I woke up a bit groggy after staying up a tad late last night. The cycle in to work helped and I was okay by the time I was half way through my first lesson.
In the evening, I did a good lifting session. I'd increased the weight a little from last week and I could really tell! I was aching when I finished but I was feeling good too. I cooked a stir fry beef dinner with fried rice for Lucy and myself. Then we watched Man U beat Stoke on the TV with Eric. Bed at 11.
No junkfood, no alcohol, weight training.
Tuesday
Weight: 10st 4lbs
My back was aching when I woke up.
Today was almost a carbon copy of yesterday: I cycled in to work and back, ate healthily all day, did a weight training session and didn't have a drink.
I had intended to go to dojo as I do every Tuesday but I had to work late and couldn't make it.
No junkfood, no alcohol, weight training.
Wednesday
Weight: 10st 5lbs
A different day, same training! I cycled to work and back, ate healthily, didn't drink booze and did some weight lifting!
No junkfood, no alcohol, weight training.
Thursday
I cycled in to work.
It was a student's birthday in my ICT class this morning. Rachel the learning support assistant and I bought him and his classmates a birthday cake. Healthy eating for the day was over! In the afternoon, I did a martial arts based warm up with the sports lads including some pad work. Then I refereed their frantic games of indoor soccer. I cycled home.
Tonight, I set off strongly on my 10K but found it a real struggle in the last mile when I experienced two of those heart 'flutters' that have been happening for the last 6 months. I still haven't had the results back from my heart monitor. Anyway, I got back home in a time of 63 minutes, 31 seconds which was 37 seconds inside my target time. Cutting it quite close...
My legs were aching terribly tonight and I eased the pain with half a bottle of cava and a bottle of black ale. I went to bed a little unsteady...
...and woke up at 2:50am feeling absolutely awful. I have stomach ache, a sore throat, a cough, chest pains and a blocked nose. I stayed awake until 4:30 when I started to doze on and off.
Junkfood, alcohol, 10k run
Friday
I got up at 6:25 and made myself a Lemsip. I felt far too ropey to cycle in so I used the car. I felt progressively better throughout the day. The afternoon was completely wasted by a useless meeting and I was glad to get out of there. In the evening, after dropping Martha at her work, I headed to the advanced karate session run by Sensei Ronnie. It was an entirely kumite-focused session incorporating a bit of pad work for kicks.
After the session, I had a bit of a chat with another karateka who expressed his disappointment in not being able to actually fight during the session. We agreed that, out of all the clubs we'd been a part of over the years, Ruach had the least emphasis on actually sparring. Which is very surprising when you consider that Sensei Ronnie was world champion for kumite! My guess is that the club is very nervous about injuries, insurance and the current claim culture we live in. Maybe, in the coming months and years, when other instructors take charge of sessions, things will lean more towards actual combat.
No junkfood, no booze, karate session
Saturday
Up early to make breakfast for Lucy and myself. After bacon and eggs and a chocolate biscuit, I dropped Mouse and Lucy off at the train station and then walked the dogs. In the afternoon, I took Martha to work, and went along to the Saturday Karate session. This is my favourite session because it feels more like a workshop than a lesson. People in this group work well together and the atmosphere is more relaxed while still upholding the values of the dojo. After an hour of good basics and kata training, I stayed behind with Sensei Jody to do some work with the heavy bag and the focus pads. He spent some time showing me how to relax while hitting hard - not something I found easy to do! It was a great workout! It left me with an aching left shoulder and a bruised and swollen right hand.
After dropping Mouse off at a friend's house, I went round to have an ale with Uncle Jonnie (while still in my gi!)
In the evening, Lucy served up homemade chicken curry and I opened a couple of lovely ales!
Junkfood, 3 and a half ales, Karate
Sunday
Up early for the 9am extra kata session. There was a good turn out for that time on a Sunday morning. There were lots of serious karateka present and I was the lowest grade there...apart from a young lad, about 8 years old, wearing a green belt.
I think it's great that young people want to get involved with sport (however, I have my own views about children and adult martial arts classes.) Today, however, Sensei Lloyd had to spend at least 50% of his time nursing this eager young chap through Heian Sandan - the third beginner's kata.
This left the rest of us standing around and waiting. As a result, I didn't break a sweat and didn't learn anything about performance or timing. We just went over some kata to count and then blasted through on our own.
It was great to get up early and do some karate but I do think a separate class for children and/or beginners would help speed things along...
Later on, I walked the dogs in the snow, drank some ale, ate some Toberlone and played GTA5 until midnight!
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| Freddie in the snow |
Unfortunately, my left shoulder has been aching all day and it doesn't seem to be getting better...
Karate, junkfood, 2 ales
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