Christmas 2011

So some of you may have noticed that i missed last weeks blog and that i am publishing this on a special Sunday...Christmas Day. I have tired of playing with my socks, well i am 31 and that is a standard present for a male of this age.  In all honesty though i got some great presents and really enjoyed the day.  The thing i love about Christmas is not really the receiving of presents but the look on peoples faces when you give a great present.  I also love Christmas Dinner and of course spending time with family and friends.  Its a shame that it doesn’t happen more often during the year.

I am sat thinking about what i have achieved this year on a personal level and where i can improve in 2012.  I have to say some of my biggest achievements this year have been on the cycle.  The rides to Blackpool and then the Manchester 100miler (minus numb groin) are the two highlights of my year and have proved I can achieve great things when i put my mind to it.   Along with this i have to make a few thank you’s.  My first thank you is to Mr Ted Gordon who has mentored my fledgling career this year putting up with my slow ass to start with (still slow in comparison but better) and my constant moaning about climbing hills.  My second is to Mr Richard Salisbury for the hours he’s put in this year with me and his expert bike fit through Pedal Precision (www.pedalprecision.com) .  There are the others who i have ridden with this year Andy McVeigh, Mark O’Reilly, Lee Bradley, Kelly Strickland and others.   I think my second massive accomplishment has been to donate some time volunteering with Swim Trafford.  It has been rewarding on many levels and i have made some great new friends along the way.  It will be one of my focuses for the coming year to help the group shave some seconds off their PB’s and achieve their goals.  The other achievement is a reduction in mass.  I have been working hard on this over the past 12-18months and it is looking good.  To date 3 stone has been shifted.   My last thank you goes out to Mr Marek Holowenko physiotherapist (http://www.mhcpt.co.uk/) extraordinaire he has put my shoulders, neck and back into good shape and given me sound advice all year.  I will be trying to pick up some regular Pilates in the New Year.

2012, what can i achieve, what should my goals be.  I have some thoughts on this.  Another 2-3 stones weight needs to be shifted and I’m hoping to achieve this by September.  I need to knuckle down and return to a decent routine.  I am itching to get back out on the bike and can’t wait for the fairer weather.   I want to sign up for the Manchester to Blackpool and better the 4hr 30mins i took this year.  I also want to attempt the 100miler this year and come in under 6 hours hopefully more towards the 5 hours 30minutes mark.   Both well achievable.  I am also going to attempt the Big Red Bike Ride in June, it will be 600miles in 6 days which will be my biggest challenge yet.  June will also see me try and complete my first half marathon.  I am looking to sign up for the Humber Bridge half marathon.

Leaving you with a song that has perked me up alot this month.

Merry Christmas and may you have a productive and happy 2012!

Viewers

Kon-ichiwa

Some of you may have noticed over the last few weeks the different greetings I have been using.  This is due to the stats page on the site telling me that people from all around the world have been viewing my blog.  It feels a bit weird really knowing that someone in India or Japan has been looking at the blog.  The blog itself has achieved over 2500 visits since it first started in April so thanks to all for visiting.

The main aim of the blog is to record my efforts each week but again this week I haven’t done much as I have been suffering a bit with some sort of bug.  I did a Wattbike session earlier in the week and it felt like I didn’t have anything in the tank by the 4^th set of my usual threshold set I was hanging out and had to lower the targeted watts average to complete the set.  It was not fun.  Had a productive gym session, which was productive but again I struggled for intensity so not sure what the issue was.  I think it has been important to try and have a few days off completely and just recharge the batteries completely.  I feel ready for this week and have a session structure this week to stick to.  I will be doing spinning for Swim Trafford on Thursday, which I am really looking forward to.

The other major bits and bobs this week where a visit to Manchester Academy to see one of my favourite bands from the 90’s Indie revolution Shed Seven.  Looking round it was great to see a generation in a room by this I mean the Indie generation (middle aged people to you guys).  Chris Helme (of Seahorses fame) was supporting and did a great acoustic set and a brilliant job of setting up Shed Seven so much so in fact I am at this moment listening to The Seahorses album.  Shed Seven came out and from the off just nailed it.  The crowd were well up for it and they didn’t disappoint.  I have to say one of the best gigs I have been to ever.  I would definitely recommend them and would love to go and see them again.

