Being delusional and realistic at the same time

Today’s workout wasn’t that remarkable. The walk was from the Toyota place to the YMCA and back, plus a bit to make 5k.
The weights: pull ups/chin ups: 2 sets of 6, 1 of “almost 10”, three more of 6, two of 5 (mixed grip).
Bench: 10 x 134, 10 x 150 (best post lumbar/feet on the chair)
high incline; 6 x 105, 6 x 105, 5 x 110
curls: 3 sets of 10.

The 10 x 150 lb was interesting. The “Strength Level” calculator predicts a max of 200 based on that, and my recent best is 175 (not easy) and I’ve always been this way. Here: I got 10 reps with 85 percent of my max. My explosive power; my ability to get one really hard effort rep has always been lacking.

And this lack of power is why I was so bad with the shot put and at football.

I remembered being aware of my deficiencies; I was not delusional about having them.

What I was *very* delusional about was being able to fix said deficiencies: I really thought more training and better training would make me fast, give me quicker feet and quicker reflexes. It didn’t. And, it wasn’t going to; I am just not wired that way.

Fantasy

I admit it: I am too beholden to fantasy.

At times, it screwed me up. I remember watching James Bond movies and thinking “if only I were X enough, women would find me that appealing”, forgetting about the hokey plots, the ridiculous “shoot-em-up” where he kills expertly but the opposing squad is “Storm Trooper” hopeless.

My love of spectator sports is like that too: those one watches, whether D1 or professional are outliers; the latter are extreme outliers. Forget being LeBron; you aren’t (probably) aren’t even going to be G-league or even D1.

And I think some of this influencer stuff/OnlyFans is also fantasy.

Imagine: an attractive woman is interested in you and isn’t after anything! Real life: she might want your attention for her ego, or want something you can do for her, etc. And of course, real women age, get sick, eventually need walkers or rolators, get chronic coughs, have noxious relatives, etc.

But that “influencer” or “model”: flirts with you, shows interest in you (yes, fake interest, of course), etc. It is fantasy, and I think the best ones are not merely among the “hottest” but also know how to make men feel better about themselves.

It is an escape from real life, with its aches and pains, limitations, worries, money crunches, potential layoffs, demands, baggage from loved ones, etc.

Too sore

Though yesterday’s 10.1 mile walk wasn’t that stressful, it was still 10 miles. And “the day after” is a down day, hence my deadlifts suffered, a bit.

4 inch: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 234 (all normal)
6 inch: 1 x 280, 1 x 280, 5 x 280. Just wasn’t feeling it.
Farmer’s walk: 200 feet: 52 (each hand), 200 feet 74, 100 feet 100, 100 feet 100, 200 feet 74, 200 feet 52

Later: 2 mile slow walk.

Almost done

Tomorrow will conclude my 2’nd semester duties.

Workout notes (and yes, I did some R as well)
pull ups: 5 sets of 6, then 4 sets of 6 (shaky)
bench: 15 x 134 (tried to max reps), then 3 sets of 5 x 155
high incline: 8 x 105, two sets of 5 x 105
curls: 3 sets of 10.

Then the 2 mile commuter walk.

I admit that I am anxious about things. I shouldn’t be.

Will I learn R?

I played around with it a bit today. Maybe more serious Thursday and Friday?

Workout: easy 5k walk after weights (17:10 pace). The weights:

pull ups/chin ups (mixed) 5 sets of 6, “almost 10”, 5, 5 then 5 more (between PT sets)
downstairs: 10 x 134 bench.
Trap dead (4 inch) 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 234
incline: 7 x 134, then 6 x 134, 6 x 134
high incline: 8 x 105
curls: 3 sets of 10.

Aging and working out: right now

I’ve wanted to talk about this for a while. What is different about my workouts now than before? Note: I am 65

Of course, I’ve changed what I do: running no longer works (severe patellofemoral osteoarthritis in each knee) and swimming the crawl: I have not learned how to NOT extend (arch) my lower lumbar. And I’ve modified other exercises:
Mostly trap bar for the deadlift and wagon wheel plates for the straight bar (mostly), taking the leg drive out of the bench press (feet on a chair) and switching to the high incline (supported) instead of standing shoulder press. Pull ups: keep the knees in front of the body. This induces a small “kip” which would DQ me in a competition.

