Weight: 10st 6lbs
Blood Pressure: 157/73
Resting Heart Rate: 59
I felt terrible this morning. The pain in my shoulder had kept me awake for a lot of the night.
I cycled in to work on the 10-ton mountain bike. I had a brief meeting about the upcoming Velo Birmingham in May. It looks like I'll be part of the South and City College Birmingham cycling team, raising money for Cure Leukaemia. I won't be able to keep up with the seriously fast guys in the team. Hopefully they'll put me in the old men's group!
I cycled home and then got ready for a run.
I managed to run for a little over 33 minutes without stopping. The shoulder was aching at first but seemed to tease off as the run went on. The ankle held okay and the back wasn't too sore. Progress.
I made a healthy dinner for the family.
To help me sleep, I covered my shoulder in Deep Heat and then sipped a Lemsip in bed to help me drift off!
Run, no junkfood, no alcohol.
Tuesday
Weight: 10st 5lbs
Blood Pressure: 157/71
Resting Heart Rate: 68
I cycled in to work on the mountain bike.
I had a great morning and a crappy afternoon.
I cycled home in wintry weather. It was 0 degrees with the sleet and snow coming down. My clothes were soaked and my feet and face were freezing! I was glad to get in a hot shower when I got back.
Tonight's dojo session saw me doing some one-to-one teaching with a brand new student. A young bloke with a jujitsu background. He was twice the size of me and fit! I took him through some basics, kata and a bit of one-for-one sparring. I had to be careful when doing the sparring because he was throwing hooks to try to reach me and he was strong. And he sometimes kicked to the inside of the knee. Both effective, but not what we're after when doing a bit of friendly sparring!
At the end, I was invited in to do some sparring with the higher grades. It's been ages since we did any freestyle and I felt rather exposed because I wasn't wearing a box. It was thoroughly enjoyable even though I was starting off cold and they were all already in the fighting spirit.
At the end, Martha said that she wished we did more freestyle. I had a word with a couple of the other chaps and they agreed that we need to do more freestyle if we want to get better at it. I hope that we get to do more fighting lessons. Hopefully, I may have to start wearing my box again!
At home, Lucy had a prepared a wonderfully healthy dinner of fresh fish and rice with vegetables.
I once again used Lemsip and Deep Heat to help me sleep.
Karate, no junkfood, no alcohol.
Wednesday
Weight: 10st 5lbs
Blood Pressure: 150/63
Resting Heart Rate: 41 in bed, 58 after breakfast
I measured my heart rate in bed when I woke up - it was 41, the lowest measurement I've recorded so far this year.
There was ice on the roads this morning and I was working late tonight. I decided to use the car.
We got back home just before 7 so there was no time for a run. I made dinner for the family.
Afterwards, I considered lifting weights but the shoulder is still sore. I didn't want to risk making it worse.
I went to bed at 11pm without Lemsip because I don't want to start relying on pain killers to let me sleep!
No exercise, no junkfood, no alcohol.
Thursday
Weight: 10st 5lbs
Blood Pressure: 138/70
Resting Heart Rate: 45 in bed, 58 after breakfast
I cycled in to work even though everything was white with frost. By the time I got there, my fingers with throbbing with the cold and my face was numb.
It was a bit warmer when I cycled home, but not by much!
I went out for a run that I really didn't want to do. My muscles were cold, I was hungry and I just wanted to relax in my man cave. I staggered on for 36 minutes and 25 seconds before I jacked it in. I covered just over 3.5 miles.
Today, the postman brought a replacement for the stylus I broke at the Halloween party last year. This meant I could finally enjoy my copy of Opeth's Garden of the Titans on orange vinyl which I received as a Christmas present. As expected, it's a wonderful recording with the guitars sometimes sounding clearer and more ferocious than on the original albums. The packaging is beautifully done too.
After scoffing my dinner, and another spin of my new Opeth album, I went to bed to read about cycling and then dream about having a beer in the pub.
Run, no junkfood, no alcohol.
Friday
Weight: 10st 4lbs
Blood Pressure: 138/67
Resting Heart Rate: 39 in bed, 54 after breakfast
So is a resting heart rate of 39 bpm an indication of fitness? I certainly don't feel that fit. Maybe it's something else?
Lucy and I drove into work.
We attended a funeral this afternoon. It was to celebrate the life of a relative who had died far, far too young.
It was a very moving ceremony with hundreds of people trying to fit inside the church. He was a very well-loved young man. Feeling drained and upset, Lucy and I had a drink in a country pub on the way home and talked of how we felt inspired by such a fantastic chap and how we could make positive changes to our own lives.
Back at home, I considered sobering up and going for a run. I drank four more ales instead.
No exercise, no junkfood, 5 beers
Saturday
Weight: 10st 4lbs
Blood Pressure: 138/67
Resting Heart Rate: 46 in bed, 51 after breakfast
I really, really love Saturdays. I made a fry-up for Lucy and myself before we headed off to Morrisons to do a big shop. I walked the dogs in the freezing cold. It was a beautiful day but it was so cold that puddles had turned to ice in the park. After a fantastic lunch of haddock fish cakes, pasta and peas, I set about servicing the brakes on the Specialized. I managed to transfer the brake pads from the Orbit and put them on my number one bike, but I couldn't use the cable. I needed a new one.
Today's Karate session was led by Sensei Tony. We were lined up at the start of the session when he noticed a spillage on the floor. He had us waiting in line in grade order while he cleared up the spill. I think this simple incident is a good representation of the Ruach Karate attitude: A black-belt was literally on his hands and knees with some tissue making the dojo safe for the students to train in. That's how things are done at Ruach: the students are put first. Everything is about their safety.
The session itself was a good mix of kihon, kata and games with all the students enjoying themselves.
At home, Eric and I ate liver and onions while Lucy and Jane were out and about up town.
I also indulged in some chocolate!
Karate, junkfood, no booze.
Sunday
Weight: 10st 5lbs
Blood pressure: 140/75
Resting heart rate: 50
I bounced out of bed at 7:30am. Jonnie was too ill to ride and my bike still didn't have a back brake.
After breakfast, I did my first weight-training session of the week. Thankfully, my shoulder didn't give me any trouble at all. Actually, I felt stronger than I have in quite a while.
I went along to Halford's to get a brake cable and then set about stripping down, cleaning, re-greasing and rebuilding my back brake.
 |
| I have no idea what I'm doing |
I forgot about it and went to Karate for 2 hours of training with Sensei Ronnie Christopher.
In the evening I ate apple pie and drank beer!
Karate, junkfood, beer
According to my health measurements, I still haven't made any progress this year. I haven't lost any weight and my blood pressure remains atrocious. I'll give it one more week: If there's still no improvement by this time next Sunday then I'll make changes to my training plan.
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