So until next week love life!

Back on it....kinda

Bonoestente,

This week saw a return to around about ¾ of what I have been doing fitness wise.  I have to say that it has been hard.  I didn’t think two weeks of very little activity would hit so hard.  I managed to maintain a decent threshold set on the wattbikes on Thursday and the mental battle was won in that I completed the full five sets even though I felt shocking on the fourth set.  I hit the gym twice and the session on Saturday felt good apart from the crosstrainer were I didn’t feel I had anything in the tank my RPM dropped to 75 when its normally between 85-90.  I have been struggling with a groin strain this week so that may have been why.  So the gym session is looking like this at the moment;

Ø      1000 metre row to warm up

Ø      Full body stretching session 15minutes

Ø      23minutes Crosstrainer – Random setting level 11 keeping rpm into the 80’s.

Ø      3 sets of 12 reps  - Freeweights – Lateral Raises, Push Presses, bicep curls (Toning)

(http://www.dumbbell-exercises.com/exercises/shoulders/index.html#8)

Ø      3 x 12 – Chest press, lat pull downs, inside and outside thighs (Toning weight)

Ø      15min hill walk (Knee is still a little dodgy for running)

Ø      3 sets of plank holding for 30secs resting for 30secs

Ø      15minute hill ride on the cycle level 15 maintaining 90rpm.

Ø      Full body stretch down

I am still yet to reintroduce the swimming and want to start again on the sprint intervals on the treadmill as soon as the groin strain has gone.  Not sure when that will be as I am not finding it easy to rest it.  I have a day off Monday so may just chill and try and give it a break.

The commuting is starting to be fun again.  This summer had washed away my memories of last years winter commuting but they are slowly being re-etched into my mind.  Yesterday was the first time I have been caught out in the rain for a long time!  I was warm enough though and it didn’t cause me too many problems!

We have had a productive week with Swim Trafford this week.  Two meetings earlier on in the week provided some good momentum to push on and make sure we are still progressing on my end of the bargain.  The website (www.swimtrafford.co.uk ) has been touched up with a new banner and Simon Blair and myself will be looking to make updates once James Stannard has done some blurb for the site.  We have also spoken about supplements for the kids for meets in carb gels and protein bars.  Emma Thomas has been in touch with BSc (www.bodyscience.com.au) an Australia firm who do great nutritional products and they have agreed to provide some sponsorship and samples for the squad.  Hopefully this is a relationship we can develop going forward and will benefit the kids on meet days.   I have used the energy gels and protein bars and they are really good.  If anyone wants to know more you can get in touch on here or via Twitter/Facebook.

This weekend saw the swimmers meet at Manchester Aquatics for a North West meet.  The stand out performance as I write this is Chloe Waddell who swam two personal bests and is the 800m fly North West champion.  Congratulations to her and the rest of the team on a super meet so far.  The younger swimmers are away also and I have been informed by Coach Stannard that some other PB’s have been swum this weekend.  I will try and get some more information for next week!

“I will always listen to my coaches. But first I listen to my body. If what they tell me suits my body, great. If my body doesn't feel good with what they say, then always my body comes first.”
Haile Gebrselassie

2012 Plans

Ola,

This week isn’t going to be a big one as I haven’t done much again.  I managed to run over my foot with my desk chair then one of my lovely work colleagues decided to run over it with the Aeromix staging.  So apart from the regular commuting and one gym session on Monday not a great deal done.  Monday’s gym session did include some sprint intervals, which were productive.  I wasn’t sure how my knee would react or if I was fit enough to be able to be able to sustain 4 intervals of 1 minute flat out but it went well and the knee and my fitness where not found wanting.  I will be increasing duration and adding some incline over the next few weeks as I want to be able to compete again and my plans are going to involve running.

