THE GOOD BUCK

Well, I’ve started my new job. The first day was really stressful, I’d been off for 6 weeks so I was getting comfortable at home, and a bit nervous about going back to work. So it’s a good thing I got this job, no matter what. Also, I was building a resistance to going back to work as I was losing my lorry driving mojo. A lot of driving an artic is in having confidence that you can. As soon as you question that, after a bump or a long lay-off, the job gets a lot harder. And it was all new. New is a bit frightening. Anyway, I had a full week booked, and once I’d learned how to use the agency app (things have changed massively with agencies in the 4 years since I was last with one) I realised it was the same run for 5 days. The first day was a bit of a nightmare, before I got on the 5 shifts. I got messed about, then sent to a tiny yard in Manchester to pick up a trailer. The yard was so tight a manager came out and stood in the rain to watch to see if I smacked anything trying to spin the trailer. You’ll note that word was “watch”, not “help”. That was my first day back on the job. So stressed. After that I had the same run. Over to Warrington Rail Terminal (where Pete, Wendy’s brother works, surprised him) then run over to Birkenhead docks, drop the trailer, back to WRT, then shunt (move trailers around the yard) for the rest of the day. The last two shifts the docks run was cancelled so it was drive 4 miles, then shunt all day. Well, in theory. I was waiting hours before getting anything to move. Easy, boring, money. The first shift was only 8 hours long, then the rest of the week I was on 12 hours with one 12½. I was trying not to lose my training mojo so I was doing 12 hours at work, ride home, up to an hour training on the indoor bike, shower, tea, make up the next day’s rations, have an hour with Wendy, then bed. Which was still giving me less 7 hours sleep. By the time I got to the 12½ hour shift I cracked and skipped training. To be fair, I was having another (increasingly minor- yay!) bout of plague weakness as well. It just made me want to eat everything and do nothing. Today I seem to be good again. So that’s a relief. I was getting worried that it might be all stupid long shifts. The swimming baths have opened again now, but there is no way I could get to them; I would only have been able to maintain my bike training so long before my routine broke down, and I want to get back to running. It all takes time. My first 7 shifts were 8 hours, […]

I think it’s time to be upbeat again. It’s been a bit of weird time, but it looks like I’m moving on, at last. I’ve done all the agency messing about. Registering one day, driving assessment another, site induction (for 2½ hours!) another, them checking my driver card, references, and criminal record. All done. I start work on Monday. After I passed the assessment they rang me up for availability for next week. I just said “all.” They asked what shifts I’d like. Huh? I just thought I’d be on nights. Days if at all possible. What start time window? Wow. OK, 07.00-10.00, ideally, but I’ll take owt. They text me back with two shifts for the whole week within that window. I applied for other jobs, if they can’t get me shifts in peak there’s no point in me being there. They text me again today, would you be willing to start at 05.00? I was willing to do nights, 05.00 is ungodly o’clock, but it’s still days. OK. They’ve given me 6 shifts for next week. Then text me back and asked if I wanted to work tomorrow. (No, because it was insufficient notice for my first shift. I’d got my mind set that I was starting Monday.) Once I’ve done the job a few days and settled into it I’ll try and do 6 shifts/ 5 shifts (legal maximum) until the work runs out in January. This gig gives me some breathing space, has the potential to earn some decent cash, and it gets me back driving and working. So that’s working out nicely. And after the 6 weeks of not working my foot is really loads better. I did that 2½ hours induction, walking about in my steel toecap boots, and it felt like I’d hurt the top of my foot again. It didn’t feel like the movement pain, more like a bruised feeling, but it was in the exact area of the ongoing problem. I’ve ordered some trainer style steel toe caps, to see if that stops it. Also, I forgot to say, the depot is about 2 or so miles from my front door. I will be pushbiking in to work, wearing my normal clothes and a big hi-viz coat, and won’t have to worry about getting all sweaty and needing a shower or getting changed before I can start. Talking of cycling… here is comes… NEW BIKE! YAY! I’ve got my cheapo road bike which I will still be using for riding to work and such but the bike I’ve got on the turbo trainer just doesn’t cut the mustard. It’s a great bike for it’s purpose, which is sitting upright and riding through mud, but I’ve moved on again. I’m going to clean it and get it on eBay. I am orientated towards triathlon now. I need to be lay low over the handlebars, which is not comfy, you have to practice to strengthen your body to hold the position. There is […]

Well, I hung on until the end in the hope that I was wrong, but no, I’m sacked. As that was what I was expecting I got on with the jobs I’d already considered. I won’t be able to afford to continue paying in to the share/save schemes so I cancelled the one that matures next year, and the one after that. I’d read in the terms and conditions that you can carry on paying into the scheme if you no longer work for the company, and I have one that only has 3 more monthly payments until it matures. That one was looking at making a £1,700 profit, so I was keen to keep it going. I rang up to see how I could pay the final payments myself. I finally got an answer (cut off from the ‘phone after 20 minutes, twice from online chat after 30 minutes). No. What? If you’ve been dismissed you are not able to continue payments. 3 payments short. If I’d have walked out on Friday I’d be making a £1,700 profit in March (share maturity.) So gutted. I hadn’t even considered that. I thought I knew what was happening and didn’t think I had anything to lose by sticking it out in the hope I’d somehow, maybe, keep my job. Instead it feels like they are kicking me while I’m down. I found that out yesterday, so I’ve had time to process it. The positive view is I don’t lose a penny, I’ll get all my savings back, just when I might end up needing them. And it’s good that we’ve accrued savings. So, that part of my working life is over. Draw a line under it, have a bit of a sad face, move on. I’ve applied for a 4 on 4 off job on containers at Manchester. I’ve worked for the company before on the agency. They have 5 shift jobs advertised as well, but they want you to max out your hours, so 4 days could be a 56 hours. I’d already applied to the one I really want, £17per hour, days, in Liverpool. Seen another Scouse job and applied for that. Those are full time jobs. I’ve also registered with two agencies. In other positive news, I was suffering with saddle pain on long rides on my trainer. I happened across a review of a saddle, supposed to be the most comfortable saddle for triathlon and tucking into the aero position. OK, let me at it! I’ve been in so much pain at the end of the bike leg of a triathlon I felt like crying. Googled it, £160! For a saddle! No way. I looked on eBay and saw one for £90. Still steep but if it stops the misery… Then I saw another, £40! I put my bid sniper on, but no-one else bid. Got it for £40. Absolute steal. Also training related, I’ve been struggling for 6 weeks trying to get my fancy pants trainer […]

