How to Lose a Belly When You're 43 (part 36)

So, it appears I intended to have a 'rest week' and ended up having another month off...

I've prepared a list of excuses:

• The main one is that I've strained a ligament or muscle or tendon or something in my left forearm. It means I can still do most exercises, but when it come to barbell curls, forget it!
• There have been a lot of parties: two 21st birthday parties and a wedding along with a couple of social gatherings with Jonnie and Sally and a BBQ at Nigel's place. There were celebrations at the end of the college year too: a trip to Drayton Manor, a party for the students and then one for the staff. All of these events proved too much for my willpower!
• The football: during the World Cup, we have been entertaining guests and even found ourselves at the pub for one of the matches. I didn't really get into it but I enjoyed watching the players pretending to be injured while I sipped a beer. My favourite is when two millionaires go for the ball at the same time and then they both go down like they've been shot and proceed to roll around on the floor in pretend agony. Muppets.
• Work: Yes I have the best job in the world and no I'm not complaining, but at the end of the academic year we have LOADS of stuff to do. We've all had to work late and at least three times I've been asked to go home by security staff because they want to lock up for the night (bearing in mind I get to college at 8am, it doesn't leave much time for exercise.)
• The real and actual reason is that I suffered a catastrophic motivation fail after my week off. I enjoyed myself too much and let my training fall by the wayside. I did lift weights, went cycling and attended dojo, but I also ate whatever I wanted and drank beer almost every day

There have been a lot of wonderful events and memorable days recently which should have been in my blog had I been writing it. I'll just briefly touch on a few of them:

I attended the Warwick University open day with Mouse and Hydro. It was an awesome place to visit. If I could go back in time and do it all again, I'd work harder to get to a proper university. Not the dump I wasted three years at (University of Luton, don't ask...)

Here's a picture of Hydro and Mouse on the bus at the campus. I didn't ask Hydro's permission to use this photo. Come at me, bro.

Tilly turned 21 - twice! She had a party for family and then, the following week, a party for friends. Lucy and I managed to attend both of them. I got spannered on beer and wine. Twice.

The civilized early stages of the first 21st birthday party - family friendly!

Michael and Rachel got married. Two of our good friends (and nicest people you'll ever meet) invited us to their wedding. We took full advantage and partied until sunrise. Literally!

Riding with Jonnie. After two weeks of 'rest', I managed to get my cycling average back up to 15+mph.

15mph, here we come...

Lucy and I did a lot of dog walking before work. The recent long heatwave means that it's too hot to walk dogs in the evening, so we've been taking them out at about 6:30am. It's beautiful at that time of the day, and we have most of the park to ourselves.

Hot dogs

I spent a fantastic Saturday with my original karate instructor, Sensei Paul Hexley. We spent the day in the backgarden soaking up the sun, chatting about music, pets and how our lives have changed. I happened to mention that I was being caught by Ashi Barai when fighting, so of course we ended up doing an impromptu training session on the back lawn! It was a great way to spend a day, although my shoulders were rather sunburnt!

Sensei Paul Hexley - he's been putting up with my crap Karate for 18 years.

The next day, I went cycling with Jonnie, Noel and Nigel! I think it was Nigel's second or third time out on the bike this year. As always, it's great to ride with him. Noel is a fit and fast rider so to wobble round with us must feel like a recovery day. Of course, being out of practice, Nigel struggled a little bit towards the end but his enormous determination carried him through.

Noel, Nigel, me, Jonnie. Energy drinks all round. 

On the 9th, Lucy and I celebrated 8 years of being together. We went out to the Navigation Inn for dinner and drinks. The pub claims to serve the only handpulled pint of Guinness in the UK. It tasted wonderful!

My true love.

On the 13th, Mouse went off on her World Challenge experience to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. Thank you to everyone who helped us raise enough money to get her there!

Me and Mouse - clearly upset at the prospect of not seeing each other for a month.

On the evening of the 13th, Jonnie, Sally, Lucy and I went off for curry and beer at a place called Tap and Tandoor in Solihull. It was a bit of a chav pub. It's been a long time since I've been in a pub that needed security on the door! The food was good but they were trying too hard with the beers. They had lots of weird and wonderful pale ales and lagers from around the world, but no local bitter...

Fruity and refreshing and not at all what I wanted.

