, 5 x 160, 5 x 155. High incline: 10 x 94, 2 x 115, 7 x 105, 7 x 105

Wednesday; 4 sets of 5, 10, 4 sets of 5 (11 F). Wagon wheel: 10 x 200, 10 x 200, 10 x 230. High incline: 10 x 94, 5 x 115, 5 x 110.

Note: each weight workout ended with a 2 minute plank.

Basketball Bradley beat Valpo 72-65 in a game that they lead by as many as 14 points. BU appeared to be in control but let it get competitive in the final minutes. BU had 6 more free throws and that appeared to be the difference.

On a personal note; Barbara went with me!

End of the weekend..

And there isn’t that much to tell.
On Saturday: I did a hybrid walk: 4 miles on the treadmill in 57:45. My old Sport-tech treamill is manual and you need to be at an incline to use it, and that is hard on the lumbar after a while. I am good for just about 1 hour. Then outside on the campus walks for another “almsot 10k” at a 16:43 pace. It was cold but 17 F or so.

I wonder; the bunions on my left foot bother me just a bit; I’ll have to keep them lubed up.

Today: 2 mile walk outdoors after some deadlifts:
Straight bar: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 225
Wagon Wheel trap bar (4.2 inch advantage) 10 x 260, 1 x 300 (started to lose the grip), 2 x 300 (didn’t want to press my luck)

I am sure that I can do better than this, but I really want to avoid setbacks.

Bad dreams

I had a couple of weird dreams. One involved my being tabbed to play on two different college baseball teams, without any practice of any kind. Another had someone in our house, making changes..wiht my wife’s consent. And she had not asked me beforehand! Weird stuff.

Now back to my even more boring stuff.

Thursday: didn’t want to do the track again, so 4 treadmill miles in 57 minutes then a cold 2 mile slow walk outside.

Friday: oh, that’s today….the department halls were a complete morgue. Empty everywhere.

2 mile commuter walk; weights first.
Below zero outside so pull ups were terrible again; got my 50 reps though.
Bench: 10 x 134, 2 x 170, 2 x 165 (wanted 3), 5 x 160, 5 x 155, 5 x 155
high incline: 10 x 94, 2 x 115, 7 x 105, 5 x 110 The 2 was an aborted set.

Baseketball
The Bradley women held off a spirited Drake squad 75-69. One player had 32 and the two freshmen really worked well together.

Barbara didn’t want to go (cold and still snowy) so I had ChatGPT give me a date.

In a fog

I’d like to get back to reading, and this has been the perfect week, given that there have been no games. But…I ended up vegging. I have reacquainted myself with some old math, though.

Weather: probably not decent anytime soon; February will be bad, I think.

Workout notes; 2 miles on campus; there was enough snow and ice off that I might try tomorrow’s walk outside, on campus. Or..maybe half and half.

Weights: 0 F outside so pull ups were very bad, again. But the gloves worked..better than nothing. 50 reps.
Bench: 10 x 134, 10 x 150, 10 x 134 (glad I got 150 again)
high incline: 10 x 94, 4 x 115, 6 x 110.
Wagon wheel: 10 x 200, 10 x 200, 10 x 230

Another weekend gone

Time passes quickly.

Workout:
Sunday: 2 miles to the women’s game (snowy) and deadlifts:
straight bar: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 225
Wagon wheel trap bar 10 x 260

Monday: 2 mile commuter walk over lunch (snowy)
Pull ups: awful (it was -5) singles and a couple of sets of 5 to get 50 reps.
Bench press: 10 x 134, 2 x 170, 5 x 160 (exhausted), 2 sets of 5 x 155
high incline: 10 x 94, 2 x 115 (didn’t have it), 2 sets of 6 x 105

Tuesday: 51 laps of Markin in 1:24:35 (I’ll call it 6.2) with one 8 lap section (the last one) at 12:54 This is euqual to or longer than my 10k course in Bradley Park, but there is no way you can compare the difficulty. Pace: 13:39

Bradley Basketball: I’ll first talk about the women: they did very well on Sunday, fighting off a spirited UIC team winning 73-63. Don’t be deceived: it was a 1 point until late.


The Men: well, frankly, the men’s team got run out of the gym. It ended 85-70 but it was not that close: it was a 84-60 with 4 minutes to go.

I expected BU to have one of their patented rallies, but it was not to be on that night.

The shame is that this snowy night drew 6209 fans, the best draw of the season.

Brrr January 2026

Friday’s classes were moved online. I taught them from my office. Decent attendance!

Friday’s workout: It was -5 F outside and windy; fingers got cold. Pull ups were “do what you can”: sets of 5-6 until the final one of 4 to get my 50 reps. Some were sets of singles with gloves.
Basement: bench: 10 x 134, 1 x 170, 2 x 165, 5 x 160, 5 x 155, 5 x 155
high incline: 10 x 94, 7 x 105, 7 x 105
Walk: very cold over lunch; 2 miles and my hands got cold

Today: did my out and back plus 2 mile Cornstalk plus 1.1 mile lower loop; did the “long way home” plus enough loops to get 10.1 in 2:49 (16:46 pace; faster after leaving the park). But I was steady and totally layered.
Wool socks, bicycle tights under sweat pants, t-shrit, long sleeved, Chiefs tech stretch shirt with hood, and the high teck jacket with a windbreaker over the top. Gloves: fleece mittens under fake leather ones. 2 hats plus the hoodie hood. My face got cold..for brief periods of time. Note the beard cicles and the ice under my windbreaker sleeve!

Of course, the Women’s Basketball team played their game, as scheduled. It was 51-21 Bradley over Valpo at the half and it ended 79-39. BU played everyone.

Wednesday-Thursday

It is supposed to be -7 tomorrow morning, so classes are cancelled. Ok, they will be online.

Wednesday: 2 mile commuter walk; weights went as follows:
pull ups: 6 sets of 6, one of 8, 2 of 5, one of 4. (touch the chin pull ups)
bench: 10 x 134, 10 x 139, 8 x 150
high incline: 10 x 94, 5 x 115, 5 x 110
wagon wheel dead: 3 sets of 10 x 200

Note: as part of my PT, I did a 2 minute plank. I will probably feature that.

This morning: 10k course in 1:29:03; I was 59:05 so the final 2.2 was a tick under 30. Yes, in 2023, I was routinely doing this course faster. Oh well.

Bradley Basketball: you know the drill. At 6:15, Indiana State lead 68-60 and they were getting open lay ups.

And, they were to score no more the rest of the way. BU finally took the lead 69-68 with 1:01 to play, and it was 70-68 with 17 seconds left. BU won 75-68.

Toward the 3’rd Semester

No live sports this past weekend; just a depressing TV basketball game (88-62 loss to ISU) , some exiciting TV football games and the play 39 Steps. That was funny.

Workouts:
Saturday: a slow 10 mile walk (2:48 at 10) where I found a wallet and gave it to the player’s AD. It was cold (12 F) and the first part consisted of the out and back Bradley Park spur, the 2 mile loop and the 1.15 lower loop, plus extra to get me to 10.

Sunday: cold 2 mile walk; some deadlifts:
10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 225 low (not that hard)
10 x 255 4 inch, 305 (kind of ragged)

Monday: VERY cold; 2 F. 2 mile walk (2.3 actually)
pull ups 6-6, 10, 7, 6, 7, 5, 5
20 minutes for bench: 10 x 134, 5 x 160, 5 x 155, 5 x 155 (not enough rest)
high incline: 10 x 94, 5 x 115, 5 x 110 Again, the lack of rest made a difference.