Loch Rannoch

This week my get fit campaign has taken a step up as the whole family set up camp at Jim and Sarah's lodge at Loch Rannoch. The plan at the moment is to push hard to build up stamina and to challenge my body with small infections to exercise my immune system. This has taken the form of fishing from a boat on the lake for a day, climbing a monroe (3000ft mountian) called Ben Lawers with the kids including the youngest, cycling round the lake (23miles) a couple of times and fishing a river for the day. With all this exercise comes a barrage of insect bites, scratches and fatigue which is testing me pretty well, so far all the damage seems to amount to one sore elbow due to over use of a heavy casting rod and some aching muscles in my legs from the trips round the loch on the bike.

I have also managed to fit in a couple of phone calls to colleagues who I may be working with when I return to Gore in four weeks or so, this all seems pretty positive and interesting so my mind is starting to exercise in that direction as I cycle or fish my way back into rude good health. One of the good developments in this year is that the kids have got to an age where they can climb up the mountians under their own steam and land a fish without my help. Poppy is very keen to get a fish of her own having seen Jim and I land fish in the boat but so far has not had the luck, we will see if another session today in lighter winds can get her anything.

Next week we are moving to a cottage near Skye in a village called Applecross which is on the beach, this is a pretty remote spot so my mobile internet access might not work. The plan is for beach jogging or coastal cycling to keep the fitness program going while the kids build sandcastles and we do a bit of fishing off the coast. So we hope you are all well, the final stages of the recovery program are going well and providing some great fun holiday memories for us all.

Cheers

Gerry