That was the last day before “the tree crash” I walked 2.2 miles, did rotator cuff exercises, and 3 sets of deadlifts 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 225, all low.
Then Harry and I went to watch the Illinois State Redbirds play the Youngstown State Penguins. The game had been moved from 2 pm to 12 to avoid some incoming bad weather. And we got our game in!
And the game itself:
Well, YSU drove for a field goal, got an interception, and drove for another field goal. Another drive (92 yards) and it was 12-0, after missing the 2 point conversion. But back came the Redbirds! They got a 75 yard touchdown drive, got an interception, then drove 39 yards for another touchdown and now it was 14-12.
Second half: a big kick return set up a short field for another touchdown and now ISU lead 21-12. YSU responded with a drive of their own to make it 21-19, but then came ISU with good field position after a punt ..now it was 28-19 going into the 4’th quarter
But the 4’th quarter has been a nightmare for the Redbirds and this was no exception: the defense collapsed and YSU rolled for 21 straight points to make it 40-28 with just over 5 minutes to play. ISU had no answer for the YSU quarterback who accounted for 328 passing yards and 200 running yards. A late TD cut it to 40-35 and ..for a brief second there was hope: the ISU defense did force a 3’rd and short. But what else; ISU gave up another long quarterback run to seal the game.
Total yards: 561 to 348. That isn’t going to cut it.
I had planned on going 10 miles on Sunday morning. But instead: I heard what I thought was thunder and a crash. And I woke up..lounged around, heard tapping and..well, the top photo was after the tree branches had been taken away. The bottom 2 is what awaited me.
I did most of the work to get the vehicle out (a neighbor lent a hand) and then, after the tree professionals cleared the big stuff up, I loaded up 6 contractor bags full of smaller debris. I squeezed 2 miles of walking and 3-4 hours of academic work.
Crazy times. Yesterday: mediocre flat 4.12 mile walk at 14:45 (first mile was 15 so I sped up a little) then a commuter walk
Today: commuter 2 mile walk. pull ups: did a set of 10 singles: stretch band, scapular, rep, 4 sets of 5, an almost 10 set, then 2 sets of 5 Swiss bar: 10 x 134, 10 x 139, 9 x 139 high incline: 10 x 94, 4 x 115, 5 x 110
Time flies! What did I actually DO with my time? Well, mostly things like this (don’t watch..it is 25 minutes long)
Well, Monday: 2 mile walk (commuter), weight session with pull ups (50 + reps total), 3 sets of Swiss bar bench presses (10 x 134, 9 x 139, 5 x 145), 3 sets of high incline presses (5 x 110)
Tuesday: my 10k course in 1:32:36 (14:56 pace; I was 1:00:47 at 4 miles). I was just …off.
Today: pull ups: 4 sets of 6, a sorry set of 10, set of 6, then 2 sets of 5 chins with PT exercises in between. bench; 10 x 134 (Swiss), 3 sets of 10 close grip (94, 105, 105) high incline: 10 x 94, 3 x 115, 5 x 110 Wagon wheel trap: 3 sets of 10 x 200 2 mile commuter walk.
First the workouts: 2 mile pre-trip walk (14:47 pace) and there was the walk to and from the stadium (about 1 mile each way). Tracy is a fast walker.
Today: 10.2 at 17:04; this was my “down to the river path and back course”
My pace: I walked at a “how little effort can I possibly expend but keep moving forward” pace. The idea was to wander around until I got tired of walking, or 10 miles, whichever came first. The miles came first.
Football
Tracy and I have been to 4 previous Ohio State at Illinois games. She has left happier than I have every time before yesterday. And..to the surprise of absolutely no one, it happened again.
Ohio State came in very business like, played it close to the vest on both offense and defense, built a 20-0 2n’d quarter and 34-10 3’rd quarter lead and coasted to a 34-16 victory. Yes, the Illini made some key errors, including jumping offside at the Ohio State 2 and having the punter go down on one knee to field a slow punt snap. There were 3 turnovers as well, but IMHO, those were caused by great defense: swarming around a batted ball, swarming around a ball carrier trapped in the backfield, and a blind side strip sack.
For most of the game, the Buckeyes didn’t give a hard pass rush but rather played with gap/lane discipline; they didn’t want the mobile Illini quarterback to hurt them with his running.
But the Illini showed rays of hope. When they went to fast tempo on offense, they had a nice drive to get a field goal late in the second quarter, and again on the first drive of the second half, when they capped the drive with a lovely hand-off-pitch option play to score a touchdown to cut it to 20-10.
Of course, the Buckeyes promptly marched it down 75 yards on an agonizing, time consuming drive to go up 27-10. Then they forced a fumble, and turned that into yet another touchdown.
After that, they played a soft “keep everything in front of you” defense, which allowed the Illini to pad the stats a bit.
