When I returned from holiday last year, I was 9st 10lbs. When I weighed myself at the start of this year I was 10st 13lbs of flabby 40 year old. That means that due to my injuries, illness and general gluttony over Christmas, I had put on a staggering 17lbs!
On March the 1st, Fast Ant, Uncle Jonnie, Roger the Engineer and SidneyBear will be joining me on the Mad March Hare - a 65 mile ride down to the Cotswolds and back. In order to do a little better than a 12mph average and to actually enjoy the ride, I thought a bit of training was in order. And so it was that after the final ale and slice of cake of the Christmas holiday had been consumed, my training began in earnest on the 5th of January (when I returned to work!)
Monday 10st 13lbs
It was a bit of a shock to the system not having bacon and eggs for breakfast. I forced the cereal down and cycled in to work. That evening, after I had cycled back, I went out for a brief run in the dark. I don't work in miles, rather in minutes. As the weeks go by, I will increase the amount of time I can run without stopping. Tonight it was 10 whole minutes!
Tuesday 10st 10lbs
Where did 3lbs go!? According to my brother, I've lost weight through water loss. The guy knows a lot more about fitness than I do...
I cycled to work and back and then went for the first martial arts session of the year. I came out feeling good!
Wednesday
Just another 10 minute run - this time at 7.20am before breakfast, still asleep on my feet. The good news is, I didn't have a heart attack.
Thursday
Cycled to work and back. Another 10 minute run: this time with Martha. It's always nice to have company. She runs a little slowly but she never seems out of breath. I'll suggest speeding up if she starts running regularly with me. At the moment, it's just great that she's out of the house and training!
Friday
Cycled to work and back. I was looking forward to my first weight training session of the year. Unfortunately, I had left my weights bar at work! ( I use it in the gym lesson I take with the lads on the construction course.) A little disheartened, I did a half hour of dumbbell exercises with some bodyweight stuff thrown in. Still not satisfied, I forced myself out for another 10 minute run in the dark. Not having a Friday night beer seemed like some sort of cruel and unusual punishment, but I got through it.
Saturday
By this point, I'm waking up feeling better than I had for about 3 months! I was wide awake and ready for action as soon as my head left the pillow. I walked the dogs with Mouse and then put 2 IKEA shelving units together (without swearing!) I went for another run and managed 14 minutes without stopping.
We had a party at our house. A party with real ale and pudding. Again, it felt like torture to not indulge in my favourite unhealthy things, especially when I poured one of my own beers for Uncle Jonnie! I stuck to fizzy water, tea and no pudding...
Sunday 10st 9lbs
It was icy when Roger, Jonnie and I headed out on our road bikes this morning. I was using cleats for only the second time in my life. The lads bore witness to me struggling to get in and out of the pedals - I'm really failing to get the hang of it. If there was an emergency, there is no way I could get a foot free. I would just have to look for somewhere soft to land!
The first seven miles or so were fine. Then we began to notice more and more ice on the roads. My back wheel tried to slip out and so did Jonnie's. Roger may have been experiencing the same difficulties but if the did, he didn't say anything! He just applied rule #5 and vanished over the horizon. Near the end of the ride we encountered cyclists shouting to us from the other side of the road to take it easy - some of them had fallen on the ice. I was very glad to get home after a very tense, very slow 22 miles.
In the afternoon, Martha and I went to the dojo for a good, hard techniques and kata lesson!
Upon my return, Lucy laughed at how fat my belly looked in my gi (karate uniform). At least she now admits that I'm overweight and she may even stop buying breakfast biscuits for my lunch!
I've lost 4lbs this week. I'm happy about that. If I lose only 1lb per week from now on I'll be satisfied.
Week one: no junkfood, no alcohol, exercise everyday, loss of 4lbs.
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