Week 2 - Back in Training?

Monday

I woke up feeling a bit ropey after a crap night's sleep.

I weighed myself today. The surprising thing is, even after a rubbish start to my training plan last week, I managed to lose 4 pounds!

In the morning, after breakfast, I cycled in to work for a little while and then cycled back in the rain. After this, not having time for lunch, I had a bowl of cereal! I then had to drive in to Solihull to visit the Post Office. There was a long wait in the Post office.

When I got home, I had to get on with weight training straight away. Today I reintroduced squats to my routine. I reduced the weight considerably and was pleased to report that my left knee felt fine during the three sets. I'll increase the weight steadily and I hope to be back at the normal weight before Christmas.

After a shower, I went to collect Lily and then the family had a lovely dinner and watched a good film - The Isle of Dogs by Wes Anderson - highly recommended if you fancy something very different!

Weight training, no junkfood, no alcohol

Tuesday

Awake at 7 after a good night's sleep. I stayed in bed for 20 minutes, reading a chapter of Ant Middleton's excellent Mental Fitness (3rd time I've read it) and drinking water.

The girls went to Thorpe Park for the day. The weather was warm and bright so I thought I'd get a few things done. I cycled to the Post Office and back, I walked Fred to the park and back, I washed the windows of the front room, I brought the washing in etc. I also did an hour of weight training - I managed to set a personal best record for military press! I'm still surprised that I seem to be getting stronger as I get older.

The girls came back at about 7:30. I dropped Lily off, made a cup of tea, and watched TV with my wife.

Weight training, no junkfood, no alcohol.

Wednesday

I woke up at about 3am with a racing heart. I didn't really settle after that and was glad to get up at 7:30 to start the day. I'm obviously worried about something, I just need to figure out what it is...

Today was gloriously sunny and warm. I decided to continue working on an oak tabletop for the two-tier workbench in the back garden.

This involved a drive down to B&Q, power tools, sash clamps and wood glue. I was out there for most of the day, not really sure of what I was doing, but sort of enjoying myself anyway.

Top one, nice one, get sorted

In the evening, I did hour of weight training, had a shower and then fired up the barbecue! I tried hard, but the combination of family, music, sunshine and the smell of the barbecued chicken was too much - I found myself reaching for a pale ale! I stopped drinking as soon as we had eaten and went to bed almost sober at 11pm after chatting in the dark in the back garden.

Weight training, no junkfood, beers

Thursday

I woke up at 3am and struggled to get back to sleep. However, I must have dropped off because the next thing I know it was 8am! Bacon and eggs for brekkie. Today was all about working on the outdoor unit. I got some more sanding pads from Screwfix. They gave me the wrong ones. I drove back to return them. Then I drove around other hardware places looking for the right ones. Then I gave up and carried on with what I had...

It was a glorious day - sunny and warm. Probably too warm for some. I had to work outdoors with a hat and shades on. Also, the mask when I was sanding made my face rather sweaty! Anyway, I made a lot of progress, but unfortunately didn't get time to do any exercise. I did, however, have time to drink 3 beers with my dinner.

No exercise, no junkfood, 3 beers.

Friday

I had a rough time trying to sleep. I reckon I got about 5 hours in the end. It was raining all morning. I drove to the Post Office and back. Then I worked on the garden work bench (I don't know what to call it) adding the final layer of stain followed by the first layer of varnish. It looks great and is probably finished, but I want to add one more layer of varnish to protect it from the weather.

In the evening, Martha and I headed off to the dojo. On the way there, we saw Luke and two of his dogs running around in the street trying to catch an escaped rabbit. "Having a beer later?" he managed to gasp. Of course I was...

Anyway, the Karate session was awesome. As always, the best lessons go like this: Kihon, Kata, Kumite. For Kihon, Sensei Gary had us black belts putting together new combinations (new to me anyway). This involved two kicks in each combination which certainly put a lot of pressure on my old knees and hips! Great training. Then Kata, which is Nijushiho. I think I'll like this kata once I get my head around it. So many different stances in one kata! At the moment, I'm just trying to remember the moves. I'm a long way from trying to make it look good.

For kumite, Sensei Gary asked me to instruct the lower grades. I worked with a lovely group of white and orange belts, and saw some real progress in the ten minutes we had.

Everyone went home sweaty and happy. Martha's mood had been lifted by several magnitudes, compared to the miserable person who had got tin the car with me an hour ago!

Gi in the washing machine, feet up, beer in the glass. Luke called to say he wasn't coming round for a drink after all. So I watched the cricket instead. 

Karate, no junkfood, 3 beers

Saturday

I managed to sleep from about 10:30 until 6. That will do for me! In my dream, I was mountain biking with old school friends. But then they went missing and it was my job to hack through the tangled woods trying to find them.

I put another layer of varnish on the outdoor workbench. Then I walked Freddie in the park. He's very slow and nervous these days, so we just did a lap of the lake.

In the afternoon, I ran my Karate session. Embarrassingly, I left my black belt in my man cave in my rush to get out on time. This meant I had to teach without a belt on. Even more embarrassingly, Sensei Gary came along too and witnessed me trying to be an instructor without a belt!

Anyway, the session went well because of Sensei Gary's help. As always, we finished on the heavy bag.

Back at home, I got changed and then brought my bicycle out on to the drive ready to give it a deep clean. The sun was warm and bright, and this was where it started to go wrong. Luke just happened to be unloading his van at the time... We ended up drinking beers in the sunshine! My willpower seems to be non-existent at the moment. Anyway, I eventually finished cleaning the bike while listening to the cricket.

A lovely homemade curry from Lucy, some good TV and the end to a very enjoyable day.

Karate, no junkfood, beers

Sunday

Too much curry and beer meant that I woke up early with a sore tummy. I dozed until 7am when my alarm sounded. With Jonnie and Roger away, James arrived at my place and we cycled into the lanes at about 9am. We chose to do a relatively short route so that we could be back in time to watch some of the football with Lucy. We sped along our Honiley Variant course, up past Baddesley Clinton and down past Hay Wood. 

We had lemon cake at Wilmcote. The Boss was still in bed so we didn't get to see him when we left at 11am. We put the pressure on in order to try to get back for 12. Over  the remaining 15 miles we increased our average speed from 14.3 to 14.7mph. 

When we got back, Lucy was out walking the dog anyway! She wasn't watching the football! James and I went through some of my CD collection until Lucy came back and then the three of us watched England Women lose the World Cup final.

Later on, I put the finishing touches to the outdoor table.

After this, I did loads of ironing, then had some beers, then had dinner. Another splendid weekend!

Cycling: 35 miles, junkfood, 3 beers

Summary

No, I didn't find any more willpower this week. I'm exercising a lot, not eating much junkfood, but I am drinking almost every night! Hopefully, going back to work next week will get me out of my holiday mentality and back into serious training mode.