Week 21 - Lily's Birthday

Monday

I cycled in to work and back. I did an hour of weight lifting. I cooked dinner for the family. I went to bed early to read a book about the SAS.

Weight training, no junkfood, no alcohol.

Tuesday

I woke up determined to carry on with my training. I cycled to work and back. Martha came with me to the dojo. Sensei Gary focused on developing the lower grades and beginners. I did some one-to-one training with a brand new student, and then we got to do some basics drills. We then worked hard on combinations and getting techniques to flow quickly. 

The ending of the lesson was a bit strange - a different instructor took over and we suddenly found ourselves doing random, spontaneous techniques for the last five minutes! Some students got rather confused, including me!

Karate, no junkfood, no alcohol

Wednesday

Just like Monday: I cycled to work and back, I lifted weights, I cooked for the family. I'm sleeping well and waking up feeling good!

Weight training, no junkfood, no alcohol

Thursday

I jumped in the car with Lucy today because I had to take a parcel to the Post Office after work and it was too large to fit in my cycling backpack. 

Back at home, I forced myself to go out into the cold wind for my weekly 10K run. I was really struggling at first so I promised myself a beer if I made it all the way around. I had Weezer, Suicidal Tendencies and Guns N Roses in my earphones, helping me to keep going. I'm pleased to say that I ran 10K without stopping. Despite the cold wind, I was sweating heavily when I staggered to a halt. Kirsty from next door saw me and said I looked like Hulk Hogan - I'm guessing it was the bandanna I was wearing!

I poured myself a beer, jumped in the shower, and then sat down to a tremendous dinner of burgers, chicken and rice! 

10K run: 63m 53s, no junkfood, 3 beers

Friday

I jumped in the car with Lucy this morning. After work, we drove into Shirley to get some balloons and a cake for Lily's birthday celebration. There was a lot of traffic about - I guess it was people driving to visit family members during Eid. The drivers were very aggressive and I even witnessed a woman trying to get into a man's car after they had had a collision on the road! He was having none of it!

Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to do any training tonight before I had to leave to pick up Lily and take her to the Harvester for dinner.

There were 7 of us for dinner and we had a good chat and plenty of laughs. Lily enjoyed her presents and we all enjoyed watching her open them!

My lovely wife convinced me to have some birthday cake, even though I had eaten healthily so far that day! I ended the evening by staying up far too late to watch The Walking Dead, and eat Toblerone. 

No training, junkfood, no alcohol

Saturday

I spent the entire morning working on a scheme of work for college. I was very bored, but determined to get it done. 

I went along to the dojo this afternoon. Before I knew it, I found myself teaching! I quickly constructed a lesson around Kihon, Kata and Kumite. It seemed to go okay.

In the evening, some of the black belts got together for a few drinks to celebrate an anniversary. It was a very pleasant and sociable event and I was very glad that I 'd been invited along.

In the evening, Luke and I had a beer in my garage before dinner.

Karate, no junkfood, beer

Sunday

Up at 7 to meet the lads at 9. I did have a bit of a fuzzy head, but a pint of water and some aspirin helped with that. We cycled along our Honiley Variation route - it was fairly flat which meant there was plenty of time for chatting and banter. There was no thought of average speeds or training, it was nice to just tool along at 14mph and enjoy each other's company.

Out of Snitterfield, James did a monumental effort along the Armouries, and I did my best on the front along Featherbed Lane.

The cakestop was very welcome, but rather frustrating for me - Jane had made a fantastic coffee and walnut cake, but I had already had my cheat day on Friday - eating Lily's birthday cake! I had to nibble a banana while looking on enviously as the lads tucked in!

The banter continued, and we noted the amount of money being left to animal shelters in people's wills. It was at this point that Jonnie changed his name to Jonathan Cockapoo.

Back in the lanes, we took the direct route through Aston Cantlow while discussing Watership Down (a book not written by Douglas Adams) and a crap film by Robin Williams (who wasn't in Take That.)

Things only turned serious (relatively speaking) in the last mile. I led the sprint up the hill towards the finish line (lamppost 13) and, thinking I was clear, started to relax a little. It was at this point that James started his sprint. I tried to respond, but I accidentally unclipped out of my right pedal! I think he would have come past me anyway. Victory for James!

Back at Jonnie's place, I enjoyed a beer with him and then headed home to eat some lunch and watch some cricket (Royals lost to RCB 😢). I walked the dogs, did some ironing and then made a curry while sipping a few more beers. At about 6:20, the family went out to the A34 to watch the St George's Day parade roar past. Here's a still from a video I made:

After dinner, and another beer, I went off to bed to start reading Shardik (which is another book not written by Douglas Adams.)

Cycling, no junkfood, beers