Strategy.....

Oh God?? 

I spoke with a good friend today, and he mentioned this word twice, which means it must be important!!  Of course I've given lots of thought about how to prepare myself for this escapade, but a strategy?

Well, it's only fair I guess to have a strategy.  My goal here, apart from climbing to the top of Africa for fun is to raise a boat load of money for Autism Concern, and that involves strategy;  so here's mine....

Sacrifice; (or giving up on all the things that you like that don't help with your preparation)...Chocolate...Wine...Guinness...Take Aways?   Yep, all done away with.  Its quite fun to watch how Liz helps with this....she now hides her chocolate in a tin, and drinks wine from a mug while I have coffee, thinking that I won't know what shes up to...  What a girl?

Training; well, the training is going OK so far.  I'm actually no longer obese.  In the course of just 2 short weeks Mr Wii now reports I'm just overweight...still significantly so, but 7lbs less than before.  I'm getting used to the early mornings staring at the cars that pass by the window beneath the cycle machine in the gym.  My goal is to lose another 19lbs before Christmas, which will leave me just....overweight?? 

Rehearse; Well this one is easy...walking is cheap, and with seven kids and 2 dogs to entertain cheap is good.  Trouble is, it's hard to find a flattering picture of them all in one go??   This is us at the top of Helvellyn.

Account; Open a Just Giving Account....ticked that box early...now I just need some donations :-)
www.justgiving.com/graham-kennedy1

Timetable; hmm....this one took some thought.  But tonight I sorted my timetable out, courtesy of a few friends, and the Runners World magazine....

• August 14th - Get up, drive to Wales, walk up to the top of Snowdon.  Anyone wishing to join me?  (Thats you Liz by the way!!)  and of course, anyone else that wishes a nice day out.
• October 9th - Charlie & I are heading north & meeting up with a friend to do Ben Nevis
• November 21st - I'm doing a 10k run in the Castle Coombe Chilly 10K race
• January 1st (Hangover or not)....I'm doing the Wicksteed Recovery Half Marathon.

Engage; Newspapers, Sports Organisations, Businesses.....oh?  Never dealt with any of them, so at this point, engage the help of a couple of friends that CAN. 

Grit; yep....not quite of the John Wayne sort but determination, and a need to lose 2 stone should do it.

You;  So, if you made it this far, thank you....if you have a few £'s to spare then please sponsor me. 

Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa.  The highest free standing mountain in the world, and at 19,341ft is almost 3.7 miles high.  I'm climbing it because I want to have the pleasure of ticking off another of the "100 things to do before you die from my list".  I'm also doing it for Sam, and for Liz.  

So...updates??  I've vexed (I think thats the word) about how often I should update?   Don't worry..I decided against daily...In fact, I figure I'll update only when I have some positive news for you all about how all this is going.  So perhaps the next one will be from the top of Snowdon in a week or so.

Until then?  Spread the word..... :-)