Christmas 2010

Well here we are another year has almost come and gone and so quickly too I cant believe it, despite so many set backs I cant help but see this year as a positive one I have grown as a person in so many ways I can hardly recognize the man in the mirror anymore he is a good bloke, loads of potential positive and focused yet as mellow as a warm summers evening you know what I like him he rocks.
Anyway the weather here is still cold as heck compared to the rest of the country we are getting off light but then again we always do, I wish it would either thaw out or just snow more because the ice is lethal to ride on next year for sure I am investing in some studded tire's  they are about £60 each but worth it as I will be much safer and can ride pretty much all year, I think we have had snow and ice for about a month and a half now and as much as I love the colder climate it has meant so many lost workout sessions on the bike and I have been eating more to keep my energy levels up so not a good, this said I have been getting out and about as best I can and the only problem other than trying not to slide down the road on my ass is my feet I need to find a better solution as my summer shoes are too light weight.....that or buy an indoor trainer.


I got to admit I have been dreading Christmas but this year like the things are different for one I am not bunged up with cold and flu (that was in November) and more important I was worried my will power would crack with all the food on offer in my house but I have been good yes I have had chocolate but hardly any compared to the amount I used to devour and my family have been great too smaller dinner portions and respecting the fact I just don't eat what I used too and helping me on my journey.
And speaking of help the family gave me some great gifts this year, I have written here before that I would love a quality GPS tracker and I had been looking at both the Garmin Edge 500 and the Forerunner 305, the edge 500 is a cycling dedicated unit whereas the Forerunner 305 is a multi sport unit that would be more useful to me, well the decision was made by my family who bought me the Forerunner 305 for Christmas, given how costly these are I never expected it and had been saving for one myself so as you can tell I am pretty happy.


I finally managed to get a ride out today and a chance to play with my Garmin, I got up reasonably early and kindly declined the offer of a cooked breakfast and put my gear on and headed out, the cycle paths were pretty slippy in fact some areas were just pure ice including the last leg to Plymbridge how I stayed rubber down I don't know but I did.

Embankment looking across the river Plym towards the snow covered headland over at Jenny Cliff
 

A frozen Plymbridge

I actually felt pretty good on the ride, I stopped here and there to stamp some warmth back into my feet but other than that I managed and even pace back home for a nice cup of coffee and to have a geekgasm over the new data from my GPS.

So how about my #DecGTD well as per my last post you will know that I am feeling frustrated about the lack of time working out I have managed to get in but given the weather it was to be understood and I have been very tired and injured but there are other ways I can get sessions in from just doing my walk around the block and my body weight exercises hell even on the Wii fit so unless I am broken then I have no valid excuses for not working out I know that I can cover the distances now and I am strong enough in head and body to put the time in, on the plus side I am still being mindful about my eating habits not great but good and that in itself is a key part of the battle I think for January it is time to bring everything together I know I can eat well, I know I can exercise well I just need to put all the parts together into a plan and have a back up plan for when things don't go so well like the weather for example and most of all stick to it, the last few days of #DecGTD are going to be spent working out, sewing and sorting my goal for #JanGTD and the aims for the next 6-12 months.

Well that's all for now, I am going to unthread the cock up I made on my cross stitch last night, hoping to have it done for new years eve so I can start the K9 design, next blog will be new years eve with more training, cross stitch and hoping some photo's from the beach/moors so until then take care out there.

Catch up time

Okay this is a long time coming but like always one thing leads to another and next thing you know well here I am, I cant say this has been a productive month so far for my #DecGTD goals a damaged knee and my legs have been given me some problems and lets not forget the weather, speaking of the legs I popped back to my doctor for some more leggings, they are healing but it is terribly slow and may put me on medication to help with the fluids pooling in my legs but first I have to go see the Vascular Specialist for another more thorough Doppler scan of the veins in my legs to determine precisely what is the cause of the problems but more about that later first off the best weekend of the year!

