Week 7 - "A duty to be fit."

 Monday

I went to work and worked.

When I got home, I did a good weights session focused on legs. Then I made dinner for the family and drank lots of tea.

In bed, my lower back was aching. It wasn't a sharp pain, but a constant dull ache. I simply couldn't get comfortable in any position - I even tried curling up into a ball!

Weight training, no junkfood, no alcohol

Tuesday

I woke up tired and with a stiff back. Thankfully, the ache gradually went away during the course of the working day. In the evening, I took Martha to her new dog grooming course - unfortunately, this meant I couldn't attend the dojo. I did some more weightlifting instead - this time I swapped out the deadlifts and squats for two other exercises. I didn't want to risk injuring my back. I scoffed some dinner, picked Martha up from college, and then scoffed some more!

Weight training, no junkfood, no alcohol

Wednesday

I cycled in to work and back and then set about lifting some weights. I got on with squats and deadlifts with no adverse effects on my lower back. I made a chicken and mushroom stir fry for the family and then went to bed to read about Ant Middleton climbing Everest.

Weight training, no junkfood, no alcohol

Thursday

I taught PE in the afternoon. We did a good warm up and then some pad work - jabs, crosses, hooks and then reverse kicks. After that, we played half an hour of cricket. I still can't believe I get paid for it!

Back at home, I got ready for tonight's 10K. I put my earphones in, started my motivational music (New Order, Van Morrison, Metallica...) and set off into the dark. Unfortunately, after less than half a mile, my right calf muscle seized up. It didn't cramp, it just tightened up to the point where it felt like I was limping along on a concrete leg. I didn't see the point of limping along for 6 miles so I turned around, limped home, and set about another weight lifting session. That's four hours of weight training so far this week!
I then played some fantastic music and drank three real ales. Cheers!

In the absence of any fitness related photos, here's one of my Thursday night beers.

Weight training, no junkfood, 3 beers

Friday

After a morning of teaching followed by two meetings in the afternoon, I was ready for a good Karate session. After dropping Lucy and Dodgy Debbie at the station, I got to the dojo early and spent ten minutes knocking a heavy bag around, which made my hands go purple...
Double world champion 6th Dan Sensei Ronnie was in charge this evening. The focus for this hour and half session was "getting back into it." This meant going through the first 6 kata, some very basic kihon and then very light sparring. A very enjoyable and useful 90 minutes. He also gave some inspiring words to black belts (to me, I was the only black belt there!) explaining how we have a "duty" to maintain our fitness. Motivated by this, I got home and did a mini workout of curls, press ups and military presses while my dinner was cooking! Lucy and Dodgy got in just before midnight, so that was when I scurried off to bed!

Karate, mini workout, no junkfood, no alcohol

Saturday

Up at 7 to eat muesli and drink coffee. Later, I put on my running shoes and headed out for another attempt at this week's 10K. Happily, my right leg behaved itself today and I was able to go along at a steady pace. I had Opeth, Genesis, Tool and Mastodon in my earphones to keep me moving. I got home in 65 minutes and 8 seconds: slow by anyone's standards, but still 4 minutes faster than last week's effort.

By this time, Lucy was out and Dodgy was up. I cooked a second breakfast of bacon, eggs and tomatoes for myself and Dodgy before driving to Acocks Green to pick up Lily for our afternoon out.

Lily, Martha, Mouse and I took the dogs for a walk in Hay Woods. It was extremely wet and muddy and I was very glad of my waterproof socks! Poor Mouse got it wrong every now and then and ended up with wet feet! We were making very slow progress and I was relieved that we made it back to the car before it got dark.

Back at home, we opened our lovely Christmas presents from Lily before the girls played video games and I watched some cricket. Lucy made a huge pot of bolognese and we all sat at the table together and chatted. Soon after this, I took Lily back home.

In the evening, Lucy and I watched Happy Valley and I drank three small beers (less than 2 pints.) Then off to bed to finish reading The Fear Bubble by Ant Middleton. 

What a fantastic Saturday!

10K run, no junkfood, 3 small beers

Sunday

Today's training ride was a 36 mile route through Norton Lindsey and Snitterfield, stopping off for homemade cake at Wilmcote as usual. I met up with Jonnie, James and Roger at 9 and we set off into the cold, wet lanes. We were lucky with the weather - the worst of the rain was only a bit of drizzle now and then. However, the lanes were very wet, with standing water everywhere, and a couple of big puddles meaning we had to unclip to keep the feet dry as we rolled through.

This was Jonnie's first ride of the year after missing the first two training rides due to him taking time away in warmer climes to restore his energies. He'll be the first to admit that he isn't firing on all cylinders yet - his legs were stiff after time away from the bike. 

Roger surprised me to today. In the last half mile I broke away from the front, got the bike up to 23mph and headed for the finish, quite convinced I was alone. Suddenly, Roger was hot on my wheel! I managed to get away from him on the final climb but this is not something I'm particularly proud of - I'm 22 years younger than Roger!

Back at base, Jonnie and I decided to refresh ourselves with a few beers... Unfortunately, my "duty to be fit" was forgotten, washed away by several glasses of IPA!

Lucy had made a fantastic chicken dinner. We settled down to watch another episode of the excellent BBC drama Happy Valley. I stayed up late to watch Elvis on Tour from1972. 

36 miles of cycling, junkfood, beer