Week 14 - Running Again

Monday

Cycled in to work and back.

Weight training, no junkfood, no alcohol

Tuesday

Cycled in to work and back. 

At the start of tonight's Karate session, the instructor in charge asked for a black belt to assist him. I raised my hand thinking he wanted to demonstrate a technique. I was told to teach kata to white, orange and red belts! So I didn't get to train tonight, but it was still good fun working with our enthusiastic beginners.

Karate, no junkfood, no alcohol

Wednesday

Cycled in to work and back.

Weight training, no junkfood, no alcohol

Thursday

I used the car for work.

Back at home, I put on my running gear, pressed play on my Spotify playlist, and started out of the door. The first song was by Frankie Valli! It was a cold start but I was wearing three layers so I soon warmed up. I was expecting trouble from the left knee, but it behaved itself for the most part. It was a lot less painful than the last time I went running (Week 7 in September.) I had a dull throb at the back of the knee after a while, nothing serious. I was feeling rather tired, however. I even considered slowing to a walk at one point. Luckily, I managed to keep going. At the 4 mile mark, Every Time I Die came on the playlist which certainly helped me to keep going! Unfortunately, it also put me in the mood for a beer! Eventually, I managed to stagger home after 10K in a very pedestrian time of 66 minutes and 57 seconds. The three layers meant that I was far too hot for most of the run.

A quick shower, and then some beers with my chicken and pasta!

I went to bed pleased that my knee wasn't hurting.

10K run, no junkfood, beer

Friday

My knee is hurting. 

It's a pain at the side of my left knee, the inside, and below the patella. Anyway, wherever it is, it's obviously strained. Running sucks. Karate tonight should be fun...

I cycled carefully into work. My knee ached. An impromptu meeting ran on for too long and I left work too late for Karate. I cycled carefully home.

Rather than put more pressure on the knee by lifting weights, I decided to go for a ride. In the dark. At rush hour. I will never do this again. I intended to do some laps at the cycle track at Tudor Grange. When I got there, I discovered it was strewn with mud and, unbelievably, people were still shuffling around the track with a dog! It wasn't even on a lead! I tried to get round but was averaging at 12.4mph. I may as well walk. I quickly gave up on that idea and decided to get back on the roads. It was so aggressive out there, the drivers almost killing themselves and each other to get home a bit quicker. I almost got hit twice in the same half mile stretch OF A CYCLING LANE! An old fella simply drove across the cycle lane to park up on his drive. I was forced to brake. When I discussed this with him, he demanded to know why I didn't have any lights! I obviously had top notch lights blazing front and back. The silly old fool shouldn't be driving. I rode away.

I eventually got home after 15 tense miles and a pathetic average of 13.6mph.

Beers!

Cycling, no junkfood, beers.

Saturday

Today was a busy day! After breakfast, I set about cleaning the oven. After leaving the cleaning solution to work on the grease and grime, I cycled down to B&Q to get some woodstain and some more sandpaper. Back at home, I carried on working on restoring the farmhouse chairs from last week while listening to TMS. After this, I jumped in the shower and then cycled to the dojo to deliver my Saturday afternoon class. Today, I had 19 respectful hardworking students who gave their best and showed some real development. I love to see how far they have come in the few months I've been lucky enough to teach them.

After this, I met Lucy and two of the other instructors to celebrate a Karate family member's birthday. Cheers! We had to leave sooner than I'd liked so that I could get dinner ready. Jane was coming round to sample my 24-hour curry and to watch Strictly with us! Of course, I had another beer while preparing the dinner...

Karate, no junkfood, beers

Sunday

I got up at 7 ready to go cycling. It was a cold wet day. Both the Met Office and the BBC agreed that it would rain all morning and it would stay cold (between 4 and 7 degrees). I consulted with Jonnie and Roger on Whatsapp and they felt that it wouldn't be any fun in the lanes today. We'd be cold and wet almost as soon as we set off. So we cancelled the ride.

Unfortunately, poor James had left the car behind and had already started the 7 mile ride to Jonnie's place! Sorry James mate!

Back at home, I immediately got stuck into cleaning the oven while feeling guilty about not riding. After this, I carried on working on the chairs (in the garage with the door open). Later, I did an hour of weight training before mopping the kitchen floor. In the afternoon, Lucy and I ended up having one drink in the Beech House pub in Solihull. It's a lovely place but bonkers expensive. Definitely a once in a while treat!

In the evening, Lucy prepared a fantastic dinner while I enjoyed yet more beer...

Weight training, no junkfood, beers

Summary

Just the same as last week, except I managed to go for a run on Thursday. I exercised everyday, didn't have any junkfood (14 days and counting) but just couldn't resist relaxing with a beer in the evenings. I'm running the risk of letting my love of craft ale ruin my training...