I have started planning for next year and have a few ideas to play with.  I will sign up for the Manchester to Blackpool, Manchester to Chester and the Manchester 100mile rides.  My other plans include a possible week long ride in Ireland doing 580 miles over 6 days.  The only real obstacle to this is that I have to raise £1500 in sponsorship money.  I think I will make a decision in December and see where that leads me.  My other project will be a ride over to Hull I think at some point in August.  I will have to find a route and some support for it but it should be something that is easily achievable.  The route finders have said it will be around 100miles.  Some possible issues with the Pennines but I think that by that stage of the year I should be around about the weight I want to be and the fitness levels should be at about there peak. 

Other possible plans for 2012 are a sprint triathalon (750m swim, 20km cycle, 5km run) and maybe The Humber Bridge half marathon in June depending on when the Irish cycle ride falls.  Just have to see how the knee reacts to some running outside first!

Have a great week!

Colder Commute's Incoming

Hey y’all

Welcome back to the blog!  This week has seen a couple of interesting events take place but I have to say that I have slacked on the exercise front.

It was noticeably colder this week on the commute into work so I went out and invested in some leg warmers for the cycle in.  Some may be thinking why hasn’t he gone the full hog and invested in some tights for the trip.  Well after speaking with my cycling mentor and good friend Mr Gordon at Evans Cycles it was thought that as my weight loss will continue over the next 12 months I will drop another couple of waist sizes and the tights would become obsolete, which would be a waste of money as I was looking at paying between £70 - £110 for a pair.  So we decided that the leg warmers where a better option and a lot cheaper.  I went for a Specialized pair Specialized Leg Warmers  and I have to say I am very happy with them.  They are warm and they don’t slip down my legs whilst I am riding!  Awesome.

My eczema has had a massive flare up this week not sure why.  I have even had to crack out the steroids.  I think it may be down to the change in temperature and the little one being ill but not sure.  Very frustrating after having a really good week and a half.  The steroids are clearing it up but I wish the damn thing would settle down again as its hard to move my hands and complete tasks like opening a jar or high fiving swimmers.

 

On the exercise front I managed to get a Wattbike session and two gym sessions in but not anything else due to general tiredness, little one being ill and a knee pain, which is perturbing me a little.  I was riding home on Thursday evening when I first experienced it.  It is the Vastus Medialis (Quadricep muscle) at the knee end where the pain is and it’s a sharp pain, which is constant whilst pedalling.  It did go off after about 5 minutes but was very uncomfortable.  I have the weekend off this week so am hoping that a little rest and relaxation will give it chance to heal and be ok for next week.  Possibly wishful thinking but I will keep you updated.

A really positive Saturday this weekend.  I had the privilege of going to the Speedo Swimming meet at Stockport Grand Central with Swim Trafford.  It’s the first real meet of the season and was very competitive as the swimmers/coaches wanted to see where their swimmers where at after the off season.  I went along so that I could see some of the swimmers in action and get a read on their psychological responses to the competiton.  I also wanted to see how we could improve the routines of the swimmers pre and post race.  Again I also wanted to look at the nutrition side of things to see when and what the swimmers were doing in between races and their pre and post race routines.  James Stannard and myself arrived at about 07:30 there where already a lot of swimmers there and we met up with the morning swimmers Heather, Sam, Olivia and Georgia.  James’s emphasis was on carrying out what they had achieved in training and looking at the process of the meet rather then trying to swim PB’s.  As this was the first meet we weren’t expecting any superb performances.  However Sam reached the final of the 100m fly and both Heather and Georgia swam PB’s.  Olivia had been unwell for most of the week and swam a little slower then normal.  A really pleasing effort by all of swimmers though.  The afternoon saw Nile and Zoe join us and both swam really well although not achieving PB’s they where both close and this early in the season it is encouraging.  Chloe has swum well the evening before and attained a PB and also a mention for Ex Swim Trafford athlete Lucy Grainge who also swam well and was welcomed into our team area on poolside.  Good luck to the swimmers on Sunday! I am hoping that the meet will provide good fuel for their training sessions over the next month until they compete again.  All are well capable and with James’ help and encouragement I am sure we will see some national qualifying times achieved.  I also have a lot to offer I think and have come away from the meet with some ideas and recommendations to speak to James about.

