Four Sessions in One (Valentine’s) Day
Well is seemed a good idea when Pip, our MD, suggested it.
“It’s all for a good cause” It is
“It’ll be easy” It isn’t
And that is how I have just ended up doing 4 fitness sessions before 10 a.m.
The Charity? Julia’s House. Now I am not the biggest fan of charities as a lot of my friends know, but there are exceptions and Julia’s house is definitely one of those.
Julia’s House is not a typical children’s hospice
They provide practical and emotional support for families caring for a child with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition, providing frequent and regular support in their own homes, in the community or at their hospices.
I don’t believe it is possible to watch one of their videos without tears welling up in your eyes.
We all have problems, issues with our kids (or parents for that matter….) but when you see what Juila’s House does, day in day out, there is a feeling of relief that it is not your family going through the trauma of having a child with a life-limiting condition but there is also a feeling of relief that there is an organisation such as Julia’s House who supply the care and support that the State just can’t.
The challenge that a group of us are tasked with is to do a 2-hour FIIT Session (don’t worry, I had to Google it as well – still don’t know what it stands for. I think that one of the I’s stands for Insanity, I rest my case).
The rest of the squad have numerous advantages over me:
- Age being number 1
- Fitness also being number 1
- They started earlier
- I am carrying more injuries than Darren Anderton in a bad season
- They possibly have more friends ☹
The ultimate aim of the Challenge is to raise £60,000 to cover the cost of 2 nurses for the year.
Now I have NEVER done any fund raising like this before but having been involved with Julia’s House for a few years now and seeing the unbelievable work that they do, then, if not now, when? If not them, then who?
So today started at 0615 (and what does the O stand for? That’s right, Oh My God that was early) with a 30 minute Insanity Session at Bournemouth Football Club - as Eddie Howe is one of the HIIT Squad members (TBH his playing days are a bit behind him and , well I won’t go any further…), followed by a quick drive home for the School run, then a dash to Tesco (It’s Valentine’s Day, of course I’m going to go to Tesco at some stage of the day).
Session 2 was 30 minutes on a Watt bike where I sweated profusely while listening to The Boomtown Rats – a much underrated band IMHO.
Session 3 was straight after this and was a 30-minute workout with Dom a personal trainer at the DW gym where we spend most of our time concentrating on stretching – he refers to me as his “Human Wardrobe” due to my inflexibility.
Session 4 dovetailed nicely and it was just a short crawl across the gym floor to the Spin Studio where, being Valentine’s day, Lis, my wife had reserved a bike for me. But just not next door to her…. 45 minutes of being shouted at/encouraged later and I Exited Stage Left as Shakespeare wrote, just not pursued by a bear.
A long way to go.......
We have about a month to go and yes, we all know that this is just an excuse to get money out of you all, but it is not just a good cause, it is a great cause.
Julia’s House only gets 5% of its funding from the Government, everything else they have to raise.
Go on, do your bit to help me help Julia’s House.
Cheers and see you at the Gym!
Peter