I think I’m fit. Or I did until last week when I had my first ever personal training session. I picked a trainer I knew was tough, having taken a few classes with him at the gym last year. That was my first mistake.
My second was booking a one hour session. Remember I said I thought I was fit? Well I think that because I go to the gym or exercise 3 or 4 times a week. I’ve held the plank for 8 minutes 4 seconds and hold the record at my gym for it (proud of that one), and last year I did the 3 peaks challenge with one girl and 7 blokes and only me and my female colleague completed it in the allotted 24 hour timeframe. So you might see why I’d be lured into a false sense of ‘fitness’ security.
Emptying the tank
Apparently this counts for nothing when you have someone shouting at you to “empty the tank” and my tank was empty after 15 minutes. At that point, my trainer asked if I was OK proclaiming that I seemed really tired. Worryingly, he seemed genuinely concerned that I was more tires than I should be and asked if I had eaten anything that day!
It didn’t end there though, twenty minutes in I had to go to the bathroom because I thought I was going to be sick... oh yes, made a prize fool of myself there. I wasn’t sick by the way.
So why am I telling you this and why am I bothered about getting ‘fit’ at all? Because I’ve just signed up to climb Kilimanjaro and it’s in 7 weeks time
Not much of a planner which is why I find myself 7 weeks away from climbing the highest free standing mountain in the world with nothing organised and little training done. Nothing wrong with a challenge though and I’m doing it for good reasons.
The role of rugby and David Barnes
For the climb- other wise known as the AXA Wealth Kilimanjaro Challenge 2011- i’m joining around 40 other climbers, including Bath Rugby prop and chairman of the Rugby Players’ Association, David Barnes and Andy Blyth who was seriously injured playing for Sale Sharks in 2000.
The AXA Wealth climb is supporting three charities; Help for Heroes, the Rugby Players' Association Benevolent Fund and the RFU Injured Players Foundation. A mixture of folk, mostly from the South-West and representing the rugby community, the army and business are all working together to raise as much as possible for the chosen charities, so please take a moment to find out more about the AXA Wealth Kilimanjaro Challenge 2011 and see the hard work that’s going into raising money for these charities.
Next week we’ll have a blog from David Barnes himself talking about his personal Kilimanjaro challenge and what it involves so make sure you follow @confused_com on twitter for the latest blog updates and if for further updates on the climb itself then follow @AXAWealthClimb.
If you would like to know more then email me at editor@confused.com.