Thanks for reading and I will post again soon (is that a threat or a promise you may ask).

"Being your best is not so much about overcoming the barriers other people place in front of you as it is about overcoming the barriers we place in front of ourselves. It has nothing to do with how many times you win or lose. It has no relation to where you finish in a race or whether you break world records. But it does have everything to do with having the vision to dream, the courage to recover from adversity and the determination never to be shifted from your goals."

Kieren Perkins (Australian Swimming Legend)

Pain and Healing

Hey hey,

I have a couple of things to talk about this week so forgive me for a reasonably long blog.

The first item for discussion today will be a mini breakthrough I have had with my eczema.  On the recommendation of a friend I started to use Bio Oil (http://www.bio-oil.com/en/product/introduction)  after my shower every night on the affected areas mostly hands and legs.  Bio Oil is described as working on scars, stretch marks and dry skin conditions so I thought I would give it a try, I’ve tried damned near everything else for it!  Within 48 hours the hands where a lot better and the other areas started to heal to.  It’s now a week since I started to use the oil and my skin is feeling great there is still a little of the eczema remaining but my hands especially have responded very well to the oil.  For the first time in a long time I am not itching every five minutes and have pretty much full mobility in my hands!  If you suffer with dry skin conditions it really is very good (just wanting to share not being sponsored by Bio Oil!!!).  If it helps anyone else as much as it has me that would be amazing.

The fitness has been going great guns over the past few weeks in that it is now a firmly set routine and I am really enjoying it.  I have started to introduce some core muscle work now I have lost a fair bit of weight (Garry our engineer at work has started drilling new belt holes as I am to tight to go out and buy a new one!).  I have been working on a technique called the plank (http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/abdominalcorestrength1/qt/plank.htm) which is designed as a starting base to strengthen all of the core muscles I need to work on.  I have slotted in to my gym workout 3 x 30 seconds hold with 20 second rest in between.  This may not sound a lot but it is really testing me to the max.  At the end of each set I am physically shaking from the effort to hold the correct position.  I am sure it will get easier as I work on it and become stronger in my core areas.  I have also done the usual spinning with friends and done two Wattbike sessions which where really productive.  I am still yet to fit the swimming back in, which I really need to do.  I have to make some time somewhere to do this. 

I want to share some of the data I am working on for my Wattbike session just for interest really.  I performed a 3 minute all out test with Tony Jolly from Manchester Triathlon club (http://www.man-tri-club.org.uk/) so we could determine my average watts for the threshold workout.  After a three minute world of pain session we worked out that 80% of my maximum heart rate equated to roughly 240 watts.  This means that I have to hold 240 watts for 5 minutes then a 2 minute rest then repeat for five repetitions.  It is hard work but I am definitely improving and my heart rate recovery has improved immensly.  I intend on doing another test at some point this week to see if I have progressed and to see if I can increase the wattage requirement.  Watch this space.

The last thing I want to talk about this week is a friend of mine.  Rich had lymphoma a few years ago and got through it.  Rich writes a blog on BlogSpot (http://pedalprecision.blogspot.com ) and I cycle with him also.  In Rich’s latest blog he speaks about working for a charity called Cyclistsfc they obtain bikes for cancer families and have volunteers build them and deliver the bikes to the families.  Rich is also involved with a volunteer project for the Lymphoma Society whereby he buddies up with people who are going through what Rich had to a few years ago.  I just want to wish Rich well publically and say that he has inspired me to start to take a look at myself and how I can help others.  Over the next few weeks I am going to try and get involved with something that I can relate to and commit some time to.

Guys have a positive week.  Take your chances and opportunities and make sure you live each day to the full!