When I got home I got to watch the end of the Navy at Temple game on TV. I picked it up with Temple scoring to make it 24-14. But the Mids rallied; late in the game the kicker coolly nailed a 48 yard field goal to tie it at 24. But the Midshipmen’s defensive woes continued. They gave up a long drive for a TD and trailed 31-24 with time running out.
The Mids had the ball…and it was now 4’th and 2 at the Navy 49 with 47 seconds left. And this happened:
Then the Mids went for 2 and made it, with a pass to the right side of the endzone. But 39 seconds remained…and the defense did just enough to force a long “Hail Mary” pass and they smothered it.
That evening, I watched USC (the team the Illini beat 2 weeks ago) dominate a perpetually overrated Michigan team, while watching Illinois State beat Murray State 46-32. The Birds rolled to a 28-3 lead early before giving the Racers some life at the half (31-17). The Racers pulled to within 43-32 early in the 4’th quarter but the Birds got an insurance field goal. It is good to win, but giving up 471 total yards and 32 points to a win-less team is not good. The defense will have to do better against a tough Youngstown State squad (3 losses: Michigan State, South Dakota State, and a strong North Dakota team)
Of note: Texas surprised me, whipping Oklahoma 22-6. Evidently the Longhorn defense is good. ND rolled over NC State 39-7 and gets the Trojans next week.
Moving forward: Both Navy and Illinois have next weekend off.
Then: the Illini travel to Washington; I honestly expect the underrated Huskies to win that one. Then the Illini play 4 games in November (plus have a second bye), with 3 of them in Champaign. Though the Illini will be favored in the remaining 4 games, Northwestern is playing good football right now, “good Maryland” can be a tough team to beat, and Rutgers is capable to dragging a game into a rockfight. I see a 8-4 or 9-3 regular season finish for the Illini.
The Midshipmen: after a week off, they host the Florida Atlantic Owls: the 3’rd “Owls” on their schedule and the 4’th “bird of prey” (Air Force is called “The Falcons”). I expect that they win that one.
But then comes a rough stretch of: at North Texas, at Notre Dame, South Florida at home, and at Memphis. I do not see the Mids winning any of these: the defense just isn’t there. But they finish with Army, as usual, and I project the Mids win that one to finish 8-4 and make a nice bowl.
Well, it was that kind of week. Summary of the workouts (yes, the right shoulder is improving)
Monday: usual 50 reps for pull ups (sets of 6 and 5), bench: 3 sets of 10 x 134 Swiss bar, high incline: 10 x 94, 5 x 110, 5 x 110, 2 mile commuter walk Tuesday: hilly 10k (5 mile plus 1.2) at 15:06; wet pavement Wednesday: trap bar deads: low 10 x 134, 10 x 184, wagon wheel: 10 x 230 pull ups: usual 50 reps, bench: 10 x 134 Swiss, 3 sets of 10 x 94 close grip, 10 x 94, 4 x 110, 5 x 105 high incline, 2 mile commuter walk
Thursday: very cool 4.14 (lower loop) at 14:48; mediocre
Friday: (today) 6 sets of 7, one of 8 pull ups trap bar deads (wagon wheel) 3 sets of 10 x 200 bench: 3 sets of 10 x 134 high incline: 10 x 94, 5 x 110, 5 x 115 (best in a while)
Busy times coming up this week. I need to gather up and get caught up.
So, I’ll write here a bit first.
Weekend workouts: not much: 5 mile hill course at 15:21. Today: 4.25 at 16:49 after a minor deadlift session: (all low bar) 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 224
I watched some football this weekend. On TV my main event was Navy’s narrow 34-31 over Air Force. The Mids moved the ball well but got positively shredded by the Falcon offense.
I kept track of the Illini’s 43-27 victory over Purdue in which the Illini capitalized on numerous Boiler mistakes (fumbled punt, fumble, jumping offsides, etc). The Illini gave up 453 total yards.
The game I went to: it was a great game for 3 quarters: Illinois State hosted the no. 1 North Dakota State Bison. A drive stalled but a great punt put the Bison on their one yard line and BAM..safety! It was 2-0. But eventually, a Redbird fumble lead to a short field for the Bison and it was 7-2.
The Redbirds moved the ball well though (328 yards on a short game) and a TD drive made it 9-7. The Bison got a TD of their own and went for 2 to make it 15-9 at the half.
A stop lead to a Bison field goal and a 18-9 lead. But the Redbirds had a nifty drive which ended with a pass near the left pylon (the receiver backed in) and it was 18-16 going into the 4’th.
Then it fell apart; it was all NDSU in the 4’th. Two TDs (and one 2 point conversion put the game way 33-16.
