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

[Mark E. Hurling]

Journal During the Plague
Day 13 of Pritzker the Hut's general lockdown
Report from Prisoner Number 6

Today I took a light conditioning day with a walk around Evergreen Park. A nice lakeside jaunt with a blue heron on shore patrol for unwary fish or frogs.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Journal During the Plague
Day 13 of Pritzker the Hut's general lockdown
Report from Prisoner Number 6

I loaded my 12 lb. backpack with my 20 lb. medicine ball including 5 lbs. of clothes for a total of 32 lbs. plus bodyweight. A changeup today with some variety in what I did at my usual haunts along Lake on the Campus.

4 sets of 5

One Arm Overhead Presses: With backpack. Not ideal, but some vertical pressing keeps the shoulders healthy and prevents impingement developing,.

Pull Ups

Reverse Hyperextensions: Done lying face down on a nearby picnic table

One Legged Squats

Hamstring stretches.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Journal During the Plague
Day 14 of Pritzker the Hut's general lockdown
Report from Prisoner Number 6

Today was a walk along the North shore of Crab Orchard Lake by way of Greenbrier Road and boat launch point. A gorgeous morning in the low 60's with the Sun coming up over the treeline and a flotilla of Coots (the ducks, not more geezers like me) busy on the shoreline and a white pelican soaring majestically over the arm of the lake. It was a quiet walk with several incoming fishers of men to add to the dozen or so parked in the lot having launched their jon boats. Some (oh horrors!) even parked next to each other, having failed to maintain 6' social distancing or red/black separation times 2 (R/B*2).

[Cheesepuff]

Sounds like my kind of area. Your humor has brightened my day.
About to talk to Stressed out hospitality execs. They could use a walk like the one you took, as could I.
You're perspective would hurt us either.

[Mark E. Hurling]

I'll fix their stress for them. Start with my Jujitsu warmup routine, some pushups, punching drills, a few break falls, and then I can give them a bone crushing massage. That'll fix 'em.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Journal During the Plague
Day 15 of Pritzker the Hut's general lockdown
Report from Prisoner Number 6

I loaded my 12 lb. backpack with my 20 lb. medicine ball including 5 lbs. of clothes for a total of 32 lbs. plus bodyweight.

4 sets of 5

Dips: With backpack. Not ideal, but some vertical pressing keeps the shoulders healthy and prevents impingement developing,.

Pull Ups

Reverse Hyperextensions: Done lying face down on a nearby picnic table this time with the backpack on my feet for a more aggressive load

One Legged Squats

Surveilled by two green card Canada geese and three turtles.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Journal During the Plague
Day 16 of Pritzker the Hut's general lockdown
Report from Prisoner Number 6

It was a fine brisk walk in the low 50's F this morning along the berm comprising the dam on the West edge of Crab Orchard Lake. Lotta beauty, a feeling of peace, and some nostalgia all into the mix.

The walk is an easy one, nice and grassy and flat, perfect for the kidlets, until you reach the spillway itself. Then there's a slightly steep grade with enough gravel on the access road that might make the downward walk a bit dicey because of the possibility of a slip.

Along the way, I saw more blue herons at one time than I have seen in my life. This included a trio that kept close proximity to each other. I guess since it's the Kung Flu and not Bird Flu, they seemed unbothered by the social distancing. Birds were everywhere, a hawk crying as it sailed over the trees South of Spillway road and a Yellowhammer woodpecker speeding it's way to the nearest big tree to drill away noisily. There was a fleet of a few dozen Coots paddling around on lake itself, more than I've ever seen in one place. But then I don't hunt, so this may not be all that unusual, except to me.

The Northbound Amtrak in Carbondale sounded it's lonesome whistle from 4 miles away. It brought back a lot of memories of the Rock Island and Santa Fe railroads where I worked for as a cinder dick for them. It's always nice to hear a train whistle in such a setting, much better than where I'd typically hear them, first in Chicago and then later in LA.

There were cars and trucks speeding along Spillway Road. These were the fortunate workers who had not been declared "non-essential" kulak surplus by the Central Committee.

Once I arrived at the spillway I saw the lake water rushing over the edge and down through the rocky passages. There's more than once channel to flow through and the sound is soothing, albeit a little dramatic. This too brought back 50 year old times where the SIU girls would sun themselves on the rocks like the sireens in Brother Where Art Thou. The trio of herons who fled from me along the berm had landed in the rocky channels and flew up in formation and exited stage left when I approached.

A marvelous way to start the day.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Woo hoo!

The USPA has rescheduled the Nationals to September 4-7 and opened up 200 more slots for the meet. I filled out the intent form to get off the wait list and into the meet proper.

Things are looking up. Slightly.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Journal During the Plague
Day 17 of Pritzker the Hut's general lockdown
Report from Prisoner Number 6

Happened across Jethro Tull's Locomotive Breath just before exiting the Edge. THE BEST music to get fired up on before a workout.

I loaded my 12 lb. backpack with my 20 lb. medicine ball including 5 lbs. of clothes and another 5 lb. plate for a total of 37 lbs. plus bodyweight.

4 sets of 5

Dips

Pull Ups

Reverse Hyperextensions

One Legged Squats

[Mark E. Hurling]

Got my confirmation for Nationals. That's an entry fee that didn't go to waste.