Weight: 9st 13lbs
I cycled in to work and back. I couldn't resist chocolate biccies.
I did a good weights session in the evening.
Weight training, no alcohol, junkfood
Tuesday
Weight: 10st 0lbs
I cycled in to work and back and then headed off to dojo.
Karate, no alcohol, no jukfood.
Wednesday
Weight: 10st 0lbs
I cycled in to work and back.
I did my weekly 10K run in a time of 63m and 31s.
Run, no alcohol, no junkfood
Thursday
Weight: 10st 0lbs
Weight training, no junkfood, no alcohol
Friday
Weight: 9st 12lbs
I cycled in to work. There were apple pies and chocolate biscuits in the staff room - they were too tempting to resist!
After work, I cycled to a blood donation centre in Solihull. I was on time for my appointment and as soon as I sat down with my pint of squash, they called my name. They jabbed some blood out of my finger and asked me some questions. Unfortunately, when we got to discussing my heart, I made the mistake of telling them about the flutters I'd been experiencing and the heart monitor I'd had fitted in January. I told them about the ectopics and bradycardia that had been detected. I also told them that my GP had said I could go and give blood (which is true - she confirmed this on the telephone when discussing my results.) However, the head nurse in charge was having none of it. She said that in some people the heart can "go in to a panic" when giving blood and she didn't want to risk that with me. I really wish I hadn't said anything. I had to leave with my head hanging and no bandage in the crook of my elbow.
I had been rejected.
After blinking away tears of rage on the ride home, I shut myself in my man cave and got stuck into some weight lifting with Planet Rock turned up to 11.
Weight training, no alcohol, junkfood
Saturday
Weight: 9st 13lbs
This morning, an old friend came round to go on a bike ride with me: I hadn't seen Crazy Ed for at least 10 years! In September this year, he'll be riding London to Brighton raising money for Bowel Cancer UK. The only trouble is, he's not much of a cyclist! Yet! I was very happy when he asked me to help with his training.
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| ShotokanCyclist and Crazy Ed |
I must say, I was very impressed by his preparation: He arrived with a decent bike (Specialized Allez - same as mine!), Lycra padded shorts (no mountain bike baggies), water bottle, spare tube, helmet and even SPD pedals! We set off in to the morning sunshine, chatting and spinning an easy gear. I tested him on a few of the local hills and, after a bit of handle-bar wrestling, he managed to get up all of them without walking. Result! We covered a total of 13 miles.
Later in the afternoon, I set off again and rode down to Wilmcote for some free food and a couple of beers. There was a celebration going on because a royal person was marrying a commoner on TV or something. This meant that there was cake.
It was very hot today and the ride home, after two beers and a belly-full of treats, was a bit too much for me. I ended up crawling back at under 14mph!
I had to sober up and then stay awake to pick up Martha from work at midnight.
2 Rides: 43 miles, junkfood, alcohol
Sunday
Weight: 10st 0lbs
Up after just 6 hours sleep for the Ruach Club Karate competition. There were six other clubs taking part so Martha and I were looking forward to competing against people we didn't know.
Martha, as always, competed bravely and came away with a bronze medal in the fighting.
Sensei Joey won the veterans fighting and claimed silver in the kata.
Sensei Jody dominated the kata to take gold and then fought his way into the men's kumite final. Unfortunately, he had sustained an injury to his hand in the previous bout which meant he couldn't continue.
My friend Anthony launched himself into the veterans fighting and took a well-deserved bronze medal.
I was shit, and I'm genuinely embarrassed by my performance in both kata and kumite. I learned some hard lessons from today. I even let myself down when I was off the mats: I forgot that the first rule of Karate is that it begins and ends with respect. I need to remember that. It was an experience that will stay with me for a long, long time.
I went home to drink beer and think about what I could have done differently.
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| Sensei Joey and ShotokanCyclist |
Karate competition, junkfood, alcohol
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