How to Lose a Belly When You're 42 (part 23)

Monday
10st 6lbs
I lost 3 pounds last week! Okay, this is exciting news, but I need to understand why this has happened all at once. The only thing I did differently last week is I missed my weekend bicycle ride!
Does this mean that cycling makes you fat? Of course not, but maybe it's all the beer and cake afterwards that does? Food for thought...
I drove in to work today (I was so tired after my late night at the Red Lion) and then drove home to run my weekly 10K.
I rubbed the leg with Deep Heat and then did a bit of a stretch before I set off. The run itself was okay, the strange thing tonight was all the middle-aged men (not a single woman!) who were out running tonight. There were at least a dozen of us!
By the time I got back home, I was really tired; not quite exhausted but not far off. I had run my second fastest time this year. It took me a few minutes to get my breath back in the kitchen before cooking some dinner for the family.

Exercise
10K 63 minutes 47 seconds

Food
Peanut butter on crumpets
Tea
Juice
Homemade ham and salad sandwich.
Handful of nuts and raisins
Banana
Homemade Mexican scrambled eggs (with peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, onion and tortilla) with homemade potato wedges.

Alcohol
None


Tuesday
I cycled in on the Specialised.
I cycled home on the Specialised.
Martha was too ill to come to dojo but I went along. It was a great session - Sensei Mark pushed us hard in order to give us a taste of what the new senior grade training class will be like on Fridays.
It was all going well until I got injured during a sparring exercise with Sensei Chris. When I attempted to attack him with a left kizami-zuki, I found my hand bent over at the wrist when he blocked. A shock of pain went through me and then my wrist gradually went completely numb. When the pain came back it was worse. I struggled on to the end of the lesson and then drove home very carefully (it hurts to change gear.)
At home, I had some liquid pain relief...beer!

Exercise
cycled to work and back
One hour of karate training.

Food
2 crumpets with peanut butter
Tea 
Juice
Ham salad sandwiches
Homemade sausage casserole with pasta and vegetables.


Alcohol
2 bottles of stout


Wednesday
13 hours at work.
No exercise
No junkfood
No booze

Exercise
None

Food
2 crumpets with peanut butter
Tea
Juice
2 satsumas
Chicken and salad sandwiches (prepared at home)
2 fishcakes with noodles and green beans

Alcohol
None

Thursday
I cycled in to work.
For the sports session, I took the lads on a 2 mile run. 2 of them finished ahead of me, and one of the lads managed to keep up with me. Disappointingly, the rest of the Sports group failed to keep pace with this 42 year old man. It's a mixture of junkfood, laziness and smoking that's preventing them from reaching their potential. I've got lots of work to do with them!
I cycled home after homework club.
After dropping my Dungeons and Dragons players home, I started my hour long weights session. I was very pleased to find that the wrist held (I kept it strapped up tightly) and I managed to lift heavier than I have done in years! I went to bed sore but happy.

Exercise
Cycled to work and back
100 push ups
100 triceps dips
100 leg raises
Squats (41kg): 5 sets of 5 repetitions
Curls (39kg): 5x5
Shrugs (48kg): 5x5
Deadlift (54kg): 5x5
Side raise (6.5kg): 5x5
OHP (29kg): 5x5

Food
2 crumpets with 100% peanut butter
Juice
2 cups of tea
Chicken salad sandwich on wholemeal bread (prepared at home)
Homemade tuna pasta bake (with vegetables)
Cornflakes with semi-skimmed milk (after weight training)

Alcohol
None

Friday
My back was very, very stiff this morning and I found it a challenge to even stand up straight! Bloody weight training...
Happily, by the time I'd gone downstairs and put the kettle on, I was moving okay.
I cycled in to work and back.
In the evening, Martha and I attended the first of the Friday night advanced karate class with none other than Sensei Ronnie taking charge! As expected, it was a fast, hard and no-nonsense session. Sensei Ronnie managed to find time to tell us about how he won the British championship in the weight class above his own (he was a lightweight fighting as a middleweight!)
Martha rose to the challenge and didn't complain about the intensity or the pace. I was very proud of her.
Home for dinner and a couple of ales!

