Geezer's Long March Toward the Elite Sneaking Up On the Finish Line

[Mark E. Hurling]

DB and I would watch them from the 30 foot bluffs along Esplenade overlooking the Pacific when we still lived in Redondo Beach, CA. It was pretty cool watching them skim across the breaking wave fronts in hopes of snagging the occasional fish leaping out of the front.

I'm not particularly a bird watcher, but now we see lots of hawks, vultures, owls, Canada geese, ducks of all kinds, herons, egrets, cranes, cardinals, blue jays, giant and yellow hammer woodpeckers. Just a few days ago a bald eagle circling Evergreen Lake for unwary fish near the surface.

Illinois, for all it's own crazy fucking politics up North, is a great place to be back home in. Down here, it's near paradise if you like the outdoors.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 258.

No LISS today. I spent 32 minutes checking and clearing leaves from the gutters all around the house. Climbing up and down that ladder gave me an average HR of 127 bpm @ 83% of MHR burning 290 calories. Dummy me, having spent 37 years in California with a palm tree in the front and back yard and relatively light rain even in Winter, leaves clog gutters. Never owned a home in Illinois, so this never hit my radar screen. A dopey move which manifested itself when the study flooded several times in the Spring.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 275.5.

Hip Belt Squats: 375 for 3 sets of 5.

CGBP: 150 for 3 sets of 8.

Hammer High Row: 270 for 3 sets of 8.

Stretched.

Session ran 49 minutes burning 460 calories with an average HR of 125 bpm @ 81% of MHR and a peak HR of 136 bpm.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 259.5.

It was foggy at dusk on the way to Jujitsu and I nearly hit three different deer. I also got an email from a young woman expressing interest in the class this afternoon. So my class more than doubled from 3 to 8. She didn't show tonight, so we'll see. But it did force my hand in something I had been considering, adding another session for intermediates so as not to short change them in teaching and focus. I discussed it with the park district program director and Friday and Saturday were open. So I told her I'd poll my intermediate students and let her know.

G. showed up tonight, so I was dealing with 2 blue belts, an experienced white belt, and 4 newbie white belts. Lotta complicated juggling which further affirmed an intermediate class. The consensus was Friday after tallying the votes. Both G. and E. are coming along well in teaching. K. is getting his footwork and torso lean ironed out. We discussed levels of awareness and responses to threat tonight. The newbies are struggling a little, but that's to be expected. The session burned 483 calories with an average HR of 104 bpm @ 68% of MHR and a peak HR of 140 bpm.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 259.5.

To the Rec Center for 46 minutes burning 282 calories with an average HR of 102 bpm @ 66% of MHR and a peak HR of 118 bpm. Stretched.

Came home for 33 minutes of yard work cutting dead limbs, raking leaves, and assembling private papers for destruction in our fire pit tonight. Rather more intense than I would have otherwise anticipated with an average HR of 115 bpm @ 75% of MHR and a peak HR of 136 bpm and burning 290 calories.

Home ownership, an alternative path to functional cardio fitness. Who knew?

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 261.

Push Press: 130 for 3 sets of 5.

Power Snatch: 100 for 2 sets of 2.

Cable Rotations: 130 for 3 sets of 8.

Stretched.

Session was 50 minutes burning 468 calories with an average HR of 122 bpm @ 79% and a peak HR of 141 bpm.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 258.

Can't figger out what this up and down weight is about. But the down is better.

Quite a day all told. The Mandelbaum's Gym patch arrived yesterday afternoon. It's gonna look great on a ball cap.

I did a GXP that took 17 minutes burning 153 calories with an average HR of 129 bpm @ 84% of MHR. Saw 6 point buck on the way home. This buck was well inside the city limits of Carbondale around mid-day. Simply amazing.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 258.5.

Took a hike along the Inspiration Point Trail in the La Rue Pine Hills. The cliffs are a few hundred feet high overlooking the Mississippi bottom lands. The good news was with the leaves having mostly dropped, the views along the ridge leading to the rim of the bluff was magnificent. The bad news was that the leaves landed on the trail and made the footing a little dodgy. Which was not a big deal on the main trail until descending some grades. The most significant of which was a 20 foot really steep grade down to the outcroppings where the view was 180 degrees of incredible. The descent was more than a little nerve wracking but worth the windy buffeting to get there. Kinda cool listening to the lonesome whistle and watching the Union Pacific locomotive pass under the cliff face.

The hike was 35 minutes burning 292 calories with an average HR of 117 bpm @ 76% of MHR and a peak HR of 143.

[Oldster]

Well, well, well! Look at you, I can hardly see ol' MEH, now that your shadow is almost nonexistent! Under 260! If'n I remember correctly, aren't you fairly tall over 6', even 6'2" or 6'3"?

[Mark E. Hurling]

Nah, only 5'11". Although people still tell me I seem to stand over 6'. Probably because of the posture The Old Man hammered me about unrelentingly. For some reason it's back to 260 today.

Today's LISS was 51 minutes long burning 310 calories with an average HR of 101 bpm @ 66% of MHR and a peak of 120 bpm. Stretched.