Fitness and Fireworks

Hey folks,

This week saw a return to the dreaded spinning.  I participated in one of James Jacksons 30minute spinning sessions at Stretford Leisure Centre (http://www.traffordleisure.co.uk/centres/stretford/) .  It was severe interval training but it was fun.  I was full on the resistance for the climbs but really struggled with the standing sprints.  They are not something that comes naturally to me as I don’t really sprint as such when out riding.  I could not seem to get the legs going very fast at all.  I did work hard during the session though and that’s what counts.

On Friday some of us regrouped to do a 45 minute spinning class in the same vain as the one I have posted previously but I did change the music, which went down well.  It was an all James affair with James Moffatt, James Stannard and myself all putting in a good tilt and working hard.  If you fancy coming down I have started a Facebook group called Impromptu Spinning @ Stretford Leisure Centre.  If you ask me or add me to your friends list I post a time each week that I am going to run the session.

I did a couple of other great workouts this week two threshold sessions on the Wattbike and a decent two gym workouts.  Again I haven’t been in the pool this week I am finding it hard to fit it in on top of everything else.  I really need to get on it and put some hard miles in.  I just want to talk a little bit about the Wattbikes.  I use them to do threshold sets.  This is where I work at 80% of a pre calculated maximum for sets of 5 minutes with a 2 minute recovery in between each set.  The complete workout lasts 35minutes and I am pretty much spent by the end of it.  I’m really hoping that the dropping of weight and the maintenance of leg power will see my climbing ability on the bike drastically improve.  I suspect the power to weight ratio will be pretty good by the end of this training and weight loss cycle.  The other good thing about the Wattbikes is that I can have a look at my pedalling efficiency and make sure that I am using the best technique.  It has been pretty hard to maintain a good shape but I think I am finally getting the hang of it.  I have to say my left leg is still slightly dominant in that there is a 51% > 49% split.

This Saturday we went as a family to Chassen Road Fireworks display and bonfire.  The event was supporting Swim Trafford and a percentage of the money raised will go to helping the club to continue to produce excellent swimmers.  The display itself was probably attended by upwards of 1500 people and they where not disappointed by a truly excellent fireworks display.  The event had a great family feel to it and my little one, the Mrs and the sister in law really enjoyed it.

Have a great week!

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.”  Aristotle

Nutrition Powerpoint

Hey all,

Below is the link to the Nutrition Seminar i did for the Swim Trafford Squad.  It's a basic introduction and over the next few months i will be putting together some more technical ananlysis for them on an individual basis.

Nutrition Powerpoint

if you have any questions of queries don't hesitate to get in touch.  Enjoy!

Elite Performers

Heyas

This week was a loooong week.  Got some really good exercise sessions in including a couple of intense spinning sessions (see previous post).  The practice session I did with James Moffatt was great and then the main event with the Swim Trafford Elite Performance Squad (http://www.swimtrafford.co.uk/ ) went down a treat on Friday morning.  The kids really put a lot of effort in and that made the session fulfilling.  They also got a lot out of it I think and provided great variety to their training sessions.  We even got the coach doing some press ups for going to the loo mid session what a mistaka to maka.  I did the session voluntarily and had not done a lot of volunteer work in the past.  I can now see a little bit more clearly why people do it it was very rewarding mentally and it was nice that they all appreciated the session.  I intend to do a session when asked but am going to put a regular session on at Stretford Leisure Centre every week if I can just for anyone to come along to.  I have set up a group on Facebook called Impromptu Spinning at Stretford LC if you poke me I will invite you to it!  I really enjoyed planning the session out and putting the music to the set it was very nice and a break from the norm!  The kids where also given a presentation I prepared on basic nutrition on Monday to try and help their preperation for the major events this year.  I will try and post that mid week as soon as I have worked out how to put a powerpoint presentation on here!

I did three high quality gym sessions working hard this week.  The routine was as follows;

Ø      1000 metre row to warm up

Ø      Full body stretching session 15minutes

Ø      23minutes Crosstrainer – Random setting level 11 keeping rpm into the 80’s.

