Weight: 10st 1lb
Blood Pressure: 143/70
Resting Heart Rate: 56
I woke up feeling battered. I was a little sore from all the cycling yesterday, and also from the red wine! I couldn't face the bike so I drove in to work and back and then sipped three beers on the couch in the evening. Recovery day!
No exercise, no junkfood, 3 beers
Tuesday
Weight: 10st 2lbs
Blood Pressure: 144/71
Resting Heart Rate: 57
I cycled in to work and back.
Tonight's Karate session was a fantastic mix of kihon, kata and kumite. Sensei Gary took over towards the end and we went over some advanced kata techniques. We went through Kanku Dai which is a fantastic kata, one that I really should start to practise myself. (In fact, I'm going to do that right now!)
There was a healthy dinner waiting for me when I got home.
Karate, no junkfood, no alcohol
Wednesday
Weight: 10st 2lbs
Blood Pressure: 138/75
Resting Heart Rate: 51
I cycled in to work. Unfortunately, i was interviewing a student this evening so I couldn't attend MR Roger's interval training session. Instead, I cycled home and got stuck into some weight training. Tonight I worked through curls, side raises, military presses, shrugs, front raises and deadlifts, along with 300 bodyweight reps. I got it done in just under an hour and then, red faced and sweaty, sat down to have dinner with the family, Hydro, Cassie, Tilly's latest boyfriend and his mates!
Weight training, no junkfood, no alcohol
Thursday
Weight: 10st 2lbs
Blood Pressure: 149/70
Resting Heart Rate: 50
I cycled in to work and back.
I went for a run tonight. I was pleased to find that I was breathing easy and not aching. I didn't push too hard but I did go a little faster than I have been lately. I managed to complete a 10K - the first time I've managed that distance since my ankle injury in October.
I got home for a glass of milk and a shower followed by a huge homemade dinner and three beers!
10K: 63 minutes, 31 seconds, no junkfood, 3 beers
Friday
Weight: 10st 2lbs
Blood Pressure: 150/71 or 123/80
Resting Heart Rate: 60 or 44
I was disappointed to see my blood pressure back up to 150 when I measured it after breakfast.
I cycled in to work using the heavy bike. It was a lovely sunny morning and I wore my thinner jacket to work for the first time this year.
Today, I was starting the "Improve your Fitness" unit with my first years at college. This meant that all of the kids had to weight themselves, measure their height, and record their resting heart rate and blood pressure. They had an excellent support assistant with them and I helped them through it by demonstrating. When it came to measuring my blood pressure in front of the class, I was very surprised to find it had dropped to 123/80 which is more or less ideal! It's the best result I've had this year! How strange! So it seems likely that my dozens of high blood pressure readings are a result of the time of day when I record them. Perhaps I shouldn't record my blood pressure immediately after breakfast? It's interesting to note that my resting heart rate was 60bpm after breakfast but had dropped to 44 after a bike ride to my busy classroom. I may try measuring my blood pressure in the evenings to see what results I get compared to my measurements after breakfast.
I cycled home to get ready for dojo.
Today's Karate session was run my Sensei Ronnie Christopher. He was the only instructor present and he had a huge class to deal with. There were too many of us to stand side by side in the room, we had to make two lines just to fit in!
There were two beginners tonight, an adult and his son. I was asked to supervise the adult for the session. I worked with him during basics, kata and a bit of one-step sparring. He was very tense and twitchy for the kumite and he blocked very enthusiastically. I think he may have given himself a few bruises! He did seem to enjoy it and I hope they'll both be back.
In the evening, I found myself in slob mode: I enjoyed two beers with dinner followed by two glasses of wine with Game of Thrones.
Karate, no junkfood, alcohol
Saturday
Weight: 10st 2lbs
Blood Pressure: 129/73
Resting Heart Rate: 44
I got up at 6 with a banging headache. I had breakfast and aspirin and then practised a bit of Kanku Dai.
When I got round to measuring my blood pressure and resting heart rate, the results were much better than I expected! They were the best after breakfast results I've had this year!
I had a list of jobs to do, so after I dropped Lucy off at the train station I set about vacuuming, hanging washing out, cleaning my bathroom, tidying the man-cave, and fixing a wheelbarrow tyre. I stopped for egg and sausage on toast and to watch some cycling on Eurosport.
In the afternoon, I went along to the Saturday Karate session at the Village Hotel. As expected, I spent a lot of time working with the young ADHD learner which was good fun. There is actually some progress happening now. He can get himself into a lower block position and then do a half decent punch. However, he spent most of the time either bear-hugging me, punching me in the face (literally!) or sliding along on the floor between my knees!
Immediately after the session, Sensei Mark talked to me about grading. I was shocked to learn that my grading kata, which was going to be Jion, will now be changed to Kanku Dai! What a coincidence! I'd been practising it earlier today just for fun! I went through the kata with Sensei Mark and he wasn't at all impressed. I have until December 1st to put it right.
After training, I picked up Lucy from the station, we went food shopping and then I cooked a beef stir fry for the family.
I had to stay up until 11:47 when Martha got out of work. I didn't actually get to bed until 12:05am...
Karate, no junkfood, no alcohol
Sunday
Weight: 10st 0lbs
Blood Pressure: 136/67
Resting Heart Rate: 58
The clocks went forward last night so I got an hour less in bed. I'd had about 6 hours sleep so it wasn't all that bad. I called for Jonnie and we cycled off into the lanes. Roger couldn't make it out today. We enjoyed a fairly nondescript ride along our Honiley route to Wilmcote. We chatted, rode against a fairly stiff cross wind, and rolled in at 14.1mph. The cake and tea were splendid.
The ride back was against the wind and Jonnie was still battling against the after effects of a bit of overindulgence last night. He fought on and, although we tried desperately to stay above 14 mph, we got back to base after 40 miles with a frustrating average speed of 13.9mph.
I got home to eat chicken legs (protein!) and do some ironing.
Later on, Lucy, Mouse and I went for dinner and homemade cheesecake at Wilmcote and to enjoy Liverpool defeating Tottenham on the TV.
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| Sunday night treat |
Cycling, junkfood, alcohol
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