Stratford upon Avon

Stratford upon Avon.

Stratford upon Avon

I have spent the last two days in Warwickshire reviewing businesses in the Midlands and I forgot take take my Herbalife shakes with me. So I just watched what I ate but didn’t “diet”, the Herbalife programme is about eating healthily and not about dieting. Re-educating the body not restricting it. It was an interesting experience, Staying at the Hilton, Warwick I had my first “English Breakfast” in almost three months and it didn’t taste as I remember it seems that over the course of the time I have been using the Herbalife products they have done what they say and began to re-educate my body so that my taste buds are different making fattier items (like sausages) less appealing. The programme works.

The Warwick/Stratford region is a lovely area of the Midlands with a depth of history and culture to explore. Warwick Castle, Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, The RSC theatres are some examples and I always enjoy visiting; this time the weather although dry was bitterly cold with winds blowing off the North Sea straight through the land into my bones. The picture of the RSC theatre (left) was taken mid-afternoon with steel grey skies and a numbing cold.

Going for a 2 mile walk along the Avon was refreshing and debilitating in similar degree. Both my wife and I started off having forgot to bring hats along (she at least remembered her gloves) by the end of the walk our ears were bright red and throbbing with the cold. Having said that, the walk was well pathed along the riverbanks of the Avon opening into fields and vistas of the surrounding countryside; it was a pleasant hour and well needed after many hours of business meetings. Next time we visit the area we will hopefully pick a warmer day and explore the river further. 

The day was rounded off wonderfully by an evening of culture enjoying a performance of “The Winter’s Tale” at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s main theatre.

Business, exercise, relaxation and culture all in the 2 days. Time well spent.

When I got home – I was only 1lb heavier than when I went; and that could be normal variation of the scales so I am happy.

More walking over the weekend as I still need to build up towards the Grand Canyon in May.

It’s a long way down, and up again.

Did I mention that I have a problem with heights? If I am in a building (like the Empire State Building) I am fine but if I am outside it kicks in BIG-TIME!

As part of my preparations, I have started to read up on the Canyon using books and maps. Currently I have been reading the Lonely Planet guide to the Canyon and I feel ill. We are going to be walking down through the North Kalbab Trail and back up through the Bright Angel Trail. Comments such as “…an intimidating set of switchbacks beside a knuckle-biting drop-off…” and once across the Springs Canyon Bridge the trail “…hugs the canyon wall to the right and hovers dramatic sheer drops to the left…” my stomach flipped its somersaults and I had to close the book, just reading the words made me feel ill. Watching this You Tube video suggests that it isn’t as bad as the Lonely Plant prose suggests (or at least I hope so).

This isn’t a hike – it’s an inverted mountain climb.

As well as losing the weight, getting fir for the walk I will have to conquer my fear of heights.

A big task!

Preparations Continue

It’s been a long week.

I still have an ear infection which means I am deaf on my left side; my head feels fuzzy and full of cotton wool. It’s been a hard week on the diet front but I am still walking towards my target of walking through the Grand Canyon. Earlier today my wife and I hiked along a 6 mile circular walk from Westerham to Chartwell in Kent, passing through meadows and woodland.

I I found the walk after reading a reader’s letter in Country Walking magazine (February 2013)  and researched it through the internet at Visit Westerham. Since we didn’t have the O/S map we downloaded the instructions and started the walk.

The day was warm and clear but the going extremely tough in parts with thick, black, cloying ankle deep mud. The instructions were accurate for most of the walk but there were a couple of mistakes after the two mile mark which meant that we went down the wrong track and wasted time finding the right track.It’s a great walk with great views of Westerham and the surrounding countryside.

It was a long walk, the mud took its toll and we finished the 6 miles in 3 hours. Come the warmer weather we will do it again, hopefully in a shorter time.

I Beat My Goal

Runkeeper is a great app. I have it on my mobile and use it when I go for my walks, by mapping my position via GPS the app tells me the distance I have walked, the elevation I have climbed and estimates the amount of energy (calories) that I have expended. The app also has the ability to set goals – I set a goal to walk 30 miles by February 13th and I passed that goal  week early!

Another Week, Another 5 Miles

So, it’s the end of the week and what has happened?

My ear infection is persisting – I am deaf in my left ear and half of my head feels like it’s made of cotton wool. I have started walking again; Tuesday I went out without a hat to cover my ear and I paid for it that evening in excruciating pain but on Thursday I remembered a hat (but still paid for it !?). I have covered 5.4 miles this week a good of which  1/3 was uphill and I was surprised how tired I felt, the week of inactivity seems to have knocked my burgeoning fitness more than I expected – but I persist! Although I live inside the M25, I am in a small village surrounded by pleasant countryside; I have developed a 2 – 3 mile route which I am going to use to help build my stamina and use longer routes to push myself. Whoever said that the South of England was flat obviously never visited Surrey, the hills may not be as high as I was used to growing up in Wales, or in comparison to other areas of England but they are there and they are steep, as I am finding out. The walking is great, working for myself over the last 5 years I always guarded my time feeling that time not working was wasted time; not so. Just putting on my hiking boots and walking is giving me a new perspective, I get time away from the computer (and email) and I get time to cogitate and absorb; it is valuable “me time” that lets me recharge the batteries and is something that I now look forward to.

