Last challenged yourself physically?

[BDG]

I stopped last August - was on about 20 a day but used to smoke about 40 a day years ago when I was at uni. Had smoked 16 or 17 years in all. I read 'The East Way to Stop Smoking' by Alan Carr - no, not the fat gay comedian. A different Alan Carr.

I do not know if it was the book, I expect it was, but I realised why I smoked, and once I knew why I did, it was like a spell had been broken - I did not want to smoke any more, I did not need to smoke any more.

As I say, once I realised why I did, it was easy. I really do suspect all of us smokers and those of us who smoked did for the very same reason once we had been doing it a while - and no, not because of the addiction itself. The reason, well, I cannot tell you, it is that simple, you have to find it out for yourself. If I told you, you would not believe me. I was a bit manic for 3 days after stopping, but after that the monster was dead pretty much.

What do I do to keep myself in shape? Walk fast. My normal route is 4 miles, down a valley and back up, takes just over 40 minutes. That is fast walking. Every other night.

I do slower walking a couple of times a week over rough ground, up and down the valley sides again, cover 8-9 miles over about 2 3/4 hours. Again, that is pretty fast. If you do not keep your legs strong with plenty of walking or running, they may have power for doing the odd thing, but they will have no endurance.

Remember that one day, the ability to set off and keep going over bad ground might be the thing that keeps you alive.

I like it better in winter as its nice and cool.

Other than that stuff, my garden. Get at least a couple of tons of manure in each month over the winter and it all needs loading on the truck, unloading and moving to where it is needed.