Weight: 10st 3lbs
Blood Pressure: 144/89
Resting Heart Rate: 52
I woke up with a horrible headache after 5 hours sleep. I couldn't get back to sleep so I staggered downstairs in search of aspirin.
Last night's celebrations for Martha's birthday had left me feeling terrible. Also, my legs were aching from yesterday's squats and deadlifts followed by rock climbing.
A rest day was needed.
Apart from a visit to the post office and some shopping in Shirley, the only constructive things I did were hang the washing out and do some ironing. I ate what I wanted (birthday cake!) and had three beers in the evening.
Back in training tomorrow!
No exercise, junkood, alcohol
Tuesday
Weight: 10st 4lbs
Blood Pressure: 145/80
Resting Heart Rate:56
Lucy and Martha went off on a mini-holiday to visit Auntie Laura. Tilly was at work. I took the dogs for a long walk in the sunshine. We were out for almost 2 hours and it was lovely.
I had a big protein-packed lunch and then did some ironing. Sally came round for tea and a chin-wag and then I headed off to dojo.
I was shit tonight. Slow, hesitant and easily caught.
Jody thrashed me in the freestyle. I lined up for the bow at the end of the lesson full of self-loathing and rage, but then I stopped myself: "Learn from this," I thought.
Jody must have sensed my mood because after the lesson he explained why I lost the fight so badly. He gave me advice and suggested that I try it out on Friday. So I will.
I went home feeling a bit better (I blasted some Opeth on the car stereo.)
Healthy dinner, lots of water.
I stayed up until about midnight chatting online to Hydro and Mouse (who is in Ecuador!)
Karate, no junkfood, no alcohol.
Wednesday
Weight: 10st 3lbs
Blood Pressure: 147/79
Resting Heart Rate: 63
A busy day. After breakfast, I did the washing up, did a bit of shopping (for Brillo pads!) and then drove in to work to get something removed from my laptop (some virus scanner that slows my computer down 50%) Trouble is, it took two of our technicians two hours to finally figure out that they couldn't do anything about it. I'd expected to spend about 10 minutes at work, not two hours.
I rushed to the bank to put some money in and then raced home for a healthy lunch of tuna, green beans, tomatoes and noodles.
I slowed the pace down and took a long stroll around the park with the dogs. It was a beautiful warm day: t-shirt weather.
Back at home, I did some ironing and watered the garden.
Then it was time to lift some weights! I did my usual body weight exercises consisting of 100 triceps dips, 100 press ups and 100 leg raises. I did 5 sets of 5 squats, 5x5 deadlifts, 5x5 shrugs and 5x5 dumbbell side raises. Then 5x5 dumbbell curls which were a bit of a problem with some pain in my forearms. However, the barbell curls were impossible: I couldn't even try to lift the bar without an intense pain in my arms. I'd done 50 minutes of resistance exercises, but just couldn't complete the hour.
Ten years ago, I was able to curl 5 sets of 5 reps at 41kg. Today, I couldn't do one curl at 32kg. What's happened to me!? Is this just getting old?
Frustrated, I did some research. The internet tells me that the problem must be that I'm not eating enough protein. Apparently, you need more protein than you'd think in order for muscles to get stronger and/or bigger. There are formulas based on your age and weight which tell you how much protein to eat each day. Great!
However, I visited 5 different fitness websites and got 5 different results:
89 grams of protein per day
102 grams of protein per day
115 grams of protein per day
140 grams of protein per day
182 grams of protein per day
I don't know which is correct, if any of them are. Oh well, I'll just try to increase my intake of chicken, nuts, milk, fish and eggs. Hopefully, if I keep to my training plan, I might get my curls back!
For dinner, I made chicken stir fry, and then Tilly and I watched Brooklyn 99 (very funny, highly recommended silliness!)
I drank over 2 litres of water today.
In the evening, I stayed up until 10:30 chatting to Hydro (happy birthday!) and Mouse online.
Weight training, no junkfood, no alcohol.
Thursday
Weight: 10st 3lbs
Blood Pressure: 133/84
Resting Heart Rate (two hours after 10K run):85
Up before 8am to put some washing on and then go for a 10K run. It was a warm start to the day and I got home 64 minutes later feeling very hot and sweaty.
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| After the 10K: Red-faced and sweaty. And hungry. And old. |
After I hung the washing out, I took the dogs out to the park again. It was another lovely warm day and we all enjoyed the sunshine.
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| Monty the fatdog cooling off in the stream. |
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| Freddie in the shade. |
When I got home, I remembered that I hadn't taken my fitness measurements for the day. I was surprised to see that my heart rate was still elevated from the 10K run which ended 2 hours ago. Is that normal?
After a very healthy lunch, which was exactly the same as yesterday's, Tilly and I went over to Wilmcote to chat with Eric, set up his TV soundbar, and watch the cricket.
Back at home, I did some more eBay stuff before having a healthy dinner.
I watered the garden, fed a turtle, did the washing up.