Exercise
Cycled to work and back
One hour of karate training.

Food
2 crumpets with peanut butter
Juice
Tea
Homemade tuna pasta bake
Handful of nuts and raisins
Homemade beef chili with white rice

Alcohol
2 bottles of ale

Saturday
Lucy and I went shopping up town today and then back to Solihull for lunch at the Fieldhouse. 
After waiting three hours for the ale I had with my lunch to work its way out of my system, I set up my weights for a session. I kept the wrist strapped just in case and the session went well. I lifted as heavily as I had earlier in the week.
I rewarded myself with two more ales in the evening...

Exercise
100 push ups
100 triceps dips
100 leg raises
Squats (41kg): 5 sets of 5 repetitions
Curls (39kg): 5x5
Front raise (8kg): 5x5
Deadlift (54kg): 5x5
Side raise (6.5kg): 5x5
Dumbbell curls (17kg): 5x5

Food
Bacon, tomatoes and scrambled eggs on wholemeal toast
Tea
Juice
Steak and ale pie with peas and chips
Pork with pasta, apples and green beans

Alcohol
1 pint of ale
2 bottles of ale

Sunday
Nigel called round at 9 and we set off into the countryside. The lanes were mostly dry but with a puddle here and there. Some lanes were rather muddy but, overall, nothing to worry about. My descending was good (for me) and I managed to stay with Nigel for most of the ride. About 18 miles in, riding through Snitterfield, we encountered a peleton of about 10 or 12 riders. I leapt into the middle of them and started chatting. With a rider by my side and two in front I was wafted along the lanes at a steady 17mph, sometimes without having to pedal! It's so much easier riding with other people!
Unfortunately, a couple of miles later, when we reached Featherbed Lane, I realised that Nigel hadn't been able to get in the group (all the while I had assumed he'd latched onto the back.) I let the pack go and drifted along while Nigel set a PR catching me up!
We headed down to Stratford while I felt terribly guilty about Nigel having to turn himself inside out to catch me up. 
We had picked up a silent wheelsucker along the way - a man in a high vis jacket. When we stopped for a wee, the guy carried on but then turned back, explaining that he didn't know which way to go! He thought we were part of an organised ride! I gave him the bad news and he turned around and headed back the other way.
We gunned it through Luddington and then Binton to finally arrive in Wilmcote with 33 miles in the legs. We were both running on empty and desperately in need of cake and a sit down. The scary thing is that on the Mad March Hare there will still be another 7 miles to ride before the feed station, including the massive climb up Saintbury Hill! 

Nigel and I feeling very happy about the fact that we still have 15 miles of climbing to go...

We left Wilmcote full of tea and cake and ready to tackle the climbs home. Our target average speed for today was 13.9 mph which is exactly what we had going through Aston Cantlow. I informed Nigel of this and suggested that to maintain that average was a very difficult task indeed. Nigel conceded that it was impossible.
However...
We dug deep, taking it in turns to lead, riding together on the climbs and, believe it or not, we emerged from Tanworth with a 13.7 average. We then had a three mile blast home to try to get that back up to 13.9mph. 
We did it! Nigel even beat me fair and square on the sprint today - I thought he was way down the hill when he was in fact on my wheel!

50 miles today

Target average speed achieved

Back at home, I had a most welcome lunch of homemade soup and toast before getting ready for dojo. I told myself to take it easy this afternoon but as soon as Sensei announced there was to be a kata competiton all of that went out of the window. I was aching everywhere, slightly dizzy and my heart rate was ridiculously high, even when I was just standing still! However, my team won the kata contest and I went home very, very tired but satisfied. 

Happy to sit on the floor after 50 miles of riding and then an hour of karate. I'm done.

Tonight, I ate junkfood and drank beer - it's the start of the half-term holiday!
Cheers! (hic)

Exercise
50 mile bike ride at 13.9 mph
One hour of karate training

Food
2 crumpets with peanut butter
Juice
Tea
Chocolate
Cake
Homemade soup with wholemeal toast
More chocolate
Beef casserole with vegetables and roast potatoes
Even more chocolate

Alcohol
5 bottles of ale/stout!