{"id":377,"date":"2011-03-21T12:01:39","date_gmt":"2011-03-21T12:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wrigley.me.uk\/wp\/?page_id=377"},"modified":"2017-12-01T15:38:48","modified_gmt":"2017-12-01T15:38:48","slug":"20000-pullups","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.wrigley.me.uk\/20000-pullups\/","title":{"rendered":"20,000 Pullups"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Carl<\/a> and @PabloCheesecake<\/a> are two fat blokes who have set themselves the target of doing 20,000 situps (each) by the end of the year. M. Cheesecake set himself the target of cycling 500 miles in 2010 and achieved it, and by some fat-gentleman’s agreement they have set themselves a situp target. To help motivate and keep on track, they are raising money for the Stroke Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I hate situps. I’m not very good at them, and I think they’re a bad exercise. I’d rather strengthen my core by doing compound exercises which force me to keep good core stability. Barefoot running is surprisingly good for this. I would, however, like to be better at pullups.<\/p>\n

Therefore, I’ve set myself a goal, too. 20,000 pullups by the end of the year. I started late, but have set targets that I think are achievable, if not easy.<\/p>\n

And so to my cause, to help keep me motivated.<\/p>\n

As many people know, my wife Hannah had a major heart attack in June 2010. It would have been fatal if it were not for the ambulance service and the surgeon who removed the clot that caused the infarct.<\/p>\n

That was just the beginning of the story, however. Hannah was in a bad way afterwards and was in the Cardiac Care Unit at the Royal Berkshire Hospital for 8 days.<\/p>\n

The staff in CCU seem to be drawn from some special pool of people as they are universally lovely, from the cleaners and the lady who brings round the refreshments to the nursing staff and doctors.<\/p>\n

The care that Hannah received after the event was exceptional, and I decided to try to raise some money to help the staff keep it that way. They can use the money to make the ward nice for the people who have to spend time there, and for equipment.<\/p>\n

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I’m tracking my progress in a spreadsheet on Google Docs, embedded here by magic (or something), target in blue, progress in red:<\/p>\n