But here is the major stuff:

  1. Lots of daily PT for the lumbar, shoulder and a bit for the knee. I do this in the morning.
  2. Longer recoveries are needed after strenuous workouts. Go too long or too hard, and it affects my job. It is even more difficult to climb stairs.
  3. Aches and pains: I almost always have them. But they are far worse if I don’t move. So, it is workout and hurt a little bit (at first) or do nothing and hurt a lot more.
  4. Recovery from injuries or flare ups: MUCH longer these days. This is why I am more conservative.
  5. Pushing my limits: FAR less frequent these days. I rarely try for a max effort with the weights or with a walking race. Recovery takes longer and I want to limit the risk of injury.
  6. Performance! At my current bodyweight: at one time in my life, I could bench press 260 lb (310 is my max, but at 40 lb heavier body weight) I could do a set of 20 “less than perfect” pull ups; now 7-9 is a challenge. I can’t quite get the 10’th cleanly. Pull ups used to be 20-10-10-10 or 15-15-10-10. Over time I’ve changed to doing sets of 5-7 and even singles. Walking: last year I got under 11 minute miles for a 5K and 4 mile race, and 3:05 for the half. In terms of my walking, my unjudged PR (not being sloppy) is 29:2x and half (monitored) was 2:17 but this was 2003. My judged PR: 30:42 and 20k was 2:24 (about 2:33 for the half) Again, this was 2003. As a runner: 19:00 for the 5k, 1:34 for the half (1982 and 1998 respectively) .

In terms of the 5k (a nice benchmark), I said goodbye to sub 20 in 1999 (last did it in 1998), sub 22 in 2002, sub 24 in 2009 and sub 25 in 2014 (last time was 2014)

BUT the good part: at 65, I am feeling the way I expected to feel at 50. At 50, I still had some gusto and still could run the 5K in 24:00 or so, and at 49 I could barely break 7 minutes for the mile. 1999 (at 39) was my final sub 6 minute mile (5:59) 1998 I could run a 5:41 1600 and I last did 5:30 in 1982.

So…no, age is NOT “just a number” for me.

Visually: 1982, 2000, 2005, 2012, 2016, 2019, 2024. I am approximately the same weight in each photo (a little lighter in 2000) but the body composition is very different.

My route

My Garmin got it at 6.27 but I bumped it to 6.4 because of the Strava correction. Pace was a slow 15:10 but the streets were damp and I was 14:2x in the final mile.

Here is what I did:

Then back, then:

So, that is 1.06+0.4+1.4+1.25+.65+.4+1.06+.44=6.6. Maybe that is too long; I’ll call it 6.4.

The legs are a little bit dead.

Baseball weekend!

I talked about Bradley’s Saturday game with Valpo. Saturday night, I had the full crew there:

It was chilly but the Chiefs won 9-5, though they gave up 11 walks and let the Timberrattlers load the bases in the top of the 9’th inning (with only 1 out). A very tall relief pitcher came in and got 2 outs in a row. One of the Chiefs’ relief pitchers is struggling badly (with control)

Sunday: Chiefs at 2, Bradley at 6. The Chiefs lost a 5-4 heartbreaker; some of the damage came in the second inning as the result of a throwing error from a top pitching prospect. He gave up 3 in the second. It was a good game after that.

In the night cap, Bradley Mercy-ruled Valpo 13-3 in 8 innings. The Braves started out with a 9-0 lead before the Beacons rallied somewhat to cut it to 9-3.

Workout notes

Yesterday, 10.2 miles: to the Riverfront, ball field, ONE lap of the gooseloop, then a short lap on Cooper. Call it 10.12 in 2:38:17 (15:38 pace) with a slower start. No real issues, though I really didn’t push the pace at all.

Today: commuter walk of 2 miles after weights:
pull ups 4 sets of 5, 5 sets of 6, set of 5. Did not go that well; just a bit off.
bench: 10 x 134, 5 x 160, 5 x 160, 4 x 160, 1 spite rep with 160
high incline: 8 x 105, then 2 sets of 6 with 105
curls: 3 sets of 10.

I was just “off” today.