Monday
Lucy took me to The Barn to go shopping. We bought a rose arch for the back garden. Then we went somewhere warm to buy bird feeders.
I did an hour of weight training, didn't eat junkfood, but did drink some beer.
3 beers, no junkfood, weight training
Tuesday
I got up early enough to have breakfast and lift weights for an hour before Lucy, Jane and I headed off to see family in Market Harborough. Paul and Debbie provided a wonderful lunch accompanied by two of the very best beers I've had this year! After having a lovely time chatting with family, we headed back home. Mouse provided me with half a bowl of stir fried chicken... I went to bed hungry.
2 beers, no junkfood, weight training
New Year's Eve
Lucy and I drove off to Cheltenham. We went shopping (I got vests, pants and pyjamas, Lucy got a gloves) and then decided it was time for a sit down. Lucy spotted a fantastic pub at the back of a hotel. The pub is called Gin and Juice and has a lovely atmosphere, a real fire, great service and one of the best pints of Guinness I've ever tasted!
Later on, we checked into our fabulous AirBnB which was only a short walk from the centre of town. After unloading all of our luggage, and a glass of champagne each, we walked back to town and enjoyed a fantastic curry at Indian Haveli. The food was great, the lager was expensive, and the waiters were very understanding of my unique sense of humour!
After a walk back in the (literally) freezing temperatures, we were glad to get back to our warm flat and to lie in bed watching the fireworks.
Booze, junkfood, 10,000+ steps
New Year's Day
Cheltenham Races! We followed the masses of people heading to the racecourse. We were very excited about our first day at the races together. In fact, unlike Lucy, I had never been at the races before! We were seriously underdressed! Everyone was dressed to impress: Suits, crombie overcoats, short skirts, flat caps, ties and riding boots were everywhere! Next time, I'll do better to look the part.
Anyway, the racing was great fun even though we lost money and the beer was eye-wateringly expensive.
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| This was when we first arrived. It got a LOT busier by the time the first race started. It was a sea of people below us and crowds all around us. |
After 4 hours, we walked back to town, put the heating on in our flat, then walked to the nearest pub to join in the fun and silliness that had taken over Cheltenham. There had been 44,000 people at the races! And despite all the people and all the drunkenness, we didn't see one bit of aggression. It was a nice atmosphere all day.
Back at the flat, we watched a film and finished off the champagne!
booze, no junkfood, 10,000+ steps
Friday
I loaded the car whilst having a bit of a sore head. Then we drove off to Tewkesbury to see the Abbey there. We didn't really know what to expect so we were very pleasantly surprised to find that the abbey was a huge, beautiful, well-maintained building with a car park, a shop, cafe and free entry!
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| On the way into Tewkesbury Abbey |
Back at home, we were surprised to find snow and ice on the ground! Tekesbury had been sunny and dry. Solihull was decidedly more wintery!
I made a fantastic chicken and mushroom balti for myself and Martha. In the evening, Dodgy Debbie came over. I drove Lucy and Debbie to the pub and then collected them 2 hours later. I had a beer and then went to bed at 10, ready to be back at the dojo in the morning!
beer, no junkfood, no exercise
Saturday
My alarm went off at 6am After drinking a pint of water, and with a monumental effort, I forced myself out of bed to make coffee and toast. I had a shower and got into my gi. A little after 8am, Sensei Gary arrived and Martha and I jumped in his car and set off for the Ren Shi Kan dojo in Halesowen. It was an instructor's session, but I knew that Martha would be welcomed along as one of Ruach's adult black belts.
At first, we were all rather cold and it was a real challenge to get my muscles moving and to get some feeling in my bare toes! But it wasn't long before we were all warmed up and by the end we had even got a bit sweaty.
It was a kata-based session and we ran through selected parts of approximately 10 kata. It was a real eye-opener for me: I had terrible trouble recalling kata I had won gold medals with, and even the kata I performed as part of my black belt grading! After that excellent training, Sensei Gary treated us all to a coffee and some breakfast (I just had a coffee, Martha had tea.) He was then kind enough to drop us home after nearly burning his clutch out getting up the icy car park hill!
Back at home, I got changed and then built the rose arch for the back garden. I did an hour of marking (Level 1 writing papers) followed by over an hour of ironing. After that, it was time to use my new step ladders to put some Christmas decorations back in the loft.
In the evening, Lucy and I watched a stand up comedy show on tele - Micky Flanagan, one of my all-time favourites. And I didn't drink beer!
no alcohol, no junkfood, Karate training
Sunday
I had a great sleep and didn't crawl out of bed until almost 9am!
It is still very much winter, with snow and ice everywhere. I made breakfast for myself and Lucy and then did the washing up.
I did an hour of weight training in the man cave. Although I'm still getting pains in the elbows, the joints hold and I am still progressing in all lifts. Today I did side raises, front raises, deadlifts, shrugs, isolated curls, barbell curls, 100 press ups, 100 triceps dips and 100 leg raises.Then I enjoyed the rest of last night's leftover bolognese!
Tonight, Lucy made a lovely casserole, the family watched Stranger Things together, and I didn't drink beer!
no alcohol, no junkfood, weight training
In summary, I was drinking for 5 days out of 7 so I can't pretend that this was a successful week. However, I've trained well over the last 2 days. so I now need to carry this forward.
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