A couple of weight workouts

Just catching up; I’ve been napping way too much!

Two days ago (Monday) weights and a slow 2.2 mile walk.

Weights: pull ups were a real struggle (10 sets of 5)

bench: 5 x 134, 1 x 154, miss at 175, 3 sets of 5 x 154.
High incline: 2 sets of 9 x 94
trap bar dead: 10 x 94 pinch grip, 10 x 134 4 inch, 10 x 184 4 inch, 10 x 234 4 inch

Today:
pull ups: 8, 10, 10, 5, 5, 7, 5 (much better)
bench: 10 x 134, 1 x 174
incline: 3 sets of 5 x 134
trap bar dead: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 234

slow 2.18 mile walk.

Note: I had slight pain last night, and the warning sign that I might have it was outer lateral tendon tenderness and slight warmth. I have to limit “faster” paced walking.

Still overestimating myself

4 mile walk by the Riverfront: 1:01:22 with 1 mile being under 15 (15:20 pace). Walking weather was fine, but I just had no “pop” in my step. Not yet. Both knees a bit achy but that isn’t a surprise, given the temperature drop headed our way.

No heat and swelling in the left knee so, I do NOT anticipate pain tonight. I did not do the bike as I went 4 miles and not 3.

Note: Barbara had her best rehab walk (with walker), reaching 3/4 of a mile and only resting once, after 0.57 miles.

not quite back yet

The left knee: no swelling. No night pain last night. The real test is tonight.

I tried to go for 4 miles: 4.1 in 1:04:46 (15:50 pace; kind of steady). Yes, it was 40, misty, surfaces were wet; tough to walk fast on. Still, 4 miles was an actual effort, even at this sorry pace. And I napped in the afternoon.

I forget: it has been 3 weeks since my positive COVID test. It takes about 4-6 weeks to be ready to train hard, provided the knee permits it.

Graduation exercises

And I did my exercises before walking over.

Usual PT plus some knee stuff. Pull ups: 10, 5, 5, 10, 5, 5, 5, 5 (got kind of sloppy toward the end)

downstairs: bench: 10 x 134, 6 x 150, 7 x 150, 6 x 150
High incline: 3 sets of 10 x 84 with short rests; 2 sets of 10 curls in between.

trap bar deadlift (super set with bench)
8 x 94 pinch grip, 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 234

Note: NO KNEE PAIN last night. No swelling either.

Football: watched Army-Navy on TV. Navy won 31-13 and dominated the game from the get-go; up 14-0 and 14-7 at the half. Army had a long drive ending up with a field goal; Navy responded with a TD drive.

Key play: Army drove it but missed a wide open receiver for a TD and had to kick a field goal to cut the lead to 21-13. Navy was stopped; momentum appeared to have shifted but a fake punt moved Navy deep and to a 28-13 lead.

Interceptions stopped the Black Knights and another field goal put Navy up 31-13 with under 4 minutes to go. Great ball game.

I think that Army, while better on paper, was still celebrating their Tulane win and were not prepared for how intensely Navy attacked them.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

I am a little bit behind here so I’ll try to catch up:

Wednesday: very slow 5K walk outside (18:13 pace). No knee pain Wednesday night! Yes, I added a few knee exercises to my PT routine.

Thursday: weights and a slow 2.1 mile walk (18:07 pace) around campus/Moss.

Weights: PT, pull ups (10 sets of 5 plus 3 penalty reps; it was 8 F outside). Rough. Downstairs: bench: 10 x 134, 3 sets of 5 x 150. trap bar dead: (4 inch) 10 x 134, 10 x 84, 10 x 234 (tougher than I’d like). High incline: 10 x 94, 4 x 105, 5 x 105.

Then I tried some “pinch grip” deadlifts with the trap bar. I used 25 lb plates; the 45 bumper plates were impossible for me. I was able to lift 94, 3 reps with 114 but I could NOT get 134, even with the 25 lb plates.

No knee pain Thursday night! That is ironic since I got a prescription for Tramadol.

Today: 24 laps of lane 2 at Bradley (will be closed until January 6). The 8 lap splits:

16:29, 15:43, 14:26 (46:39). I was trying to not stress the knee too much; I was wearing knee braces.

