Life of an old goat

Unwelcome guest returns

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, Tuesday, Wednesday

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.

Sunday..and I approve of Ronald Reagan?

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.

New month: same (older) me

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.

Buggy

Had a cough yesterday. Better today. Still not quite “right.”
Commuter walk over lunch.
Morning: PT, pull ups (one was a set of chin ups) 8 sets of 5 then 2 sets of 5 singles, mixing up the grips.
bench: 10 x 134
incline: 5 x 134, 6 x 134, 5 x 134
4 inch trap bar: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 234 (pause at the bottom)

2 sets of 10 curls.

Still January

Well…work got a little depressing (one of my favorites might leave)

Workout notes:
pull ups: 8 sets of 5, one of 7 and one of 3. One was chin up style: I need to do more of these.

bench press: 10 x 134, 1 x 175, 4 sets of 4 x 154
high incline: 5 x 105, 5 x 105, 10 x 94
curls: 3 sets.
Then a 2 mile commuter walk.

Weather: seasonally chilly (40’s); not this arctic stuff that we had recently.

January 2025: the month that won’t end

Ok, it isn’t that bad…is it?
Yesterday (before the football games)
4 sets of 5 pull ups
5K walk at 15:50
6 sets of 5 pull ups with PT
bench: 10 x 134, 7 x 150, 7 x 150, 7 x 150
high incline: 3 sets of 5 x 105
curls: 3 sets of 10

deadlifts: 4 inch: 10 x 134, 10 x184, 10 x 234 (dead stop, no bouncing)

Today: flat 4 mile course (4.22 in 1:01:21 or 14:32 mpm.) Not as quick as I could have liked but it was 17 F when I started.

Age is not your friend..

On the whole, the day was fine. I did a slow (15:4x mpm) 4 mile walk on campus/neighborhood routes with decent footing. Back: slightly tighter than normal.

Then we (yes, “we”) went to a basketball game between Illinois State and Bradley. It was tight at the half 28-26, and BU built the lead to 40-30. Eventually, some 3 point shots fell and cut the lead to 42-41, before Bradley pulled away to win 61-57. 9646 saw the game. It got loud at times.

Now about the title of the post: I won’t go into the age related issues B is dealing with. I’ll talk about my own (at 65)

I thought about this when getting ready for my walk: 30 minutes of PT first, with exercises for my lumbar (LOT of them), piriformis, knees and shoulder. I do these daily; I have to in order to keep training.

Then there is the strapping on the knee braces. They appear to be helping (I use them for longer or faster walking and for lower body lifting).

So, all of this preparation just to be able to perform at something like 60 percent of my lifetime best. Today’s 4.2 walk took about 1:06. “In the day”, that I was an 8 mile training run or a 15K race.

When I do my bench presses: my max right now (legs up due to lumbar stenosis) is about 175. That is 135 less than my lifetime PB. On occasion I’ll do a few reps with 300+ in the trap bar deadlift; that is my old bench press best.
Pull ups: I can’t *quite* get 10 good reps. That number used to be 20-25.

And yes, I have to do all of that PT just to do this.

No wonder many get discouraged and quit. I don’t, because I still enjoy the workouts, I still like seeing what I can do, and I see what happens when people don’t. It really is “use it or lose it”, especially as one gets older.

Warning shot

Yesterday: morning:
pull ups: 10 sets of 5 (these were very hard)
bench: 10 x 134
incline: 5 x 134, 6 x 134, 5 x 134
curls: 2 sets of 10
4 inch dead: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 234 (no bounce)
6 inch dead: 10 x 280

lunch: 10 fake miles in 36:55. Ok, so far.
But after lunch, walking from the house, I went down the steps and had a flash of burning pain in the inner left thigh; kind of high up but well below the groin. It seems to have gone away but I wonder if that was statement about my deadlift plus bike.

Today: 4 mile walk (campus and plowed neighborhood streets): 4.11 in 58:17 (14:11 pace) It was 5F so I was ok with the pace.

No night knee pain in a while. My back was somewhat stiffer than normal though.