Same Planet, different worlds.

This was seen as “wow, that is cool”…

And these people who were “having fun” just completely disregarded those around them (note one of these people crashing into someone else who was finishing).

I see them as self-centered narcissists.

Also on the Steamboat thread: one of my Facebook friends whined, bellyached and complained about the streets being closed for the race (though cross trafic was permitted to pass in gaps). This wasn’t the first time.

Then from the Steamboat Training group: There were hurt feelings because the 15K finishers got a medal whereas the 4 mile runners did not. Seriously….the larger running races are becoming kindergarten.

Then there is this, from the Huckabee Facebook page:

Oh sure, the others died but one who survived said that he prayed. I suppose that the others didn’t?

And also from our Right Wing

Uh, no…these women aren’t the same.

I might live on the same planet as these people, but we live in very different worlds.

Weather.com FAIL

I know that math is hard for some, but someone needs to inform these clowns that “0 percent” means…well….zero.

It has flurried and showered constantly over the past 5 days.

The absurdity of trying to play sports in your 50′s…

Major “whining” to follow:

Today I had an ok 10 mile training run (1:38). That is what passes for “ok” these-a-days.
Back in 1998, a similar effort took 1:23 (same course).
Back in 1980 a similar effort on a similar course took 1:15.

Of course, in each case, a race effort yielded a faster time; I am talking about a medium intensity 10 mile run.
And yes, an athlete would be 10-20 minutes faster than this (at each stage of their life).

I suppose that is to be expected. But then, while I was discussing running on facebook (and making the point that older runners need to be conservative on how they introduce changes to their gait, type of workouts, etc.), I noticed the following:

now my workout routine includes specific exercises for:
my shoulder (rotator cuff)
my back (lower)
my piriformis
my hamstrings
my knees
my Achilles tendon

Yes, most of the above no longer limits me; I do get a stiff back from sitting too long and my piriformis tingles from time to time. But these no longer limit me because I do the frigging exercises! These are not optional, if I want to keep participating in sports.

I am nuts. But yes, I am going to work out tomorrow…and the day after that ….hopefully for many years to come.

I don’t like winter!

Ok, I forced myself out into the 20 F degree winter morning (sunny) and attempted to run 10 miles on the East Peoria Trail. There were several 100 meter long ice patches; I’d say about 75 percent of the trail from the Fondulac building to what I call the 5 mile turn around (near Morton) was runnable. But those ice patches wore me out; I was reduced to shuffling and it took me 1:55 to do the course (usually 17-20 minutes less).

Even worse, my legs ached; this was sort of like trail running. I am not used to it. Or I’ll put it another way: the return trip took 1 minute LONGER than the out; usually the return is 4-5 minutes faster.

I saw a couple of other runners out there and a couple of walkers; and there was the usual 18-19 minute a mile couple going out for their 2 mile walk giving the exaggerated GOOD MORNING at about the time I was struggling. I gurgled a greeting back; I wanted to flip them off.

Why I hate winter:
1. Snow.
2. Ice
3. Static electricity (I get shocked all winter long, though the use of lotion reduces this somewhat)
4. Cold.
5. Pounds of extra sweaty gear.
6. putting on and peeling off all of that sweaty gear.
7. scraping the car
8. People who like winter, especially couch potatoes who like winter. My response to “I hope that we get snow” is “f*ck you!”.
9. Holidays: socializing that I don’t want to do and travel that I don’t want to do.
10. Early darkness.

Every year, I complain about winter all winter long; I whine and grumble and wish that I had written a better dissertation so I could have landed a job in a warm weather location.

Shying away from the cold

All of my miles, save the 4 I just walked, have been inside. The cold really isn’t that bad and the footing isn’t that bad right now. But I just don’t feel like fighting the cold outside; that is unusual for me.

The Illinois River is NOT frozen though there is some thin ice in the marinas. I saw a couple of dog walkers and a couple of runners; that is about it. Though the temperature was only in the mid 20′s, the wind really kicked up and I pulled up my hood.

My mood went from “being down” to perking up a bit.

Football: right now, Navy is being blown away by Arizona State; sorry to say I am not surprised. Navy doesn’t have the speed to stay with the Sun Devil pass receivers.

Tired and Grumpy

Mostly fatigue….but I had fun last weekend anyway.

Workout: weights only: rotator cuff, bench press (10 x 135, 8 x 165, 8 x 165, 6 x 165) superset with rows (dumbbell: 3 sets of 10 x 60)
pull ups (4 sets of 10, 2 sets of 5), curls (3 sets of 10 x 50 pulley), pull downs (3 sets of 10 x 150), vertical crunches, incline presses (5 x 135, 7 x 135), military presses (2 sets of 15 x 45 dumbbell seated).

Grouchy.

How Did I get here?

Workout notes: lifting over lunch:
rotator cuff (pulley, dumbbell)
pull ups: 5 sets of 10 (instead of 4; quality was a bit off on some)
supersets (3 sets each): rows (200, 230 for 10 reps), pull downs (160 x 10), curls (50 x 10 pulley)
bench press: 10 x 135, 9 x 165, 7 x 165, 6 x 165
(supersetted with vertical leg lifts)
incline/dumbbell military superset: 6 x 135 on incline, 15 x 45 seated military (2 sets each)
On the military press, I hit something in the “fold” of one of my fingers and it hurt like crazy…didn’t stop me though)

Yes, it was mostly undergraduate students and well, the guys made me look……weak ….weak…weak…

How in the hell did I get this F*cking weak? This morning’s run: 10:12 pace. How did I ever get this slow?????

Oh well….one goes from trying to improve to trying to retard one’s decline. There are those my age who can’t do any of this and I won’t be able to do it forever either.

Yes, my last two posts have been ….

And I really miss Lynn at yoga……

Home Sweet Home….

Yep; time to start earning those paychecks again (I am on a 9 month contract, though the pay is paid out over 12 months). I admit being a bit envious of the Ivy League professor who gave a talk on introducing the advanced ideas of topology to non-math majors (he said “take calculus back from the engineers”) and felt that, based on his experience with undergraduates, we could teach the basics of algebraic topology to calculus and linear algebra students. Must be nice…frankly I’ll be happy if my classes can learn .

But I am home ….you can tell because my retarded neighbor has been running his leaf blower for the last hour straight. This is a real “pick your poison” place to live; either you get student housing (loud at night) or anal retentive families (power tools/leaf blowers/lawn mowers) All. Weekend. Long. In this regard, I miss the hotel.

I quit.

It is the couch from here on out baby!

A Bit of Gratitude

I admit that I’ve grumbled a bit; my time of 33:52 for a 4 mile run was slower than I hoped. I also remembered running this race (and this course) before: 27:55 in 1997, 25:58 in 1998, 26:56 in 1999 and, after a gap, 30:53 in 2005.

But I would not have run it that well in 1991 or 1992 when I looked like this:

It took years (until 1994-1995) when I could even make it as far as 3 miles (running) and even that took roughly what this last 4 mile race took me.

So it will take patience for me to improve, and my improvements are likely to be modest, if they come at all. But I’ll still be waaay faster than I would have been in 1992. In fact, in those days, it took me 36 minutes to walk TWO miles and that was walking as hard as I could.

One thing I did right when I was obese: I still lifted weights (my bench press was 300 pounds, though I couldn’t do a pull-up) and I still walked.