Weekend Planning

I know it is early, but my thoughts have already turned to the weekend. Probably the fact that I haven't been at home for the last 3, either travelling part of them or I was in Japan, plus with the bank holiday, this is a nice long weekend.

So a great time to get some walking in, but at the same time, there are plenty of jobs to do in the garden.

Having read the erection instructions for the summerhouse, I may be spending more time up on the decking than I at first reckoned.

Ok not exactly the same, but near enough. As you can see now the upload photo link is working again, very bizaare.

So hopefully I will get to the gym this weekend, and also manage a walk or two, even if just short ones.

Then, summerhouse, some graden drainage to install, a vegetable patch to dig over..........

Definately a weekend of activity, unless the weather turns bad.

Then I need to take stock and get back on my equipment purchase.

Altitude Acclimatisation

With the Bank Holiday weekend approaching, despite a football fest on the TV on Sunday, I decided that it would be a good time to start on my altitude acclimatisation. Obviosuly you have to start slowly, so in this case this weekends training, involves carrying the components of an 8ft x 8ft summerhouse up the large hill at the back of the house, and then erecting it on the highest part of the decking.


So I am thinking there is about 40 trips up and down the hill carrying various components, and judging by the complexity, I would anticipate several hours involved in the necessary erection of said summer house. So the up and down should prevent the onset of any altitude sickness, and get mybody accustomed to the altitude, at which point several hours at that altitude should be ok.

ok not really much training for altitude, more likely fitness training in the carrying, followed by mental training trying to erect it........


For some reason, today I can't upload pictures, not sure if this is an upgrade to the site !!!! or some weird one time problem.

So imagine a large hill, with some decking at the top, and a nice octagonal summer house.....

When the weather is good

Isn't amazing how much more positive and motivated you feel when the sun is shining. By the middle of Monday afternoon I was starting to feel really tired, perhaps the timezone was kicking in. However once in the car and driving home in what was a really pleasant sunny evening, I felt so much better. By the time I got home I was in the mood to do some outdoor jobs.

Compare that to a dull rainy evening , you come out of work tired, and you get home thinking I will just collapse on the sofa.

So thinking of about this hike up Killi, I am hoping the weather is good. I know at the start we will have hot temperatures and hopefully dry weather, but looking at some of the UTube videos of previous hikes, there are many with snowing conditions.

I have a fear I will get up on the fourth day look out of the tent to see heavy snow falling and leaden skies, close the tent and go back to sleep...........So best take some sunshine with me..

Home

Home at last, and it feels good to be back. Well other than a slight earache, which I hope doesn't turn into anything worse.

Had a relaxing Sunday, bit of gardening, bit of cooking and a bit of complete idleness on the sofa watching TV followed by an early night.

This morning I was back to the gym where surprisingly I found the cardio stuff quite easy, i.e. no drop off of pace, 20 minutes on the treadmill at 7mph, 20 minutes on the cross trainer on hill plus, then 15 minutes respectively on other cross trainer and cycle. The weights were a bit tougher though. I had to whimp out and reduce the weight right down.

Oh well, at least if I hold in my stomach I can imagine I look ok.....

Is it just me, or do you look in the mirror one day and think, "looking good", and then the next day you think "aghhhhh, fat git"... ok just me then.

Anyway hopefully normality will prevail, I am only out one night this week, which should mean I can avoid alcohol all week, and get away from the drinking every night as I did in Japan.

So watch out for an update on the ear, the stomach and the alcohol consumption during the week.

Nagoya Japan

I am bow hopeful that my return to Manchester will be tomorrow, so slightly off topic, I thought I would update you on a bit about where I am.

This is the Nagoya station, but also the tower on the left is my current home, the Marriot Hotel. It has 52 floors, with a very nice bar at the top. In the tower on the right is the gym, pool and Japanese bath facilities that I used on Saturday. Strange to be on a treadmill looking down 50 floors!

Using the gym is expensive however, and does not open until 7.30 which is too late for morning use, it also closed at 9.00 which is usually the time I get back from office and dinner.

Marriot is a modern hotel, more European that Japanese style, and very comfortable place to stay.

Since it is locate above the Nagoya train station, there is a direct train service to CentralAir Japan, the airport I use to get to Japan.

I did go running, well ok jogging in Nagoya but as you can imagine from the picture above, note the hotel is in the middle, it isn't exactly the greatest place to go running. Mainly just running on the pavement from one block to another, having to stop at lights. Yes even at 6 am it is not polite to cross a road when the light is on red.

The food however is very good, with everything on your meal having some healthy benefit. The one exception being the alcohol, which I had to admit I have consumed every night, and had definitely resulted in an increase in my weight. I fear the next two weeks of training are going to be hard work.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

My apologies to those avid readers out there, for a distinct lack of updates over the last two weeks. For those of you who weren't aware my trip to Japan was extended due to a lack of transport.

This little chap on the left was the cause of all the problems and has meant chaos for many.

You know up close this does look a lot like Killimanjaro !!!!!!

So what about my progress.

Nothing much to say on the training front unfortunately. I came with good intentions and brought my sports kit, but I have only managed one trip to the gym, and a 6K run around Nagoya. I am hoping I may manage one more run before the weekend when hopefully I will return.

For those who have not travelled on business to Japan, the day starts quite early. I have to be away from the hotel around 7.45, to squeeze into the subway, for a 45 minute trip to the office. We then work through the day, usually until around 6.30, where we depart for dinner directly from the office. Dinner can finish anywhere from 9.00 to 11.00 where you return to hotel. This time is perfect for receiving many emails from Europe!, so usually a couple of hours on email follows. The whole thing starts again the next day..

The picture on the right is actually from Tokyo, but honestly from Nagoya station, the nearest to the hotel I am staying at, this is actually happening, and I end up like a sardine in a tin, thankfully not the one with tomato sauce in it, or oil!.

On the sponsorship front things have really picked up with 3 good donations during the last week. My total is now up to just over £3,000, so let's push harder and set the limit higher to really make this a worthwhile trip.

I will be back sooner than last time......

Jet lag

I am sure you are all aware of jet lag, the on set of tiredness as a result of long haul travel. My problem is that it seems to have kicked in now, before I travel to Japan !

I have absolutely no energy whatsoever today, I did go to the gym but found it a real hard session, yet I am sure it was no more strenous work out that normal.

Perhaps my diet is helping......

Since i am on a down today, I also have a problem with my little toe - it seems to be hurting rather a lot....maybe it has worked out that it will be shoved in boots for several days before long, so is complaining now before the event.

Let's hope I am renewed with enery for tomorrow, as I had thought of doing the gym again in the morning.

Monks Road

Easter has been and gone, and thankfully I managed to tick off some of the tasks that I planned, although the weather, and in some cases my inclination did put a stop to some of the gardening.

In terms of preparation / training, I did go to the gym on Good Friday, 30 minute run, some cross training, and this time with the cross trainer set at maximum hill. Sunday was just a short walk, nothing too strenuous but on Monday I walked to the summit of Monks road. This is a decent all up hill walk, too about an hour to get to the summit, and about 3/4 to come back down.

Having removed my boots, I now know I need to get some proper liner socks, as my feet had sweat a little, YUCK sorry, and resulted in a small blister.

Good news on the fund raising as some over seas donations from Japan have been promised which will help move the total on.

Next week I am in Japan which will challenge my ability to train and walk, so will probably try and do a walk this week, and get to the gym 3 times (one down, went this morning).

p.s. for those who have not donated yet, I will be turning my attention to you soon.......