The day my bike broke

I haven't been doing lots recently, been feeling pretty drained, had a few bad nights of sleep which has carried over into the day. Attempting to get myself into a routine still so getting up as if I had a 9am lecture tomorrow even though it isn't until 10. On the way back from my lecture today my bike broke. Having looked at it, as far as I can tell the bolt that runs through the centre of the rear wheel and through the gears has been sheared (or should the be shorn?) right through. Going to take it to Halfords on Friday as I have a rather busy day tomorrow and I don't want to be fighting the rush hour traffic in the early morning or the evening. I guess this means I'll have to give running another go, may do some tomorrow morning or hopefully tomorrow evening depending on work and how I'm feeling. Got 2 long shifts at the millenium Stadium this weekend for the rugby league games and so I'll attempt to update again on Friday, if I don't its likely I won't update until next week some time.

Wettest ride yet

Headed out today a lot later than planned due to some university which needed to be done. Gathering my cohort (Stephen) we left from Bute Park at about quarter to 2 and headed off. Had an inauspicious start when my chain came off about 10 seconds into the cycle, I should have known it would be a sign of things to come. It was easy going at the start, the first 10 km are rather flat as it is actually by the riverside. After that we headed a little further up and managed to take the wrong track and ended up cycling to Caerphilly Castle.

It was quite a nice cycle there although it wasn't really where we'd planned to go. As Stephen had to be back before it got too late we decided to call it a day and head back. It started to rain about 2 minutes after making this decision so I think it was a good one. We headed back to the trail and took a 2nd path we'd cycled past which we thought might be a better/different way back. How wrong we were. If you look at the map at about 24km in, that's where we branched out. It looked fine as we were coming up to it and the first hill wasn't too bad. However after that it felt like one never ending hill. The map has got a neat little button which shows you the altitude and our speed. As you can see on the graph it brings up, my speed dropped as the altitude increased.

We reached what we thought was the summit of the trail, rejoiced, and continued on. Only to find that it wasn't, in fact it got even steeper just round the corner, in fact the highest point on our route was where we decided to head back and make sure we hadn't missed a path that went to the main road. We doubled back and found one which suited my bike just fine, Stephen however was cycling a road bike and had to be rather careful as it was more of a trail for mountain bikes, plenty of mud and rocks and all downhill! The rest of the trip back was rather uneventful other than my chain coming off a few more times. Not sure if I'll end up doing any exercise tomorrow, think I might see how I feel and decide then. I've got a few lectures badly spaced throughout the day so I may try and go for a run in the evening.

Early mornings

When I worked at the council, 4 days out of 5 and some weeks 5 days out of 5 I was at the gym before work and I found that this really put me in a much better mood throughout the rest of the day. Whether it was because it was the routine or simply beating all the morning traffic I noticed the difference. At university I find it much harder to get into a routine due to the varied start times of different days and such. I'm going to attempt to get myself into a routine anyway and see how it goes. So I started this morning with a nice cycle ride to Tesco to buy myself some supplies for the day even though I seemed to be out and about for the only part of the day where it rained. Tomorrow I'm hoping to do a fair amount of the Taff Trail even if the weather is awful!

So it begins (again)

Well I've taken a week off really. Having celebrated the end of exams and my birthday in style I was pretty worn out for the rest of the week. Got some clip on pedals and shoes for my birthday and I took them for a quick spin on Wednesday but other than that I haven't done much. Did a weights session today which went alright, taking it slow still to make sure I don't do myself an injury. Hoping to go for a cycle tomorrow at some point, followed by a much longer one on Wednesday. Trying to persuade some of my Cardiff classmates to come along the Taff Trail with me however I'm not sure how quickly we'll be doing it. If they're a bit slow I might not repeat the offer. Next update tomorrow hopefully!