A few months ago I was lucky enough to have access to advance sales for Faithless latest arena tour, so after a quick call to my brother "you up for it too?" and the tickets were purchased and I am already excited big time, that weekend must have been marked for a weekend of win as I was also invited  to the Sussex Muddy@rse Christmas dinner on the Friday, so a quick call to my boss and an extra day off was secured and I was soon rolling in my Astra the 200+ miles up to Brighton and my brothers place, the meal was really nice I went with the classic soup for starter ( this was awesome and i could have made a meal out of that alone) then a turkey dinner for main course and finishing off with Christmas pudding, all in all despite being tired from the drive up it was a lovely evening and a great chance to catch up and enjoy the company of friends I sadly don't get to see very often. The Saturday was the big day and the day of the gig and more important time with my nephews  who I really connected with for the first time and played with them almost all day and I was also able to take a little strain off my brother and sister in law.
Gig time, we decided to take our time getting up there and made it in time for the second support act who were pretty good too so we chilled out with a beer before Faithless came on and man they came on strong they simply blew my mind, even now the though of it sends a tingle down my spine and despite a very bad knee and legs I was soon bouncing and dancing in the crowd it was electric and I think this vid sums up a lot of it as I simply don't have the words.

The gig was awesome and the chaotic journey home now started we got to the tube station to find the tube had been canceled and there was no train to take people away so bad was the crowds that they had to close the station, luckily not before we got to the platform, well after several very cramped and crowded tube rides we made it to the train station were we found we had missed the train that would take us close to my brothers place so instead we had to wait an hour and head back on the last train to Brighton that stops at every station along the way so we finally got back home about 3amand headed to bed only to be woken up 3 hours later by two little sleep terrorists also know as my nephews.

That was one hell of a weekend and I was quite taken back on the way too and at the gig as women seemed to be smiling and talking to me, I was just in a hoodie and sweats ready to dance, maybe it was my new found sense of self or what ever but it was nice and helped me bounce a little higher, only down side to the whole weekend was my blown knee the lack of sleep and my legs were so full of fluid that I cold not train for a few days. I was also pretty good with my food intake, nothing but good wholesome food and zero junk until the drive home when I simply had a chocolate bar to pick my energy up so I could drive. Faithless are playing the O2 again next year i will do everything I can to get tickets for the floor again and I heartily encourage everyone to see them live.

Looking at my #DecGTD record sheet it is not looking good, yet another month were I am at the mercy of several niggling injuries and some pretty harsh weather, when I do feel okay I am taking the safe option of walking instead of riding and I managed to get my first body weight session done it was just 30 mins but It was good. I have a simple routine 10 reps of sit-ups/press ups/squats/bicep curls for 2 sets then 2 sets of 12 reps and in between each set of reps I ran on the spot for 30 sec although i will probably change the run to star jumps instead, over the year I am going to add more reps and sets and exercises as my fitness improves and build it into 2 sessions a week to give balance to my cycling and walking resulting in a good all round fitness that should see my pretty injury free and looking even more confident than I do now.

Okay it is not often I openly talk about how I feel but here it is open heart time, I feel like a light weight a fraud even, with so many missed sessions due to all the little problems my goals are always high but I like to stretch myself to achieve them and move the bar when I do but I am getting so little done, the weather is nasty here and I don't want to risk riding on the ice and falling off as it takes ages for my legs to heal then there was my knee going out and being away for a long weekend that I actually had to recover from and well I feel like I am letting me and everyone down, I am talking the talk but I am not walking the walk so to speak. I have said that December was always going to be a limbo month to get the holiday season out of the way so I can focus on doing what is right for me for my #mefirst, getting suck into training and being mindful of everything I do, in my defense I have been better with food and I only eat what I want and stop when I have had enough, that alone is worth celebrating as it is breaking with a life time of programming.

Anyway that's enough for now sleep time beckons.