I’m still in limbo at work. I’ve faced the music, and danced, three or four times now. It’s getting irksome. Tomorrow, I should get my official sacking. Again. I just wish they would hurry up about it. If I was to keep my job that would obviously be the best outcome, but that is a vanishingly remote chance. Unless they’ve decided to change the company policy, and I’m the first driver to whom it has been applied, I’m sacked. Sad, but let’s get on with it. My training has been up and down. As I’ve been off work I’ve managed to stick to my Sufferfest training programme. Yoga, strength training, mental toughness, and the bike. My weight loss has been a work in progress. Or rather how I go about it is a work in progress. I’ve revised my expectations and my plan. Now I’m trying damage limitation on plague weakness days, diet on normal days. I started at 11 stone 5, and I want to get back to 10 stone. It may take a while. After losing 5lbs in the first week, the plague weakness struck and I put 2 back on. I’m slowly edging down again. I’m 10.12 now. It’s not just a vanity thing. I’m training for a triathlon that has 7,700 feet of elevation changes so I need powerful legs. I’ve been reading up on what constitutes good watts (power) for a cyclist. The answer is “It’s not that simple”. On the flat a 12 stone rider putting out, say 250W will thrash a 9 stone rider putting out 220W. But as soon as you come to a hill the lighter person will waste the chubster. “To illustrate this, let’s compare power requirements of a 70kg and 80kg rider riding a 6kg road bike up a hill of seven per cent gradient at 16kph (10mph) in still winds. Using data on rolling and aerodynamic resistance, we can calculate that an 80kg rider would have to maintain an average power output or around 298W. The 70kg rider would only need to average 266W to ride up the same hill at the same speed on the same bike.” A few articles state that for hill climbing you want to pushing the least possible weight against gravity. They say it might cost thousands of pounds, or even be impossible, to lose a 10lbs/ 4.5 kilos (or in my case 19lbs/ 8.6 kilos) off a bike, it cost nothing to lose that off your blubber. A quick comparison. My cheapo Decathlon “comfortable” road bike is a smidge under 10 kilos. The carbon fibre (light), top spec gears, version is 7.8 kilos and £2,000 That’s just under 5lbs of weight for 2 grand. Or to put it another way, in the first week of my diet I saved £2,000! (To be honest, there’s more to the bike than that, it has lighter, deeper wheels so less aero drag, it has a proper stretched out racing shape so easier to stay in […]

Things have taken a turn for the pear shaped. I’ve managed to keep up all my Sufferfest training. Mental toughness, yoga and the actual bike training. But my weight loss stalled. The plague weakness is making it impossible for me to stop shoving food in my gob. I’m trying to take a revised view of my plans. Try not to eat too much on weak days, (tons of fruit and veg to try to bulk out) then make gains (or rather, losses) on the better days. In the first week I lost 5lbs, since then I’ve regained 2 and lost a 2 more. I got up to 11.5, today I was 10.12. It going in the right direction. Obviously there has been no swim training due to the lockdown. I gave in this week and bought a power meter so I can do the fitness test (4DP) on the Sufferfest, accurately. I did it today. An hour’s beasting, containing within it 2x 5 second max efforts, a 5 minute max effort, a 20 minute max effort, and a 1 minute max effort. Individually not too terrible, one after the other… wow. The inaccurate power reading I’ve been going off had my maximum sustainable effort as 154W (measured over 20 minutes) today I held it to 199W. I think I had a bit more in the tank. Slight gearing issues (had to set the other bike up on the trainer and change the gear cassette, don’t think I did it right) meant I dropped into no-gear a few times, and had to quickly build my power back up again. Also the power meter is fitted to the left hand crank arm. If you’re right handed I assume you put more power through your right leg,so I had to keep remembering to concentrate on my left leg stroke. Otherwise I was working just as hard but my left was just carrying the power round from my right, so it wasn’t registering. Anyway, that’s nearly a third increase in my power settings going forward. Which puts me at 2.88 W/Kilo, for the same power I’ll be 3.13 W/Kilo when I’m down to 10 stone. I was watching a vlog from some young guy, looked like a mad-for-it cyclist, said he’d started a 3 month training plan with Trainer Road (a no frills training app) and had gone from 224W to 286W! I’ll stick with the Sufferfest to get myself fit and used to pushing through the pain. I really like the way they beast the best out of me. But when I get fit enough I’ll try the Trainer Road. The Sufferfest has videos with a story, and loads of encouraging messages, that cajole and demand greater efforts from you. And it has a sense of humour, which good in the dark places. The Trainer Road has nothing. It’s just a rolling bar chart. This much power at this many revs for this long. Times however many. Apparently there are thousands of different […]