The next morning, fuelled by last night's Lamb Keema, I went cycling with Jonnie and my mate Crazy Ed. You may recall that Ed is in training for a charity ride in September. I hadn't ridden with him for a month and I was curious to see how he was getting on. Unfortunately. Ed hadn't done any training in that month...!
Of course he struggled, but he didn't give up as Jonnie and I dragged him up and down hills for a total of 30 miles in the saddle! We made sure he had double helpings at the cake stop!

Ed could still manage a smile at this point...

Later on, I attended the Saturday afternoon Karate session. Unfortunately, there was a mix-up with timetabling and there was no instructor! As fate would have it, Sensei Ronnie was also at the Village Hotel that day. He was there to do a gym session and go swimming. He took the lesson while wearing his gym gear! Towards the end, Sensei Ronnie partnered me for some light sparring. The only trouble was, Sensei Ronnie is incredibly strong and powerful. He performed a side kick to my leading leg to keep me under pressure. He used control and didn't hit me anywhere near as hard as he could, but it was still like being hit by a tree trunk! It was a big knock which left me limping after the session. It got worse, eventually to the point where I had to hop upstairs on one leg to go to bed that night!
The next day, Lucy and I went to watch Warwickshire versus Durham in the Twenty20 cricket match at Edgbaston. It was a brilliant day out with lots of excitement and sunshine. There was even a real ale festival on in one of the halls! ( A pint of Exmoor Gold, thanks very much!) My bad leg meant that I had to limp everywhere but that didn't spoil a fantastic day.

Yooooooouuuuu Beeeaaaaaars!

And that should bring you up to date with what I've been doing while I haven't been training for this past month. 
It should all get serious as from tomorrow. I'm on the beach in 25 day's time!

Monday 16th July
Weight: 10st 4lbs
Blood Pressure: 148/80
Resting Heart Rate: 64
I got back into training with one of my favourite forms of exercise: the solo bike ride. I much prefer riding with friends, but every now and then it's good to get lost in your own thoughts as your whirr along the lanes, sometimes in almost total silence... Unfortunately, the only thoughts I was having were about how badly my leg was hurting me! Every turn of the pedal resulted in a strong ache in the left thigh. I suffered down to Wilmcote, had a healthy lunch of chicken, boiled ham and salad with Carl, Laura, Lucy, Jane and Eric, and then headed home. The incredible heat of the day also slowed me down. I was glad to get home to rest my throbbing leg and pounding head.
30 slow miles on the bike, no jukfood, no alcohol.

Tuesday
Weight: 10st 3lbs
Blood Pressure: 130/80
Resting Heart Rate: 63
I was glad to see that a night off the beer and a bit of exercise had made improvements in my weight, blood pressure and resting heart rate over night. Can things change that fast? Either way, I felt better about myself! 
I spent the day painting the front room.
Tonight's Karate session was...chaotic fun! Sensei Mark had 30 children and 2 adults in his evening session. He had set out some mats for a take-downs session. We spent an hour hurling ourselves and others to the floor. The kids loved it, I loved it and everyone went home happy. At times it was like a primary school gone mad, but I'm quite sure those kids will be back because Karate was fun!
I was surprised to find that I could still remember a lot of the break-falls from my Ju-Jitsu training years ago. I think we should do more floor work in the dojo, but maybe in smaller groups with more instructors present!
My leg didn't cause me any problems tonight.
Karate, no junkfood, no alcohol.

Wednesday
Weight: 10st 3lbs
Blood Pressure: 151/76
Resting Heart Rate: 57
What's up with my blood pressure reading?
I spent another day decorating the front room and then set about lifting some weights in the evening.
The weight lifting went well. I could even perform squats with my injured leg which I was pleasantly surprised about.
However, my sprained left arm meant that curling the barbell was impossible.
In the evening, I couldn't resist two glasses of red wine after dinner.
Weight training, no junkfood, red wine

Thursday
Weight: 10st 2lbs
Blood Pressure: 134/87
Resting Heart Rate: 65
Another change in blood pressure...
More decorating.
I had some new tyres put on the car and then, when I got home, I decided to put some 'new' tyres on my bike! I'd had my brother's 23mm tyres hanging up in my garage for the past 2 years. He didn't trust the Specialized 23mm and swapped them for Continental 25mm as soon as he could. My original tyres were now looking a bit worn with many tiny holes and cracks in them. I decided to go for the 23mm and test them out in this current heatwave. I was surprised to find that, when I took the front tyre off, it still had the original 2013 inner tube inside! This means I've never had a puncture in the front tyre (and I've travelled over 10,000 miles on this bike!)

