We've got a bowl in the living room that was filled with chocolates during the Christmas period. Today, I must have found my hand reaching out towards this bowl at least a dozen times. I could hear the Christmas cake in the kitchen calling to me...
I kept busy by doing little jobs: a trip to the post office, some ironing, replaced a brake light bulb in Lucy's car, vacuumed the man-cave. However, sugary things were never far from my mind!
I did an hour's weight lifting tonight, making sure I was lifting slightly heavier than in 2015. The exercises I chose were as follows: Barbell curls, dumbbell curls, front raises, side raises, shrugs and overhead press. All were 5 sets of 5 reps.
Surprisingly, I got through it without any problems, I even threw in some body weight exercises: 100 leg raises, 100 push ups and 100 tricep-dips.
Not a bad start!
Tuesday
I cycled in to work today.
Back at home, I picked up the weights again but this time put the emphasis on legs: I swapped yesterday's barbell curls and overhead presses for deadlifts and squats. By the end of the session, I'd pulled a muscle in the back of my left leg but it was only a twinge really.
Wednesday
I cycled in to work again today, but this time my legs were aching!
After lessons, I attended Mr Roger's circuit training. I had to run, use a skipping rope, lift weights, do body weight exercises etc - all against the clock! It was a very intense and sweaty 60 minutes indeed.
Thursday
Woke up feeling bright and energetic after a great night's sleep. I'm sure it's the fact that I'm not full of beer and chocolate that contributes to a good rest.
My legs, however, were aching terribly! The deadlifts and squats on Tuesday coupled with the circuits last night had finished me off. I wasn't too bad riding the bike to work today, but sitting down and standing up were another matter entirely!
Today, I was back on the weights again, this time missing out the leg exercises...
Friday
Cycled to work and back.
After work, it was time for the first martial arts lesson of the year. Wearing my new, stiff, crisp brown belt I was ready to learn new things and take on new challenges. However, Sensei Mark wisely decided to teach a 'back to basics' lesson! He drilled us up and down the hall practising kicks, punches and blocks, all in a proper zenkutsu dachi long stance. It was a great session and a sensible one as a reintroduction to Karate after the holiday.
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| A fat ninja |
Saturday
While the NWAlps climbed the Waltonberg, I tied on my running shoes and took to the streets. My first run of the year started well. I got to the 40 minute mark feeling fine, but after that I started to develop a bit of pain in my legs and chest. In the last two minutes of the run, legs turning to jelly and chest heaving, I found myself looking at my watch every 30 seconds! I finally slowed to a walk after 52 minutes. Not too bad for the first run of the year, although my pace was very slow. I'd estimate the distance to be no more than 5 miles.
Unfortunately, I no longer have a phone capable of downloading Strava so I can't track my run - I'm not sure how far I actually traveled!
The evening presented my first real test of willpower: the family visited Jane and Eric for dinner in Wilmcote. Jane put on a healthy spread of turkey and vegetables which was great as long as I didn't have any cauliflower in cheese sauce. I managed to ignore the open bottles of wine on the table too. However, when she brought out not one, but two homemade puddings from the kitchen, I had to excuse myself and leave the table! Later, chocolates were passed round but I managed to resist those too!
Sunday
Today was Jonnie's first time on the bike in two months. We set off fearing the worst from the weather. We were very pleased to find the day bright, sunny and not too cold! The roads were soaking wet with standing water everywhere which meant I took it easy on the descents (Jonnie hurled himself downhill as usual). We adopted a fairly leisurely pace because Jonnie's legs were suffering. However, we still covered 31.1 miles at 12.7mph. I expect Jonnie will be back at his old 15+ mph pace very soon!
After homemade vegetable soup, it was time for dojo and Martha's first session of the year. Sensei Ronnie Christopher took the lesson and again it was a back-to-basics kicking lesson with three lower grade kata included. Martha was told she was 'brilliant' in today's lesson. I don't know who was more proud - me or her!
This week I've managed to avoid all junk food - crisps, chocolate, cakes, biscuits (everything I like really!) - as well as alcohol. And I really really really miss beer!
It feels good to be back in training.
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