The title is cryptic. But it has at least one public meaning: my Tuesday walk was, well, on a flat 10K course (6.4) West Peoria 4, but a double back and return via Ayres plus a bit of campus. 15:02 pace. It was ghastly humid (81 F, 73 percent humidity). Gads..too slow.
A few years ago, I was at a Chiefs game. A pop foul came my way and an age peer (60s) was standing just behind me, to my right. He reached out his hand and snatched the ball out of the air.
I looked at him wide-eyed and said “you must have played.” He got a “happy/sad” look on his face and admitted that, at one time in his life, he was a A league minor league player; he now had an office job related to baseball.
And yes, to play A level minor league baseball, you have to be better than the vast majority of college players, who in turn are better than the vast majority of high school players, who I think are pretty good.
But only about 10 percent of those that I watch at Chiefs games will become a Major League player. Just being excellent won’t get you there.
And that reminds me of these two threads posts:
Here is a 28:00 10000 meter, 1:48 800 meter runner who works at McDonalds to finance his training. Yes, he could run for some college teams and get financial assistance for his education. But his times need to be something like 27:20 or 1:43 to even sniff earning a living through his running.
And that is what it is like. An average engineer can make a nice living, as can, say, an average accountant. But even an elite athlete can peak out before the “earn your living at it” level.
Sunday: I checked the rain forecast..no rain. So I started on my walk and..of course…BOOM…it came down in buckets. Ok, I was in Bradley park and usually rain means that car traffic is low, but some huge gathering insisted in going to the sheltered picnic area. Ugh..worst of both worlds: hard rain and traffic. 10.2 miles in 2:48:51. (16:33 pace; the second half was much slower than the first). Rain, slick roads and a tough course kind of did me in. The course: the out and back, two “classic” loops and one lower loop. Then I did an “almost to Moss” loop plus another rectangle to get to 10+
Monday: weights, then a walk to and from Walgreens via Waverly..rain..again.
pull ups: 6 sets of 6 (off), 10 (kind of bad pull ups), two sets of 5 mixed grip bench: 10 x 134, 3 sets of 5 x 160 high incline: 10 x 94, 2 sets of 5 x 110.
Baseball: on Saturday night: well, the Chiefs fell behind 4-1 and lost 4-3. Twice the Chiefs loaded the bases and got no runs out of it. Groan. Sunday: cancelled due to the field not being playable.
I still like recording a bit of what is going on, mainly so I can see where I was.
First baseball: I saw the Chiefs on Wednesday and Thursday. The Wednesday game: the highly touted starter didn’t last past the first inning, giving up 3 runs. But the Timberrattlers got only 1 more and the Chiefs opened it up with 3 in the 3’rd and 3 in the 6’th to win 6-4. They got 11 hits in all; very fun game. There was a good crowd too as it was “Faith and Family” night. No, it wasn’t the crowds of 10 years ago (when that night sold out) but 3501 took up half of the stadium seats. That was perhaps the largest non July 3’rd-July 4’th Wednesday crowd of recent memory.
Thursday: can we talk about Wednesday again? The Rattlers bombed the Chiefs for 5 runs in the second and ended up crushing the Chiefs 9-0 behind 10 hits. Though the on the field action may have been boring, the umpire stuff was wild. The home plate umpire ejected the Rattler’s manager for arguing a batter’s pitch clock violation strike, ejected the Chief’s bench coach for arguing the same thing..and, well, the ball 9 was a CALLED third strike which even made the Chiefs crowd gasp.
You have to have a sense of humor. In the 9’th, the Chiefs sent a catcher up to finish the inning: he gave up 1 hit and no runs. Fans joked that he was our best reliever.
In the bottom of the 9’th, the Chiefs managed to load the bases and those still left (crowd was sparse to begin with and most had left) were chanting for the Chiefs to score. Didn’t happen.
The highlight was Richardson getting brushed back (for the second time) with some chin music…stepping up and ripping a double anyway.
That’s probably the most fun 9-0 loss that I’ve ever endured.
Other personal stuff: reading more Bond novels (finished 3 Morse ones). The main characters are complete horn-dogs! And if “colonialism” is a deal breaker for you, ..well…don’t read these books.
Workouts: Thursday: very irritated and it was hot and gross. 1:37:55 for my usual 10k (15:48) Friday: slow 2 mile walk and weights. Pull ups went very well: 10, 10, 10 (ok 8) 2 penalty reps, 6, 6, 5, 5 (mixed grip for the final 2 sets, chin grip for the sets of 6) bench: 18 x 134 (wanted 20), 3 sets of 7 x 150 high incline: 10 x 94, 5 x 110, 5 x 100
Saturday: slept in due to getting in late from A Few Good Men (the play) low handle: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 225 4 inch: 10 x 244 Then a slow 2 mile walk.
