How to Lose a Belly When You're 41 (part 9)

Monday
Disappointing results on the scales - 10st 6lbs. This means that I've gained 2lbs in the previous week. Looks like I was right about eating too much cake!
I was a little disheartened at first, but now I'm just a little more determined to work hard this week!
I did a heavy lifting session followed by a protein-rich dinner of scrambled eggs and vegetables.

Tuesday
The bike is still in repair so I'm driving to work and back (I'm not sure about risking the skinny wheeled road bike on the frosty A45.)
The karate lesson tonight was fast-paced and involved lots of variation - basic combinations, light sparring, kicking practice, and kata. Martha and I went home happy!

Wednesday
Still in the car for work.
After college, I tied on the running shoes and set off. I managed to run for 57 minutes without stopping or walking.This is the longest I've ever managed! It felt strange running in the dark at rush hour compared to my Saturday afternoon runs. It was certainly colder! My fingers were numb for the first two miles. However, by the end,I had sweat running down my back!
I ate healthily all day and didn't touch the booze.

Thursday
What a non-stop day! It was a good but very busy time at college, and when I got home I wolfed down my dinner and then ran a frantic Dungeons and Dragons session with 8 young players! By the time I'd dropped them all off home it was 10pm and simply didn't have the willpower to do my planned weight lifting session. I switched on the PS4 instead...
No junkfood or booze for four days.

Eating cake - all I'm good for.

Friday
Party! It was Mouse's 15th birthday party today. I drove home from work and the party was already in full swing - the house was full of screaming teenage girls. The adults soon arrived too and my role was to make sure everyone had a drink - including myself!
Unfortunately, I took my role far too seriously and ended up getting amazingly, karaoke-singingly smashed until the small hours of the morning. 

Saturday
No training, far too hungover. One of the worst hangovers of my life.

Sunday
No training, far too tired and with a nagging headache all day.

What a disappointing end to a promising week. With only one week to go before the Mad March Hare cycle sportive, I could have really done with some miles in the legs. Oh well, must try harder.

How to Lose a Belly When You're 41 (part 8)

Monday
Half term!
No work!
I did my usual Monday MOT and got some pleasant results:
Weight: 10st 4lbs
Blood Pressure: 124/63
Resting Heart Rate: 54bpm
This means that I've continued to lose weight and have now lost all of the 8lbs I put on over Christmas!
I then did a good, heavy weight-training session which was ruined by a day of unhealthy eating and then beer and a single malt in the evening. I don't know why! I enjoyed today though...

Tuesday
Rest day.
I ate healthily all day and didn't drink a beer.
Unfortunately, due to a having a heating engineer working in the house, a family day out, and travel arrangements, I didn't get to go to the dojo.
So no exercise for me today.
Incidentally, the plumber did an excellent job and is a very friendly bloke and a pal of mine. If you've got some plumbing/heating work to be done, contact this guy:
Ron Knight
07973204534
coachronknight@gmail.com

Wednesday
A good day for training: a long walk with the dogs, another heavy weight lifting session, healthy food all day (including protein-rich lamb's liver) and no booze.

Thursday
I drove over to Dan's house with the mountain bike in the back of the car. We were both wrapped up against the cold and we cycled off towards the Lickey Hills. We met up with our mate Gary on the way and headed off in to the mud!
Dan was on a very new On One hardtail fat bike and Gary was on a very, very new steel-frame Ragley hardtail 29er. I was on the same Halford's bike I've been riding since 2010!
My bike was suffering today:
I think I need to put some new pads in the front brake, it was very spongy. 
The bike wouldn't shift up into the large road ring without making a horrible grinding noise.
The headset is terribly stiff which means steering is a very 'jerky' affair.

Dan and Gary in the Lickey Hills

Still, I was determined to get out and enjoy myself and that's exactly what we did. After mucking about in the Lickey Hills, we dropped down to Lizzie's Farm for tea and cake. Dan and I had huge slices of Chocolate and Guinness cake. It was a great taste but didn't necessarily remind me of the drink. However, sometime later, I did a Guinness burp and was satisfied!

The NMAlps are big fans of Fast and Loud - check out the Stun safety glasses!

The chocolate and Guinness cake (and Deadly Dan.)

After a welcome sit down and a chat in the warm sunshine, Dan came up with the splendid idea of riding the Waltonberg! The NWAlps' previous efforts on this climb have been documented here.

