End of January 09 - Month 1 of 8

Many, many of you have asked me to write a blog, seeing that I am not a technology luddite - I have decided to give it a go. I am not sure you will get much more than a monthly narrative out of me, but in any case let me share a few points from Jan 09.

Fundraising:
Thank You - Thank You - Thank You all - at the end of Jan you have all most generously donated around £5990 pounds which is truly fantastic and will really help the VSO projects with a sustainable amount to help drive Change (yes an 'Obama' term) to the projects in the foothills of Kili - For the digit heads I have 62 sponsors (UK, Germany, Belgian and the USA) so I already decided that I will need a bigger flag - what a absolute delight it will be to have so many of you make this journey with me.

Training:
So I have started getting into shape for the challenge of getting to almost 20,000 ft. During January I decided to take things slow and easy as I have been guided not to 'overdo' it. So much to Arjinder's surprise I have started wandering around at home with Arm & Ankle weights (1.1kg and 2.2kg each for the technical folks out there) just to get some strength into my 41 year old muscles. After about 45mins, I usually end up moving around like some snail and my arms and legs feel like lead! I have also started to do some long walks - fast but long. So on Sundays I have been pounding the streets of Bucks. I did 5 miles the first time, then 5.5, 6 and 6.7 miles today in 1hr 39 mins. Also I have been doing weird lunges, press-ups calf raises much to the visual delight of my two kids who think I have gone rather loopy and cannot see any link between my prancing around like this and climbing Kili! I also have started some weight training (not using beer cans mind) but real dumbells (yes I know you are lingering on the 'dumb' part of that word) and also some gentle running (3-3miles) and a bit of Fartlek on a Friday night (can't beat a good Fartlek to get things moving!). I am keen to do some aerobic dancing so any takers out there? - We will step things up in Feb!

Kit:
So I have used this as an excuse to buy lots and lots of really cool (I think so but Arjinder doesn't!) clothes. Layer and Layer I have been told. My proudest purchase is a Performance Shell Goretex jacket - it is so cool, I have not even tried it. I have been wearing my odour free base layer to check how stinky I can get it and yep you guessed it it works up to a point!, This layering stuff really works, today I was out in 0C and wind and was as warm as toast. Last week I was in Chicago and although I could have, I did not try walking about in -16C - my excuse - I did not have all my layers.

Key Highlights January:
Apart from the 2% body fat loss, I had the chance to listed to General Colin Powell last week and he is a truly excellent speaker. He talked a little about his journey from Jamacia into the significant military and State positions he had held until recently. What I liked about his thoughts on leadership were around 'Have Passion', '...a clear sense of purpose & vision' and make tough decisions. I really think this is a simple and practical advice and have doubled my efforts in using this planned Kilimanjaro climb to raise awareness and maximise fundraining for the 3rd world. He also talked about Obama and like most others, I too have a lot of faith in what this man can do in terms of leadership of both the current economic issues as well as peace and also starting to address the third world.

Right that's it for now - Again a lot of you have said you will support me in all sorts of roles and I will draw an Rayet Kilimanjaro Programme Organisation Chart (what else do you expect) and release this shortly so you can see what a great bunch of folks I have supporting me as get to almost 20,000ft. Thanks JR