Tag: Bradley Basketball

Boring workout post

Aren’t they all? 🙂 But not much of substance today; enjoyed watching the Bradley Women hold on to get their first conference win (61-51 vs Evansville; watched the second half on ESPN3) and now enjoying the Men’s game vs Indiana State. BU leads 35-34 at the half.

I timed today’s workout so I’ll get a feel of how long everything takes. Big picture take away: bench press: 1 x 184 (best with my feet up on a chair..sans leg drive), 4 mile walk at 13:25 (Riverfront) with only slight discomfort, mostly in the final mile; 2 sets of 5 x 105 “touch the chest” on the high incline. That’s getting better too. Throat is a lot better.

Details:

7:55 am start. Mixed PT sets with pull ups/crunch pull ups.

The pull up sets: 10 crunch singles (start with legs up), 10 crunch singles (start with feet on the ground), 10 crunch singles on 10 seconds, 3 x 6 pull ups (one of the final reps was bad), 5 pull ups, then 5 singles with 10 seconds rest between reps. Total: 58 reps.

The PT: I do 3 sets of 3 different exercises for the rotator cuff (well, two exercises are a combination of 3 different exercises, so really 7 total), and for the back: one leg glute bridges, dead bugs, spinal balance (aka bird dog), two leg bridge with march, psoas march (today standing), one knee with a twist, two different kinds of crunches (2 sets of 10 straight leg quarter crunch), 50 regular crunches, banded “clam shell, glute bridge, clam shell other side”, banded walks (2 sets) This takes up about 30 minutes.

Push ups: 30 incline outside. 8:52 finish.

Downstairs: 8:55 start

Bench press: 134 x 5, 155 x 2, 170 x 1, 184 x 1, (ugly)

165 x 4, 160 x 5, 155 x 6 . That took me to 9:27 (lots of rest between sets)

High incline: 10 x 85, 8 x 94, 5 x 105, 5 x 105 (touch the chest) 9:52 finish

Curls: 7 x 7 x 7 (low, high, full), then 10. 9:58 finish

Upstairs: between sets of push ups and chest taps: pelvic tilt, open book (5 each side)

20 push ups, 10 chest taps 20 push ups 10 chest taps. 10:11 finish, or 2:16 total.

Then to the Riverfront. Start 10:34: 4.13 mile walk in 55:24. Home at 11:45.

So 2:16 for the weights, 1:34 for the 4 mile walk, which includes the drive there, back, and some stretching. 3:50 total time.

Hanging on

I developed a sore throat after covid and it is persisting. I am getting it checked out tomorrow.

My treadmill walk left me with a somewhat stiff back but stretching helped.

Basketball Bradley drew 10,400+ fans and defeated Drake 73-61, thereby winning the MVC crown and guaranteeing them *at least* an NIT bid. It was a 3 point lead at the half and Drake took a 42-41 lead..but BU went on a run and did not look back.

This felt like “old times” though BU last on the title in 1996.

Slight relapse, winning, etc.

Today: I’ve had sort of a mini-rebound wave. I’ve had brief periods of just not feeling well, though my workout went fine. I quit my walk at just the right time.

Wednesday: PT, stretch, walk.

The second walk went great for 1.8 miles or so.

Today: weights and a short walk.

Mile 1 was 14:04. I quit at just the right spot. It was cold and rainy.

Weight: 196.

the weights: pull ups: single crunch/lumbar stretch combinations (5, 5, 8, 8, 6)

two sets of 5 then 10 singles.

Push ups (before) 2 sets of 20, 2 sets of 15, along with 2 sets of 10 chest taps.

Weights: low: 10 x 134, 10 x 190 (no bounce) 4 inch: 10 x 235 (no bounce) All felt …good?

Then high incline presses: 10 x 75, 10 x 80, 10 x 85, full range of motion this time. Lighter, but yes, I CAN get the full range of motion, engage the back, etc. I feel it (in a good way) and will stick with that. I think I can up the weight just a bit.

Then the walk.

Bradley Basketball

Bradley raced to a 37-26 halftime lead and extended it to 44-28 with 18 minutes left in the game. BU was getting great shots..and working to get them. But then BU got a bit complacent and Missouri State clawed back into the game, pulling within 6 at one point.

Nevertheless BU responded and won 64-54.

This is a very good Bradley team; 20-8, tied for first in the Missouri Valley conference. And yet..the average attendance is about 1900 LESS than the first team our current coach had..which went 5-27. The largest crowd we had this year was just over 6200 which would have been a below average crowd from 1992-2014…every single year.

“Win and they will come” has been scaled back. This year saw the worst attendance going back to at least 1978.

Bradley men, women split.

Last night the women played a good Missouri State team tough. They lead at the half.