Then 15 minutes on the exercise bike (3.4 miles) Weight in shoes and braces: 191.

We will see about the knee tonight; as of right now it is NOT swollen, achy or hot.

Note: last night: I had some night sweats; felt better after that. Hmm..something was going on. But zero knee ache.

Getting past the “feeling sorry for myself” stage

I remember being disappointed in my two walking half-marathon times. Only now do I realize: those might be my final half marathons.

I am confident they won’t be my final walks; it *appears* that 3-4 miles at a slow pace is doable. And I can get fit for new shoes, new orthotics, do knee physical therapy, etc. And, over time, gradually change my walking technique to take the “knee lock” out of it; there is a reason my left knee (the one that straightens) caused me the trouble this time.

And who knows…maybe some day? But it will NOT be this year or any time in the next 6 months. Sports health is a very tenuous thing, especially at 65.

Night pain will be my guide for a while. Stress in the “extremely bent” and “extremely straight” positions are bad.

Workout notes:

Before the meeting: pull ups (mixed with PT) about 30 minutes; got my 10 sets of 5. These were NOT easy. Some were sloppy.

downstairs: bench: 10 x 134, 5 x 150, 5 x 150, 5 x 150 (careful with the knees)
high incline: 7 x 94, 10 x 94, 7 x 94
trap bar dead: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 234 (4 inch) This is a good depth for my knees.

Later: 36 minute lunch time walk of 2 miles (felt fine).

Thinking: as we age, we lose muscle strength and function; some degradation is impossible. But working out can slow the degradation, AND it helps if you start to degrade from a higher point. It is the old: “this guy is still fast; he lost a step but he had several steps to lose!” sort of thing.

Severe degenerative patellofemoral osteoarthritis

It isn’t what I wanted to hear, but the symptoms are spot on with what I have. It is the reason I cannot squat, at least to any depth. And, this time, the major symptom is night pain, usually after I’ve done something stupid.

So, time to reevaluate my pressing positions, stop the faster, straighter kneed walking (“soft knee” walking is ok, in moderation) and maybe work in a bit of swimming and bicycling.

Today: 1 easy mile of walking. But I did get one set of grades in.

Finals weekend 1

I did not do much, but I’ll have to really get cranking on Thursday and Friday. I should be able to finish.

Friday-Saturday-Sunday:
F: 5K slow walk
S: 5k slow walk again; thought of adding one more mile but I was laboring..and the knee was slightly achy at night.
Sunday: weights, then two 1.15 commuter walks to the drug store and back to get a few things.

Weights: pull ups: 5, 5, 5, 5, 7, 3, 5, 5, 5, 5 (one was a chin up set; few had scapular reps) But that was 50 reps
downstairs: bench: 10 x 134, 5 x 155
incline: 5 x 134, 5 x 134, 5 x 134
high incline 8 x 94
trap bar 4 inch: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 234

First day of final exams..

And I had time to get in a “recovery from COVID” workout: (effects are less and less) :

pull ups: 6 sets of 5, with a 7 and a 5 for 42 total reps.

downstairs: 10 x 134 bench
incline: 3 sets of 5 x 134
4 inch trap bar: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 224 Knee felt ok.

Iced it afterward.

Later: walk from the office to Walgreens (.87 miles) and then home via W. Peoria (.88 miles) Walk was uneventful.

I’ll put off the doctor’s visit (walk in clinic) unless I have bad knee pain tonight. The night pain is much better and is quickly relieves by extending and lifting the toe up.

Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday

Monday: slow 2 mile walk; it started snow free and ended with snow. 20:21 pace (not a misprint)

Tuesday: weights only.
pull ups: 2 sets of 5, 5 sets of 6 (40 reps total) downstairs: high incline: 10 x 85. bench: 7 x 134. incline: 4 x 134, 5 x 134, 4 x 134. trap deads (4 inch) 5 x134, 5 x 184, 5 x 224, 5 x 224 (some knee pain at first)

Wednesday 5K walk (some slick areas) in 1:00:14; 19:36 mpm (not a misprint). No effort, no pain..keeping it that way, for now.

Not sure how I am going to mix it up tomorrow: might try some treadmill walking in the AM. we’ll figure out something.

Night pain in the knee IS down; beginning to suspect my pain was from simple overuse.