Sun, Snow and Activity.

Mike and I are holidaying in Austria at the moment, enjoying our first break for seven months. When Mike’s 87 year old mother became very frail last year we felt she couldn’t be left but now she has moved in with us. Good food, good care and no worries has turned her health around to a point where we now felt we could leave her with our friend who always house- and dog-sits for us. Apparently they are having a lovely time together and we are certainly enjoying the break.

Our date for our holiday was determined by Mike’s wish to ski the annual White Ring ski race in Lech, in the Arlberg region of Austria which was held last Saturday. It is the longest ski race in the world and it is incredibly tough and potentially dangerous. A thousand highly-charged, super-fit folk assembled at the top of the Rufikopf mountain ready for their 22 km race around a wonderfully picturesque group of mountains with their only respite coming when they are chair lifted to the next mountain. Apart from that, it is full-on speed, energy and determination to reach the bottom of the last ski run in one piece and on two skis rather than in the emergency helicopter!

We arrived on Thursday and the last time Mike skied was a year ago so Friday was the only training day for Mike and he decided to ski round the course twice. As Saturday dawned, he was understandably apprehensive as he is only too aware that most of the other racers would be young and fearless, native skiers and supremely fit. His goal was just to finish the course, and in one piece.

As I waited at the finishing line with camera in hand thousands of people were gathered to cheer our competitors home. It was exciting and frightening at the same time as I wondered whether he would make it safely to the bottom.

I needn’t have worried. Mike skied the race in 1 hr 1 min 28 seconds. Exhausted but elated, he had enjoyed the thrill of pushing himself to the limit and skied faster than he had ever done – and survived. His time was certainly not the fastest of course, he didn’t expect it to be, but most importantly, he absolutely loved it and I was extremely pleased to have achieved his goal of completing the course, and was injury free.

Finding a physical activity that we love is key if we are to become fitter in our everyday lives. As we progress into this new year and our resolutions are possibly wavering, find yourself a challenge, a new sport or activity, so that you will enjoy becoming fitter in 2010.

To help you on your way, realise that exercising in a class is great fun and even if you’ve never been before why not give it a go? If you think you won’t be able to do the steps to the fitness routines, why not check out www.rosemaryconley.tv and learn the basic steps along with me as I demonstrate them slowly and simply. Confidence is key and if having a practice run makes you more confident, it could help you to make that first step to achieve a challenge you thought you could never achieve.