How to Lose a Belly When You're 43 (part 8)

Monday
10st 1lbs
My weight is going the wrong way, which is unsurprising considering that last week was a boozy cake-fest. I must remind myself that I have high cholesterol...
Today I leaped on the bike and cycled in to work and then pedalled home to cook dinner for the family. I managed to avoid junkfood all day. We watched episode 2 of Daredevil together. I was very impressed by the show - particularly the homage to the Oldboy corridor scene. Obviously, the Daredevil scene used some very clever CGI whereas the Oldboy scene is devoid of too much fancy trickery (I read that the knife in his back is the only CGI added.) Still, both scenes are awesome and Daredevil is highly recommended based on the two episodes I've seen.
After reading some Batman with Mouse, I hit the mancave to do some weight training. I still kept it light and fast, but increased the weight a little from last week.
No alcohol, no booze.

Tuesday
Cycled in to work and back.
Martha came with me to the dojo tonight but soon found that she couldn't train because of an injury to her foot. I spent most of the evening training with Sensei Jody. I felt I held my own in the sparring techniques but let myself down in the line up at the end of the session. I was too slow and my opponents too fast! Must get fitter!
Home for a huge dinner of homemade meatballs and pasta.
No junkfood, no alcohol.

Wednesday
10st 0lbs
Cycled to work and back. Tonight, I did another light and fast workout. I treated myself to two bottles of stout after dinner.
No junkfood.

Thursday
I cycled in to work and back. In the evening, I went out for my weekly 10K run. It was rather cold and I had three layers on (but still wore shorts!) I set off a little bit too quickly because I was feeling strong. I ended up suffering for the last two miles but still made it back in a reasonable time of 63m 21s. This is a miserable time for most runners but not too bad for me when compared to recent efforts.
At home, I managed to resist a beer with my delicious dinner of homemade Cajun chicken with sweet potatoes and salad. Mega healthy!
No alcohol, no junkfood.

Friday
Cycled in to work and back.
I dropped Martha at work and then went along for Sensei Ronnie Christopher's advanced Karate class. It was entirely kumite-based which is a bit disappointing because I'm in a kata competition on Sunday. However, I was lucky enough to work with Sensei Jody and he took me through the techniques patiently while hardly saying a word. At one point he 'volunteered' me to demonstrate three kicking techniques to the class. Confidence boosting stuff! We did some fighting at the end and, as usual, I was crap, but maybe not as crap as last time...
Just two beers with dinner tonight. No junkfood.

Saturday
Up at 7 and it was raining. I cycled up to Jonnie's for 9am and it was still raining. We set off on the High Cross route in the pouring rain. It was cold too; feet, hands and face-numbingly cold.
We quickly agreed that it was one of our Hard Men rides and compared it to the Mad March Hare conditions! The only thought that kept me going was that it must be toughening me up.
We got to the cakestop completely soaked and chilled to the bone. After some tea and cake and a change of socks for me, we headed back out into the rain. We slogged on, mainly in silence and dragged ourselves all the way home to finish our 36 miles at 14mph.
We were tired, freezing and soaked through. Cyclists will know how this feels, but for non-cyclists, imagine this:
Stand in front of a fridge freezer with the door open and stick your hands in the ice compartment. Get a friend to hose you down with a steady spray of cold water (paying particular attention to the feet and backside because we don't have mudguards.) Then jog up and down on the spot. For two and a half hours...
I was far too cold to contemplate stopping at Jonnie's to sit around in wet clothes, so I just continued home and walked directly into a warm shower still wearing my cycling gear!
A little later, I walked the dogs around the park and then picked Martha up from work on the way home.
In the evening, I had a couple of beers with dinner and then went to bed early ready for the Karate competition in the morning.

Sunday
I had a humdinger of a nightmare at about 4:30am and couldn't get back to sleep after that. I eventually slid out of bed at about 6:45.
Today was the Central England International Open Karate Competition in Worcester. Unfortunately, Martha had too much college work to do and so couldn't take part.
After breakfast, I drove over to Cocksmoor Woods and met the rest of the squad representing Ruach Karate. Sensei Gary drove us to Worcester in a minibus. I was only entered for one event: over 40s kata. Four of the squad were having a go at the fighting. I had originally put my name down for kumite too but the cost of the necessary shin pads and chest guard put me off. I'd have to spend over £200!

Worcester University - The size of the venue was a little daunting!

The standard was very high today. It was obvious that the vast majority of competitors were dan grades (black belts.) All of the young people from our club performed brilliantly in the kata events but it wasn't enough to get them through to the next round.

Me with some of the squad who were brave enough to take part today.

Lucy unexpectedly turned up to spectate just before lunchtime. She'd chosen to drive 50 miles and give up half of her Sunday just to see me take part in one of my hobbies! My girl's the best.

My Bassai Dai in the first round of the over 40s kata contest

In my event, I quickly ran out of kata. After using up my Bassai Dai, I was left with a choice of heian kata. It wasn't enough but I did manage to win a silver medal which I was pleased with. I later learned that the winner was a senior black belt who represented England a few years ago.

Me in silver

I have arranged to learn Empi from Sensei Jody so I can have a realistic chance at gold next time.
After some brave and determined efforts in the fighting from Dan, Sunny, Tony and Jamie it was time to head back.

I got home to a hero's welcome and, more importantly, homemade pie! When everyone was in bed, I did a fast and light weights session and then watched Star Trek: Discovery with two beers.
No junkfood.