Andy Fisher, Deputy Head of Outdoor Education, tells us of his press up challenge this November in aid of Cancer Research;
"My wife is not a fan of moustaches and so every November, I am obliged to take up a physical challenge to raise money for charity, rather than commit to a net increase in facial hair for 30 days! This year, I decided to undertake Cancer Research's Press Up Challenge which would typically involve performing 100 repetitions a day. Instead, I chose to triple to numbers involved!
Performing 300 press ups in our unheated conservatory at 5am each morning was a pretty lonely experience at times and by the end of the first week I was beginning to question my life choices! On the other hand, it was a great opportunity to listen to an audiobook and enjoy a little 'me time' before launching into the day.
As the days ticked by and the numbers stacked up, I grew confident that I would be able to complete the 30 days and was thrilled that friends, family and colleagues had generously supported me through my Just Giving page. The only problem was that 9,000 didn't seem like a good number to end on.
With this in mind, I reached out to a friend who runs a gym in London and asked if he would be interested in joining me to attempt a thousand press ups so I could finish on a nice round number! He agreed and I so I booked a train ticket and dug deep to complete the last week of the November dates. A highlight included sharing one day's reps with L6 Nelson who were my tutees last year. Some generously gave up their snack money and others actually joined me for some of that day's work (pic attached).
I took Friday 1st December as a rest day and then jumped on the train to London that evening, waking with a mixture of dread and excitement for what was to come. As it turned out, the month of training had prepared me well and I was able to keep a steady pace, completing the thousand press ups in 1 hour 43 minutes which I'm told is a respectable performance for a 54 year old English teacher!
I have no interest in performing another press up for some time but am proud of the achievement. Next year, assuming my wife doesn't have a change of heart, I'm thinking perhaps a few burpees might be in order..."
If you would like to donate to this great cause please have a look at Andy's just giving page:
https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/andys-giving-page-2396