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)
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.
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.
I admit it: I underestimated Trump’s political ability. Let’s first look at his current approval rating:
From the Pew article:
“Trump’s current 47% approval rating is higher today than it was at the beginning of his first term in office.
His rating is also higher than at any other point in his first four-year term, and far higher than when he left office in early 2021 (Trump’s approval fell to 29% in the wake of the 2020 presidential election and his rejection of its results)”
Add to that how poorly the Democrats are viewed right now:
“A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday had this stunning finding: While Americans were about evenly split in their views of the Republican Party (43 percent favorable to 45 percent unfavorable), negative views of the Democratic Party outpaced positive ones by 26 points — 31 percent favorable to 57 percent unfavorable.
That’s not only a huge imbalance but also an unprecedented one.
In fact, Democrats’ 57 percent unfavorable rating is their highest ever in Quinnipiac’s polling, dating back to 2008, while the GOP’s 43 percent favorable rating is its highest ever.”
And, the Democrats appear to have not changed their minds at all. The Bernie types think is because the Democrats didn’t run a “tax the billionaires and give the poor free stuff” type campaign. The wokes: well, the Democrats didn’t back Hamas or perhaps it was because they didn’t push for reparations for Black people, etc.
It appears to me that every block that normally associates with the Democratic party is utterly blind to how those outside the block views them.
Take a look at some of the protests. You have the pro-Mexican migrants marching…waving…Mexican flags. That is a weird way to try to make the point that you want to remain in the United States.
Take a look at some of the pushback against, well, in this case, a genuine racist in government:
Uh..so you insult one of the largest voting blocks? By the way, she was responding to a genuinely racist statement from a sitting undersecretary.
I think much of the problem is the divide between the academic and non-academic worlds. In academia: the “not-privileged” has a green light to throw rocks at the “privileged.” It does not work that way in the rest of society.
And, by nature, the Democrats want to see themselves the “ally” of “the marginalized.” Well, almost by definition, “the marginalized” are unpopular with the public. So, that is a handicap right at the start.
And so Trump takes advantage of this. He signs executive orders such as the ones that bans transwomen from competing in women’s divisions (yes, the correct call..but this is a tiny issue). Yes, the Democrats can’t help but rally around the unpopular position.
Trump attacks DEI, which, frankly, IS unpopular. Yes, a “fair shot” is popular, but what DEI means, *in practice* is dreary HR mandated training and often unfunded mandates which makes more uncompensated work for everyone else.
Trump has a good feel for what people resent and he attacks that.
By the way, I am still sorry that Trump won; I voted Harris. But my goodness, the Democrats have made themselves toxic.
The message appears to be: “The Democrats are for everyone BUT you, and Trump is for YOU.” Yes, it is a damned lie, but it sells.
I’ll contrast what working out used to be like with what it is like now.
Today: I did back/shoulder/knee PT exercises for about 20-30 minutes.
Then bike: 36 minutes for 10 fake miles. Then a walk for 36 minutes (slow). 72 minutes of working out AFTER the physical therapy.
In the day: no PT, and the 72 minutes was a 10 mile run on a good day, and 8.5 miles on an off day.
Weight training: usually 50 reps of pull ups, 4 sets of bench press, 3 sets of curls, 3 sets of high incline presses. This takes 70-80 minutes. The pull ups: mostly sets of 5-7 and, on a good day, set of 10.
In the day: many more exercises and more sets. Pull ups: 50 reps were 1 set of 20, 2 sets of 15 on a great day, or maybe 2 sets of 15, 3 sets of 10.
We won’t even count the weights involved, though a set of 10 used to be with 200-225 lb. Now it is 145.
The let’s talk post-workout: in the day, I didn’t worry about going hard in a morning workout. I even did races from time to time. I still had energy to do my job. No longer.
And then there are the chronic conditions: I deal with 3 almost on a daily basis: shoulder, knee, lumbar. That is NOT unusual for 65 and older. In fact, it is to be expected.
The upshot: one has to adjust one’s expectations and one has to be accepting.
Last night’s knee pain was not as great as the night before, and as I write this, my knees feel great.
Today: 36:10 on the bike (10 fake miles); warmed up for 10 minutes and did 5 sets of 1 minute at 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. That took me to 35.
