Cart-Wheels and La Cookeracha!

Jo and I, along with the Taylors, Kinsleys and Chris Hickford have recently got back from a week away in North Devon with 36 young people from Fullbrook School.
It was a fantastic week of outdoor activities and indoor games and some sessions looking at various issues affecting young people and Looking at them from a Christian point of view; things like money, Image, Stereotypes, Health and wellbeing etc.

It was really cool to get to know some more people from our community and to see these young achieve great things through the activities they took part in and in some cases concurring fears and achieving things that beforehand they may not have thought that they could achieve.

For me, the overwhelming lessons I learnt over the week were two fold: the first being that I am not just a techie - I don't need to box myself into such a narrow area of my abilities. I'm not saying I am Wonder Woman or anything, just that I managed to connect with the youths and had a good time doing it!
The second thing I learnt about myself is that I am completely and totally unfit!
this may have something to do with the fact that I haven't done any exercise for a number of years and it showed from day one! The first activity I took part in was a mountain biking trip with four of the boys and Chris Hickford along with the super-fit SGH staff member Ben. I was at the back of this small convoy for the whole bike ride, the muscles were willing but my heart was doing cart-wheels in my chest! It was not a pretty sight and I suffered for a few days afterwards because of it.
I managed the other activities quite well even though my heart was pretty much always doing its own version of 'La cookeracha!'

When we got home we had a nice long chill out on the sofa, watched an episode or two of Alias and checked the emails and surfed the net a little - it was a nice relaxing couple of hours.
However, as I lounged there with my beautiful wife enjoying some quality time with each other (and Sydney Bristow) I realised that this is all we do! Sit in front of the telly and go on the internet! (the sharp minded amongst you will have worked out that this sitting in front of the telly for a number of years accounted for the prolonged "La cookeracha" sensations in my chest)

And so my new challenge is to get active!
I will get on the exercise bike we bought and do the 8 miles we covered on our mountain bike trip on a weekly basis.
To also go out with Steve walking and climbing (he's the outdoor guru amongst us....)
and of course get out and about on the bike I have just acquired!
finally we want to get some of the photos from SGH on our wall to remind us of our week and keep us motivated to get fit and stay fit!

So I say to you, faithful Blog readers, please keep me accountable to the above statements - I will need to be badgered to keep me doing this (otherwise it will all finish in about a week)

Right that's me done, putting the laptop away - turning the telly off and I'm out of here!
Keep healthy out there!