Ø      3 sets of 12 reps  - Freeweights – Lateral Raises, Push Presses, bicep curls (Toning)

(http://www.dumbbell-exercises.com/exercises/shoulders/index.html#8)

Ø      3 x 12 – Chest press, lat pull downs, inside and outside thighs (Toning weight)

Ø      15min hill walk (Knee is still a little dodgy for running)

Ø      Full body stretch down

The gym sessions I am mostly working on upper body toning to make sure that I have underlying muscle that is burning fat whilst at rest.  I don’t want to put to much muscle on as I want to lose the weight to make the cycling easier especially the hill climbing.  I have commuted on the bike again this week and accumulated approximately 50km done over the week.   No swimming this week unfortunately.  I will have to start habit forming with that it seems to be the one item that is getting dropped all the time.

I have recently purchased two books with the purpose of having a plan for next year cycling wise.  I know that my good friend Rich at www.pedalprecision.com is planning some things for next year so will be looking forward to what he has planned to.  The books I have bought are;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0711231206 - 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs: A Road Cyclist's Guide to Britain's Hills

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0857386247 - Mountain High: Europe's 50 Greatest Cycle Climbs

They are both really nice books.  The European climbs is a nice work its got pictures (important for me!) and has good descriptive on the climb including a contour of the climb itself.  The plan is for me to pull together a list of rides and just start crossing them off next year!!

So food hasn’t been a problem this week apart from a Subway on Friday.  It was a long day so please let me off!

Have a good week and thanks for reading.  Please feel free to leave a comment!

Spinning Session

Hi all

Midweek blog to share the spinning session i am putting on for Swim Trafford Elite Swimming Squad on Friday.

Song	Time	Purpose
Good People – Jack Johnson	Intro	Bit of welcome music whilst people set up bikes and get sorted
I Need Dollar – Aloe Blacc	Intro	Bit of welcome music whilst people set up bikes and get sorted
Buck Rodgers - Feeder	3.12mins	Warm Up – Low Res
Lasso - Phoenix	2:48mins	Warm up – Med res quick legs
Poker Face – Lady Gaga	4.00mins	First climb. 2 x 1.5min splits high res to beat
Let You Go – Chase n Status	4.00mins	2 x 45sec sprints – rest high tempo flat pace
Give Me Everything – Ne Yo	4.00mins	1min spin legs, water break then med res spin to end
Burning Heart – Rocky Soundtrack	4.00mins	Second climb. 3min High res to beat. 1 min spin out.
Sweat – David Guetta	3.16mins	2 x 1min sprints at med res
Gold Dust – DJ Fresh	3:14mins	Flat high tempo med res 65% - 75% effort
Need to Feel Loved – Pacha	6.30mins	Last Climb. High res 2 x 2.5min climbs to beat 30 secs rest in between
If We Ever – High Contrast	5.07mins	Flat sprint 3 x 30 secs burst sprints 15secs rest in between then low res into cool down
She Said – Plan B	3.29mins	Cool Down – Spinning low res arm stretches
Human – The Killers	4.05mins	Off bike leg and back stretches

I am going to try and put on some impromptu spinning sessions over the winter at Stretford Leisure Centre so keep your eyes peeled and if you want to come give me a email!

Cheers

James

Failing

I was a little stumped as to what to talk about this week.  I have had an average week in the gym and on the Wattbikes so not much new there.  I’m still working hard and enjoying it but the outdoor cycling has taken a backseat now.  I am settling in to a winter training regime.

I was having a mental wobble on the Wattbike midweek I was onto my 3^rd set of 5 threshold workout and was about to call it a day as I was tired.  Then I thought about some inspirational people that I have either known or know and it spurred me on to finish the workout and give me a mental boost.  This led me on to thinking about why people are overweight/obese.  Having known both ends of that particular scale it got me to thinking.  My theory is that the weight is easily gained but to gain a large amount it does take a significant amount of time.  The realisation that you have gained weight unless you monitor closely probably doesn’t dawn on you until you realise your clothes are to small etc.  In much the same way losing weight is very difficult to achieve as it relies on an individuals motivation to take a long term approach to losing the weight.  It’s not a quick battle as I am coming to realise.  I have been losing an average of about 2 pounds every two weeks.  This is healthy for me and much more sustainable then a rapid dropping of weight.  It has taken me a few months to shift a stone and a half.  The point I’m trying to make is that the battle is mostly that of attrition and whether the person has the mental strength and desire to lose weight over a long period of time.  What satisfied me whilst I sat on the Wattbike cooling down was the fact that the exercise routine is now habitual and I no longer consider it a chore.  What was also pleasing was that I found the part of me that likes to compete I’d lost it over the last ten years and it showed itself again to me.  I am looking forward to next seasons cycling!