Bradley lead 50-49 going into the 4’th and it was still a 1 point game with 2 minutes to go.

But alas Missouri State made the big plays between 2 and 1 minute (steals, breakaway lay ups) and ended up winning 74-64.

I took a couple of shots.

Today: the men dominated Murray State 83-48; it was close with 3 minutes to go in the half, then BU went on 13-0 run to take a 31-21 lead into the half.

The bigs dominated the paint and blocked 5 shots; help defense was outstanding. Then in the second half, BU started hitting 3 point shots and the slaughter was on.

An aside: Illinois knocked off no. 24 Rutgers 69-60 and Navy blew out Army 70-53.

Mismatch and Miscounting

The mismatch: Struggling Valpo visited Bradley and the result was 88-66, though it was 49-24 at the half and the lead blew up to 33 points. Overall, Bradley shot 58.3 percent from the field and went 12-27 from 3 point range; but just prior to halftime, it was 6-10. BU had lots of uncontested 3 point shots and dunks.

12 Braves saw action.

4476 was the official attendance and it was a somewhat above average crowd for this year. The crowds just aren’t what they once were.

But before the game, I did a PT, deadlift and 5 mile walk.

Deadlift: 10 x 134, 10 x 184 low.

Intention was to boost my 4 inch lift to 6-8 reps with 270 (got 10 x 265 last week) but I made a mistake: 45, 25, 25, 10, 5.5, 5, 2.5 on each side; that plus the 44 lb bar makes 280, not 270. So when I tried, I was surprised at how hard the first rep was and so struggled to do 5 before I quit. I almost panicked. Then I recounted…”oh sure.” So I did set 2 with 280; and while it was challenging, it went easier because I was mentally prepared for the weight.

10 x 280 at 8 inch finished the festivites.

Then the back felt positively great for my “3 to 5 mile walk”; did a complete upper Cornstalk loop and then a half lower loop. I really felt good.

Catch up: end of year

Workouts:

Yesterday, weights and 5K walk. Walk was a slightly less comfortable than I’d like.

Weights: 70 push ups with PT: 7 sets of 10, including 2 chest-tap/push ups

Pull ups: sets 10, 5, and singles (to get to 50 reps; some were chin ups)

Bench press: 5 x 134, 1 x 155, 1 x 170, 1 x 175, 3 x 165, 4 x 160, 4 x 160
curls: 3 sets of 10
Swiss Bar incline 3 sets of 10 x 94

Then the walk.

Today: lots of PT, more stretching, then a 10K walk (some discomfort at 3.5) but less discomfort than yesterday.

Weight: 193 before walking.

Basketball:

Last night: the women got hammered by Northern Iowa. Oh, it was 35-30 Bradley at the half. But at 34-9 3’rd quarter but Northern in command (a LOT of 3 point makes) and it ended 83-64.

Today: the men pounded Illinois Chicago 79-45, and were up 39-13 at the half. The lead was over 40 points at one point.

Before the storm

I got up to beat the storm; I did PT and then started the walk at 7:23: 30 degrees. Finished: 9:00: 19 degrees. Slight outside the hip discomfort at times. Somewhat slippery at times..not terrible.

Later: drove SLOWLY to the Bradley Basketball game; they won 74-55 in a game that was not that “close”; they had a 30 point lead late; it was 36-19 at the half. The defense was smothering.

Not many were there though.

Workout catch up

I’ve been somewhat busy..and working on a “revise and resubmit.” I should be good to go with that by the end of the week.

Lots of sleeping in until..6 am!

Saturday, 17 December: Workout, graduation, TV football.

The workout was PT and a 5 mile walk that went ok; flat West Peoria course.

Sunday: the before game workout was a quick PT session and a 2 mile treadmill walk. Harry and I also walked ..more than I expected; perhaps 3.5 miles total to and from the parking lot to the game.

I’ll talk more about the game further down. Harry, as usual, was great company.

Monday: Weights, and a sort of brisk 3 mile walk in chilly conditions.

Workout: PT mixed with pushups; 5 sets of 10, one of 30, one of 20

Pull ups in 20F weather: did sets of 10, 5 and 5 singles; enough to get 50 reps.

Downstairs for weights: bench: 10 x 134, 4 x 161, 4 x 161, 4 x 161, 3 x 161 (missed lock out on rep 4)

curls: 3 sets of 10, Swiss bar high incline; 3 x 94

Then the walk.

In the evening: caught some Bradley basketball. Kind of a boring game as Stonehill was overmatched; BU lead 41-19 just before half time and won going away 79-50, with lots of guys getting minutes toward the end. Sparse attendance.

Then today: I laid around way too much this morning; did PT and then went to the Riverfront to do some miles. I didn’t have the confidence to do a 3.5 mile out and back, but I did 2.5 miles to the ball field and added a dam section, 2 different loops and one more extra loop at the end to get 7 miles. Some discomfort from 4.5 to 5.5 on the outside of the left hip; paying attention to my gait seemed to help. Temps were 30’s and breezy.

