This is just a little note to all would be travellers . When booking your trek and flights separately it is always best to make sure that the dates match and that in fact they are not 2 weeks apart as this can be a very expensive mistake to make. I thank you

Right well we are at the end of week 3 of the training and all seems to be progressing well and at a steady pace. I am currently doing 3 sessions a week on the treadmill, 2 strength sessions a week, a mountainbike ride every Sat and a long walk on Sundays so as you can see verry little time for anything else. And as for the smoking mmm not so good week 1 I lasted just the 2 days, week 2 didnt even try, week 3 smoked on Monday thgen realised that I finally really wasn't enjoying it again so Tuesday I stopped yippee at last.....well till Saturday night little bit drunk and slipped up and had 2 but just the 2 and I havn't carried on today (sun) so all is looking good at the moment. Last Sunday I went for a walk with David just 3 miles to a pub for a spot of lunch and 3 miles back to say Dave was perspiring would be understating it. But this week it was the turn of his sister to join me and we happily walked around Queen Elizabeth park covering a nice 8ks in what can only be descibed as grotty conditions, The rain was coming down followed by the snow and on our return to the centre tea/coffee was much need for a little warmth. So thankyou to both of you for comming along and hope you want to tag along again and anyone else that fancies a walk on a sunday just drop me a line although they will be getting longer with my goal being 3-4 hours at least. Anyway thats it for now and for anyone concerned about the blood pressure it has dropped dramaticaly to 128/85 good news

Oh Dear What A Very Very Silly Idea post 2

So I joined a gym and got myself an induction day of Saturday and thought oops need some gym wear so good old sports direct on line comes to the rescue. The parcel came quickly and upon opening it I see what can only be described as a tshirt that should be seen from mars, in fact so brightly green/yellow it is that I'm surprised the box wasn't glowing like a worker from Sellafield. That will teach me not to check what I'm ordering. Anyway Saturday arrived and it was time for my induction obviously after my morning 6 smokes and 2 large bacon butties and 3 cups of strong black coffee.No as I'm writing this I'm starting to see what the problem may have been that I'm about to tell you about.

I jumped in the car with Chris and we headed off to the gym on arrival I was presented with a number of forms to fill out and told to take a seat.After 5 mins a young lad of early 20's approached me and led me to a small room to take my blood pressure................150/105............oops he tried again............145/100...........do you smoke Neil?   Maybe You do realise how high this is don't you?  No. I would strongly recommend you seeing your doctor, you may even get a discount from us if he referes you to us. Now this guy really knew how to make me feel good! Still he let me enrol after a chat with a colleague and I was shown around the equipment although I have to admit my mind was now elsewhere. I went home worried and quite down. Could the trip be over before it started? I went to Argos and got a home bp monitor and then went out and got pissed!!!!!!!!!!

Oh Dear What A Very Very Silly Idea

This is to be my little diary/tale and I should like to apologise for poor grammar spelling punctuation etc but I am the first to admit that I am no writer, and to any family members who may read this I apologise for any profanities and stories of my past that may creep into this (If it happened in the past please feel free to skim or skip)

So decision made I shall be trekking up Mt Kilimanjaro. Why? I hear Sue ask. Why not I replied mmm maybe not the best response. So indeed why?. Well I guess I just want to challenge myself and to have something other than 20 years of partying to look back on when I'm sat in the nursing home having my bum wiped by someone young enough to be my grand daughter. Its not after all just about getting to the top . Its the giving up smoking, and getting myself into the right sort of shape (preferably not weeble wobble curves). So I booked the trip and then asked the question of how much training I should be putting in. The answer back from Tuscan Trails was about 4 months of 4 1 hour CV sessions a week. This is where the first oh oh went off inside my wee little head and Sue's "are you mad" was making a little sense. Still I've got 4 and a half months and some encouraging friends(cough). The next stage is to book a gym and rather rapidly I feel , then maybe choose a charity that I could try raising some cash for along the way. Well thats it for my first inbstallment as you can see dont expect the next war and peace but it would be nice if some of you followed this . Much love and fear Neil