23 on the 23rd

Today hasn't been too bad overall. Had a nice cycle to start the day off, heading to tesco to get my supplies for the day ahead. These included croissants for breakfast, steak for lunch and dinner, beer for dinner and ice cream for afters. These all went down a treat and I realised just how much I miss beer and ice cream. Steak is alright because its healthy :D

The revision has been going on today as well, just want to get the exam out of the way now, I've been making some silly mistakes today so hopefully they're all out of my system ready for tomorrow! I won't be making a post for a few days now most likely as I give myself a few days to relax and recover after the exams.

Last day of being 22

So it's my birthday tomorrow. Not particularly excited about it as I have an exam on Monday which won't be fun. Plenty of revision tomorrow and a bike ride in the early morning. Had the maths exam on Friday and like many of my peers I didn't think it went particularly well, hopefully I've passed though as I put a fair bit of effort into it. Other than a set of weights today I haven't done any exercise since my last blog post, something which I will attempt to remedy this week when I'm home. My diet has been alright, need to stop cooking/stop eating so much food because once its cooked/on my plate I feel its a bit of a waste to throw it away even if I'm full! I'm going to treat myself to some steak tomorrow and some ice cream, something to look forward to after a day of revision at any rate.

Also, Chris complained that my blog was a bit boring, any ideas on how to liven it up a bit? I don't really have anything interesting happening on a day to day basis...

19th of January

I didn't end up doing a post yesterday as I felt pretty drained after the exam and managed to exacerbate the feeling by doing a set of weights. The exam went alright, I managed to forget one of the important equations but otherwise it shouldn't be too bad. Got maths on Friday so today was put over towards revision apart from a cycle ride up the Taff Trail. It would have gone on for longer but my bike started to make some funny noises as a result of a rather muddy chain. I gave it a bit of a clean on the spot but decided to head back for home as I didn't fancy being miles away from home and needing to walk back. It was a bit of a shame really because the weather was fantastic, maybe slightly chilly but otherwise perfect, I really appreciated it compared to my other cycle in the pouring rain. I had a breakfast/lunch of beans and scrambled egg today with pork chops and pasta for dinner. Going to be taking a day off tomorrow as I could do with a rest and I'll make use of the time to revise for the exam.

Not quite as wet as yesterday

Woke up aching this morning, but in a good way rather than a bad way. Started the day off with an omelette containing chicken and some veg and then cracked on with some revision. It went alright up until about an hour after lunch when I got rather fed up and bored with it. At that point Gill text me asking if I wanted a cycle so I said yes. She's not a slow cyclist but it would be nice if she was a bit quicker. It wasn't nearly as wet as yesterday although it ended up only being a shortish cycle as she didn't have lights on her bike and it got a bit dark outside. Came home and cooked myself some more chicken, mash and vegetables. I've got some pork chops for tomorrow! The exam is at 9AM tomorrow so it'll be nice to get it out of the way before getting on with a bit of revision for maths on Friday. Might attempt a long cycle ride or a jog tomorrow afternoon depending on how I'm feeling.

Chocolate!

Haven't done anything over the last 2 days due to a combination of aching, over tiredness and lack of time although I've tried my best to maintain my healthy eating.

Started with a healthy breakfast of boiled egg with brown bread soldiers and a cup of tea cooked by my second mother, Mrs Tout. Had a cinnamon and raisin bagel for lunch. Went for a cycle ride after that.

Follow this link for the map:

It didn't start out too bad but after about 5 minutes in the rain started pouring down and by 10 minutes I realised my waterproof wasn't actually as waterproof as I thought. Having found that out I decided I was committed and carried on. The wind picked up as I got down the seafront and it was a real effort keeping any speed up. Had to stop along the barrage to pump my tires up. That's what the vertical green line represents. By the time I got round the barrage I was feeling a bit cold and wet so I stopped in at Tesco to pick up a small chocolate bar for later (you can tell where it is on the map because it looks like a big blue blob because I forgot to pause my gps as I walked round which rather let down my average speed :( ). Starting off from there my foot holder on the pedal broke so I had to double back and pick it up, going to attempt to fix it tomorrow. By the time I was home I was so completely soaked through it was as if I'd been swimming, even my trainers were full of water. I jumped in the shower and warmed up.

