Week 10/11 - It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Well we are into the month of December and the year is almost done. Yet we cram more into this month than most others in terms of shopping, partying, cooking and cleaning. There is an advert for Asda at the moment showing a mum making several trips there buying food and presents, putting up the tree and decorations, wrapping, making up extra beds and cooking the meal. It has received complaints that it is sexist. But my only criticism would be that she managed to get everything she needed from Asda!! From experience I've found that I always come away from a supermarket having been unable to purchase at least 3 items on my list. Last year I ordered from Tesco online everything I needed to cook Christmas dinner for my team. There was turkey, potatoes, vegetables, stuffing mix etc. I also ordered cartons of ready made gravy. When the delivery driver arrived he felt embarrassed to tell me that they were out of stock on the gravy so they had substituted it with Barbecue Chicken Sauce!!! My guests would've loved that poured over their dinners. Lol.








I had my now annual (well 2nd year running anyway) team Christmas Dinner at my house last week. My first night of drinking alcohol for 8 weeks. Everybody tells me they had a great time and I thoroughly enjoyed myself but the hangover on Sunday was definitely something I haven't missed. The day was a complete waste and it made me realise that in future I'd rather not get so slaughtered that I'm incapacitated the whole next day. Obviously there will still be occasions and events where I'll enjoy myself and not worry but I think after 12 weeks of not doing it the urge to sit at home on a Saturday night and drink up to 2 bottles of wine has passed.

This is one example of the changes I'm making in my life. Routine and repetition create normality. It is a given these days that I get up each morning and prepare my breakfast and lunch as well as taking, and putting aside for later, the numerous vitamins and supplements I now have. I went out for dinner last week but skipped dessert. Not because I felt guilty but because I was full. Trust me normally that wouldn't have stopped me and I'd 'find' room!!

The training in the last couple of weeks has picked up the pace somewhat. Lee is throwing more at me with shorter rests and I'm pleased to say I'm sticking with it. For example last week instead of just rowing 100m with 30 seconds rest then going again for 7 rounds this time I rowed 100m then straight off and 20 seconds of press ups (approx 12). Then straight back on the rower for another 100m and off again for 20 seconds of shoulder presses. Straight back to 100m row then 20 seconds of squats with a 25kilo dumbbell. Once I'd finished that I had a minute's rest before repeating. Then another minutes rest and a final third set. In total I rowed 900 metres, did 36 press ups, approx 36 shoulder presses and 36 squats. In about 12 minutes. After this I did a Tabata session of 20 seconds of lunges followed by a plank for 20 seconds followed by 20 seconds rest x 8. I've now done 12 weeks (24 sessions) with Lee and I'm proud that I haven't skipped training once in that time.

http://sport.exeter.ac.uk/aboutus/

But here's the thing. I'm starting to notice my body more. When I do press ups I'm holding my core and my arms aren't wobbling from the first one. Those first 2 sets of 12 I did were fine but the last few of the final set were draining. And I can feel the beginnings of biceps and triceps. I'm not claiming to have the "guns" just yet but there is definitely something harder there that was extremely soft before.

On Monday Ash was watching me train a similar session to the one I described above and felt I should come to RockSolidCircuits. This is a circuits session at University of Exeter Sports Hall run by Martin Hewlett and aimed at people doing www.RockSolidRace.com. It is described thus:

10 stations, 25 reps on each station, repeat x 4
Giving 100 reps on each station
Against the clock - 35 minutes
Only one person managed it last time.

So wish me luck folks as I'm doing it this Monday. Lee is going to do it with me for support. If you do it already and read this before Monday please don't judge me too harshly. Lol.

I have a friend, Chris, who has lost an amazing 56lbs over the last few months. He was telling me the other day he now spends 10 hours a week in the gym. It is addictive. But as it's Christmas I thought I'd share a story about Chris from a few years ago. Not sure if it translates from a spoken story to somebody reading it but here goes anyway.

Chris went to a works Xmas party a few years back and needed to book a taxi to get home. Every company he tried said the same thing. Nothing available for at least 2 hours (it was the weekend before Xmas). The quickest driving route was 3 junctions up the M60 motorway, approx 4 miles. Having had a few (several) drinks Chris reasoned with himself that he could walk along the hard shoulder and cover the distance quicker than waiting for a taxi. So he set off and made steady progress. He was maybe 800 metres from the slip road when a police car pulled up alongside him. The officer wound down his window and sternly said "get in" to which Chris replied "you're alright mate, I'm getting off at the next junction". Needless to say it wasn't so much an offer as a demand so Chris was driven off and dumped at the bottom of the slip road despite his pointing out that "they may as well drop him off at home now as its only another 2 minutes up the road".

Finally I've been mentioning for weeks about getting a bike. Well it finally got sorted and I picked it up yesterday. This Saturday is our work Xmas party but I'm hoping I feel fresh enough the next morning to go for a ride before settling in for the afternoon watching the Manchester derby match. Come on you Reds.





As always thanks for reading

An ever decreasing Dave.


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Location:Yew Tree Close,Exeter,United Kingdom