When we reached this cobbled, rutted, very steep ascent I snapped into my smallest gear, settled into the pain, and watched Gary and Dan scamper up the climb ahead of me! The Waltonberg seemed a lot shorter than I had expected but I was glad I was riding it in the dry. Do I think I could ride it on a road bike? Probably not, but I think I'm going to give it a go!

This is me dropping down from the Clent Hills after the Waltonberg. Photo by danielphillips.co,uk

After the Waltonberg, we stopped off at a pub where I drank water and watched my friends sip what looked like smashing pints of Butty Bach. The weather was still warm and dry enough to sit outside in the beer garden/car park.
Then it was simply a matter of following Gary back to base. Sometimes he took us on to some interesting off-road sections, but it was mainly a tarmac slog. Still, it was great fitness training for me just trying to keep up with the guys! They are a lot fitter than they give themselves credit for.
According to Dan's Garmin, we rode 27 miles today, a lot of that in thick mud, on damp roots and wet grass.

Friday
The first thing I did today (after a healthy breakfast) was use my Halford's vouchers to put the mountain bike in for a new headset! After a mile and a half walk home, Eric and I set about replacing a fence panel that had blown down in the recent windy weather.
This evening, I managed to make it to the dojo for the first time in 10 days! It was a fast-paced, intense kumite training session.
My fighting still has a long way to go - I'm nowhere near as fast as the other guys. I was the lowest grade fighting tonight, but I'm just using that as an excuse...
No beers, no junkfood.

Saturday
I got up feeling like it was Christmas morning!
Jonnie cycled round at about 9am and Dan and Gary arrived a few moments later. We jumped on our road bikes and headed out into the lanes, determined to ride 50 miles and have a good time. Dan was riding his brand new GT Grade bike - an awesome looking machine with disc brakes and 28mm tyres! It has Sora transmission and a carbon fork, just like my bike, but he managed to get his £300 cheaper than my Specialized! What an absolute bargain. And with its wide tyres and disc brakes it looked right at home in the wet and muddy lanes.
We took my oldest route down past Claverdon and into Snitterfield (where we stopped to refuel with Lucy's homemade flapjack.) As expected, the NWAlps boys were able to stay with daredevil Jonnie when dropping down the treacherous descents, whereas yours truly was doing my best Bambi on ice impression. On the few descents where I didn't feel the need to brake, I couldn't keep up with them anyway! Something to do with bodyweight, apparently.
35 miles in, a lot of that spent tucked behind Deadly Dan, we arrived at our cake stop. Jane provided a choice of 2 cakes (ginger or coffee) and piping hot tea. We had a sit down and a chin wag and then headed back out. The rest of the ride was generally uphill. Good friends chatting in the lanes meant that the time seemed to go quickly and before we knew it, we were back at my place after 51 miles at an average of 14.0mph.
Lucy fed us her fabulous homemade frittata, and the lads helped themselves to some ale.
What a fantastic way to spend a Saturday!
Later that day, Lucy and I headed back to Wilmcote for the annual quiz and raffle at the village hall. I didn't win anything but I did get to eat loads of fish and chips and drink 3 ales!

Sunday
I woke up in the middle of the night having some sort of dramatic coughing fit. I staggered downstairs for a Lemsip and watched recorded highlights of the Tour of Oman. I felt terrible. About an hour later, I managed to fall asleep on the couch.
Lucy, who is ill with a bad cold herself, found me at 4:30 in the morning and convinced me to get back into bed. I rested fitfully until 9:30am.
I got up to some more Lemsip, resigned to the fact that I was ill and my training was on pause. However, I made sure I ate healthily and tried to ignore my aching limbs. By the afternoon, I was feeling well enough to go to the dojo with Martha and we took part in a fast and fun basics lesson with Sensei Ronnie Christopher. I kept expecting to have another coughing fit, but I didn't!
As soon as I got home, I changed into my running gear and went out and jogged for 56 minutes without stopping or walking. I felt very tired when I got back, but not ill!
How strange - is there such thing as a 12 hour cold?

Another successful week of training - maybe a little too much cake, but at least I'm progressing in the weight training and running, getting some good cycling miles in the legs, and developing as a karateka!