Note: I’ve signed up for the Quad Cities Half marathon and will do it, provided the Illinois vs USC game is NOT a Saturday night game. Given the current night TV Big Ten schedule, I don’t expect it to be.
Things are going along ok, and then comes the call “I’ve been in an accident…” Ok, this time the medical stuff, aside from a dreary trip to the emergency room, went ok (for B: I was at home when the accident happened)
Now the details…ugh.
Monday: no walk due to a lot of time at the car dealership. Yes, new vehicle (a boring old person’s vehicle)
weights: 7,6, 7, 6, 7, 5, 5 pull ups bench: 10 x 134, 5 x 160, 4 x 160, 4 x 160, 5 x 160 high incline: 10 x 94, 6 x 105, 5 x 110
Tuesday: 7.15 mile walk: 5 mile course with a special 2 mile loop: it is the go up Cornstalk the old way but then turn left to go further up, go down the hill then around the bottom of the hill along the lower loop course. I added a loop around the median. 1:51:52 for 15:39 (slow today)
Wednesday: 2 mile walk afterward (slightly more) with weights Pull ups were easier: 10, 10, 10, 7, 6, 5, 5 (all overhand)
bench: 10 x 134 incline: 5 x 134, 5 x 134, 5 x 134, 1 x 155 (missed this the last time) high incline: 10 x 94, 6 x 105, 5 x 110 trap bar: low 10 x 134, 10 x 184 4 inch: 10 x 228
Chiefs: they lost to the Rattlers 5-3; the second batter hit a towering home run that went OVER the left field berm. It was 3-3 though before errors doomed the Chiefs, including an errant throw home. But the final Chiefs pitcher was spectacular and..in the bottom of the 9’th with 2 out, runners on 1st and 2nd, one of the better hit a shot to right field that I thought would tie the game: spectacular catch to end the game.
B was rear ended Saturday. That lead to my going to the accident site and a loooooong trip to the emergency room. She was ok and that was expected, but one has to be more careful with an elderly person.
Catch up:
Thursday: 10K course (out and back in Bradley Park); 1:32:00 (14:50 mpm) Just at 1 hour at mile 4. Not that hot of a morning.
Friday: easy 5K at 17:50 after weights: pull ups: went ok: 7, 7, 6, 6, 10, 8, 6, 6
Bench: 10 x 134, 3 sets of 6 x 155 high incline: 10 x 94, 6 x 105, 5 x 110
Saturday: very bad air, so I did a 5K walk outside after weights: short bar, deficit: 10 x 107, 10 x 150, 3 x 195 (just not into it) low bar: 10 x 225 (tough)
4 inch: 1 x 300 10 x 244
Sunday: completely convoluted course: 10.2 in 2:39:58. It wasn’t as long as the Strava “course correction” said. But it included about 2 miles in the West Peoria Cemetery (one up/down plus an extra upper loop), 4 complete laps on the track (plus a bit) as well as normal stuff. It his 77 F but humidity was only 46 percent. I had 2-3 miles slower than 16, I think.
Just the facts: Monday: weights plus an easy 2 mile walk. pull ups: 9 sets of 6 bench: 10 x 134, 5 x 160, 4 x 160, 3 x 160, 6 x 155 (got fatigued) high incline: 10 x 94, 6 x 105, 6 x 105
Tuesday: 10k course in 1:35:35 85 F, 70 percent humidity.
Wednesday: pull ups: 7 sets of 6, 1 of 10 (included some mixed grip) bench: 10 x 134, 6 x 155 incline: 5 x 134, 6 x 134, 5 x 134 trap bar dead (all low) 10 x 150, 10 x 200, 10 x 225 The final set made my thighs quiver.
treadmill walk: 26:20 (13:35/12:45) It was storming outside.
Well, I’ll start with the workouts first: Thursday: 6.3 miles (Bradley Park out and back plus a lower loop plus going out to Bradley ave) in 1:37:44 (15:31) 86 F, 69 percent humidity.
Friday: upper body weights plus a 2.2 mile walk at just under 17 minutes per mile. The weights:
pull ups: 5 sets of 6, 10 (almost), 2 sets of 6 (mixed grip), set of 3 penalty reps bench: 10 x 134 incline bench: 3 sets of 5 x 134 curls: 3 sets of 10 dumbbell shoulder: 3 sets of 10 x 40 (supported)
Saturday: thunderstorms so I did trap bar and straight bar deadlifts plus a 2 mile walk (break in the rain) straight bar (small bar) 10 x 105, 10 x 149, 10 x 193 Trap bar low 10 x 224 trap bar 6 inch: 10 x 260
Sunday: started just after 9 am. 84 F, 80 percent humidity. There was some cloud cover. To Bradley Park, out and back, then two loops where I did the upper park loop with a double back on the “middle” road, down to the start of Cornstalk, then along the bottom of the hill to the Bridge and up to Dog Park hill, one lower loop, one mini loop. Garmin got 10.15 miles; “course correction got 10.51 so we’ll call it 10.3 in 2:49:08, or 16:25. I did NOT go fast, and my stepson’s friend got a photo of me. No, my support knee was not straight.
