Gay Village and the Lycra

Heyas!  So this week was pretty positive on the whole.  I managed to get to big cycles in without much pain and amassed a personal best total kilometres cycled of 90.2km.  I’m really pleased with this it show great progress and I’m starting to be able to get into old clothes again.  I guess its going to be expensive when I get to the weight I want as I will need a few new bits and bobs.  I hate clothes shopping!

So the week ended with me letting Ted down I was meant to go for a ride this morning with him but Steph came through from Sheffield and what was meant to be a few in Sale a chat and home by 23:00 ended up with me drunk in AXM in the gay village rolling in home at 03:30 so apologies Ted!!  You may have been thinking from the title that I was wearing lycra in the Gay Village, I’m sure some of you had lovely images of me in a mankini or such may it haunt your nightmares this wasn’t the case however I have bought some cycling shorts to do the Manchester to Blackpool ride (you will donate here http://www.justgiving.com/James-Crossland)  in so I was testing them out on the ride this evening.  I did my usual loop of Manchester and came in under an hour which was pleasing and my best time yet!  So its either the hangover making me ride better or the lycra you can decide!

Exercise;

Cycling (Commuting);            42.93km

Cycling (Leisure Ride);           47.27km – 2hours

Just finally before I leave you there for this week please follow this link and have a read of the story http://www.eczema.org/the_itch_goes_on_-_ian.html it could really be me who has written it as it is very similar to what I go through.  I am trying to get you to just understand a little more even if you’re still unwilling to sponsor me.

Have a good week!!

There’s no crisis here to see…

So this Friday I turned 31 and like the Greek banking crisis I haven’t gone into meltdown as yet (though a midlife crisis in a few years sounds like fun!)  It’s a number and doesn’t really relate to much tbh.  I still feel like I was 18 although my body does seem to be trying to bring me to the present by being injured for longer and not according me the ability to drop this weight as fast as I was hoping!!

Thanks everyone for the birthday messages and Facebook messages etc it was much appreciated as I know I can be an unsociable bugger sometimes!  I do feel the need to keep in touch with people on a more regular basis but my lacking of motivation to even type a text or an email is outstanding.  However if you do feel like getting in touch do so I am a lot better at replying then instigating tbh!

I was meaning to get out on the bike this weekend but one of the side effects of having a birthday meal at F&B’s seems to have been a very upset stomach.  Don’t worry I won’t go into more detail as I’m guessing you can pretty much use your imagination!

So onto the exercise I have again been cycling to work this week and have also done another 23km ride, roughly taking me about an hour.  I am going to look to increase this a little further during the coming week at some point.  I really need to get back into the gym but the last thing I want to do after a shift is spend another hour in the gym at work.  I have toyed with joining a gym in town but then reasoning says why should I pay when I can use the gym for free at work…Catch 22.  I have also being toying with the idea of going to Pilates.  This may sound like a strange choice but it will help with my flexibility, muscle tone and core strength.  At the moment my back is thinking where the hell did all the weight go off the front and I think the muscles have relaxed somewhat causing me a little back ache!

Cycling (Commuting);            23 km

Cycling (Leisure Ride);           23 km – 1hour

So I’m still looking for sponsors if you haven’t already please visit the link below.  If you have then I really appreciate it and will be looking to sponsor people who are doing charity events etc.

http://www.justgiving.com/James-Crossland

Have a good week all!!

Considering football retirement sorry Fabio

Hey folks,

So we played a football tournament last week for Stretford.  Everyone who played got burnt I think and it’s now Wednesday and my burns are still aching.  The worst of my injuries is my knee though

 

It’s really restricted my efforts this week in that I can hardly walk on it at all.  I have managed to cycle to and from work but not anywhere near the intensity it’s basically just turning my legs over.  Those of you who have known me for sometime know I have had problems with this knee couple of breaks in the past etc so I think I may call time on my football career.  I may be enticed out for the odd 11’a’side but tournaments I think are a thing of the past.  Enough whinging anyways we reached the semi’s of the tournament and lost to the eventual winners.  Well played to everyone who played and Selina for organising for us!!

My energy levels at the start of the week have been very poor and I’m not sure why.  Maybe the tournament itself or the sunburn or my knee injury but I have been very lethargic and getting tired early on an evening.  Later on in the week though I got back to about normal again and did a nice long ride out on the bike on Friday.  My knee is still aching somewhat but I am sure this will pass in a week or so.  I have bought some vitamin tablets to try and make up for any shortfalls in vitamins somewhere and I must start to drink more water again as I have let this slip over the past week.

