Yesterday: usual 10k course 1:32:31; somewhat slower than Tuesday but still 14:5x ish, with the final 2 miles being done at 14:10.
Today: weights and an easy 2.2 mile walk: pull ups: 9 sets of 6 (4 chin up, 5 pull up) bench: 10 x 134, 3 sets of 6 x 155 high incline: 10 x 94, 6 x 105, 3 x 110, 4 x 105
Chiefs: the Chiefs lost 10-5 on Wednesday after leading 5-0. Thursday: they lost 9-4 after leading 3-0 after 1..and after 4. The 5’th inning: Kernels got 7 hits and a walk to lead 6-3 and it only got worse. The final run was a spectacular blast to left field in the 9’th inning. It is rare to see a wooden bat home run clear the white fence.
Today: I walked my 5 hill 5 miler plus 1.2 to 1:30:28, which, while not fast (14:35 mpm) was my fastest time for this course since last October (before my knee troubles) I was 30:38 for the final 2.2 miles (about 13:50 mpm) which was not that bad since it was done in a shower. The cooler day helped too.
Yesterday: 2 mile walk plus some weights beforehand: pull ups: 5 sets of 6, 8, 2 sets of 6, 5 “penalty set”. bench: 10 x 134, 3 sets of 6 x 155 high incline: 3 sets of 6 x 105 light low handle trap bar deadlifts: 3 sets of 10 x 134 (for loosening up purposes)
Commentary: I’ve kept my mouth shut on the issues of the day, more than I ever have. Reasons:
If I said what I truly think, I’d have no friends, no spouse, and I’d probably get disowned.
I also know that my knowledge and point of views are limited. Some of what I honestly think is true is either wrong, or partly wrong.
Yes, I voted for Harris. I’d do so again. But I do not think that all, or even most Trump voters are evil and stupid. I do not agree with everything that people think most liberals stand for. I honestly think that the vast majority of people from every demographic are at least “reasonably good” people, even if they completely disagree with me about things. And, NONE of us are perfect. We all have gaps in our knowledge, experience and are delusional at least some of the time.
So, the older I get, the more I keep my mouth shut.
When I finished: 83 F, 71 percent humidity. But the course was mostly shaded. I did 1 mile to Bradley Park, the “spur” course, followed by a full Cornstalk loop, lower Bradley loop, and a hill-less mini loop which put me at 7.07. Then I did the “Barbara”: Armstrong (should have crossed University at the light), Columbia Terrace, Sheridan, Moss, back home. Distance was 10.2-10.3 (I was shorted by .07 miles at the 2.5 mile point..so I’d guess my reading or 10.02 was 0.2-0.3 off though the “correct distance” feature in Strava gave me 10.47) and the pace was 16:06 or so.
It was ok, given the hills (8 from miles 1 to 7) and the warm day.
The harsh reality my 5K is slower this year and my long walks are about 1 minute per mile slower. I can talk about my “taking it easier” but I have slowed down, period. So, IF I do that Quad Cities half in September, I ought to think about aiming for 3:15 for a goal time, or about 14:50 mpm from the very start.
I had really believed that I could improve from last year, and I am not doing it.
On a positive personal note: I bought two novels during my late June trip to Texas. I’ve finished two of them. The third has a grip on me.
The books: Fleming’s Bond novel Moonraker and Dexter’s Morse Novel Service of all the Dead. It appears that the Morse TV series keeps Inspector Morse reasonably close to the novel version, though the TV version is a bit more sanitized, and perhaps the TV version plays up the Oxford education just a bit more.
First, let’s talk about the Chiefs game last night: the Chiefs won it in 10: 3-2. We got the expected pitcher’s duel with the Cubs starting a AAA pitcher on rehab and the Chiefs throwing Lin, a top Cardinals prospect.
So, it was 2-2 going into the 10’th; the Chiefs did loads the bases in the 8’th inning with 0 outs but failed to score.
This was perhaps the best non-education day crowd of the season.
