The PM's Logbook...

The Sunday Weigh In Slot…

18st 8.5lbs (260.5lbs)

Ok so its all gone a bit Pete Tong of late and if I don’t do something soon I will have close to 2 stone on…  When you fall out of the zone its sooo hard to get back in.  Hopefully this week will see a return to form!

The Sunday Weigh In Slot…

18st 4.5lbs (256.5lbs)

1.75lbs lighter than last week

46.5lbs lighter (303lbs)

39mph with the brakes on!!!

Yesterday morning my training buddy “Jerms” and I had our last early morning ride of the 2010 season.  At least that’s what we have said it was. I suspect that may be true for the road bikes but there may be the odd mountain bike session in front of us before spring hits.  We only did 14 miles as there were time pressures, my mate picked the local hills as the training ground and off we went.  We climbed Bradshaw’s Brae and at the top turned left to climb towards the quarry.  At this point Jerms was clearly flagging and out of character begrudgingly mumbled he was thinking of stopping. The reality was but stopping was never on his agenda, it’s just not in his nature and that’s what makes him such a good training partner.  We carried on towards the fun part which would be the descent of Craiganlet.

Craiganlet is a hill that sits overlooking Belfast, to be honest in some ways it takes as much courage to go down it as climb it although funny enough I haven’t found the courage to climb it as yet! Unlike in the days of my youth I’m neither a speed demon nor an adrenalin junkie so without assisting it I let gravity do its job.  I didn’t push the bike on nor crouch to get the added benefit of an aerodynamic position. 20 mph quickly passed as did 25, soon after 30 hit and I started to feel the adrenalin kick in followed quickly by caution.  Around this point I lightly applied the brakes just to see the speedo notch up 35.  I lent round the sweeping bend just in time to see the old bloke driving in the opposite lane take a double take at me with a look of disbelief in his face. I smiled back at him but wasn’t brave enough to take another glance at the speedo.

Coming quickly towards me was a tight left turn were the road surface also takes a turn for the worse. I felt like a car doing an MOT check I was getting bumped around that much.  The junction was upon us and Jerm’s sat stationery with a smile on his bake like he had just won the pools.   I was all a buzz with the adrenalin and all fatigue from the previous climbs had left me.  When the ride was over we checked our speedos and he had done 41mph and I had done 39.5.  I’m not so much aggrieved at his higher speed more that I was 0.5mph away from 40.  Ahhh well there is always next time but unlike the three heros in the photo I doubt I’ll be climbing it…

Smell the flowers whilst you can…

Sometimes it’s the simple things in life that fill us with wonder and sets us at one with the world. Today I was out walking round Hillsborough Lake and along an unmarked path I discovered a while ago, when the rain came on hard.  As I walked underneath the canopy of the forest the noise of the rain and the shelter from it really struck me.  I stood underneath a tree for 10 peaceful minutes and soaked in the smells and beauty of Mother Nature.  This therapeutic moment in time reminded me of the sneaky moments I used to steal as a smoker.  Thankfully this way it was a lot healthier for me but it did remind me of the need and importance of stopping to smell the flowers so to speak…

Success…?

Recently I’ve been finding myself caught in the void between what I know success to mean and what society conditions us to believe it means.  I have chosen not to follow money, career, wealth, fashion, and status symbols and instead to walk out what I believe is God’s calling on my life.  However, there are times in my life when I find myself making internal statements that don’t match my beliefs.  You know the kind of stuff you don’t believe and wouldn’t admit to thinking publicly and yet still allow to occupy space in your mind and thoughts.   Stuff like your car indicates how successful you are, and the fashion status of your clothes is a measure of your self respect.

I know that true success is not the size of your pay packet, what you drive, wear or where you live. Yet I seem to allow these things to haunt me.  I guess as I get older my choices will mean that I don’t get to wear the medals of so called success the world hands out.  It’s time to put my money where my mouth is and live out the choices I’ve made.

My peers may have these medals and that’s ok.  I need to resist making any judgements and I especially need to stop jealousy kicking in.  I suppose what I’m saying is I currently find myself in a hard place.  I need to allow myself to follow through with my beliefs and cast off any ropes moored to society’s conditioning! Its time to ensure both feet are in one camp and not one in each.

The Sunday Weigh in Slot…

18st 6.25lbs (258.25lbs)

2.75lbs lighter than last week

44.75lbs lighter (303lbs)

tumblrbot asked: WHAT IS YOUR EARLIEST HUMAN MEMORY?

Visiting the health centre with my mum to get my year younger sister weighed…  I must have been 2 or so…