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

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 259.

Lit out for the territories this morning. Scouted the area at the base of Fountain Bluff for some petroglyphs left behind by the Mississipian culture. Then took the high road on Fountain Bluff for a scenic view of one the many bends of the mighty Mississippi. It was a magnificent view of the bend, several sand bars, and a huge barge convoy headed South.

Finally a hike along the North end of the snake road in the Clear Creek Wilderness, looking for a natural arch called Preacher's Eye. NABSQNO 16S-284436-4159217.

Which turned out was much more difficult to spot from the road headed South than I thought. My phone wasn't signalling my location reliably, which I suppose shouldn't be surprising at the foot of cliffs several hundred feet high. After it finally caught up with the fact that I had passed Preachers Eye by half a mile, I turned back. Sure enough, there it was. Right at the bend of an old ox bow lake set down by the adjacent Big Muddy River.

Hike was 46 minutes burning 427 calories with an average HR of 122 bpm @ 79% of MHR.

[BrooklynJerry]

Seems like a nice place to hike. Whats the weather like?

[Mark E. Hurling]

Heh. Southern Illinois sits along several kind of fault lines. Geographic, like the Ohio River and the New Madrid Fault Line. Cultural, like the North/South divide. Although the South seems to dominate here.

And then there's the weather. Yesterday it got up 55. Today, predicted to be 35. The forecast has the region see-sawing up and down like that for the next week or so. We get battling weather fronts moving up from the South that are relatively warm and then the Manitoba Express coming down out of the North. Windy as all git-out each time they come through. As in 20-35 mph. I think Twain, who was born and raised not so far from here remarked that if you don't like the weather, just wait 15 minutes.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Jujitsu tonight had E returning and getting up to the usual antics with G. Those two are pretty good when one of them is there but the combination of them is like nitro and glycerin. Always goose assing around to one up each other. Still, not without their improving skills, both in technique and in teaching. B, the oldest of the three brothers is a boxing enthusiast I discovered tonight. Which is fine, but he has a tendency to revert to the boxer bounce and a loose fist, which boxers have a tendency to assume from the gloves they wear. I just cautioned him boxing is a great sport and the skills from it can translate to effective self defense, but mentioned the vulnerabilities they have to takedowns at close quarters. I taught the new kids how to tie their (white belt) obi's. We finished up working vertical fist and roundhouse strikes to the side rib cage. I explained how while such shots would not take someone out, the attendant bruising and discomfort would cause them to lower their hands making strikes to the head more likely to land. E knew that liver punches could debilitate someone. I informed him that impacts to the Vagus nerve is what does it, and an ungloved fist penetrates deeper and is more effective.

Session burned 348 calories with an average HR of 92 bpm @ 60% of MHR and a peak HR of 117.

[Mark E. Hurling]

My best wishes and hopes for good luck to those in pursuit of strength in their lives and endeavors. Especially among us older folk.

[old guy]

right back at ya

[codger]

Same to you, Mark.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Back to the salt mines today under the iron. It went much better than I anticipated.

Hip Belt Squats: 365 for 3 sets of 5. Too easy so I got ambitious on the rest of the lifts.

Incline Press: Sets of 5. 135-145-155. More to come here.

Hammer High Row: Sets of 5. 290-300-305.

Stretched.

This session ran 51 minutes burning 465 calories with an average HR of 122 bpm and a peak of 134 bpm.

[Mark E. Hurling]

From my Facebook log last night.

Jujitsu tonight with a class full of boys ranging from 6th grade to freshman with the pre-Christmas crazies. It was like herding cats. I'd get the white belts on track and the older blue belts would start in like mountain goats trying for domination of the herd.

There was a little less specific instruction in technique tonight because they were full of questions that seemed worth answering. Like the martial arts I practiced and why I teach this one.

The ones I practiced in the past were (in order) Shorei Goju, Judo, Shotokan, Isshin Ryu, Tae Kwon Do, and finally Mushin Ryu.

I teach the last because the others all had gaps ill suited to effective self defense. Partly because of the proportional escalation of force that gets scrutinized so carefully in court these days. A chest bump or shove does not justify a shot to the head or a throw in retaliation. Mushin Ryu fills that gap. This lead to discussion of the difference between competing on the mat versus a real fight in a dark place with no referees and maybe broken glass on the floor or alley.

The hour session burned 500 calories with an average HR of 105 bpm @ 68% of MHR and a peak of 140 bpm.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 261.5

I did a Graded Exercise Protocol (GXP) today. This consists of 5 minutes warmup to 85% of MHR, 5 minutes at 85%, and 5 minutes rampdown. Stretched.

Session was 20 minutes burning 182 calories and an average HR of 120 bpm @ 78% of MHR (this average includes warmup and rampdown and stretching) with a peak HR of 137 bpm.