Good route, bad route signage

National cycle routes.  They're a great idea, but ohboy is the signage on the routes a bit pants at times.  So, I got a bit lost today:-

See that lovely bit where I go 'round in almost circles a couple of times between Shepperton and Chertsey?  That's because there's a critical junction where National Route 4 is sign posted in only one direction, but it's a little loop if you're coming in one direction so you cross it when you're going the other way and can end up going the other way and not noticing it.  Especially if you're taking the alternative bit of the route to avoid the bike ferry crossing (which is only 3 quid for 1x adult with 1x bike and runs every 15 minutes on request by ringing a bell).

(I left the HRM on all the time, even when stopped for food/drink/route checks.  But accidentally ended recording about 59 minutes in to the ride when I stopped for a wee at the one of the locks and thus ended up with two sessions recorded for it.)

Anyway, it wasn't the end of the world and the route section I cycled today from Kingston, out West and back again, was a mix of road, on-pavement cycle path, gravel track, dirt track and paved pedestrian/bike shared use paths.  The majority of the surface and traffic conditions meant that I mostly kept to my objective today of staying in heart rate zone 1.  There was one hill which could have ruined it all, but thanks to the advice from Jonny Brownlee last week about getting into an appropriate gear -before- the hill starts rather than my old habit of hitting the base of a hill in a reasonably high gear and then trying to go down through the gears as I slow down (thus losing power quite rapidly), I managed to keep my heart rate much lower than usual on that hill.  The tow path along the side of the river was almost cobbled in places, otherwise dirt/mud tracks with exposed roots, pot-holes and lots of Sunday cyclists, runners and families out with dogs, so I had to keep my speed down to be polite most of the time.  OK, so there were a few times on the way back where I had to keep things in check as I found myself somewhat lamping it as the wind was less right in my face in that direction and the general, gentle, downwards gradient.  And I stopped a few times for drinks and food (yeah, I -still- can't take a drink in the saddle whilst moving but I'm working on it).

All in all, a good ride.  Objectives met despite getting a little bit off course a few times.  Plus, I got a bit of work in on getting out of the saddle and there's a lot of improvement there too.  Not to the point it'll be useful to get up hills, but again I'll get there and there's still a good bit of time before I really need it.

Weird mix

Monday was excessive.  Really.  The race was good and then we went out for Mr TOTKat's birthday celebrations and I had far too much beer.  And ate my own body-weight in pistachio nuts at the pub.

So.  Yesterday I felt horrible all afternoon and evening.  Totally my own fault.  And, of course, the only way to fix feeling that kind of horrible was to eat lots of bad things, like takeaway pizza.  The result being that this morning I weighed the same as a walrus.  Yes yes about half of it is just transit pizza and will go away again, but the weekend was just over the top in general and I'm going to have to pay the price for that now.

This morning I felt better but still not great.  2kg up vs. Friday morning and feeling rough.  11am gym seemed like a ridiculous joke as it approached, but I went and did it anyway; tanked in a really good warm-up row, upped the clean and press from 3x10 17.5kg to 8, 8, 10 at 20kg.  And it was good :o)  And my trainer was around so I told him about the great triathlon result and the fact I'd upped the clean and press, and that I've hit the point on the assisted pull-up machine where the assist doesn't work any more and the platform just drops away, so he showed me an extra exercise to add in at the end of my current routine; 2x5 4 second negative motion pull-ups.  I reckon after a few goes at that I might actually be able to do a whole pull-up unassisted now.  *beam*

So now I feel a weird mix of great and rough, though the rough is starting to win again.

• warm up - 1km L7 on the rower
• squat and swing - 12kg dumbbell - 3x10 SUPERSET A
• pendulum swings - bodyweight - 3x10 x2 SUPERSET A
• lunge with cable row - 12.5kg - 3x10 x2 SUPERSET B
• side plank with row - 4kg dumbbell - 3x10 x2 SUPERSET B
• lunge with single arm swing opposite arm to knee - 4kg dumbbell - 3x10 x2 SUPERSET C
• planks - 3x 60s - SUPERSET C
• clean and press - 20kg bar bell - 8, 8, 10
• negative motion pull-up - bodyweight - 2x5 at 4s count for the drop
• 3x 30s sprints - cross-trainer L6
• cool down on the cross-trainer and stretch