As much as I enjoyed the 21-2 game the day before, from a baseball fan’s viewpoint, this game was better. It was better played and there was plenty of drama.
5K
Well, this was a personal worst. But, oddly enough, I am ok with it. I’ve done no fast walking in a very long time; the miles are there but the speed isn’t. And it was gross: 79 F with 72 percent humidity.
The first mile was the expected zoo, given that I started at the back of the pack (where I belonged) and had the expected “moms with strollers”, “leashed dogs” and “parents with kids.” Lest you think that I am putting on airs, I’ll point out that many of these types were either beating me or at least staying with me. Aside from parents with their kids, there weren’t any, uh, “athletic bodies” around me, save a few older runners. One I thought: “wow, she is attractive for such an old lady..” and it turns out that I’ll be her age in a couple of months! No, there were no gazelles or active athletes in my part of the world.
The start WAS crowded and when it finally thinned out a bit, the better runners were on their way back. I was right at 12 minutes at mile 1 and probably should have stayed there. But I tried to pick it up at the turn around. I did; mile 2 was 11:45 (big whoop) and I could feel the heat getting to me. So, I eased up; mile 3 was 13:15 and I just didn’t care that much about my time at that point. I just wanted to finish without getting sick and with the ability to walk it back home.
After sitting for a while, I walked it back home.
total: 2.3 at 17:06 to get there, the 5k, 2.3 at 19:54 (I was tired) to get home.
What I am missing: I should have a “short but with some speed” day every week. This was this week’s session.
This was last year’s Firecracker 5k: I am wearing red. I powerwalked it in just under 34 minutes (by the chip); the couple boxed in yellow ran it slightly faster than I (by the chip). But we finished at about the same time as you can see.
I saw them at the packet pick up (they were getting into their car) and I said “hi.”
This year, I am doomed to be slower as I’ve had no speedwork to speak of and even a 13:30 pace (in practice) is moderately challenging. But I hope to improve on the 38:30 that I walked this spring.
Ah, my first Firecracker was a 26:53 4 miler in 1981 and my first time at THIS race I ran 20:40 for 5k (in 1998). I also had a 42 minute 10K in 1982 and a 5:59 road mile in 1999 (last sub 6 mile ever).
On the other hand, 3 years ago, I was in too much pain to even walk a 5K, period, so there is that.
Today’s workout
Easy 4 mile walk (16 minutes per mile)
Yesterday’s Baseball I am still shaking my head. The Chiefs bombarded the Cubs 21-2 behind 21 hits and 5 Cubs errors. This was the most runs the Chiefs have scored at Dozer (though they once gave up 21 runs). The stage was set with a massive moon-shot of a grand slam in the 4’th to put the Chiefs up 4-2 (hard to believe that the Cubs actually LEAD for 1/3 of the game) and from then on, the dam burst.
JOSH KROSS UNLOADS THE BASES WITH A GRAND SLAM!!! 🚀🔥
Note: the account holder DOES post some good stuff; I can recommend the account to runners. But..
“Excuse?” I suppose I can interpret that as him talking to someone who WANTS to do a marathon but is trying to talk themselves out of it. And, to be fair, that might apply to a group of people that is larger than the group that I am in.
And, no, I was not good at it. My PR as a runner is 3:33 in 1980, master’s is 3:38 in 2000. I did several as a walker (walking 100 percent of the time) and my last time was in 2019; it took me 6:42 (walker)
No, I am never saying “never again”, but given the tenuous health of my knees (currently tolerating 10 miles fairly well) and lumbar, I am NOT doing a marathon in the foreseeable future. And that is right decision, for ME at my current stage in life. Now, if I drop from 195 lb to, say, 178 lb…who knows? Right now, 10 miles is very comfortable but I’ll need 18-20 miles to feel that way before I start looking. It *could* happen, though I don’t see it as likely.