I do feel a lot fitter than I have for a while but I'm really missing having a beer in this glorious weather we're having. Happily, I'm not missing sweet things.
In bed before midnight.
10K run, no junkfood, no alcohol.
Friday
Weight: 10st 3lbs
Blood Pressure: 132/85
Resting Heart Rate: 47
Jonnie accidentally phoned me at 6:50am which woke me up with a start! I treated myself to a fried breakfast including 3 eggs. PROTEIN!
I recorded my fitness measurements and was pleased to see that my heart rate is finally back where it usually is.
I took a stroll around the park with the dogs. We stayed out a bit longer than we ususally do and I parked myself on a bench by the lake. The weather was perfect - a very light breeze with warm t-shirt sunshine. I listened to the birds on the water and the breeze rustling the leaves in the trees. The peace was only disturbed when a wet Jack Russell terrier jumped up onto my lap and stood on my chest.
As soon as I got home, I was aware of a strange noise coming from the utility room. The washing machine was making a whirring noise but nothing was moving. As it turned out, the repair man found one of Tilly's make-up instruments (I don't even know the name of it, but it looks like a 4" spike) jammed into the drum. Seven minutes and £50 later, he was gone and the machine was working fine again.
I got on with some weight lifting. My lifts were EXACTLY the same as Wednesday's except that I tried dropping the barbell curls down to 31kg. However, the results were no different. I got though all the exercises apart from the curls - I just couldn't do one!
I ate a tin of tuna and thought about the muscle-wasting diseases I might have.
Lucy called me from Bristol on her way home from her holiday. She sounded very flustered and grumpy so I volunteered to cook tonight. Unfortunately, that meant missing out on Friday night dojo.
I cooked a huge chicken and mushroom curry which I enjoyed with two bottles of ale.
Bed at 10:30.
Weight training, no junkfood, 2 beers
Saturday
Weight: 10st 3lbs
Blood Pressure: 159/83
Resting Heart Rate: 56
By 9am, Jonnie and I were rolling out into the lanes determined to complete my new Coughton Route. We both remarked how hilly it is at the start with a lot of climbing to be done as the route took us towards Alvechurch and the surrounding countryside. Happily, we didn't take any wrong turns today and a lot of the route seemed more familiar now.
As we approached the cakestop, we realised that the route wasn't going to extend past the 50 mile mark. We added on a few extra miles before parking up for cake.
We drank tea with Eric and watched England win their test against India at Edgbaston. Fantastic stuff.
The way home was via our usual route.
I was a little way off the front, descending gently down Forde Hall Lane towards the farm, when I disturbed a bird of prey which must have been feasting on something at the side of the narrow road. It swooshed up in front of me, thankfully heading in the same direction as the bike. I braked as hard as I could without locking up and then followed this huge bird, only inches away from my handlebars. It may have only been two or three seconds but the experience of cycling behind this magnificent animal seemed to last a lot longer. It was so close I could have lent over the handlebars to touch it as we both swept along the lane. What a unique experience!
Realising that we weren't going to reach 50 miles on our normal route, Jonnie quickly added a little detour around Cheswick Green to bring us up to our half century.
Back at base, Sally invited myself and Lucy back to the house for barbecue and beers. I rushed home to load the car for the carboot sale tomorrow, eat some food, and then pick Martha up from work. All of this activity unfortunately meant that there was no time for my favourite karate lesson of the week.
Needless to stay, the barbecue was great, the beers were good, there was chocolate ice cream, and I had too much of everything. I eventually put myself to bed at about 11pm with my alarm set for 5am...
50 miles of cycling, junkfood, 5 beers
Sunday
For some reason I woke up at 3:15am and couldn't get back to sleep. I dozed on and off and eventually slid out of bed at 5:10. Despite agreeing on a 6:30 start, Jane arrived with a crash at 6:05 and seemed eager to get going. I wasn't impressed.
I had some aspirin for my head and then forced myself out into the morning.
It was a beautiful sunny day. I eventually cheered up and Jane and I enjoyed selling old bric-a-brac, DVDs, books, CDs and lots of other stuff such as a clock, some barstools and even a computer monitor. I got involved in lots of conversations with strangers and even chatted to a pair of ex-students from college.
At 12pm, I loaded up the car and headed home for lunch.
The hangover, lack of sleep and the heat had sapped all of my energy. I took Martha to dojo but couldn't face training myself. It looked like a great session with Sensei Ronnie instructing the higher grades in ju ippon kumite.
Sensei Gary summoned me to the leisure centre cafe to find out why I hadn't trained on Friday, Saturday or Sunday! With my banging head, red eyes and unshaven face, it seemed like an intervention! As if I wasn't feeling guilty enough already! Must do better.
In the evening, I walked the route to Jonnie's place and back - Lucy has lost her glasses and I was trying to find them on the road. After this, we settled down to a big dinner and a couple of beers. We ended the night by watching bats soaring overhead in the backgarden while listening to selected opera and classical music pieces.
No exercise, junkfood, recovery ales
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