I have given up on the food recording.  It’s a great way to ‘diet’ and I would recommend it to anyone but it’s not for me.  I am mostly eating healthily and have cut out a lot of the fast food eating etc.  I am also not eating a load of crap at work because I don’t take my wallet simple effective way of not raiding the vending machines!

Lastly my swimming session this week was very productive again doing intervals.  Four lengths flat out two front crawl and two breastroke with a 30sec interval.  40 lengths completed very pleased.  Need to get in more but my eczema does not like the pool so I will have to try something to get around it!

Leave you with a quote I like…

“People don’t always remember the words you have said to them, but they will always remember the way you made them feel” Unknown

You’ve dropped something…

Hey y’all, had some positive stuff going on this week with a sprinkling of negativity and a hint of technical issues.

Still feeling a little blue over events at work.  We have a ‘team’ meeting on Thursday so I am hoping to resolve some things there.  Not sure which tact to take to be honest.  Just throw it out there or just generally chat about the issue without naming names.  I’ll have to have a think about the best way to handle things this week and see what happens.

It’s been a proper mixed bag on my favourite topic, the weather, this week.  Monday through to Thursday it was pissing it down non-stop.  It at least seemed that way.  My new mudguards are working fantastically well I am so chuffed with them.  Not having a wet arse crack when getting to work after its being pissing it down is such a good feeling.  I am deeply deeply in love with two bits of plastic.  My bike and I have had a falling out this week.  After a few shandies on Thursday night I left the bike at work as I would have been unable to cycle I don’t think.  I went to pick it up on Friday thought it’s a nice day I will walk, got all of my gear on and went to clip in and the pedals and chain are moving but not the wheel…so I had to walk the bike all the way to Evans in town to get it fixed.  On the way back something rather funny happened.  In my youth I would, with friends, drive passed people and shout out of the window “you dropped something” much to everyone’s amusement.  Someone actually did this to me on Friday and I fell for it hook line and sinker I was off back down the road looking for the wallet I had dropped before realising it was in my zip pocket in the bag what a dufus.

On to the exercise and ‘diet’ had a very good experience this week.  Managed to swim half a mile (33 lengths of a 25m pool) on Thursday.  It’s a first for me and I was more then a little chuffed.  If I am going to do a sprint triathlon next year it’s a good start.  Admittedly I need to work on keeping my stroke consistent as it was all about the breathing for the last 15 lengths or so but hey that will come.  Had a couple of very productive gym session also this week and a good Wattbike session so I am very happy with the way things have gone this week.  Dietary wise it’s also been a good week I scored 49 points (even going over a few units of alcohol on Thursday) so I am pleased with that.  I may even see if I can ‘spend’ the points somewhere.

In other news I have bought two books this week to do with cycling of course!  50 Biggest Climbs in Europe and 100 British Climbs.  I’ll be honest I didn’t know the UK had a 100 climbs to climb so should be an interesting read.  I think it may be fun to come up with some sort of chart and start to knock them off as I’m going.  Obviously the European ones will be difficult as they tend to involve mountains rather then hills.

I finally finished the physio sessions this week. Marek (www.MHCPT.co.uk) has given me some exercises to do and signed me off.  The shoulder is really good and I am well pleased with his efforts.  It did hurt for a few sessions but no pain no gain don’t they say.  I would recommend him to anyone with an injury of any type.

So take care have a good week and stay focused on your goals.