Then: a slow 2 mile cool down walk outside with knee braces. Later: 1 mile commuter walk (at a faster pace than the cool down).
Well, last night, old style night knee pain. I know it started with the faster Friday walk (which featured a “pop”) and so I’ll have to navigate around it.
Question: how does cycling affect it? I think that slow walking on a treadmill will be ok.
So, today: very slow 2 mile commuter walk over lunch. Weights: (early)
pull ups: 7, 7, 7, 5, 5, 5, 5 (51) these were ok but I got tired.
bench: 10 x 134. Swiss Bar bench: 2 sets of 10 x 134 (burn)
high incline: 10 x 94, 2 sets of 5 x 105
curls: 3 sets of 10
Bradley Basketball
Bradley lost to Evansville 80-77 in an 8 pm start. The threat of icy roads kept the crowd size down.
In the first half, Evansville opened a 31-22 lead, mostly on 3 point shooting and Bradley turnovers. The Braves cut the lead to 39-35 at the half.
It was back and forth in the second half with the lead reaching 7 though the Braves tied the game and even took a small lead. They were lead by a forward who scored 28 points off of the bench.
But the turnovers continued and Belmont lead 76-69 with 1:23 to go in the game. But Belmont missed free throws down the stretch and had trouble with Bradley’s trap defense. So, after a couple of 3 point shots and a 2 point shot off of a rebound, it was 77-77 with 6 seconds to go.
So after a time out, Belmont inbounds the ball and goes coast to coast to get a lay up and a foul to lead 80-77 with 2.6 seconds remaining. The Braves were unable to score after that.
Bradley shot 52.7 percent from the field (Belmont 46.7) and 48.3 from 3 point land (made 14); Belmont made 15 and shot 46.9 percent. But the Braves had 17 turnovers which yielded 17 of Belmont’s points.
Monday: a little bit of wet pavement, so 4.15 of campus/neighborhood at 14:57 mpm.
Tuesday: short 2 mile at 15:53 after weights:
pull ups: 7-7-7-7-8-7-5-5 (yes, more than 50; some reps were sloppy)
bench: 10 x 134, 4 x 160, 3 sets of 4 x 155
incline: 4 x 134
high incline: 2 sets of 10 x 94, 5 x 105
curls: 3 sets of 10.
Today: sore knee the night before (but not nearly the worst), so 36:11 for 10 miles on the indoor bike, 2 mile track walk in 29:54 immediately after.
game tonight: 8 pm start; will probably go if there is no ice on the road.
First things first:
workout notes: I had knee pain last night (and some in the elbow as well) as well as some lower hamstring soreness. I did feel a pop during Friday’s “faster” walk. The knee is NOT swollen though nor is it warm.
Today: leisurely pace.
Pullups: 12 singles, changing grip each time, 3 sets of 6 “scapular/regular”. Then 10, then 2 sets of 5
bench: 10 x 134, 8 x 150, 8 x 150, 7 x 150 (lots of rest between sets)
trap bar dead (4 inch) 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 234, 1 x 300
incline: 5 x 134
high incline (fast) 3 sets of 10 x 84 (shoulder burn)
curls: 3 sets of 10
Then a medium 2 mile walk (15:20’ish pace)
Basketball
The Bradley women were favored (per ESPN analytics) to be Southern Illinois and they did so convincingly 68-46. It was an 8 point lead at the end of the first quarter and 17 at the end of the half. They forced 17 SIU turnovers and out rebounded the Salukies 44-32.
We went home and saw the second half of the men’s game on TV. It was 34-25 Northern Iowa at the half and the lead was to swell to 71-41 before BU made some garbage time baskets to cut it to 83-69. It seems as if Bradley usually goes through a mid season lull before doing well toward the end of the season.
Reagan:
I’ll be upfront: I do NOT know how this tariff stuff will end. It seems as if Trump likes to stir things up, then come up with some bogus claim that the other partner in the drama made some concession.
But here is what Reagan had to say:
And for old time’s sake: Reagan and Mexico:
I never dreamed I’d be quoting Ronald Reagan in a positive light.
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.
Life of an old goat 