Always welcome are the great works of St. Augustine

Pierini Fitness fired Facebook over five years ago and shared the news with his sports fans here:  I fired Facebook.

Now Facebook has been doing lots of firing and its latest victim is a peace-loving quote by St. Augustine of Hippo, a 5^th century Catholic theologian, philosopher who’s also titled Doctor of the Church.

Apparently, the powers to be at Facebook have proclaimed that a quote of St. Augustine is “hate speech” and doesn’t belong on the Facebook website.  This “hate speech” quote is as follows:

“Let us never assume that if we live good lives we will be without sin; our lives should be praised only when we continue to beg for pardon. But men are hopeless creatures, and the less they concentrate on their own sins, the more interested they become in the sins of others. They seek to criticize, not to correct. Unable to excuse themselves, they are ready to accuse others.”

What a great message; it’s hard to see the “hate” in it.  It’s the dear Saint’s own version of the biblical verse – Matthew 7:3 – “"Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?”

Think about it for a moment and then ask yourself, as Pierini Fitness has asked himself, how often do we point the finger at someone else while failing to realize when doing so there are more fingers pointing back at us?

In the politically-polarized world in which we now live, dominated by a vast and boundless social media cyberspace, it’s easier than ever to shout out the most snarky malarkey possible, anonymously and safely in the comfort of our padlocked and secure homes and receive kudos from others who are doing the same.

What is the same?

That which St. Augustine writes about that Facebook has labeled hate speech: “But men are hopeless creatures, and the less they concentrate on their own sins, the more interested they become in the sins of others.”

Pierini Fitness has written about St. Augustine and his great works a time or two and finds the dear Saint’s teachings and writings align with his middle-aged man reflections about living and dying, gracefully-aging and trying to live a good and honest life.

Therefore, here at Pierini Fitness, always welcome are the great works of St.  Augustine.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Today the count is 13

Pierini Fitness is within striking distance of the Wharf to Wharf, an upcoming 6-mile fun run and his day of performance reckoning is closing in on him.  Fun run race day is in 13 days on the last Sunday of July.  So, as might be expected, his training heretofore will concentrate on running and fun run preparation.

With a previously established goal of completing the 6 miles at a 9-minute mile pace, Pierini Fitness believes he’s in good shape.  Yet, all it takes is one hiccup – uncooperating legs, belly ache, weak mind, or a stubborn cardiovascular-respiratory system – on race day and he could miss his goal by running at a much slower pace.

Honestly, it doesn’t matter.  It’s all about showing up, taking a trip down memory lane, enjoying the running atmosphere and nice scenery along the way and, whatever it takes, finishing the course.  If necessary, walking counts.

The countdown preparation, starting today, consists of about a half-dozen running workouts.  His approach is getting in a combination of slower-paced and longer-distance running along with faster stuff like 800 meters, 400 meters and 200 meters repeats, and some 30 second acceleration strides for multiple rounds.  It’s all about building running pace familiarity and running efficiency. 

For example, if today’s workout goes according to plan, Pierini Fitness will run 4 miles at a slower pace (maybe 80 percent of the fun run race pace) and then conclude with a Sprint 8 speed workout which is 8 rounds of 30 seconds running fast with 90 seconds of a slow run recovery.  The fast run stuff should be at a mile pace of between 7:00 and 7:30. 

But a planned workout doesn’t always go according to plan so we shall see.  It’s supposed to be a July hot day in the low 90F degree range, so Pierini Fitness better get his running workout done early.

Blessed to be able to run with his 64-year-old “wheels, Pierini Fitness is counting down and today the count is 13.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Testing a pair of 24kg KB

My fitness minimalist toolbox has a new addition because I recently purchased a second 24kg kettlebell (KB) and it arrived earlier this week.  

I now have a pair of 24kg KB that allows me to ratchet up my training to the next level and that’s what I did on Monday.

Here was my Monday workout:

Superset

Alternating pull-ups and chin-ups (pull-ups on odd-numbered rounds and chin-ups on even-numbered rounds) for 5 reps, followed by double 24kg KB farmers carry for 45 seconds equals one round.  I started a new round every 2 minutes and completed 10 rounds in 19:32.

Double overhead press (OHP)

With an acknowledged weaker left side, I didn’t know how this was going to go but my plan was a double KB overhead press using a pair of 24kg KB for 10 rounds, starting a new round every 2 minutes.  I completed 2 reps per round except for rounds 3, 7 and 10 for which I did 3 reps.

Running

Not related to testing a pair of 24kg KB but part of my Monday workout, I wrapped things up by running a slow 4 miles in 44:13 and then ran 8 rounds of 30 seconds fast with 90 seconds of slow running recovery for a total of 1.46 miles in 16 minutes.  The rounds of 30 seconds fast running was to cultivate a faster running pace for my upcoming 6-mile fun run later this month.

Here’s a short video of my round 7 effort:

A pair of 24kg KB for overhead press work is HEAVY for me so I’ve got some work to do.

Last week, in doing remedial work for my weaker left side, I did left-arm overhead press work using a 24kg KB for multiple rounds of single reps after I had already done many rounds of alternating single-arm OHP for multiple reps.  I’ll solve this weakness riddle in a matter of time.

After my upcoming 6-mile fun run is over later this month, I look forward to using the pair of 24kg KB to do some double rack squat work.  This should be interesting and heart-thumping.

It was a very good workout testing a pair of 24kg KB.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum