I Like to go a Wandering...

After a few days of Crimbo excess I decided to go for a constitutional in the hills


Me at the summit of Elidir Fawr

Scales?

Still resting my knees
Did some loose weight work

Weighed myself again, 84.2Kg. Don't know why I should of lost weight, especially since there are boxes of free chocolates floating about at work.

Museli

Liver and cabbage

Licorice

Still too Cold...

Weather hampers outside exercise regime.
Did 80 sit-ups and loose weight work.
Went to Windsor to do some shopping.

Had a sneaky snack after work this morning while watching a recording of Top Gear.

Pasta for tea

Running on Ice

5K run in the Park. Decided not to time the run as I was running on snow and ice.

Press-ups and loose weights

Bread
Fruit
Thai prawns

Saturday 19th

Another day of rest due to knees.
80 press-ups plus loose weight work.
Had a Kit Kat last night.

No museli today

Bread
Beans on toast
Stir fry prawns and rice
Apples

Snow Joke

Late home from work due to slackers not turning up due to overnight snow. Decided to rest my knackered knees.

Did some press ups and overhead presses

Soup for dinner (2 tins)
Museli for tea (couldn't be bothered leaving the house)
BLT at work
Fruit

Cold Snap

Went for a bike ride yesterday but retired early as my fingers were freezing. t was nice to ride in the snow though. Saw a muntjac deer.

Museli
Pasta
Fruit and too many biscuits at work.

Today I went for an untimed run, just messing about on the lesser travelled park paths. Ran for about half an hour. Wore Saucony road shoes in the rough. Less grippy than my trail shoes and I felt every stone on the path through them. Watched a sparrow hawk for a while. Thousands of magpies around, why aren't they culled?

Tuesday 15th 5K

Usual Black Park 5K. Fair conditions, the ground was almost dry.
felt knackered at the start but ran about 3K before stopping to stretch calf muscles. Usuall problems with toy dogs snapping at my heels. Suffered with calf muscles and finished in 31 minutes.

Ate too many free biscuits and sarnies at work last night.

Bowl of museli for starters
Pasta for tea
Grapes and nuts for work.

Did loose weights and 80 sit-ups.

14th December Rest Day

Full Fry
Salmon Sarnie
Pasta

86.1 KG which was a surprise given the weekends festivities.

Slow Run

5K in a slow 35minutes. Not too bad considering the last 3 days of excess. Normal service will resume on Tuesday.

Full Fry
Full roast

Climbing Club and Back

Cycled to the climbing club hut via the footpath through the quarries (8K each way).Pushed bike for most of the uphill bits. Came home in the dark.

Full fry up
Carrot cake
Full roast with afters.

Beddgelert Forest

Had 2 scoops at the Vaynol last night and 2 bags of Twigletts.

Bike ride around Beddgelert forrest. The forrest is supposedly closed due to logging operations but that didn't stop me. Many paths were churned up by the machinery but still good fun (well the downhill bits were fun).

Full fry for breky
No lunch
Proper burgers for tea.

6 pints of pop in the Vaynol!

New MTB Route

Went for a run in Wales in daylight, all my previous runs have been in the dark on my Welsh 5K route. Struggled with the running but did a 33 min 5K.

Trip to the doctor's, BP 140/100, also gave blood for sampling.

Went for a bike ride in the evening. Route is at the back of Moel Eilio, the new roads built by the loggers who've denuded the landscape.




Wore my new MTB cycling shoes, my first time out in cleats.




Here's a view of the start...



Here's a similar view when I finished...


A view of the output of my 10 Watt halide lamp...


True to form I did OK with the cleats until I got to the finish. I stopped at the gate then fell over sideways as I was too slow unclipping my feet. Nobody saw me, thankfully.

Here's a shot of the best thing about pickup trucks; the tailgate.

Full fry up
Loads of mince pies
Lamb roast
Baked apples
A few sweets - this is what happens when your mother cooks, your diet goes to ratshit.

First sub 30 minute 5K Run

Did my 5K run in 29:39
Stopped for a breather about 4 or 5 times but I knew I was going to be close.
Today's shoes were my Mizuno Wave Harrier IIs.
Had to overtake a tractor near the start!!

Museli
A well deserved trip to the Chinese for beef curry and fried rice.

Where Are The Fair Weather Dog Walkers?

Went for an easy bike ride at 1600 hrs. Initially forgot the batteries for my bike light so returned home and collected them. Also got changed into wet weather gear. Parked at noth side of Black Park just past Pinewood Studios.

Rode for 3.59 miles in the dark, found some new paths, or perhaps they are paths that I already know that have been flooded.

Rear brake got knackered by mud and sticks, it needs a good service.

3.59 miles
28 minutes
average speed 7.6 MPH
max speed 12.2 MPH
47.3 Calories

Museli
Soup
Breaded Chicken and mushrooms
Fruit
2 x egg custard tarts (to fuel my running tomorrow)

Sun 6th Rest Day

Legs are knackered so I had a rest day.

60 situps
Loose weight works

Museli
Soup
Mackeral and salad
Fruit at work

Moths

Went to Wokingham to view bikes.
Went for a recovery ride around the park. New halide light failed to work but halogens were reliable as usual. The seem to be quite bright too.
Halide lamp started to work at home, perhaps it had a dirty connection.

Thousands of moths attracted to bike lights, had to cycle with mouth closed.

Museli
Mackeral and spuds and salad

Friday 4th 5K

5K run, 31 minutes.

Museli
Pasta
Grapes and nuts at work.
Massive dose of 'the shits'.

85.7 Kg after shitting my insides out.

Back in the Saddle

Had a 6 mile ride, much of it on singletrak paths in Black Park. Ground was extremely wet. Legs still not fully recovered from weekend but will try running again tomorrow.

49 minutes
6.42 miles
Average speed 7.8 MPH
Max 16.5 MPH
89.3 Calories

Museli
Jacket spuds, salad, coleslaw and tuna
Apples

Went For a Run Yesterday...

Went running yesterday but I was crap. 33mins for the Black Park 5K route. I was suffering with shins, knees and hips. Lungs didn't fare much better. Was wearing NB910 shoes but I dont think that this was the problem.

Had some fruit pastels and a bar of chocolate but not my usual Maccy D crap which I have every other Monday.

Beans on toast and museli for tea.
Apples and a satsuma at work.


Today I went into Slough to look at bikes in Stowes Cycles.
Bought a set of Weight Watcher's scales from Argos. £26 reduced from £39. If they're accurate then I weigh 86 Kg. That's a 6 Kg or 13 lb loss since 4th September. That equates to a loss of one pound per week. I may be able to treat myself to a kebab on Friday!

Did some sit ups and loose weight work. Giving my knees a day off.

Just weighed myself again after tea and I've eaten 1.2 Kg (3lbs) of food! Most of this, thankfully, was fruit.

More Toys, New hydration System.

Purchased a cheap 1.5Litre hydration system from Blacks in Betws-Y-Coed. Also got 2 pairs of socks.

Treated myself to a packet of Fruit Pastels and a small bar of chocolate, this was after I'd consumed chips and curry, it's a religious thing.

Beans on toast followed by museli for tea.

Fairweather Runner?

Started on my run but turned back after 3 minutes due to freezing rain. Felt guilty so I drove up to the quarries and ran for 20 minutes. Paths were flooded so I was soaked from head to toe despite wearing waterproof smock.
Legs feel fine after yesterday's walk.

Museli
Ham sarnies
Thai chicken curry.
A few sneaky salad sarnies
Loads of fruit

The Best Laid Plans...

I was prepared for a long run then this happened..



The roads were too greasy to run on so I went for walk instead.

A snowman at the start of the walk (at the car park)...





The paths were covered in snow but were in a poor state...







Things got better as I got higher...





The view from halfway up...








And finally at the summit after 1 hour...









A dog at the summit...



1 hour up, 40 minutes down.

Met parties of school kids (poorly equiped) and a number of small groups and individuals. Back in the day I'd have had the hill to my self. Saw one fell runner on the way up as I was comming down, hope I don't get that serious.

Had a big shit before I set off today, it was full of dehydrated apple that I ate the night before, this gave the 'little brown birds' extra boyancy and it took 3 flushes to shift them.

Museli for breakfast with dried apple.
Pot noodle type things and a bag of crisps! for dinner.
Salmon in chilli sauce, spuds, coleslaw and salad for tea.
More dried fruit.
Farting like a dog again

Down at the Doctor's

BP 150/100, meds are being increased by 2mg.
More blood tests/ECG in 2 weeks.
No exercise today as I'm doing a ten miler tomorrow.

No breky.
Ham sarnies
Home Made Thai curry
Loads of fruit inc dates and clementines.

Took my Bike For A Walk.

Cycled from Dinorwig to Nant Peris. Carried the bike over the difficult bits, i.e. most of the route.
Cycled back in the dark, new halide lamp beats the old tungsten lights by a country mile.


Museli and bananas.
Soup and bread
A few oven chips and stewing steak.

First Run on Tarmac

First day excercising after 2 rest days (due a HD camera training course).
Drove out to Wales in the early hours. Had a Quarter Pounder Meal in Chirk at 3AM in a moment of weakness. Maccy D's is almost palateable when cooked fresh. A guilty pleasure.
Ran up to the access road for the dam, 5K there and back in 35 minutes. Lungs were not working tonight, legs not much better. First run with headtorch. Torch gives plenty of light on middle or economy settings. High power setting used for fast downhill bits or for running through puddles.
Running up hills is a lot harder than running on the flat down south.
Road shoes are spot on.

Museli and bananas,
2 chicken sarnies
Fish, beans and bread.
Ate far too much crap today.

High Definition Training Day

HD digital camera training at work so Today will be a rest day. Had the full English breakfast at work! I felt obliged as it's only £2 for all you can fit on a plate.

Tuna sarny for dinner.
Pasta and a few bits of chicken for tea.
Fruit salad and museli and bananas.

Did 50 situps and some dumbell curls.

Run, Don't Walk.

Back to Black Park for a run through the muddy paths. Ran 5.5K due to a navigational error. Time was 30 mins 30 seconds approx (must invest in a stopwatch). 2 brief stops to stretch calves which were getting tight. Lungs were better than legs today.

Bought new parts for my road bike, so I should have a serviceable cyclo-cross bike for next week.

Museli + 2 bananas
Salmon, spuds (refried boiled spuds) and green beens.
1 packet Winegummies
1 packet beef jerky
1 bottle Polish beer
2 bananas

Easy Life

After yesterday's short but exciting bike ride in the dark I've decided to have an easy day.

50 situps
Dumbell curls

Played with mapping software to measure runs around the parks or rides to Denham etc.

Found an old tailor's tape measure in the cupboard, waist = 38", chest = 42".

3rd Pair of Shoes

Trip to Apex Sports for a pair of road shoes (will sadly have to do some running on tarmac)
Tried Saucony Triumph, NB 1063 and some Nikes, purchased the Saucony.
Bikeride around the park, 1 lap of the perimeter.
Started at 1600 so had to use bike lights, great fun.

5.91K
23min 36 seconds
max speed 21.3 KMH
Average speed 15 KMH

Details above from satnav which worked for most of the route.

Saw a pair of muntjac deer and a rabbit.

Filming still going on in park, catering waggons in the carpark.

Museli + banana for breakfast.
Coleslaw and toast for dinner.
Home made Thai green curry for tea.

Usuall rabbit food for taking to work.

Interval Training

Ran around the perimiter of the park in 42 minutes. Ran in short bursts, occasionally ran quite fast. It was good to run properly but I couldn't sustain the pace for long. Plenty of people taking their dogs for a shit.
Path was very muddy in places so wore Mizuni trail shoes.

Didn't eat museli today!
Beans on toast (only 2 rounds!)
Pasta for tea.
Fruit and nuts for work.

43 Minutes, 7.1 Miles

2 laps of the park on the bike (wearing padded shorts)
43 mins 21 seconds
7.1 miles
Av speed 9.8 MPH
Max 14.4 MPH
113.7 Calories.

Windy but no rain.
Paths are getting muddier.

Museli + 2 nanas
No dinner
Homemade Chinese for tea.
Fruit for grazing at work.

Filming in Black Park.

Attempted a 5K in BP. Film crews located in middle of park caused minor diversion. Many 1930s style tents set up for filming. Completed 5K in 33 mins.

Nuts and raisens for breky.
No dinner.
Homemade chinese and rice plus a chocky cake (in food parcel from home), anyway I needed the sugar rush as I was bollocksed after the run.

Nuts, raisens and an apple for work.

2 Days off the Wagon

Sunday: Museli, Beans on toast then a full roast followed by pudding! 3 pints beer (or was it 4?) plus roast spuds with salt in The Stanley. Mince pies on return from pub.
Home BP test shows 124/85!

Monday: Full English, Salmon sarnie and M&S pasta. 2 mince pies.

Road Runner II

Another run up the hill in the dark. 30 minutes again.

'Running in the dark kit' was not delivered today!! (headtorch and jacket). Will get postie to leave them in the coal shed next week.

Museli
Pasta
Fish and boiled spuds. Homemade cod in batter, shallow fried and grilled. Sadly the real taste of F&C comes from the fat.

One Pace Forward, Two Paces Back...

Set out on the bike at 5PM. Driving rain and strong winds. Gave up after 1 mile. I have neither the muscles or the lungs for riding in the hills. Need to do more work on the road bike.

Trip to the nurse today. BP high, 159/110. Weight 88KG. At least the weight is falling.

Measured BP at home and results agree with figures above but can fall to 140/85 when relaxed.

Road Runner

4.3K run from cottage to youth hostel up the hill. 100m of ascent in that run. Nearly died running up 15% gradient. Reflective bib very visible to car driver. Weather was a wee bit windy.
Forgot to time route but 30 mins of records had played on iTunes by the time I returned.

Museli for breakfast
Soup and bread rolls for dinner
Tuna and spuds for tea followed by fruit.

Have managed to source new bits for my old road bike.

Day of Rest.

Day of (much needed) rest.
Recovered old road bike from loft with view to convert it into a cyclo cross bike.

Museli for breakfast
Maccy D's medium fries and cheeseburger for dinner.
Museli and soup for tea.
4 bananas.

Maccy D gave me the shits.

Harry Potter?

Cycle ride around the park.



5.32 miles
33 minutes
Average 9.4 MPH
Max 16.2 MPH
85.3 calories

A Pulman type railway coach was being unloaded in the park, filming more HP perhaps (Black Park is next to Pinewood Studios).

Puncture in rear tyre

1st 5K Run

Went to Black Park for my first 5K run. Made one slight navigational error (extra 200m) plus had to stop to play with some dogs. Time was 35 mins which I'm quite pleased with. Ran about 4 k and walked for 1.2K.
Saw one muntjac deer and a thousand tree rats.

Museli and bananas after the run.
Pasta for tea.
Apples, bananas and a carrot for work.
http://www.parkrun.org.uk/black-park/Course.aspx

Mad Dogs and Britishmen.

Cycled around a 5K route that I intend to waddle around tomorrow. Cycled past many large dogs including dobermen, weimaraners and alsations with no problem. Cycled past a girl and her scottish terrier and the inevitable happened. Dog tried to attack but lost the fight with my front wheel. No damage to bike, didn't look back so don't know if dog survived.

Today's exercise consisted of short bike ride and some loose weight work.

Museli and bananas for breakfast.
Half bowl of soup for lunch.
Special chop suey and fried rice for tea (I deserve a break from jacket spuds)
2 pieces of caramel cake from Sue at work.
Found a digestive biscuit by the kettle at work so I ate it.
Had grapes and bananas at work.

Suited and Booted.

Purchased another pair of running shoes, New Balance 910s. These will be more suitable for cycling than my Mizuno trail shoes. Also purchased new running trousers, Ron Hill DXB.
Ran my training route at Black Park in 30 minutes, 10% faster than last time.

Museli and bananas for breakfast.
Pasta for tea.
Bananas and carrots for work.
Had a sneaky bag of Cheesy Wotsits in a moment of weakness.

Deer oh Deer!

Fitted cycle computer to bike but could not get it to work. Computer did work after I realised it was fitted upside down in its cradle.
Took bike for a ride around Black Park, 1 lap only due to tired legs after yesterday's run.
Route is 4.2 miles long per lap.
Time for 1 lap was 27.31 minutes.
Average speed was 9.3 MPH
Max speed was 15MPH
Total calories used was 67.8

Nearly hit a muntjac deer which was crossing the bridleway.