On 9th January I set myself a goal to have walked 30 miles by 13th February, as of yesterday (8th January) I have walked 28 miles of that 30 mile goal; so I am 96% of the way to meeting my target. By the weekend I will have smashed that goal and will be working on the next!

I weighed myself this afternoon – I came in at 21 stone 11 lbs (or 305 lbs). That means I have lost 31 lbs in two months using herbalist products. That means I have lost a little over 9% of my body weight in 2 months, which is fantastic. My next target is to be 21 stone by 1st March.

So, to the developments for the Grand Canyon walk – I am still waiting for Rob Copeland at BNI Foundation to confirm whether they will register on the Just Giving website. If they don’t then that’s going to be a problem. The whole point about using the site is that it makes it easier for people to sponsor me. the walk is now a little over 4 months away and I am both nervous and excited. Nervous because I am afraid of heights, and still fat; excited because the Canyon is a place I have always wanted to visit and I am not only going to visit it, but I shall be walking through it which is something to look forward to.

Summing Up Last Week

Last week was a washout – it started on Monday with Manflu (no I am not a wimp – I continued to work through it!). By Wednesday that quickly morphed into both chest and throat infections then finally on Thursday evening it resulted in a severe ear infection with pain radiating from my jawline to my scalp and tinnitus so loud it is deafening. I have been given antibiotics and told there is a chance the eardrum will rupture (!). Feeling severely under par I have not been able to do any walking – and I feel guilty for this is. I know that it can’t be helped, but I still feel that I am letting the other two down. They are busy walking and I am in the house hoping my eardrum doesn’t perforate, or I damage my hearing in some way.

I started the antibiotics Friday so hope to see some improvement very soon.

In the meantime, I have started this blog. I have also been looking at which charity I shall walk for. Iain ha said he will walk to raise for funds for his local nursery school and Michele is walking for the Multiple Sclerosis Society and Compton Hospice. I am hoping to walk for the BNI Foundation.

We are hoping to use the JustGiving website. This makes getting sponsors so much easier, rather than handing around sponsor forms and therefore being limited to the local area we can talk to our friends on Facebook, our professional connections on LinkedIn and email our international friends and family directly. They can then go on the site and make the donation without any fuss. I think that it is a great idea.

Michele has set up her JustGiving site for her charities, I am not able set up mine yet since BNI Foundation are not registered with this giving site. I have spoken with Rob Copeland part of the UK arm of the BNI Foundation and it has to go the Board to make a decision (transparently it  costs the charity to be registered). So I will have to await their decision.

I hope to be back out walking shortly.

Update

Today is 1st February 2013. I have now been following the Herbalife programme for just under 2 months. My weight is now 21 stone 13 lbs (or 307lbs). That’s 29 lbs lost since 4th December! The loss is ontrack with my self-imposed targets.:)

initial Preparations

There are three of us going from the UK – Michele Ibbs, Iain Whyte and myself. Michele is the instigator and has been meaning to do the walk for a while, then Iain came on board and finally me.We are all going to be doing it for different charities, more on that later in the blog.

So, through January I have started my walking. I have downloaded an app on my ‘phone, RunKeeper, which allows me to monitor distance walked, my pace, my speed and to set walking goals.

Through January I have walked a total of 30 miles and spent over 5,600 calories in the process. The furthest I have walked was last Saturday with my wife Lucy when we walked 5.6 miles up and down the hills around Chipstead (and yes, there are hills!). I was exhausted by the end but it turned out that I was about to get a chest infection – so that’s my excuse.

Now on antibiotics I hope to go out and do some walking on the weekend.

What’s this about the Grand Canyon?

Iain Whyte is mentoring me as part of the process to get my weight down. Early January I get one of my regular calls and he tells me about a walk he is going to do in May; he is going to walk the Grand Canyon. I was very envious, and I said so. “Why don’t you come along?” was the reply and I started to procrastinate, saying I would consider it if my weight dropped further, if I was fit, if the cow jumped over the moon…..! I caught myself in what I was saying – I was allowing myself the ability to back out as I wasn’t “committing” and I am sure that Iain saw this as well. So I stopped myself, and said “Yes”.

I had committed.

What does this mean? in hiking terms we will be walking from the North rim at North Kaibab into the canyon hiking across the Colorado River at the canyon floor and then climb out the South rim via Bright Angel. Depending on which water stops we trek to, the hike will be around 25 miles in extremely hot conditions (approx 100°F).

What does this mean for me? I have to continue losing weight (my aim is at least a stone a month), get fit quickly and walk, walk, walk. Did I mention I have a fear of heights? I have a serious fear of heights, which I will have to overcome.

So this walk will be life changing in a number of ways.