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.

Champagne and Fresh Air

It’s Day 5 of our Austrian Activity Holiday and the sun is trying to shine. Our holiday guests are getting fitter by the day and the weight losses are mounting up.

Yesterday all of the guests went to Bregenz, a beautiful town situated on Lake Constance in Austria. Bregenz is famous for its open air theatre with the stage being suspended actually on the lake. It is a magnificent sight and the stage makes an appearance in the latest James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, as the location for one of the big fight scenes.

Our group spent the day either taking a boat trip for lunch, shopping or just wondering around this beautiful town and by 5 o’clock everyone was back safely, positively buzzing after their enjoyable day.

Then it was time for our champagne cable car ride. The Lech tourist office have created a charming activity by converting one of the cable cars into a bar. Guests can sip champagne as the cable car slowly ascends the large mountain Rufikopf, enabling us to gaze in amazement at the magnificent views across the snow-capped mountain ranges, the beautiful summer meadows and enjoy an aerial view of our hotel and the small town of Lech. It is a charming way to enjoy the evening and the sun shone which made it even more spectacular. When we reached the top of the mountain we were able to get out and wander around in the cool, fresh evening air which is a tonic in itself. No wonder so many of our guests return year after year.

After the champagne it was time for dinner which is always exquisitely presented and totally delicious. We do feel very spoiled and it is hard to believe that the food is all low-fat and specially prepared for our group.

As we relaxed into the evening the nerves were beginning to emerge as Thursday evening is Concert Night! My colleague, Mary, is Concert organiser and she has managed to engage some 14 acts to perform from our group! I am getting nervous too as I still don’t know the words to the song that I am supposed to be singing (miming) in the finale!

Over the years our Concert has gained something of a reputation and many English guests, not in our group, deliberately book their holiday to coincide with our week so that they can come to our concert. No pressure then! The other guests (non English) who are also staying in the hotel find us all rather strange as we are having such a very happy time. We create so much laughter and activity. I wonder what they will think of us after tonight?

To think that last Saturday only a handful of our 37 guests knew each other and now they are all great buddies, having the holiday of a lifetime together. That’s why we keep on organising this trip. It really is too good to miss.

Fresh air and champagne? You just can’t beat it!