What?

There's never been a time when I could, with clear conscience, describe myself as "sporty". I'm not sure that there ever really will be - much of the sport pushed out on TV in the UK is uninteresting, and when I'm in the US it's incomprehensible.  However, there comes a time when even the most dedicated couch-potato realises that if something is not done, then he's had his chips.

That particular time has been creeping up on me over the past year or so - starting back in April this year (2011) when, while the rest of the country was watching Prince Willie marry Pippa Middleton's sister, I was learning that standing up on a motorbike and riding over the welsh hills requires core muscles which I did not possess,  Things went from bad to worse, with a triple digit reading on the scales and a growing list of aches and pains exasturbated (yes, I know its not a word, but I've made this all much worse all by myself, so it kind of fits) by a desk bound job and frequent transatlantic trips.

Oh, I tried to do something about it. I bought a mountain bike, and I joined a gym, but you can't spend your way out of this condition. I think maybe what I lacked was a realistic and acheivable goal.

So, as I sit here on the last day of 2011 - possibly one of the crappiest years I can remember (for all sorts of reasons) I am determined to do something about it.  As a goal, I have a little springtime walk to look forward to.  Sometime in April my pal Mike and I will tackle the Coast-to-coast walk from St Bees in Cumbria to Robin Hood's Bay in Yorkshire. Its a realistic challenge, but a challenge nonetheless, and I will need to train if Im going to make it.  As it happens, I like walking, and I love the Lakes and Dales, so I really am rather excited about this.

Whether my determination to train, and go on to other challenges, will last past April, I can't say.  It wouldn't be the first time Ive broken a promise to myself.  But as it stands, that walk is just the first thing I want to aim at, and maybe making a few notes on progress in this blog might help a little. More importantly, I am NOT going to let a mate down, so I really have no option but to be fit as a butcher's dog and raring to go by the time easter is over and done with.

Everything has to start somewhere, so I'll start here.  Vital statistics are 47, 113, 38.  Thats years, kilos and inches (waist).  Did I mention I smoke?  On the bright side, I think we can say there's room for improvement!  Ive one training walk under my belt - and have to say I enjoyed it immensely, despite having lived within spitting distance of Windsor Great Park for half a century, there are still bits I haven't seen before...

Wish me luck, please...