Monday 26th January 2026
It was 3 degrees this morning. Two pairs of gloves and handwarmers helped me cycle to work without my Raynaud's kicking in.
My English GCSE lesson was great with only one student missing and only one student asleep! The rest of them worked hard and are making actual progress. I've started to get excited for the summer exams.
In the afternoon, I worked with some of my Functional Skills students and I'm confident that most of them are going to do well too.
Feeling good, I jumped on the bike and cycled home to lift up some weights. I did a good heavy session for an hour, ending with three sets of barbell squats.
I was planning on drinking some beers while I made dinner but then I decided against it. I do need to lose some weight after all...
While making dinner I realised that my right side and my back were aching more than they should be. So I took some aspirin before bed.
No alcohol, no junkfood, weight training
Tuesday
Wind and torrential rain all night that carried through to the morning. And it was cold. I didn't fancy cycling in these conditions so I jumped in the car with Lucy. After a decent day of teaching, we went shopping, got home, and then I did an hour of heavy weight training which concluded with deadlifts.
I enjoyed a huge dinner of a jacket potato and about three helpings of homemade beef chilli con carne.
No alcohol, no junkfood, weight training
Wednesday
...and that's as far as I got! In February, I lost the discipline needed to train and blog my progress every day. I did keep training, however. I did plenty of bicycle rides, loads of weight training sessions and kept going along to Karate. But I also partied quite a bit and enjoyed many sweet treats at the weekend. The result is that I am currently the strongest I've ever been, but I'm also carrying more weight than I have for about 15 years.
Other more interesting things I've done since I last kept my blog up to date:
Lucy, Jonnie, Sally and I went along to the Solihull Core Theatre to see an excellent Elvis impersonator.
I joined many of my students, and some staff, in one day of Ramadan fasting. I did a 12 hour fast (no food or water!) which meant getting up at 4:20am on a work day! I now have so much for respect for anyone that manages the whole 30 days!
Lucy and I went to see the magnificent EPiC by Baz Luhrmann.
We celebrated Mouse's birthday by going virtual clay pigeon shooting and having a barbecue.
Anyway, time to get back to training:
Monday 2nd March 2026
I cycled in to work and back. I did a heavy lift for an hour before making dinner for the family. My elbows really hurt during the session. This has been happening for about the last three weeks. It even hurts to lift up my coffee mug sometimes!
No alcohol, no junkfood, weight training.
Tuesday
In the interests of keeping my elbows working, I decided not to lift weights today. I thought a bike ride was a much better option. So I cycled to work on the fast bike today. Gliding along on the Specialized when the roads are dry is such a pleasure!
After work, I jumped on the bike as the sun went down. I had my lights burning brightly and headed south. As you'd expect at 5:30, the roads were very busy. However, there were no close calls and all the drivers were respectful. It wasn't long before I was out in the countryside and I could free up the legs a bit.
It got dark quickly! For a lot of the ride it was just me and my lights in the country lanes. No other vehicles, no other light sources. It was a bit spooky! I eventually rolled onto the A34 and then home after 15 miles. Much healthier than busting my joints under heavy weights again!
I had a shower, Lucy made dinner, and then the family sat down to watch Fallout season 2.
No alcohol, no junkfood, Cycling: 15+mph @14+mph
Wednesday
The weather was glorious this morning - bright and sunny. So I went out to ride to work in thinner gloves, one less layer, and shorts! It wasn't as warm as I had anticipated...
After work, I met James in the gym and we got on with our usual routine. I'm pleased to report that I made a tiny improvement, and James put another 5kg on his bench press! Nice work James!
I cycled home and then made dinner for the family. Lucy and I watched another episode of the consistently impressive Godless on Netflix.
No alcohol, no junkfood, weight training
Thursday
I cycled in to work. I did work stuff. I cycled home. I did another heavy lift which was obviously no good for my very sore elbows, but was good for the rest of me. Then I made a stir fry for myself and Mouse, and we watched Attack on Titan until Lucy got home.
