“Last night a Weimaraner saved my life…….”

Any dog needs walking and big energetic dogs tend to need more than most, so as Lottie grew our walks got progressively longer quickly evolving into three hour plus explorations of the Essex countryside.

It was during these walks that I realised just how many compromises I had conditioned myself to accept as a result of my weight and that I had squandered what should have been some of the fittest years of my life.

For weeks I trawled my mind for something to focus on, a challenge that would motivate me to continue working on my fitness whilst also proving a rejection of many of the compromises I had previously been forced to make and slowly an idea began to take shape.

Being somewhat prone to whim, when such an idea forms I try to resist the initial impulse to act, instead I spend the next few months mulling it over until it either evaporates or has been analysed, planned and reviewed to such an extent that it gathers momentum and inevitably bursts out.

And that was the point I found myself one sunny March afternoon, enjoying a quiet walk along the river with Claire and Lottie when I looked over, smiled and blurted out “I WANT TO CLIMB KILMANJARO!” 

Who am I?

No I’ve not come down with a sudden bout of existentialism but for those of you that are not related to me I thought it may be useful to know a little more about me and the motivation behind my Kilimanjaro trek for the Kids Company.

Of course those of you who do know me will be familiar with my propensity to meander my way through any story therefore appreciate that this unlikely to be something that I’ll be skimming over so rather than bludgeon you with some type of blogging opus I’ll break it down into a few individual entries hopefully making it easier to read (or skip altogether).

I’m 35 years old, purposefully not married although permanently engaged (“committed” always makes me feel like I should be in an asylum) to Claire for almost 12 years with no children but we do have a 4 year old Weimaraner Lottie who we absolutely adore (except when she’s sitting proudly behind a pile of mangled plastic that used to be your Oakley sunglasses)!

Despite being a very fit and active teenager, exercise made way for beer and takeaways during my twenties until five years ago I found myself on the wrong side of 20 stone (280 lbs) with some acute anxiety and depression thrown in for good measure.

Suffice to say with the help of some excellent therapists and the support I received from family and friends (particularly Claire who demonstrated saint like levels of patience and understanding) that after about six months I had managed to work my way through the worst of it so that by the time a little silver whirlwind blew into our lives I was primed to begin a new chapter………

And so it begins………

Whilst I’ve always liked the idea of keeping a diary I’ve never had much success in maintaining one mainly because I’d never want anyone to read my deepest darkest thoughts or I couldn’t possibly imagine who would be interested in them anyway!

OK, so that’s probably not the best way to entice new readers to my first attempt at blogging but if you’re still reading you’re probably wondering (like me) what’s changed?

Well in February 2012 I am planning to summit Kilimanjaro in aid of the Kids Company and have been looking for ways that I can keep friends, family and (very welcome) strangers updated as to my progress through the six months leading up to the trek culminating in the notes & photos I’ll be bringing back from each day of trek.

I hope you’ll stick with the blog and enjoy sharing the experience, hopefully because that will mean that you’re finding it entertaining (or that we’re related)!

Keep on trekking.