POSITIVE news is that I have signed up for the Manchester to Blackpool cycle on July 10^th.  It is approximately 60 miles so a little training is in order I reckon.  I will be doing the ride for charity so if you want to sponsor me please visit

http://www.justgiving.com/James-Crossland

I will be riding for the Eczema Society as I have suffered with Eczema most of my 30 years so it’s a charity close to my heart they do a lot of great work for people who suffer with eczema and for the families. 1 in 3 children and 1 in 12 adults will suffer from eczema and it is a very debilitating disease in some cases.

Exercise;

Cycling (Commuting);          42.83km

Cycling (Leisure);                 22km

So hopefully the sunburn and knee injury will be right by next week and I can get back in to some sort of gym/wattbike/cycling routine again.  I will be 31 years old in 5 days also!!

Have a great week everyone and make sure you sponsor me please!!

No Butch Cassidy but definitely the Sundance Kid

So Bank Holiday Monday was spent sat on my arse at my PC playing RIFT (MMORPG – Mass Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game).  Online content has been something of an addiction for me over the last 6-7 years.  I played World of Warcraft for 6 years and have now moved on to a new game called RIFT which is similar.  I say it’s an addiction light heartedly but I seem to play most days for at least an hour or two.  I am a lot better then I was at managing my time though and don’t play RIFT half as much as the crack cocaine of games World of Warcraft and I’m glad of this.  I can’t say gaming caused me to put on weight (leave the keyboard for food WTH) but the days spent mashing keys didn’t help my gym routine a whole lot as you can imagine! 

This week also found Lindsey, Evie and I at our first wedding as a family the lovely May and Mats wedding.  The day was amazing from start to finish I nearly ended up in Sheffield after sitting on the wrong train and only realising about 30seconds before my train set off so having to run down the platform to my train, I think the train guard was somewhat amused to see a 20 stone guy running at him shouting I was on the wrong train in a rather Wallace and Gromitt type it’s the wrong trousers voice.  Anyway back to the main point the weeding was fab got to see some of my favourite people even though they are Lindseys’ friends I just steal them at all the weddings, and I have to admit got a little tipsy on red wine and cognac.  The Chinese meal was awesome and everyone had a great time it was a nice change of pace!

Saturday saw the Stretford 7 a side wonder team play in the TCLT (Trafford Community Leisure Trust) football tournament at partington Sports Village.  It went well we got to the Semi’s then got knocked out by the eventual winners.  So Sunday came around and there are a few issues…one legs, arms and neck are red raw from sunburn it was deceptive in that the sun was out but it was windy and none of us realised the effect until we were sat in the car on the way home looking like the Glowing Ready Brek man on the porridge boxes.  My knee is also killing me and to quote Srgt Murtagh (Lethal Weapon) “I am getting to old for this shit”

So Wednesday onwards saw a more regimented approach to the food again which I am finding easier and I have been more focused on exercise again!

Exercise;

Cycling (Commuting);            36.19km

Cycling (Leisure Ride);           16.83km – 45mins

Wattbike Session:                    1 x 10km sprints

Gym x 1sessions                      Run 2km (10.2kph – incline 2.0)

                                                Chest Press 12reps x 3 sets x 40kg

                                                Lat Pull Downs 12reps x 3 sets x 35kg

Enjoy your week guys!  BUY SUNCREAM!!!!!

Hahaha that guy fell off his bike what a prick…

So after the high of last week I let myself down a bit this week on the food side of things.  Had a Dominos on Tuesday and a Mcd’s also so a bit annoyed tbh.  Sainsburys are bringing out their second set menu next week so hopefully will be able to get on that!  This week has been bitty food wise not eaten particularly badly just not conventional meals which meant snacking so that was loose to.

On the exercise front the running I’ve extended to 2km which is positive and is testing me.  Until I lose a few stone running is going to be hard I think I just have to persevere with it and push on.  Ok so the news of the week the weather finally eased up on Wednesday so I could venture out on the new bike.  All was going well (other then I couldn’t work the gears out) I had managed to get my pedals out of the new clips a few times and was gaining confidence then my third set of lights.  So I get my left foot out of the pedal and approach the lights I pulled the brakes and the weight shifted to the right, I try to move my right foot off the pedal to balance…oh no its still clipped in…timbbbbbbbeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrr crash and theres me lying in the road with bike still attached pissing myself laughing and all the people in their cars looking at me what a nab!

Exercise;

Cycling (Commuting);            40.8km

Wattbike Session:                    2 x 10km sprints

Gym x 2sessions                      Run 2km (10.2kph – incline 2.0)

                                                Chest Press 12reps x 3 sets x 40kg

                                                Lat Pull Downs 12reps x 3 sets x 35kg

Cheers for checking in with me guys its really motivating to see the amount of hits I’ve had on my stat page its nearing 500 in 8 weeks so I’m pleased with that!!