Damn, I am really bad at what I do (in terms of sports/fitness)
Baseball:
Well, I caught games on Wednesday, (solo), Thursday (Lynn), Saturday (Tracy), Sunday (solo)
The opponent was the West Michigan Whitecaps, who lead the Eastern Division. And yes, they are good.
Wednesday’s game: a rout. The Whitecaps got out of a 9-0 lead and cruised to 9-4 win. Few were there due to the heat.
Thursday: The Whitecaps got out to a 5-0 lead after 2, and I thought “this one is over.” But the Whitecaps would not score again, and the Chiefs rallied with 3 in the 3’rd and again in the 5’th and then got some insurance to win 9-5. That might have been the finest game of the season: Arias threw two shut out innings to close.
Saturday: we got there late to see the Chiefs lose 8-3 on a game that was postponed due to lightning on Friday. The 3 runs cam in the 9th.
Then came the second 7 inning game. The starter for the Chiefs struggled just a bit in the first but only gave up 1 run. Then he was on fire for the next 4 innings. On the other hand, the Whitecaps starter was fire for the first 4 and then wilted in the 5’th. The Chiefs rocked the starter for 4 runs in the 5’th and picked up 2 more in the 6’th to breeze 6-1 in what was their best game to day, surpassing Thursday’s win.
Sunday: this one was a sloppy game: 5 errors between the two teams, plus several “not on the score sheet” errors. But this also featured some spectacular plays too (unassisted double play by the Whitecaps first baseman off of a line drive, a running catch in deep right center). It was 5-1 Whitecaps going into the 6’th when the Chiefs rallied to tie the game. But the Whitecaps came back with 2 (off of a big home run to left center) in the 7’th, and the Chiefs made up 1. But they could get no closer. Very entertaining game though.
Note: some of the Chiefs officials appeared to be confused at the company I kept. Barbara was scheduled to go both on Thursday and Saturday, but did not feel up to it. She made Tuesday’s game though.
Pat visited us for a couple of days. This meant Chiefs, walks and photos.
Tuesday: I did 5 miles on my own; it was one of my better workouts on the course, even though it was 79 F, 85 percent humidity.
Then I went out for 3.4 miles slow with Pat; I drug her to St. Mary’s Cemetery in West Peoria. We went up the big hill. Pat was interested in the Bishop Sheen headstones.
I am not sure what the above is.
Later, it was Chiefs baseball time. Once again: the Chiefs lead 5-2 going into the 5’th, when they put in a struggling relief pitcher, who gave up 3 hits (one home run) and 3 runs. BUT..one of the runners reached the base on an error and, when there was 1 out, a very close call denied a double play, leading to a run. So the pitcher, despite the 3 hits, really could be blamed for one of the runs.
The Whitecaps got a run in the top of the 8’th and that was enough to win 6-5.
We got a visit from a cute Westie.
Today, I drug Pat up 3 hills in Bradley Park. It was only 2.4 miles
Afterward, weights: Pull ups: 5 sets of 6 (felt ok) Chin ups: 4 sets of 5 Bench: 10 x 134, 9 x 150, 7 x 150, 7 x 150 Deadlift: low: 10 x 150, 10 x 200, 6 inch: 10 x 260 high incline: 10 x 94, 5 x 105, 5 x 105
Later: we visited the cathedral and the Sheen museum.
I’ve heard the word “empathy” a lot. Here is my understanding of the word: it means being able to put yourself in the place of another person and understand them.
And here is another case of a liberal/conservative divide: when a liberal says “empathy”, they mean “for the marginalized classes” (which often, but not always, include them, of course.)
To me, this is yet another reason why, politically, liberals lose so damned much.
If you are going to make the case of why someone, say, should pay more tax, or why the government should provide some benefit, you have to understand how most voters will see it. And you have to convince the voters why THEY would be better off.
Saying STFU, “check your privilege” convinces no one outside of academia (or other bubble areas).
I believe this is one reason why so many men have dumped the Democratic party.
One thing that liberal activists do not get is that the average man is much closer to the garbage man working in 15 F conditions or the construction worker pouring hot tar in 95 F conditions than they are to the CEO pulling in 7 figures.
Life of an old goat 