Back to Work

Monday

Back to work! It was training day at SCCB which meant that we had to drive over to our Bordesley Green campus. We collected our mate Clive on the way and then stuck to the main roads which had been cleared of most of the snow and ice. I didn't risk driving my usual side road route.

We had a guest speaker in the morning: A chap called Omar Sharif who spoke about himself an awful lot and then tried to sell us his book.

Eventually, this painful experience was over and Lucy and I headed home. It was bitterly cold and the snow and ice was still about. 

Back at home, I did an hour of weight training and then made dinner for the family. It was quite a force of will to not pick up a beer with my dinner. I stuck to water instead.

No booze, no junkfood, weight training.

Tuesday

I woke up to Ashes misery - things were going from bad to worse in Australia. More bad news: we when got to work we discovered that the heating had failed! And it was still bonkers cold! We had the usual staff members calling in sick which meant that we had to split four groups of students between myself and Dodgy. 

Anyway, it was a crap day of teaching and I was glad to get home and lift some heavy weights while Lucy made dinner.

No booze, no junkfood, weight training

Wednesday

I woke up to more Ashes failure. However, there was a silver lining: over night, Warwickshire's Jacob Bethell had scored his maiden test century.

The roads were still rather slippery so I drove us into work. 

After hours of GCSE maths and English I was glad to meet up with James to do our weekly workout. We had a nice chat, worked hard, and I managed to set my all-time PR for the bench press. Chuffed!

Back at home, I made dinner with the family and then we started to watch the last ever episode of Stranger Things. However, during this we had some bad news - our good friend Michael had gone out running and had taken a tumble. He is quite badly hurt and is currently at hospital. We wish him only the very best for a speedy recovery.

No booze, no junkfood, college workout.

Thursday

Another cold, wet day. I covered Michael's ICT class and then did my Maths and English classes in the afternoon. We closed the college early due to a weather forecast of a snowbomb later on tonight. But why we had to shut at 4pm is a mystery to me...

Lucy and I drove to Tesco, did a big shop, and then drove home in the rain. Then, as predicted, at about 6:10pm it started to snow!

I completed an hour of weight training and felt really strong afterwards. No booze and lots of sleep is starting to have an effect! Lucy fed me lots of chicken and broccoli.

Later, Mouse and I found ourselves out in the snow!

no alcohol, no junkfood, weight training

Friday

Snow day! Children and teachers across the country rejoiced! These days, it doesn't take much snow to close schools and colleges. We could have made it in to college without too much of a problem, but we were glad to be told to stay at home. I had an online maths meeting at 9am and then the day was mine. I really wished I'd brought some of my marking home with me, but I just didn't expect the college to be shut today.

In the evening, I went along to the Ruach Karate session at Tudor Grange. Three of our students had braved the conditions to come along. Happily they were all at the same level - 4th Kyu - which meant that Sensei Gary could taylor the lesson to suit them while running me through some of my 2nd dan syllabus! It's been a long time since I've done any training so I felt very slow and stiff. However, under Sensei's instruction I began to get back into the swing of things. 

After basics, we focused on kicks and did plenty of strength and conditioning exercises to develop our legs. There was some partner work with pads too. The last quarter of the lesson was dedicated to kata, specifically Tekki Shodan - one of my very favourites.

After the session, Sensei presented me with a very thoughtful gift: A Japanese whisky glass with the image of Mount Fuji at the bottom. Thanks, Sensei.

Back at home, I decided a few beers were in order! After dinner, Lucy and I watched MobLand - very good but very violent!

Booze, no junkfood, Karate

Saturday

I woke up with a bit of a headache. I made breakfast for myself and Lucy, dropped the girls at the train station, and then prepared my GCSE English lesson ready for Monday. After lunch, Lucy and I took Freddie for a walk in the sunshine. It was still quite tricky under foot, with plenty of snow and ice around to make things interesting!

My afternoon Karate session was great! Once again, Sensei Gary took the strain and allowed me to train! I can't remember the last time I got to train for two consecutive sessions. We did some kicks with partners, and then got stuck into some alternative ippon kumite drills. Great stuff!

In the evening, Lucy and I watched some more of the excellent MobLand and I enjoyed a few beers.

Beer, no junkfood, Karate

Sunday

With snow, ice and slush all around, there was no bicycle ride today. Instead, Lucy had me clearing space in the garage which included dumping a tumble dryer, and then building a planter made of galvanized steel. 

After this, I spent most of the afternoon updating my eBay page with lots of K-Pop albums and manga books.

Tonight's Karate session was yet again a fantastic opportunity for me to train! This time, we were kumite focused. I was partnered with a much bigger, younger, faster black belt and I was breathing really hard within 30 seconds. I managed to get a few attacks in, but the kid certainly got the better of me tonight. I think it came down to fitness... Anyway, we then moved on to legs and we did a series of strength and conditioning drills to improve our kicks. I went home hot and happy. The last time I did three consecutive Karate sessions was when I was a brown belt!

At home, Lucy had made a fantastic lasagne for the family. I had a glass of water with my dinner!

No alcohol, no junkfood, Karate

In summary, a good week for my training plan! I exercised every day, set a new personal record for bench press, had five sober days, and managed to avoid junk food for the whole week! This is the way.