B - greek yogurt with 1 scoop MP Max, blueberries and flaked almonds
S - banana
*gym*
S - 1 scoop MP Max in skimmed milk
L - salad; chicken, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, celery, beetroot, sweet peppers
S - carrot and houmous
D - salad; chicken, eggs, new potatoes, lettuce, sweet peppers, grapes and cherry tomatoes with honey, mustard & cider vinegar dressing

Exercise - 53 minutes gym

Calories (kcal) [kcals to maintain weight (inc. exercise)	1531 2259]
Protein (g)	158.4 (42.0%)
Carbohydrate (g)	144.3 (35.9%)
Fat (g)	37.1 (22.1%)
Fibre (g)	24.8
Fruit & Veg	14.0

*rage*

EDF are bastards. Power cuts of 8+ hours two night running, so no central heating (electric ignition) or hot water. So we went out for dinner last night and stayed in a hotel. Of course, this totally wrecked my food plans for the day AND it was a rest day so my allowance was low anyway. Cold, tired (didn't sleep well at all the last two nights) and generally very grumpy.

Not a happy bunny at all.

Dinner was nice though. Very nice. We tried a Japanese place just down the road, which specialises in Maki rolls. And the food was really tasty and not expensive either.

B - greek yogurt with fruit compote and walnut pieces on top
S - tiny slice of rye toast with ham and a mini babybel light
L - salad - spinach, goats cheese, peppers, tomato, capers, walnuts and lemon juice
S - 1 scoop whey in semi-skimmed milk
S - carrots and houmous
D - gyoza, followed by salmon maki rolls (shared) then teryaki beef with steamed rice with 2 bottles of beer and then a pint in the hotel bar before bed

Exercise - rest day

Calories (kcal) [kcals to maintain weight (inc. exercise)	2258 1802]
Protein (g)	115.0 (21%)
Carbohydrate (g)	212.0 (36.2%)
Fat (g)	67.9 (27.8%)
Alcohol (g)	46.9 (15%)
Fruit & Veg	8.0

Eating crow now alright

Having been so pleased with my lack of weight/fat gain over Christmas, I've just managed to weigh in 2.5kg heavier than 3 weeks ago. Way to go! AND I've done 3 really hard weights sessions this week where I've increased the weights quite significantly (for me - e.g. bicep curls which are new in this routine, I've upped from 5kg dumbbells to 7kg dumbbells in 3 sessions - 40% increase!) on some exercises and increased a bit on most. I ache like a bugger and my belly is wobbling; nice contrast there! I don't fit into shirts I fitted into nicely 3 weeks ago. It's all down to bad eating and too much drinking. I know that. I had a huge pile of bread yesterday for the first time in a very very long time and my stomach was phenomenally uncomfortable afterwards - I'm just not used to eating bread much any more.

So. Never has it been a better time to get a grip on food and drink and get back to doing things properly, and in fact take things up a notch:-

• I will complete 3 weights sessions per week (not a feeble 2; but work commitments may torpedo this sometimes) of 40+ minutes.
• I will complete 1-3 cardio sessions a week of 30+ minutes hard effort.
• I will take part in at least 2 of the 4 Thames Turbo sprint triathlon series.
• I will increase my protein intake overall as a proportion of my daily nutrition - by using protein supplements where/if necessary.
  
• I will significantly decrease my intake of simple carbohydrates; bread (eat that maybe once a week anyway), potatoes, pasta (almost never eat that anyway)
• I will not cut out couscous (I like it a lot and it's a great complex carbohydrate)
• I will have no more than 1/2 bottle of wine per week (or 2x cans of lower alcohol beer) and it will count as a cheat/free meal in itself.
• I will post my food and exercise plan/results every day (90% of the time averaged over a month)
  

And the lesser ones:-

• I will try yogurt with fruit in/on and maybe some nuts for breakfast at least 4 times before giving up if I don't like it.
• I will make lunches up in bulk a couple of days in advance to make things easier.
• I will try to fear nuts less as a snack - yes they're very calorific for their weight/bulk but they -are- good for me in small amounts.
• I will eat bananas as a snack before exercise only (or within 2 hours either side of it, but at no other times)

Wish me luck; it's going to take a bit more discipline than I've been maintaining the last few months.

I've got a skiing holiday in March which may mess things up a bit due to "Sno Camp" being on a Thursday for six weeks which means no weights on Wednesday or Friday as it looks like there will be at least some strength training in those sessions. Not quite worked out how to work around that and keep up the cardio and have 2 rest days in the week, so we're thinking maybe that it'd be better not to do "Sno Camp" at all; it's bound to be targetted at people who have done bugger all exercise all year anyway - and... have you -seen- my thighs?