Day 5 - Tuesday 13th May
So, where was I? I didn't get a chance to write anything down today until 6.30pm as the day was soo hectic. Woken again by the whistle. No surprise there. I sat bolt upright immediately and my roomies joked that hubby could use a whistle to get me up back in real life (I'm so not a morning person) but right now we could happily shove that whistle into a darkened orifice.
Stretch & Move was laid out differently today, a small circuit at one end of the room, boxing gloves and pads at the other. Thankfully there were no Spotty Dogs on the circuit (spotty dogs are heinously hard and we all loathe them. they are a bit like star jumps but instead of moving both arms & legs together out to the side, you do alternate arms and legs, to the front and back, so not really like starjumps at all!) so we were cheered by this.
The stretch seemed achievable because it was broken into two sections, although we did have to do each section twice. Once to box and once to hold the pads. The lady I was paired up with was really encouraging, but the gloves were disgusting - all hot and sweaty inside, and when you took your hands out they stank. Ewwwwww. I think today was the first day we used resistance bands, boy are they hard work? but good for toning your arms. Maybe I'll get some when I get home.
Breakfast was a bowl of muesli which I wolfed down, too hungry to complain or care. I've not had any coffee since I arrived, and to be honest I'm not missing it as I thought I would. We had two midmorning snacks - a handful of dried fruit & nuts AND an apple. We were in heaven! 
Today was our third 7 mile walk (to a swimming pool) followed by a 20 length swim. The thought of swimming had us all in raptures of delight.
But, when breakfast was over there was a shock in store for us all. The second trainer, Julie, had been out to check our route for Health & Safety purposes. She came in and asked "ok, which of you brought a saw with you?" Everyone looked confused. Then she explained that a tree had fallen across the route we were due to walk, and that she was sorry to announce we could not go on that walk. Cue a chorus of cheers from us. "But" Julie continued, "there is another walk, a 5 mile walk" more cheers, "but you would have to pull together as a team. If you want to go swimming you will all have to complete it in 1.5 hours". We weren't sure about this. 1.5hrs doesn't seem like very long at all.
We were told that this walk was around a reservoir and that there was no road so the support/pick up car would not be available. This meant everyone that started would have to finish. Not such good news for everyone then, several people had been going as far as they could with the knowledge that if they really couldn't go further they would be picked up. Two ladies refused to do the walk, on the grounds that they didn't want to stop the rest of us from completing with enough time to go swimming.
So, we all piled into the mini buses, high spirited knowing it was only an achievable 5 miles. My, how our outlook had changed - from not believing we could complete a 3 mile walk to thinking 5 miles would be easy, all in the space of 4 days! The view from the start line was amazing. The lake was huge. It had about a million bends around it. Anyway, we all set off together this time and I chatted with people on my way around. It was a lovely walk, you could only really see a little bit of the lake at a time, bits were in sun and other bits in shade and it wasn't very steep, just small inclines, so it was really enjoyable.
As the end drew into sight we saw a couple of familiar faces sitting on a bench. The two ladies who refused the 5 mile walk had been set a shorter walk - 3 miles - from the end, part way around and then back again. Then we went back to the minibus, to be driven to the swimming pool.
When we got to the pool it was very bizarre. The first time we had mixed with other people in ages, and the temptation from vending machines was there in front of us. Chocolate, crisps, fizzy drinks. All only a few footsteps away. Yet nobody stopped. The cool of the water was absolutely lovely. It felt like a holiday for the first time since we'd arrived at Fitfarms. I swam one length before I got cramp in my shoulder and upper arm. I've never had cramp in a swimming pool so I was pretty worried. Took it easy after that, until I realised lots of my colleagues were out, dressed and sitting at the side of the pool. I was going to get out, but Julie asked if I'd done my 20 lengths, so i stayed in. I must've done about 8 more lengths before I decided I'd had enough. Got dressed and was ready in time for the first bus back home. And a snooze before lunch.
First thing in the afternoon we had a cookery workshop, we all piled into Mikaels kitchen. The first thing he did was show us a photo of himself 12 months earlier. He is literally half the size he was then. He hadn't been on a fitfarm week, but if this wasn't inspirational nothing would be. Mikael explained that he had taken an extreme approach to his lifestyle, cutting out beer, cigarettes, drastic portion cuts and lots of exercise, but I don't want to be as thin as he is now, so I know I don't need to be so extreme.
Then he asked one of the girls to go into the pantry and back any 5 items. We were to have our very own 'Ready Steady Cook'. In the meantime we were given lots of useful food information. Did you know that a product only needs to have one organic ingredient to be classified as an organic product? The same with free range products. The logic in the cookery workshop was amazing. Mikael pointed out that for example an 'organic' quiche may cost £3, but if you went around to purchase all the ingredients with £3 you would not be able to get many organic ingredients. Likewise, he explained supermarkets use the cheapest ingredients they can.
A wet egg was a new concept to me. Nobody else knew what it meant either. Mikael took an egg from the fridge, then cracked it "et voila, a wet egg" and slopped it into a bowl. Now, obviously these can't be sold to customers like us, but apparently in the trade these cracked eggs are collected and then used to make things like the nice cheap quiches.
So, next Mikael held up the ingredients we had picked out - an aubergine, a tomato, an onion, green beans and a mushroom. In true cookery show style he managed to prepare 3 different meals in about 15 minutes. Onion & tomato salad, aubergine stuffed with poached egg and mushroom, stirfried vegetables. And, according to the others they all tasted really good. Strangely enough I've only really eaten cherry tomatoes so to see a whole dish with just tomato and onion was pretty cool. And it looked pretty too.
After this workshop we had Ultimate Burn muscle toning exercises which really did burn. But you could feel your tummy muscles tightening as you went. Next we had another exercise session, using the boxing gloves and gym balls. And then a break before dinner. In the evening we had a boxercise aerobic session.
Not long left til I go home! But the hardest day is yet to come - my wedding anniversary tomorrow and I'm miles from hubby. Boo hoo. 
PS - I didn't remember to make notes on this afternoon, so that's why there is so little detail.