I did some studying and had baked chicken, pepper and onion with mashed potato. I waited for that to go down and did a weights session as I decided that it would be ok for my body to ache tomorrow, but not the day after during the exam! So I'm sitting here typing this up with a nice cup of tea and my bar of chocolate, well deserved I feel!

A few days in now

Its been a few days since I started this blog and routine and I'm already missing a few things such as beer and chocolate!

Had a breakfast of wheatabix again today with a lunch of baked beans on toast. Baked chicken, vegetables and pasta for dinner. Did some weights today, trying to take them slowly as I want to make sure I don't hurt my shoulder and I figured by working it up slowly I'll be able to strengthen it.

11th of January

Didn't end up doing anything yesterday. Followed Charlie's advice and had a day to let my body recover. Didn't overeat, small bowl of cereal for breakfast, bagel and carrots for lunch with baked chicken and veg for dinner.

Today I went for a cycle.

If that image doesn't work follow this link:

www.sportypal.com/Workouts/Details/849146key=7e591caade9914fa70efe6a3d9a809c41a70658d&ms=0

That map shows where I went. The bit in red is supposedly where I went quickest. The graph underneath shows my speed as I went along. Was cycling with a friend who isn't as quick at cycling as I am so average speed was less than I might have liked but I did a few sprints to wear myself out a bit. Had a small bowl of cereal for breakfast, with an apple and a bagel for lunch. Ended up having beans on toast with a few chicken nuggets for dinner. Was probably a bad idea to cook whilst I was starving from the cycle ride so I have a few chicken nuggets to eat tomorrow if I want to! Weights tomorrow probably

Running 1

So I went for my first run/jog today. Wasn't as bad as I expected but could certainly have been a lot better. Total distance of 4.33km. Got knackered after about half way so I had to slow the pace. Hoping that my fitness should improve pretty quickly if I keep it up. Trying to cut down on portions of food at the moment as well. Had some scrambled egg after the run, with some toast and an apple for lunch and then some chicken and pasta for dinner. Not sure about exercise tomorrow, might go for a cycle depending on how my legs are feeling after today.

Revision is not fun. Did some hydraulics revision which went alright. Maths revision during the day tomorrow I think

Day 2 - First Bike Ride of the Year

Day 2

Was going to go for a run first thing this morning but decided that a cycle later in the day would be a better idea. Had 2 boiled eggs for breakfast as well as some buttered soldiers. Had a ham sandwich for lunch before going for a cycle. Ended up being about a 7 mile cycle at a moderate pace apart from the last mile where I really went for it. Aiming to head down to Cardiff Bay and maybe cycle up Penarth hill later this week. Had some home cooked chicken dippers complete with potato, onion and carrots. Getting up nice and early tomorrow for my first run, not sure how its going to be. Aiming for a minimum of 2 miles at the moment but will see if I feel like extending it while I'm out and about.

First Post

So this is a blog for me to keep track. I'm attempting to make my life a bit more ordered this year. I aim to waste less time, get fitter, study more and learn some french. This blog is a tool to help me track my progress. I've got exams on the 18th, 21st and 24th of January so I need to get the studying thing done before the french but I'm also going to attempt to get some fitness in as well. I'll be using an application called JEFit on my HTC Desire to help track my fitness and fatness. I'll post my statistics weekly, probably on a Friday or Saturday so I can see how I do week to week. I'll be attempting to go for a run at least twice a week, starting off slow and short and progressing as time goes on. I'll also be attempting to cycle at least twice a week on days when I don't run. I'll be using Saturday or Sunday as my day off each week. It might not be consistent but I'm going to give it a go for now and see what happens!