Fat Belly Training - Week Seven

Monday
It's half term so no work for me! I drove over to help Mom take the dog to the vet. Then we had a lunch together. Mom cooked for 5 even though there were only 2 of us:

Mom's family feast - for 2 of us!

So, after stuffing myself full of lovely grub and doing a bit of shopping with Mom, I flopped down on the couch to watch TV with Dad - and was presented with apple pie and ice cream! That was the end of my healthy eating attempt for today.
When I got back home, Lucy and I decided to have a few glasses of red wine after I'd done my 18 minute run. We watched Edge of Tomorrow which, I've come to realise, thinking about, is FULL of plot holes. However, as a slick science-fiction adventure it's hard to beat, and Tom Cruise continues to get better with age - very convincing and watchable throughout.

Tuesday
I went for a run with Freddie (Monty was feeling a little under the weather) in the park. I decided to see what my pace was so I set Strava running. Unfortunately, when I had to stop to clear up after Freddie, I forgot to pause Strava so the result not as accurate as it might be. However, I think it's showing me that I'm around 6mph at the moment, which is fine by me!
Strava report

Wednesday
Another big bike ride, this time accompanied by Jonnie and Roger.
We set off at 9am and the roads were still rather damp with standing water across many of the lanes. However, as the day went on and the sunlight got stronger, the roads dried and the conditions became more or less perfect! It was a breathtakingly beautiful day with wisps of cloud in a brilliant blue sky, a perfect background to the budding greenery all around. After the first 12 miles or so of descending (which I find rather uncomfortable these days), we found ourselves out on the flat at Aston Cantlow. The three of us opened the taps and started to set a good pace. At this stage, my Strava report shows gold medals for Personal Records pinging up all over the place! This pace continued through Binton, Luddington and finally Wilmcote. We paused at our usual cake stop (thanks Jane!) and then headed out for some climbing into Snitterfield. More PRs were set - I found my legs getting stronger as the day went on. By the time we approached the Widowmaker in Langley, we were at an average of 14.0mph which is good for us MAMILS. We had a brief discussion and, as some legs were starting to feel the burn, we decided to come off the pace a little and focus on finishing the ride without any blow-ups.
We took a more leisurely approach and eventually rolled in at an average speed of 13.5mph after a lovely 50 mile ride. Roger produced a Snickers bar for each of us and these were dispatched with cups of tea supplied by Jonnie.
At home, Tilly was kind enough to make me three large pancakes! Beyond hungry and unable to wait, I devoured a scotch egg while she got busy with the frying pan!
A little later, back up the road at Jonnie's again, we got talking about the strange 'box' we had noticed on the inside of the forks of his Trek. Do anyone know what this is?

Do you know what this is for?

Thursday

A wet day for a run in the park with both dogs. I set Strava running again and the results were as I'd hoped: it takes me 18 minutes to run 1.8 miles. So at the moment I'm running at 6mph. I hope I can maintain this pace for the 5.5 miles I'll need for Race the Train in the summer!

I ate healthily all day (soup, wholemeal toast, homemade fishcakes, lots of veg, fruit etc etc) and refrained from any alcohol. 

Friday

Cycled in to work to get lessons ready for the coming week. On the cycle back I decided to get a few miles in and headed out to the outdoor track at Tudor Grange. I came home after a few laps because I was far too hot in my commuting gear and backpack - 13.5 miles at 13.8 mph.

Saturday

Dropped Martha off to do her work experience, went to the tip and then over to see the parents. One of today's jobs was to build a new bed while I was there. It took me over an hour, with the knee and shoulder protesting mightily! As a reward, Mom made a lovely sausage casserole with plenty of veggies. I resisted trifle and drank water instead. This healthy lifestyle sucks!

During the drive home, it started to hail. And then it hailed some more. And then it was a proper hailstorm with blackened skies and everything turning white around me. I had a hard time controlling my car on the A34 and had to drop down to 20 mph for most of the drive home.

My biggest worry is about how I'm going to get a decent amount of miles in on Sunday when this hail/slush is going to freeze solid over night!

At home, I got changed in a rush and headed out for my 18 minute run before the wetness turned to ice. Looking at the weather now, the roads are going to be very slippery indeed in the morning. Do I risk a repeat of my ice-based crash from last month?

23mm tyres on this when it freezes? Fun!

Those fat bike boys are VERY excited right now!

Sunday Weight: 10st 1lb

The cycling gods turned their faces away this morning: the roads were frozen. The hail had turned to mush which had promptly turned to ice overnight:

Anyone fancy doing 50 miles in the lanes on this?

I eventually clambered on the turbo trainer and turned 6th gear in the little ring for half an hour (at 80rpm). This was enough to get me quite sweaty!.

In the afternoon, I decided it was time to return to dojo. It was mainly a basics lesson with no fighting. The knee was painful but held, the shoulder was fine except when I tried to block quickly. I had to be careful not to jar it. Still, it felt awesome to be back in a karategi!

At home, Lucy had treated me to a peanut butter doughnut! That's not a healthy source of protein is it?

(Aside: watched a documentary about Philip Glass this week. I didn't know much about him other than Hans Zimmer ripped off a lot of his stuff for Interstellar. I started playing some of his compostitions on Youtube and it is very moving, beautiful work. Please have a listen: Philip Glass)

Week 7: 

Exercise: everyday, Booze: Monday, Junkfood: Monday, Wednesday and Sunday, Weight loss: 2lbs