Did some loose weight work and sit ups.

Phoned SkyChoices about tax free bike scheme, next scheme is due to run next March. I missed the November vocher issue by 5 days. Hopefully 2010 bikes will have dropped in price by then.

Dorset Farms Fruit and Berries museli for breakfast with 2 bananas.
Chicken noodle soup and 2 baps for dinner.
Jacket spuds and tuna + salad for tea.

Running Wild

Drove up to Black Park for a run! It was my first in about 5 years. New shoes performed well with the mud and wet leaves. Ran/walked 2.5 miles (4 Kilometers) in 33 minutes = 4.55 MPH. Must do better.

Cycle computer arrived in the post, will fit to bike tomorrow for my first timed circuit.

Took a walk to the shops, the smell of the curry house and kebab shop (best that I've ever found in the UK) that I walked past reminded me what real food smells like. I'll treat myself to a kebab or a Tandoori mixed grill when I get down to 88Kg.
No breakfast
No dinner
Scouse and bread rolls for tea.
Grapes, apples and coleslaw sarnies for work.
Forgot to buy black pepper again!

The Thrill of the Till

Purchased new off-road running shoes (Mizuno Wave Harrier) from a specialist shop in Reading, will try them out in Black Park on Thursday.
Ordered cycle computer for bike via The Bay of Evil.
Did some light work with loose weighs and 50 situps (2 x 25)

No breakfast,
Soup for dinner (no bread)
Made a pan of scouse for tea, not bad but will be better by Friday after 36 hours stewing. Served with pickled cabbage and beetroot.

Forgot to take my grapes to work so I'll treat myself to an extra carrot.

A New Regime

Took the mountain bike to Black Park today. Devised a 5 kilometer route and did 2 laps in 70 minutes. Not very fast but the ground was 6" deep mud for much of the route. Sadly I had forgot to take any sports kit down south so was dressed in a pair of black Doc Martin steel toecap safety boots, black waterproof kecks, red windproof top and a pair of old man's string back driving gloves, not a good look. Got some grief off an old crunch about riding in a no cycling zone, he wasn't too impressed when I reminded him that it was also a no dog zone and that he should remove his little shite factory from the children's play area.

Had some trouble finding the bridleway around the periphery of the park but once I found a trail of horse shit things became clearer.

Saw a 2' long snake, either a grass snake or possibly a female adder.

Delighted to see an area of native alder in the park, all competition from invasive species such as bamboo, rhododendron and birch has been removed. Let's hope they also have a grey squirrel cull too.

Visited the 'council gym' to enquire about rejoining. When I last visited it cost £20 per year, now it is much bigger with the latest kit but costs £31 per month plus £25 joining fee.

Bowl of Fruit n' Fibre, for breky, chicken and pasta for lunch and jacket spud, tuna and salad for tea. Apples, carrots and nuts for night shift snack.

Midlife crisis?

The Perindopril has got the BP down to 159/89 but the doc's still not happy and has perscribed Amlodipine too. The diet has resulted in a 2 Kg loss of weight over the last 6 weeks, I'm down to 90Kg from a starting point of 92 Kg on the 4th Sept. I can't eat any less food so I'll have to start exercising again!

Have sent email to various people to test the water re: interest in Welsh 3000s Challenge. Hopefully this will encourage me to get fit again. Started by doing Moel Eilio on Saturday, 1hr 5 min from car park to summit. Chicken Pot Noodle was consumed at summit with 2 cups of tea and a packet of fruit, nuts and seeds. Pot Noodle doesn't like being 'cooked' at altitude.
Optimus petrol/multifuel stove worked flawlessly as usual.

Tried to join Sky Gym, was told that it shuts on the 6th for 2 months for refurbishment. Outstanding timing.

Purchased grapes and apples from Tesco for night shift nibbles. Could have bought 20 donuts, a custard slice and a choclotate eclair for the same price.

Legs knackered after weekend's little walk, I'm walking like a John Wayne immitator who's shat his pants.