I have just returned from a fitness week in Devon run by a company called Fitfarms. The week was a real experience with highs and lows, including a 14 mile hike across Exmore and over 40 hours of exercise, but all in all it was a wonderful week. A typical day started with Circuits at 6am, followed by a 10K run, a body conditioning class of some sort and then team activities to round of the day at about 8pm.

There was a real range of people there from the seriously overweight and new to exercise to the reasonably fit and everything in between. So why was I there? Firstly I wanted a break, and secondly I wanted to restart my fitness drive in preparation for the London Triathlon I plan to do next year.

I was surprised with the quality of this week as it was not just about serious levels of exercise or weight-loss, but more about equipping their clients with the right tools to carry on the hard work once they left. We had sessions with a nutritionist, the resident chef and had 1-2-1 sessions to action plan and set targets for the future. The whole week was a real eye opener.

On one day we did a Duathlon, a 2 mile run, 14 mile cycle and then a 2 mile run along a canal path in a country park. This was about 3 days into the week and I was feeling particularly weak as a result of the early morning wake up calls and the reduced number of calories in my diet, but 5 minutes into the cycle I realised I was up there with the fittest members of the group. After a quick break half way for my snack of dried fruit and seeds (got to keep your blood sugar levels up) I headed towards the finish and really went for it. It didn’t take long to overtake the girls in front and before I knew it I was leading the pack.

When I got off the bike to complete the race my legs would not work, so running was out of the question so I power walked like I never have before, determined to come in first. With about 500 meters to go I spotted Lisa (A superfit, super competitive Aussie) coming up behind and thats when I started to run.

I finished first with about 7 minutes to spare and was totally elated. So the moral of the story? You can do anything if you set your mind on it....and also there’s something about making assumptions, nobody would have put money on me coming first in anything...even me!!!

I lost 5 and a half lbs, 4.5% body fat and 4 inches off my waist in one week and I now have my Triathlon firmly in sight...but more importantly I feel completely refreshed and looking forward to going back to work on Monday.