No alcohol, no junkfood, weight training
Friday
I left the house to cycle in to work. It wasn't raining so I wore shorts and my thinner gloves. Within less than a minute, it was raining. And it was cold. I arrived at work with bright red shins and very chilly hands. My shorts were very damp!
After lessons, I was pleased to find that all my clothes had dried out over the course of the day! I cycled home with the wind behind me.
There were only four students at the dojo, so Sensei Gary left me in charge.
I did a kihon assessment with the group. The adult yellow belt was very impressive and got every combination right with good technique and power. The youngsters were all over the place! I managed to get the purple belt focused and thinking about his techniques. The yellow belt girls were away with the fairies!
Back at home, I enjoyed a few Friday night beers with my dinner.
Three beers, no junkfood, Karate
Saturday
Up early. I had a proper coffee (not instant) and got some college work done in the cave. When Lucy got up, I made breakfast for us and then did a bit of eBaying. This afternoon's Karate session was the kata assessments. Although we did some valuable work on kata, I didn't actually get to pass anyone today. However, we are getting close to where we need to be for the grading. It was a nice atmosphere in there today, with some great young people feeling relaxed and confident in a martial arts environment.
In the evening, Lucy made a fantastic chicken dinner and we watched the last episode of the wonderful Godless (on Netflix) with a few drinks...
3 beers, no junkfood, Karate
Sunday
I stepped on the scales this morning and was disappointed to learn that I hadn't lost a single gram of weight this week!
I met up with James, Jonnie and Mark and we set off on a 51 mile training ride. It was a chilly start but thankfully dry. The lanes were wet because it has rained in the night. We headed down The Farm - something we haven't done for a long time, certainly not in the last few years. To my suprise, I didn't find it steep at all: a few seconds of downhill and whoosh - it was all over and back on the flat. I don't remember it being like that...
Anyway, we tooled along at chatting pace until we got to the end of Dead Snake Lane when I suggested to the lads that we might try to get up to the required average speed. Jonnie readily agreed and I stomped on the pedals.
It wasn't long before we were up to the required 13.8mph average, which wasn't bad considering the chilly conditions and muddy lanes. Now it was just a case of maintaining that for the next 40 miles...
We got up to the Blue Boar, dashed down the Binton Bends and hurtled along Luddington. The average was nicely within reach at all times. Then, disaster struck. On the outskirts of Wilmcote, so close we could almost smell the cake, Mark's rear tyre blew a puncture. Mark rides tubeless so it was a bit a faff to stick in a 'plug' with the fluid dripping about. But he did a good job and we set off again. Unfortunately, the repair lasted less than a mile before it blew again! He tried to patch it up again but it was having none of it. He limped the bike towards Wilmcote before having to walk it up to the cakestop.
Mark dropped a tube into his tubeless tyre while Jonnie, James and I ate cake and made 'helpful' comments.
We left Wilmcote with Jonnie on the front and going well. James and I took over at Featherbed and gave it the beans, only to look back and see Jonnie and Mark about 100m behind rolling along having a chat!
Happily, on the way into Snitterfield, the lads were more inclined to ride together which makes it easier to maintain a good average. Jonnie and I rode side-by-side through Norton Lindsey and then joined up with James and Mark to blast along our Honiley Route. We kept the pressure on and I'm pleased to report that we got back to base at 13.9mph average - a little faster than we needed to! Mark won the sprint with a clever blocking technique (entirely legal - he didn't deviate from his line) where he trapped me behind James.
Back at home, I ate leftover chicken and watched India win the T20 World Cup.
I had a few beers with dinner, along with an ice cream Magnum for dessert!
3 beers, junkfood, 51 miles of cycling at 13.9mph.
In summary - Not a bad return to tracking my training: 4 days sober, 6 days of healthy eating, and I exercised every day!
