April 2009 Archives

A bring and buy sale will take place on Wednesday (29/4) with guests invited to socialise as they hunt down a bargain.

The afternoon will be hosted by the Women's Fellowship at Ickenham United Reformed Church, in Swakeley's Road, Ickenham at 2.45pm.

It will take place in the Hardwick Room at the church, anyone wishing to find out more information should call Secretary Ann Daly on 01895 634986.

WHEN I booked the Total toning class at Highgrove I didn't notice it was a level 2 class. I didn't realise this until I went back on the website to check what time the class started. So I was a bit concerned about what I was getting myself into.

The instructor was the same one who takes the aerobics and stretch and tone classes, although I have a feeling she may have been covering for someone else.

The class started off very similar to her usual classes, but luckily there wasn't any cardio work. It literally was an hour of toning - especially the arms.

I think we must have worked on every single muscle, but the abdominals and the arms definitely took the most pounding.

There was a lot of lifting, turning, stretching ad bending involved in the class. At one point my arms almost gave up on me, but as soon as we moved on to working the legs it wasn't so bad.

Considering it was a level 2 class, I didn't find it that hard, but then again, maybe I am getting fitter. At last!

The class was quite fun but I don't think it would be sufficient to only do that class. I still prefer the more challenging classes. I don't think I even broke a sweat in this one.

My next challenge is Classical yoga at Queensmead.

ONE COMMITTED runner has been pounding the streets of Hillingdon in his efforts to get fit for the London Marathon.

As part of his preparation for the big run on Saturday, Paul Douglas, of Bracken Village, Ickenham, has been running regularly on weekdays as far as Harrow-on-Hill and back, taking in the sights of Ruislip and Eastcote along the way.

Mr Douglas is running the marathon for Sense, a charity for the deaf and blind, and is hoping to raise £2,000 and is already over halfway there having passed the £1,300 mark.

He said: "I ran the marathon five years ago with no training and I was in agony.
"So I am taking it seriously this time, I should do better, I am aiming to run it in under four and a half hours.

"Last time I ran I did it in four hours and 50 minutes."

Mr Douglas, 31, who works in advertising, also recently completed a 20 mile training run at Hemel Hempstead, and has been eating healthy in attempts to boost his training regime.

"I've lived in Ickenham all my life and have been pounding the streets raising money for a while so people should recognise me."

To donate money to Paul's run visit www.justgiving.com/pauldouglasrunslondon

When I booked the boxercise class at Queensmead I expected it to be like the energy kick and cardio kick classes - basically sparring without actually hitting anything.

But, I was gladly proved wrong. When I saw a circuit laid out with a number of different stations with pads to kick and punch I got quite excited. I think that's a definite sign that I need to go back to martial arts.

Boxercise was, without a doubt, the busiest class I've been too yet. All the other classes I've been to at Queensmead only take up half the sports hall, but in this one we needed the whole of it. There must have been about 50 people, men and women, young and old, and fit and not so fit. I think I still fall into the latter. I don't seem to be getting any fitter from these classes, which is a disappointment, but, maybe I just need to do more than one a week.

So after quite a strenuous warm up of running around the hall for a long time, we did a few stretches and got straight into the 18-station circuit.

In this class you do everything in pairs so I was quite glad when a friendly woman, who I later learned was called Christina, said I could be her partner.

We started off at a punching station, but with only one minute on each station (swapping over after 30 seconds) it really wasn't enough to really get into it. It was all a bit haphazard actually, but, I suppose that was the point.

After every few stations we had to do a group exercise like star jumps and running. That made the whole thing 10 times harder.

After completing the circuit, which also consisted of press ups, sit ups, running, skipping, weight lifting etc. we had to run around the hall again before finishing off with a bit of stretching.

Again, it was another very challenging class and it really did make me realise that I need to go back to martial arts. However, if I can't find a good club to go to by the time I have tried out all the fitness classes at the two gyms, I think I might go back to boxercise again.

My next challenge will be Total toning at Highgrove.

I haven't been to a fitness class now for two weeks, but I think I still managed to pick the hardest one out of the lot.

Circuit training at Queensmead was an absolute killer. The class was the busiest one I've seen yet and half the people there were men, and not just any old men, they were fit looking men. So, I just resigned myself to the fact it would be hard.

The instructor was also a man and when he jokingly said the class was easy I knew he really was joking.

After a short warm up, consisting of a few stretches and bit of running and jumping around, we got straight into it.

There were 10 stations to the circuit and four people to each station. I was the youngest person in my group, so it was shameful when I realised I wasn't as fit as the other three. Embarrassing! As the class progressed I started to look around at everyone else and it hit me that I was probably one of the most unfit people out of everyone there!

We did a minute on each station, working all the muscle groups, and on some of the stations I actually had to stop because I physically couldn't do any more reps. My shoulders were killing me by the end of the class.

After finishing the 10 stations we then had to go round again doing different exercises. I couldn't believe it and I'm surprised I managed to complete it - just!

At one point the instructor even came over to tell me I wasn't working hard enough. I don't think I could possibly have worked any harder.

By the end of the second round I was wondering if the hour long class was really an hour. If felt at least an hour and a half. Definitely the longest exercise hour of my life!

We then did a quick cool down and we were finished. At last.

It was a really challenging class, but I don't really find circuits that fun, especially if we were going to do the same thing every week, so I'm not sure if I would pick this class to go back to.

However, I would recommend it to anyone who has the will power not give up - no matter how tired you are.

My next challenge is Boxercise at Queensmead.