Bears vs Eagles: the game

Seats: Section 432 (upper grandstand) row 3. Like these; got them for 89 dollars before fees (117 with fees). Got a cool scarf

The Bears lost 25-20 but put up a great fight. The Eagles WERE the better team and sacked the elusive Bears QB 6 times; 4 times in the first half. They also forced a fumble that stopped a Bears drive.

Bears missed an extra point and the windy conditions made the Bears punt from the Eagle 30 yard line (got the ball on an interception..one of 2 but went backwards)

The game was marred with 2 injuries within the first 2 minutes; fortunately the neck injury for the offensive lineman was not life altering.

After a scoreless first quarter (Bears thwarted one Eagle drive with an interception) the Eagles drove for a field goal. Spectacular running from the Bears quarterback lead to a Bears touchdown, but the Bears missed the PAT.

The Eagles responded with a touchdown of their own; spectacular 20 yard run up the middle by the Eagles quarterback. So it was 10-6 at the half.

Third quarter was explosive. Kick was returned by the Eagles to about midfield, and a drive (spectacular pass to the right flag) set up a touchdown sneak. So, 17-6, but then, after the Bears punted, they forced a fumble after catch, and then from the 15, drove it in on a short pass. It was now 17-13 and it was getting interesting.

Now in the 4’th, one Eagle drive ended on a doink field goal attempt. But a second drive, lead by a long pass inside the Bears’ 4 yard line set up a sneak and a nifty 2 point conversion (quarterback roll out to the weak side off of an unbalanced line) made it 25-13.

Bears did not give up; they had one time out and just under 4 minutes; in fact, they scored a touchdown off of a long pass and a roll out. So it was 25-20 with just under 3 minutes left, and the Bears had one time out.

An onside kick failed and the Eagles put it away on a 3rd down pass (slant route).

Great game.

Cold: yes; some wind, and the high reached 21. It was in the teens early and late; I was bundled up enough and did not have to button my coat. But my hands and feet; especially my feet. I will look into electric socks or insoles.

Into December

Ok, my mileage: 122.9 in November, up from 107.5 in October, 97.2 in September and 85.9 in August. And on 14 November, I went off of NSAIDS. Great.

Yesterday:

I did push ups (4 sets of 25) mixed with PT, deadlifts (10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 228) then the first walk, then 50 pull up reps…

Today: just PT and a 10K-ish hilly walk; note I did have some “sensation” at times during the hilly segements.

This was my first “icicles in the beard” walk of the season.

Last night: some Bradley basketball.

The first half was close as Bradley missed some open shots and Northern Iowa made some tough shots. But the averages caught up; BU’s good defense shined all night long, and Bradley won comfortably 68-53.

Tragically, an elderly pedestrian was killed crossing the street in front of the Civic Center; this shut down the street and lead to the smaller than expected crowd shown.

Close game day

Started out ok; cold; teens when I started my walk, and I did my old “1 Cornstalk, 1 lower loop” 5.3 mile walk at 14:34.

Later, Mat picked me up at 10 am and we made the 11 am kickoff, due to almost no one being there. I was as cold as I’d ever been at game (hands, mostly.

Few people were there, and they missed a rock-em, sock-em Missouri Valley battle. The Redbirds scored right away, thanks to an interception off of a trick play. But then it was even..even Western dominating the scrimmage line. Western missed a field goal into the wind, but scored in the second quarter off of a long drive; mostly running.

And that is how the first half ended. Second half: 3’rd quarter, a long drive lead to a touchdown, with two key penalties: late hit out of bounds and then perhaps the most blatant pass interference I’ve ever seen (defender fell down and pulled down the receiver. But the Redbirds missed the extra point.

Later, the Leathernecks got a tough 42 yard field goal to cut it to 3.

Then in the 4’th: final drive..or second to final drive, the Leathernecks hit a big field goal to tie it at 13 with 45 seconds to go. A last ditch drive by the Redbirds lead to a 50’sh yard field goal attempt which was wide right.

In the first overtime, the Redbirds got a first down and scored a TD, then held the Leathernecks on downs to win.

Overall, Western Illinois did NOT resemble a winless team; they played hard.

On the way home, I heard the heartbreaking Illinois vs Michigan score (9 seconds!), the upbeat Navy score (upset no. 20 UCF!)

I made it with about 8 minutes left in the Bradley vs Southeast Missouri State game, and Bradley was down by 5. BU rallied to win 73-60; nice win vs. a not-that-bad team. I missed the Women winning their game, vs. an opponent who lost 100-38 to Illinois.

There was a decent crowd.