How to Lose a Belly When You're 41 (part 7)

Monday
I didn't use the bike for work today.
I did a martial arts based fitness lesson with the sports group, including a bit of circuit training and a decent warm-down at the end.
Back at home, I did my usual Monday night MOT:
Weight - 10st 5lbs
Blood Pressure: 123/74
Heart Rate: 46
I've lost half a stone this year! I'm very pleased with that. Also, the heart rate is the third lowest reading I've ever taken. Maybe this training is working after all!
After dinner I did a hard weight training session of 6 lifts at 5x5 with 300 body weight reps thrown in too!

Tuesday
Back on the bike. I cycled into work and back.
Tonight's karate session was a strange one. It was obviously intended to be a black belt kata refresher but included us brown belts too. Unfortunately, we (the brown belts) only knew one of the three kata, which meant that when we were asked to perform them all the way through, most of the time we were left floundering and quickly gave up. We were looking at each other, shrugging and even laughing. This is not a reflection of how things are normally done at the club, I guess every teacher/instructor has a bad day every now and then. You'll notice that I'm not naming the sensei who took the lesson.
Pancake day! The girls made me a healthy homemade pancake topped with natural yogurt and fruit. Then I had another one!

Wednesday
Cycled in to work.
After lessons, I joined in with Mr Roger's circuit training session. He worked us really hard including loads of exercises with medicine balls and skipping ropes. I took the warm-down at the end, and the whole session lasted 65 minutes in total. I cycled home with aching, wobbly legs.

Thursday
Rest Day!
This morning, the legs were even more wobbly and sore on the cycle ride in to work!
It was a good friend's birthday today and I considered it genuinely rude to refuse some of his homemade birthday cake.
I cycled home to play Dungeons and Dragons with 8 young people - we had a blast!
No exercise today, and some rather unhealthy eating!

Friday
Another Rest Day!?
Couldn't ride in today because I was off to visit mother after work and needed to take my ladders to do a job for her. At Mom's, I managed to eat healthily but couldn't resist a beer! We watched The Martian (highly recommended, clever, feel-good science fiction) and by the time I got home it was after 10pm. I looked at my barbell and simply couldn't be arsed!

Saturday
My target for today was to get back in training mode. So: only healthy food, no booze, and do some exercise!
I went out for a run and managed 56 minutes without stopping/walking. At the end of the run I felt stronger than I usually do. Maybe I'm getting fitter? I had Lucy's homemade chicken and mushroom curry when I got back and consumed no alcohol.

Sunday
This morning was a lot drier and brighter than the weather forecast had predicted. It was even slightly warmer. I called for Jonnie and we set off into the lanes. The wind behind us, we aimed the bikes towards Stratford and set off. Unfortunately, the lanes were rather wet and shiny and I had some of the old trouble going downhill. Jonnie was forced to wait for me twice.
18 miles in, by the time we were south of Binton, our average was a healthy 14.9mph. However, it was at this point where we had to turn into the wind. By the halfway point we were down to 14.7mph. We stopped for lunch at Jane and Eric's place. I watched Jonnie consume freshly made cake while I tried to be healthy with a peanut bar and a banana. 
Then back into the wind and uphill for the remaining 25miles. The wind was strong and our legs weren't. I watched our average dwindle away as we slogged on. 5 miles from home and it was too much. I was hit by the man with the hammer and fell into the grip of the dreaded bonk! Feeling sick, weak, barely able to keep my eyes open, I tried to convince Jonnie to carry on but he wouldn't leave me. He destroyed his own average to stay with me. What a good friend he is.
I eventually struggled home after 49.7 miles with an average speed of 13.2mph.
Later, after soup, toast and beer (Bateman's Dark Lord - recommended!) I had recovered enough for a Valentine's dinner with Lucy.
We visited the Navigation in Lapworth and had a very pleasant meal with a great bottle of Rioja.
I went to bed rather tipsy!

How to Lose a Belly When You're 41 (part 6)

Monday
This morning, I weighed 10st 7lbs. Which means I didn't lose any weight at all last week.
This was quite disappointing me for, obviously, but I'm still trying to be positive: at least I didn't put any weight back on!
It might be my body still adjusting to the shock of exercising every day (after the gluttony and laziness of December) or it could be the rest day and the cheat day from last week that dramatically slowed my progress.
Whatever it is, I'm going to continue with my program and see if there is any change this week.
I cycled to work and back (in a gale!) and then did a mini MOT on myself:
Blood pressure: 126/67
Heart rate: 62
The HR was raised a little high compared to previous weeks but I think that was because I was rushing around getting dinner ready!
Tonight was a weight-lifting night. I felt a bit of a twinge in the lower back during squats so I wore a lifting belt for the rest of the session and felt fine. A good sweaty hour of lifting with an additional 100 push ups, 100 tricep dips and 100 leg raises!

