Fit 400 Test: 2nd Attempt.....7 months on

Back in August last year, Joe put me through the Fit 400 test which comprised of the following exercises:

- 100 star jumps
- 50 push ups
- 50 sit ups
- 50 burpees
- 50 punches
- 50 lunges
- 50 squats

I had to complete all exercises whilst being timed. Last year I did it in 19 minutes and 2 seconds.

I have just re-done it and this time I did it in.........*drumroll please*........11 minutes and 22 seconds!

7.5 minutes off!! Woo hoo!!

As I am sure you can imagine, I was over the moon with the result. It was a great feeling as it has shown how far I have come in the past 7 months with the help of Joe. All those 6.30am bootcamps have paid off!

I want to do it again just before I go and I am determined to do it in Sub 10 minutes as that was Joe's target for me in a year. Will post on here to update you.

I have also been training with an altitude mask, more info & photo's to follow....

Vx

Exciting news..............

Exciting news........I now have a sponsor for Mount Kilimanjaro!

JW Training is a fitness company that runs bootcamps and personal training sessions for clients in the Berkshire area. Joe Webb (company director) has been in the industry for over 8 years and helps clients achieve their goals, whether it's weight loss, muscle building or changing their lifestyle. Their clients vary hugely, from body builders and Bracknell Bee's ice hockey team to the average Joe (pardon the pun!) just like you and me!

JW Training is going to be a valuable addition to the Kilimanjaro team and I am looking forward to working with them to promote Alzheimer's Society and the challenge ahead. 

Joe is going to be training me so that I am going to be physically prepared for the trek. Training will include different aspects but I am hoping to focus on strength work and also cardio.  The fitter I am, the more I will enjoy it so I’m looking forward to starting.

Next month I have booked a long weekend in the Lake District for Mat's birthday. We are going to be climbing Scafell Pike (one of the 3 peaks) and then staying somewhere special for a couple of days. Can’t wait!!

For more information on JW Training, pop onto their website: http://jwtraining.net/about/

Next time: Charity auction

Five things you need to know before organising a charity car boot sale

My first big fundraiser was a charity car boot at Chocolates for Chocoholics’ HQ in Hurst. I have only ever been to car boots as a buyer so this was something very new for me.

We set the date (1st Sunday in July)…..then the fun started!

I sent out a press release to the local media and they kindly promoted the auction and the trek. The key thing with press releases is to find out exactly who covers your area and their contact names. I have done several fundraising events over the years and I now have a good relationship with most of them which always helps when you want some cheeky promoting!

I then designed a poster with all of the details and literally sent it to friends, family, social media sites, local newspapers, radios, companies, pubs....you name it, and it went there! 

I then contacted the Alzheimer’s Society and they sent me lots of promotional materials, including collection boxes, balloons and leaflets. This definitely helped on the day as it draws attention to exactly who you are supporting and they can see it’s a trusted charity.

The morning of the sale came and the sky was clear with a few clouds.....it looked like a good start. We had told the sellers setting up from 8am but our first one arrived at 7.15am! Luckily my sister was on hand to help organize them and help with the setting up of tea’s and coffees! We had Simon (our best man) on the gate organizing the sellers/buyers, Matt (my husband) and Dave (friend from work) and on the BBQ, my parents running the Chocolate sale and looking after their own car boot plot and friends bringing in homemade cakes to sell ( Thanks Sorsha and Nick!). 

The busiest part of the day was probably between 10-11 and it was fantastic to see so many people coming along to buy, and also to see so many empty car boot tables at the end of it! 

3pm came around very quickly and Simon collected all of the money together and started counting. We all made our guesses at how much we had raised, our target was £350 and we absolutely smashed that...........we raised £635!!!

I was thrilled and still am, this means I have now raised (with help from my awesome team) £1365 which means I am 34% of the way towards my £4000 target.

The car boot was hard work, but it was so worth it. It takes a lot of planning and you need to work out costings to make sure you don't spend unnecessarily. If you want to organize one yourself, here are my Top 5 bits of advice:

1 - Tell EVERYONE about it! Friends, family, social media, local advertising on signs, pubs, restaurants, companies, newspapers, radios - go through your phone/address book and get ringing!

2 - Produce a colorful poster with all the details. Put it in the car, at the school, local shops, outside your house, send it to the newspapers and to local websites who may have an events section

3 - Get a team of helpers - Ask friends and family if they could spare a few hours, it’s amazing how many things need attention on the day.

4 - Date of the sale: Find out if any other car boots will be happening on the same day as you. You don’t want to be competing, especially if the other ones are better established. Most happen on the 2nd Sunday of the month so maybe choose a different date.

5 - Serve food/refreshments if you are allowed. We made about £200 on the food so it was definitely worth doing. Ask your local butchers, bakers, shops, patisseries if they might donate some of their produce to save you spending out of the pot.

Good luck!

 *A little shout out to my parents who kindly let me use their land for the car boot, couldn’t have done it without you both so thank you J *

First steps...

First steps.....

Well, first thing's first.....get some walking boots! I did some research online but I figured the best thing to do was hit the shops. I never thought I would be so excited to go try on boots but I really was!

We went to the Cotswold Outdoor store in Reading and we were looked after by Jack who was fantastic. The staff are a credit to the company, they know their stuff inside and out and he spent a lot of time with us making sure we got exactly what we needed.

He picked out 4 pairs for me to try on, these were:

Scarpa Womens SL M3 (B1) Boot £130
Salomon Womens Quest 4D GTX Boot £155
Berghaus Womens Explorer Trek GTX Boot £120
The North Face Womens Verbera Lightpacker GTX Boot £160

 

After 1.5 hours, lots of walking around the shop, climbing up "practice" slopes and numerous pairs of socks.....I chose the Salomon's.

 

They were all fairly similar in prices (see above) but I felt the Salomon's were overall the best for the following reasons:

 

> Ankle support - higher support than some of the others, I felt more stable especially when on uneven ground

> Waterproof - Goretex lining and waterproof leather, no chance of getting wet feet!

> Lightweight - Only weighs 550g so very light, but yet still feels supportive and sturdy

> Lace hooks - 3 Sets of lace hooks on each side of the boot above the ankle. This gave my ankles lots of support and it also means I can undo those laces if I was getting hot which will air my feet, but I don't have to remove the whole shoe.

 

My husband ended up buying a pair of shoes too, same shoe but in the male range!

 

I bought the shoes with the idea of "wearing" them in when I went to Exmoor a few weeks later. We definitely did that! We walked about 30 miles over 4 days and although my calves ached a little, my feet felt great! No rubbing, no blisters, not too hot or too cold and no wet feet!

 

Fantastic buy and it feels great knowing I can confidently wear them when climbing Kilimanjaro.

 

Next time.....Car boot fundraiser!