I am working through (real) fatigue and chronic conditions. Monday: 2 mile commuter walk. The weights: pull ups: 7 sets of 6, 1 of 8 bench: Swiss bar: 3 sets of 10 x 134 high incline: 2 sets of 10 x 94, 1 of 5 x 110
Tuesday: mundane 4.1 mile walk at 15:23 (lower Bradley loop) Wednesday; 2 mile commuter walk pull ups 4 sets of 6, 2 of 8, 2 of 5 (chin up style for the sets of 5) bench: close grip: 3 sets of 10 x 94 (one was not as close grip) high incline: 10 x 94, 2 sets of 5 x 110 wagon wheel trap bar: 3 sets of 10 x 200
It is now Sunday. And I had some flashbacks to the past. And here is the truth:
USC football is not what it was during the John McKay, John Robinson and Pete Carrol days. The colors are the same, the fight song is the same, but the team is not.
I am not what I once was; my lifetime PBs for the half marathon are 1:34 as a runner and 2:17 as a walker. And for a period in my life, 2:20-2:40 was an all but guaranteed result as a walker. Those days are over. Completely.
Nevertheless, I had a lot of fun this weekend.
Saturday: Harry was my “date” for the USC game.
Note where they put the USC band.
The parachute team was spectacular.
Oh, the game: it was an interesting one. USC got the ball, promptly marched it into Illini territory and fumbled it away. The Illini drove it for a touchdown; the Illini offense was to rack up 500 yards of offense today. The Trojans promptly tied it with a march of their own; the teams were to punt one time apiece. The Illini retaliated 14-7 and, after a 4’th down stop, were threatening to make it 21-7, when the Trojans got a controversial fumble recovery. Then they marched it down to make it 14-10 at the half.
Second half: Illini got a field goal, and interception and then hit a swing pass to go up 24-10. No problem: USC drove it again to make it 24-17. The Illini got yet another touchdown to make it 31-17, which was the score going into the 4’th. The Trojans: once again, they used their excellent receivers to score and hit a 2 point conversion to make it 31-25.
Now it was the Illini’s turn, but they fumbled going into the Trojan end zone. This would have iced the game. Instead, the Trojans took the lead on a nifty pass and were up 32-31 with about 2 minutes to go.
That was too much time: the Illini promptly drove it to field goal range and their excellent kicker nailed it from 41 yards as time expired.
What a game! What a bounce back performance from the Illini after last week’s massacre at Indiana.
Yes, the Illini defense got shredded; that will be an ongoing problem.
Sunday
I drove to Quad Cities last night and stayed 4 miles away. I was to do the half marathon. The morning started at 59 F and was to get warmer, but the half marathon course managed to feature quite a bit of shade. That helped.
The result: 3:01:27, which was 2 minutes faster than last year. What cost me sub 3 hours: not enough training miles AND being around 200 lb. That is too heavy: I should be in the mid to high 180’s
I got into rhythm early and mostly ignored my watch. With the exception of that LOOOOONG pedestrian bridge next to I 74, I mostly maintained high 13s. The course was very intelligently designed; mile 2 was on the bridge and the marathoners reached it later, hence it never got crowded. I was treated to seeing the faster marathon runners.
Yes, at my walking pace, I was mostly the old, lame (I had knee braces) and heavier than optimal (see my remarks about my being too heavy). But, I am grateful for the longer time limits and for the opportunity to walk the course.
I admit that I teared up before the start; I wonder how much longer I’ll be able to do these. But I smiled at the finish; even though I did not have the reserves to take the final 1.1 miles fast. I was mildly surprised that I beat my last year’s time .
What I did right: 18 ten mile walks over the previous 20 weeks, heat conditioning. I also had a good attitude: “just walk; don’t be a slave to the watch.” And orange juice at mile 5 helped: I never got sick.
What I did wrong: too heavy, not enough training miles, and my 5k walk is too slow.
Quad Cities History 1998: 3:55 as a runner (hot) 1999: 3:45 as a runner 2000: 1:40 for half of a relay 2001: 1:49 for half marathon (week after giving blood) 2002: 4:44 marathon as a walker 2004: 5:12 marathon as a walker 2005: 5:34 marathon as a walker. 2007: DNF at mile 23 (walker) 2008: 2:25 half marathon (walker) 2009: 5:28 marathon (as a walker) 2010: 2:39 half marathon (as a walker; knee surgery in July). 2011: 2:22:27 (half marathon powerwalk) 2013: 2:20:59 as a runner 2014: 2:24:17 powerwalk. 2016 DNF mile 20 (run/walk) heat 2017 DNF mile 20 (walk) heat 2018: Marathon powerwalk 6:14:11. 2019: Marathon powerwalk 6:42:06
2 mile commuter walk; weights in the morning. weights: 6 sets of 7 pull ups, one set of 8 Bench: 10 x 134 Swiss, then 3 sets of 5 x 134 incline. 3 sets of 10 x 94 high incline.
Life of an old goat 