The original tube!

It was yet another blisteringly hot day (Solihull hasn't seen rain for a month now!) I had convinced myself that it was too hot to do my weekly 10K but it was Lucy who suggested I should do it. "It's too hot for most people, but you're made of tougher stuff." Or something like that. Anyway, with my male pride at stake, I strapped on my running shoes and set off. I kept the pace nice and relaxed and stepped lightly. The sun was heavy on my head and shoulders and I was glad when I occasionally found myself running in the shade.
After 4.4 miles I had to slow to a walk - not because of the heat, but because of my leg! My injured leg had been okay for most of the run but after 4 miles I'd begun to limp. I got running again but had to walk another two times before I got home. I eventually got back in 67 minutes. Rather slow!
I enjoyed some more red wine in the evening.
10K run, no junkfood, red wine.

Friday
Weight: 10st 2lbs
Blood Pressure: 158/81
Resting Heart Rate: 61
My blood pressure seems to be getting worse...
Last day of decorating! I had to kneel down to paint the bottom of the fire place in the front room and my injured leg protested mightily! It was like a sharp electric shock from the muscle in my leg, up through my spine and into my back teeth! Ow! Lucy actually thought I might have a hairline fracture on my femur, but I'm sure I'd be in a lot more pain if that were the case!
In the evening, I went off to a very hot and sweaty dojo session led at first by Sensei Ronnie and then by Sensei Russell.
Fridays are fast, serious and cover a bit of everything: kumite, kihon and kata. It's my favourite way to train. My leg behaved itself throughout the lesson apart from the final formal kneeling bow and the mokuso: My leg was killing me, but out of respect for the dojo I had to maintain the position while I tried not to make a noise and I felt the sweat spring out all over my body. I was glad when we were asked to stand!
I had a Guinness and two glasses of red wine in the evening!
Karate, no junkfood, Guinness and wine

Saturday
Weight: 10st 4lbs
Blood Pressure: 157/76
Resting Heart Rate: 67
Wait, I had a Guinness so I put on two pounds? What's going on?
Anyhoo, with Jonnie, Ed and Nigel all busy, I headed off on a solo ride. I set off earlier than usual just because I woke up early. The 23mm tyres whirred along pleasantly and I covered the first 15 miles at 15.5 mph. I had my big slice of cake while chatting with Jane and Tina, and then I helped the locals put out some chairs and tables for their annual barbecue. I got talking to Stuart - a friendly and fascinating man who was a marathon runner and amateur brewer! 
The last fifteen miles were harder because now I was riding uphill in the full heat of the day. However, the tyres did me proud and I got home with an average of 15 mph over 31 miles. That'll do nicely

Yes, I took a picture of my front tyre.

This afternoon's dojo session was good, although a little chaotic. Two of our students who have different needs were feeling particularly energetic today and it was very challenging for Sensei Gary and Sensei Jody to keep everyone safe. They did a fine job, however. Afterwards, Lucy joined us (she'd been swimming) for tea and a chat. Gary and Jody told us all about their recent trip to Japan and training at the JKA dojo.
In the early evening, Lucy and I headed off along the canal on the mountain bikes. It was beautiful down there and we arrived at the pub far too soon (in my opinion!) Happily, there was a takeover by a local brewery (Backyard) and I enjoyed a couple of their beers in the sunshine.
At home, Lucy and I gathered around our bar in the backgarden and I enjoyed two more beers (hic!) while she prepared a curry. We stayed up playing music until 11pm.
2 bike rides, Karate, junkfood (cake), beer

Sunday
Up at 5 (yes five, not a typing error) to sell stuff at a carboot sale with Jane. My head was a bit fuzzy after last night's beers and I was very tired (no one can sleep properly in this heat, can they?) I sold a lot of junk and talked to a lot of very nice and only slightly unhinged people.
I eventually got home at about 1 to discover that Martha and Tilly had returned home from their trip to Egypt!
I was too tired to consider going to dojo, so once I had unloaded the car, I sipped a cold beer and fell asleep in the front room. 
Jane and Eric came round for dinner and Eric and I hung a mirror in the front room. I then had a couple more beers while watching the Tour de France (come on, G!) before staggering off to a sweaty hot bed.
no exercise, junkfood (pudding!), beer.

A bit of a disappointing start to my training efforts. All I can do is try to muster up a bit more willpower next week. The problem is drinking in the hot evenings - it's so tempting!