But here is my point: I did my first marathon when I was 21 and, frankly, I did not know what I was doing. But I was doing 15 miles at 7:40-8 minutes a mile, and could do a 5:30 one mile and a 19:20 3 mile (just at 20 for a 5k) and had run for sports for YEARS. I did not go from “couch to marathon.”
I honestly think that way too many never give their bodies a chance to adjust to running first and end up walk/jogging/shuffling to a 6 hour plus marathon.
And, well, the marathon is hardly the pinnacle of running achievement. For example, a 22 minute 5k is much better accomplishment than a 5 hour marathon.
As an aside, I talked to the young man who fit me for walking shoes. It turns out that he is pretty proud of his sub 2 minute 800, and he SHOULD be. That is harder than people think.
Yesterday: I went to the rock island trail. I did get bothered by some entitled pricks that did “sideways” parking to keep others away from their newish Lexus (I was about to go home, else I would have made it a point to park right next to them)
But those on the trail were super polite…even the e-bike riders! Yes, one of my “irrationally mad at something that is none of my business and isn’t at all wrong” things is getting mad at those who ride e-bikes on a trail that isn’t used for commuting. (I think they are great for commuters). As far as the walk itself: high 15’s to low 16’s on the way out, sub 15 on the way back for 1:34:44 (15:02) for 6.3. This was 4:20 slower than on June 12, but it was 81 F, 54 percent humidity at the finish. Not terrible, but not as cool as the shade made it feel.
Today: weights at 2 miles (2.05?) in 29:54.
Weights: pull ups/chin ups: 5 sets of 6, 8, 6, 6, penalty set of 5. Did several “chin up style” and several “pull up style”. This was AFTER PT; they went better today. Basement: low trap bar: 10 x 134, 10 x 184 (just to get stretched) bench: 10 x 134 inline: 3 sets of 6 x 134 (got ’em all) supported dumbbell shoulder press: 3 sets of 10 x 40 (each hand)
Peoria Chiefs
Watching the Chiefs is my “happy space.” I love it. And last night, a good, all around sharp team effort lead to a 5-1 win over the South Bend Cubs. The Chiefs pitchers shut the Cubs out after the first inning.
It was an extra fun night for me because Barbara, Vickie, Harry, and Jacob were there.
But this weekend: I saw the Chiefs win 4-0 on a day when the whole team looked sharp. Then on Sunday, they got bombed 10-0. It was 3-0 when the Chiefs put in a usually reliable short term reliever-closer who got bombed out of the box. It was soon 8-0 after 4 and it never got better.
I guess some just go to be with their loved one.
Book notes: I am reading an Inspector Morse novel. Early on, the author describes a woman’s nightgown by using an offensive racial slur as a modification for the color brown. This was written in 1979! Evidently, this was a common practice at the time (I looked it up). Wow..that was 46 years ago and this was from a different country (UK) but, at least modern dictionaries describe that as being “taboo” and “offensive.” I admit that this startled me a bit.
Workout notes: Sunday: I did a slow 5 mile walk (16:32 pace) and it actually felt good; it took some of Saturday’s stiffness away.
Monday (today) 2 mile slow walk with weights.
pull ups were a CHORE. 9 sets of 5, one of 7, no set felt super good. I did PT in between sets, outside. downstairs: Bench: 17 reps of 134, 3 sets of 7 x 150. 4 inch trap bar: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 228, 10 x 244 high incline: 10 x 94, 6 x 105, 6 x 105 curls: 3 sets of 10. I honestly got a small pump in this workout.
Thursday: Very hot. I started just after 7:20 and ended after 9: my 6.2 mile “5 hill plus a Moss ave. mini loop” course in 1:46:22 (16:59 pace!) I just didn’t want to put any effort into it. And I had a run in with a loose pit bull on Parkside “oh, he never does that…” a “beautiful person’s” dog. I said a few cuss words. But that was NOT my slowest mile!
