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

[Mark E. Hurling]

Cycle 2, Week 1, Sets of 5 @ 90% of 1RM

Bench Press: 135 lbs. @ 65%, 155 lbs. @ 75%, 175 lbs. @ 85% + 2 more reps.

Push Press: 85 lbs. @ 65%, 100 lbs. @ 75%, 110 lbs. @ 85% + 1 more rep.

Pulldown: 105 lbs. @ 65%, 120 lbs. @ 75%, 145 lbs. @ 85% + 1 more rep.

Music: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Kashmir, Folsom Prison Blues, Discombobulate, Shaft, Marine Corps Spirit, Black Betty, Whip It, Who Let the Dogs Out, Hazy Shade of winter, Conga.

44 minutes average HR 124 BPM @ 83% of MHR.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Ball Cap.jpg

Jujitsu took place at the SIU Rec Center and will continue there for a while. The A/C is out in the Life Center and the basement where the martial arts classes is not exactly cool even when the A/C is working. So until it gets repaired or it cools off considerably, not there for now.

Purple Belt 2nd degree techniques with Ken are proceeding slowly. On the surface, most of them are not very different than escapes, locks, and takedowns that are learned at the lower ranks. But the initial movements of the hands are much different than anything learned up to this point. The hands and wrists are rotated with the index finger pointed with palm up, palm down, and back to the rear. As the hand and wrist movements initiate, it's important to keep the arms, shoulders, and upper back relaxed. The hand movements are backed up by stepping, pivoting, and turning the body which frees up the defender and puts them in more advantageous positions relative to the attacker.

Relaxing is difficult to keep in mind. It's natural to want to muscle the the movement and that works, but it defeats the purpose of trying to learn how make the energy, or ki, flow through the arms and hands.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Cycle 2, Week 1, Sets of 5 @ 90% of 1RM

Deadlift: 215 lbs. @ 65%, 245 lbs. @ 75%, 280 lbs. @ 85% + 2 more reps.

Music: Run Like Hell, Death of Siegfried, Her Strut, Takin' a Ride, Danger Zone, Fame, Dueling Banjos, Relax, Miami Vice, Tush.

49 minutes average HR 129 BPM @ 87% of MHR.

I was completely wasted yesterday. Like I had been beaten all over my back and knees with a rubber hose. Payback for that squat session on Tuesday, which would normally have been Monday, except the rec center was closed for the 4th. Sometimes delayed onset muscle soreness takes 48+ hours to catch up with me, and that, coupled with some falls I took teaching Jujitsu laid waste to me. I was barely able to eke out my last 5th rep of the last set in the deadlift. I tried doing box squats, but the bad right knee that got injured for me free of charge at age 19 in Judo, along with a totally fatigued lower back dissuaded me from doing more than warming up.

I would likely have been better off resting today too, but there's a funeral this weekend in the village I grew up in, so no chance for lifting later. My high school English teacher, neighbor, friend of the family, and member of the same church passed away at 91. I think this severs the last link with my past and the adults I grew up with. Papineau had 220 people when I lived there and after the 2020 Census now has 133 still there. Another dying rural hamlet. DB and I see a few down here in Southern Illinois too.

[Mr. Bingley]

aw geesh, sorry to hear about all that. Well you are a good man to go and honor the memory, and how it lives on in what he taught you. Safe travels.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thanks. She is worth the effort.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Cycle 2, Week 1, Sets of 5 @ 90% of 1RM

Seated Press: 110 lbs. @ 65%, 125 lbs. @ 75%, 130 lbs. @ 85% + 2 more reps.

Floor Press: 75-95-115.

Hammer Row: 200 lbs. @ 65%, 235 lbs. @ 75%, 265 lbs. @ 85% + 2 more reps.

Music: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, William Tell Overture, Madman Across the Water, Living in America, My Sharona, Washington Post March, Midnight Special, Star Wars Cantina, Hazy Shade of Winter, Sledge hammer..

43 minutes average HR 120 BPM @ 80% of MHR.

Back from our visit to my home town to honor the life of my high school English and speech teacher, Marilyn Miller. It was both uplifting and saddening. I saw some friends from my past, Jim Frogge, who I knew from 1st grade until we went to different high schools. The girl (now woman) who turned me down for the high school prom. She later married the guy she DID go with. A couple of others who were black like Richard Powell, who I sat next to in the back row of high school choir with the other two baritones. He sung and played a beautiful musical interlude for the memorial service. Then there was Carolyn Hawkins, who gave a very moving eulogy to Mrs. Miller for her support and encouragement as a speaker and thespian.

As I said, and the others we talked with confirmed, Mrs. Miller was the last link to our past as soon-to-be adults. I teared up more than a few times over the weekend as Churchill's black dog stalked me while I struggled with my memories, both sweet and bitter of that past life.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Conditioning this morning was rounds of SciFit, speed bag, medicine ball toss, elliptical, cable woodchoppers, and heavy bag.

30 minutes average HR 137 BPM @ 80% of MHR.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Cycle 2, Week 1, Sets of 5 @ 90% of 1RM

Bench Press: 145 lbs. @ 70%, 165 lbs. @ 80%, 185 lbs. @ 90% + 1 more rep.

Push Press: 90 lbs. @ 70%, 110 lbs. @ 80%, 115 lbs. @ 90% + 1 more rep.

Pulldown: 115 lbs. @ 70%, 125 lbs. @ 80%, 140 lbs. @ 90% + 3 more reps.

Music: Fanfare for the Common Man, Highway to Hell, Watchtower, Keep Your Hands to Yourself, I'm Alright, Hot Legs, Chain of Fools, Hold On Loosely, Holding Out for a Hero.

44 minutes average HR 124 BPM @ 83% of MHR.

[Mr. Bingley]

The ELP version of Fanfare? Love that album...makes me want to hook up the turntable so I can listen to it again

[Mark E. Hurling]

It was the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra's take in the Aaron Copland classic.