Tuesday
Cycled into work and back. I was aware of a bit of discomfort in the lower back. This was obviously a result of the squats from last night.
Tonight at the dojo, I turned up not in the mood. I felt a bit sick, very very hungry, and had a headache. However, after ten minutes of hard, fast basics, the adrenaline was pumping and I was fully engaged in the lesson. A strong finish featuring five different kata meant I went home sweaty and happy!

Wednesday
Cycled in to work. After a very demanding day with the students, I was glad to unwind at the staff circuit training session. Roger pushed us really hard tonight, no water break was longer than 45 seconds and we trained for an hour! We did lots of work with the skipping rope, loads with medicine balls, and over a dozen body weight exercises. Roger was kind enough to let me do the warm down for the group.
Everyone left very sweaty but happy!
I cycled home.

Thursday
Rest day!
I cycled to work and back but that it was it for exercise today. It still ate healthily and didn't have any lovely beer.

Friday
I couldn't use the bike for work today so I had to queue up with the rest of the cagers on the A34.
Tonight, I was glad to get in the dojo and do some hard and fast combinations with Sensei Gary, followed by some heavy bag work with Sensei Mark.
I love bag work - having a target for your kicks and punches is almost as much fun as actual sparring. Unfortunately, I struggled with the last exercise: we had to imagine the bag was an enemy and we had 5 seconds to go mental at it. I tried, but it was still just a bag to me! I gave it a few good digs anyway.

Saturday
Cheat day!
I got up early to get the run out of the way. I ran in the pouring rain for 56 minutes without stopping or walking. That's the longest I've ever been able to keep going. And at the end of it I felt fine and dandy! 
For my second breakfast I decided a cheat day was in order so I had bacon and eggs!
The rest of the day was equally hedonistic: It was Jess's 17th birthday so the family celebrated at Jonnie's house. I drank beer and ate cake. 
Later, my brother appeared from London and homemade curry and more beer was consumed.
In the evening, it was just me and my PS4...and more beer.

Sunday
I crawled out of bed and waited for the hangover to start. For some reason it didn't and I felt good!
After the unhealthiest breakfast imaginable (Cheerios, apple juice and a donut!) I rode off into the cold to see if Jonnie was playing out. He joined me in the lanes and we set off on our Honiley 40 route.
My back brake doesn't work. I hadn't realised, but the wet and muddy conditions had done a good job of wearing away my brake blocks at the back! How I failed to notice this last week, I have no idea. Oh well, I rode the day with only the front brake. (In his autobiography, which I'm reading at the moment, Chris Froome believes most of the crashes at the start of his career were caused by his over-use of the back brake. Apparently the front brake is the one we should be using while descending.)
When we got to Honiley, Jonnie and I found ourselves in the middle of an organised ride! There were lots of very serious riders, riding very closely together and pulling very closely in front of us (particularly on the climbs when I was trying to get past!) They shouted "CAR!" a lot, very very loudly and seriously. It turns it out it was these guys. My favourite part was watching them all trying to get past a flooded bit of country lane. Some of them carried their bikes and walked in a hedge, one chap stopped at the water's edge and proceeded to perform a spectacular 0mph clip crash onto the muddy tarmac. My favourite was a young lady who, seeing all this chaos, rode up and shouted, "Puddle!" She was deadly serious. Very helpful.
Jonnie and I just rode through it.
They actually stayed with us until we reached our cake stop in Wilmcote! Maybe they had been spying on my Honiley route on Strava and made a sportive out of it!?

Jonnie in the lanes.

Homemade cake and fresh tea dispatched, we clambered back on the bikes for the last 15 miles uphill to home. We had to make a detour because of an impassable flood but this turned out to be a nice route and we might even keep it as part of the ride.
I eventually got off the bike rather sore after 43.30 miles at 13.8mph. Considering the ridiculous amount of standing water around, that wasn't too bad for a guy with one brake.

I visited mother in the afternoon and enjoyed homemade lemon drizzle cake. It really wasn't a day for healthy eating! I did, however, manage to resist a beer.