Friday: easy 17:20 pace 2.2 mile on campus after some weights. Pull ups: a struggle: 5 sets of 6, 8, two sets of 6 mixed grip. I am doing more “chin up” style. Bench: 10 x 134, 10 x 150 (hard!) incline: 5 x 134, 4 x 134 (missed rep 5) 4 x 134 (missed rep 5) high incline: 2 sets of 10 x 94…this finished me off.
Saturday: 10 miles on the Rock Island: walked to the 0 marker and continued to the very start of the non-pavement portion. Then out to Dunlap, through, turn around at the trail head north of Dunlap (5.3 miles) then back to the Alta trail head. Time:2:42:12; 15:53 pace. It was not hard.
It was 86 F, 58 percent humidity at the end (as opposed to 89, 62 on Thursday) but the shade made it sort-of comfortable. And the pace…well..it was designed to get me through the miles.
A remarkable inning
On Thursday, I watched the Chiefs demolish the Beloit Sky Carp 14-5 to improve to 2-4 (now they are 3-4 for the second half of the season; that is important).
But HOW the did it was remarkable.
The second inning went well; the Chiefs scored 2 with a 2 run home run and a single to drive in another. So it was 3-1 after 2, nothing remarkable about that. But then came the 3’rd. In this inning, the Chiefs reached first base by walks and singles; they had NO extra base hits and the Sky Carp made no errors. There WAS a wild pitch.
But, in this inning, the Chiefs scored 10 runs! There wasn’t enough room on the score board to register the 3’rd inning!
The bull pen held on enough for the Chiefs to win 14-5. But the bottom of the 8’th was interesting. The Sky Carp put in a position player to finish. He hit the first batter and proceeded to throw “lob” pitches.
I have never seen a game quite like this one.
Books
I decided to try to read more, so I bought some fiction from Half Price. I finished the first of these: Moonraker. I’ll say this: this is NOTHING like the Bond movie with the same name, though the villain is named “Drax”, the villain decides to kill bond and the female lead character with the rocket blast (instead of doing it directly) and, of course, tells Bond of his fiendish plan (which, well, is a bit outrageous) prior to leaving them to die.
Of note: it is the female character who first finds out what the plan is by..yes, doing a mathematical calculation! The female character is very capable in the book. And there is another important difference.
Remember the book was written in 1955 when the world was still recovering from WW2 and the Iron Curtain had just come down. The rocket in question was a “atomic capable” glorified, improved V2 type of weapon.
We took off for Texas on Thursday. There was a strange rattle in the car; more on that later. But we made it from Peoria (9 am) to Muskogee, Oklahoma with no issues. But while in Muskogee, the rattle was bothering me, so we took it to the local Toyota dealer. They got right on it: it was a loose muffler exhaust heat shield; they got larger washers to tighten it up. Lots of corrosion underneath.
That delayed our leaving though; we got out roughly 11 am or so. Still, it was a fairly smooth drive to Austin after that, though we did visit a Buc-ee’s just north of Dallas.
We made it to the Southpark Omni late in the evening.
Saturday: the highlight was a trip to Half-price (will read some fiction) and a trip to the Blanton Museum (on the University of Texas campus)
Olivia went back home to ready herself for the workweek and Babs and I had some Ethiopian food.
The next day, we headed to the Woodlans (2:40 away). Amusing: my left foot hurt. It turns out that I had put on two right foot shoes!
That was a fun mini-visit. Mike (Lynnor’s husband) was a good sport.
Then came the trip to Texarkana. Google maps routed out the “quickest route” and that included lots of trips on small roads off of the main highway. That included one case where we actually had a “pilot truck” to get us through a construction zone! It sure was scenic though.
We stopped just south of Little Rock (Arkadelphia) and took the new I-57 out of Little Rock to 67, up through Missouri and around St. Louis. We took the I-270 detour to get to I-55.
Today: I watched the Chiefs lose to the Skycarp 6-4 in a very hot day game. The Chiefs are now 1-4 in the second half of the season.
Life of an old goat 