Sitting on a razor blade!

Tuesday morning after the bank holiday, coffee in hand, trying to get comfy and do some work but despite having an extra cushion on the chair, I'm still in pain thanks to something I did over the weekend, nothing dodgy, before you ask!

You probably know I'm doing the London to Brighton Bike Ride, on June 16th for the British Heart Foundation, they do amazing research into heart disease - did you know more women now die of heart disease than breast cancer? Seriously, its not just men. Well, over the weekend I cranked up the training a little bit….possibly a little too far!!!

On Sunday, I cycled just over half of the Downs Link - off road track, about 37miles in total. It was BRILLIANT, the sunshine was out, not many people around, got up some good speed and despite some hair raising moments involving mud, didn't fall off - I find thats always a bonus!

However, two days later, I'm now in a little bit of pain - my legs are fine, my arms, back and neck are all fine, its my butt that hurts like hell! I didn't notice it hurting whilst cycling, but man alive, I can feel it now! Can someone please tell me, why are bicycle saddles designed like that? Which evil person thought 'I know, lets finish this invention off with a really uncomfortable seat', that person needs a good talking too!

Before anyone says it 'surely you've got enough padding back there to protect you' haha….no, clearly I haven't! Today it is actually like sitting on a razor blade, thats constantly being pressed on your skin, no matter which way I sit, its still there, no nice!

If you've done any long bike rides, the london to brighton or have experience of dealing with pains in the bum, please share the remedy, I desperate here!

Oh, and if you'd like to sponsor me and my sore bum on the actual bike ride, you can do that by clicking here and help raise money so the British Heart Foundation can carry on their brilliant work and help us all live longer.

Much luv, off to get comfy, think I could be doing my radio show this evening standing up!

Roberto x

Giving makes you feel good!!!

Morning, 

Its been proved by people much cleverer than me that when you give something to someone, be it a present, a lift home or simply money to charity, your brain releases the hormone Dopamine which makes you feel happy.

So, if your Monday morning sucks and you're in need of a lift that'll make you feel happy, just click here! That'll take you to 'Robertos Riders' just giving page, you can then give a little to support us as we do the London to Brighton Bike Ride on the 16th of June for the British Heart Foundation. 

The page currently has a grand total of…wait for it…£0.00….we've only just set it up! MUCH luv will go to the person who kicks of the sponsoring!

I'll say thanks in advance and that you ROCK! Have a good week, and if you know anyone else that needs a pick me up for a Monday morning, please feel free to pass them the link ;-)

Roberto

Heres the link again if you'd missed it above

http://www.justgiving.com/Robertosriders

If you don't want to give your credit card details online, you can give via your mobile too, just text 'LMNO99 £5' to 70070.

Its only a small hole!

Recently some budding young reporters from the British Heart Foundation came to see me at Heart FM for a little chat - click here to watch the video. Since then, Ive had lots of emails and people asking me about the hole in my heart - including: what is it? Whats it like? How big is it? Can I see it? Will you die early because of it….I hope not!!

Thought I'd answer a few of those questions in one go...

A hole in the heart sounds scary to many people, but its not actually a hole through your heart in the same way that you might imagine a hole through a brick wall. Let me explain more….sorry if any of this sounds like I'm teaching you to suck eggs, just want everyone to understand.

The heart has two sides, the right side receives oxygen poor blood from the body and pumps it to the lungs and the left side receives oxygen rich blood from the lungs and pumps it to the body. The inner wall, called septum, separates the two, and basically,  thats where the hole lies.

All this means is that some oxygen rich blood is pumped to the lungs instead of the body. If you listen to a normal heart beat it'll go 'boom boom - boom boom - boom boom' - thats the sound of the valves opening and closing. If you listen to someone who has a hole in the heart you can actual hear the hole, my heart beat goes 'boom boom ssshh - boom boom ssshh - boom boom ssshh' The 'ssshh' sound is the rush of blood through the hole from one side to another.

Does it hurt? No. Can i see it? Of course not, unless you have an ultrasound machine to hand!! Will I die young because of it….funny you ask that, I asked my doctor the same question when I was younger, I phrased it slightly differently 'what with me having a faulty heart, will it last as long as a normal one?' The doctor looked at me and laughed, the answer was yes, thank goodness!

How has having a hole in heart affected my life? It hasn't massively, I was one of the lucky ones, didn't have to have an operation or anything like that. The doctors hoped it would close up on its own, unfortunately it hasn't, but over time it has shrunk and its smaller than the eye of a needle now. 

As I was growing up, I was more aware of my heart than the average kid. Any pains or problems and I had to go see the doc straight away. I had to have regular check-ups at the hospital too, where they'd stick probes and monitors on me. I didn't overdo it when it came to exercise and sports at school either, although I did swim lots, one of the best exercises for building up a strong and healthy heart. From a very young age my mum made me go swimming, and at one stage I was swimming 4 times a week for an hour, luckily I enjoy swimming! 

Ive been supporting the British Heart Foundation for the last few years - not just because of my situation, but also because my dads had problems with his heart recently, and if it wasn't for the brilliant research they do, my dad may not be here now. Thats how the interview came about really, we've come full circle, hope thats answered some of the questions. Any more, drop me a line through the website www.robertoradioandtv.com

Chat soon x

What do you do with your evenings?

This week I'm going to need ideas of stuff to do in the evenings. Why? Well, I'm changing shows for one week(7th - 10th May), JK & Lucy, who normally do drive(4-7pm) on Heart FM in London, are on holiday, so I'm doing their show and Mark Wright is covering mine (Ring Roberto, 7pm - 10pm) - I'm not sure if they're going to call it 'Ring Wrighty' or not, I think they should!

Its been AGES since I had a week of evenings to fill, what do you do with them? Ive forgotten!! Theres a part of me that would luv to just sit on the sofa, with the gf, and watch rubbish TV for a week…however, there is also a part of that thinks thats a massive waste of a week of evenings, plus there seems to be lots of rubbish on TV at the moment. 

If the weather stays nice, beer garden with friends sounds good…although, I'm not drinking at the moment as training for the London to Brighton Bike Ride in June(cycling for the British Heart Foundation), so that could be a bit boring just drinking water, but nice to see friends. 

Actually, now Ive mentioned that cycle ride, I should really get on my bike! Think its something like 52 miles Ive got to cycle on June 16th, so far Ive done the grand total of…..wait for it….drum roll please…..none! Seriously, I've not even ridden a bike properly for about 10 years! There is a real possibility Ive forgotten how to do it, might need stabilisers too, I'm not even joking! Could you imagine, how embarrassing would that be - grown man, doing the bike ride, with stabilisers on, not a good look..probably being overtaken by little kids zooming along. So, could spend the evenings trying out the new bike, Evans Cycles have donated one to me, which was awesome of them…I just need to get on it now! 

I could dump all of those ideas and get on with work - still writing the weightloss book, its coming along, just slowly, could bash out some more of that! Theres the fat burn app, its all designed, I'm just working with the guys on finishing the videos and content for it. Then theres the kids books about dozy dog, the online security store and the pet treat idea….hmmmm, the thought of doing work with my evenings doesn't thrill me…hang on, the phones ringing.

*10minutes later

That was my mate Jon on the phone, he's just gone a bought a hot tub for the garden, show off…think Ive just worked out what I'll be doing tonight, trying out the hot tub, sorted! I'll worry about the rest of the week as it happens.