Hello, I'm Abagail. I am an Instructor and Assessor for the St. John Ambulance in Gloucestershire. Last year I trekked on the Great Wall of China and raised just over £5,000 for the Charity. Things are a bit different this year... I was meant to be going to Peru in September to trek to Machu Picchu on the old Inca Trail, however it proved not to be financially viable so I've come up with something else... That's what 'Abbeys Challenge' is all about. My aim is to raise £20,000 to split between the St. John Ambulance and Marie Curie Cancer Care (because they looked after my Dad sooooo well before he passed away in November 08). I'd like to present both Charities with a large cheque each in time for Christmas 2010.
A lot of this has been made possible because I have been through some big changes since Christmas 08. I was very unhappy in my own skin and wanted to do something about it... at 5'8" I weighed 13.7 stone and wore size 16 jeans. One morning, early December, I saw an advert in my local 'What's On' - 'I can help you lose weight', so I rang the number and spoke to a lady called Melissa. She came to my house that evening to introduce me to Herbalife products. I figured I had nothing to lose except lbs so I signed up. I haven't looked back yet ! I now weigh 11 stone and wear a size 10 jeans !!!! In April this year I joined a gym - Le Spa in Cirencester, where I am doing the Spin-a-Thon. All the staff have given me so much support and encouragement and helped me to get my fitness level up. One of my friends, Beth, helped get me into 'running' and I go 'rollerblading' too !!! I've had to try and fit some of that 'work' stuff in too !!!
But my training is going well, my average work-out in the gym is 30 mins on the treadmill followed by 2(ish) hours on a spinning bike, finishing with 20 mins of Pilates and a good stretch !!! Yesterday I did 3 hours on the bike after a 30 min run on the tread-mill !!!
So, this blog is to let you know how my training is going... if you've got any tips or advice please let me know !!!