Sally Gunnell's blog by Sally_Gunnell

I’ve got half an hour to gulp down a tea and get you all up-to-speed with my city hopping, so here goes! I spent three days in Rome with the top brass from Aviva, on a strategic conference. These guys are serious business people, with job roles that are so huge it’s hard to get your head round them. They’re responsible for steering their business through the tough times that we’re all experiencing at the moment. And it’s not at all easy. I was there with my hubby Jon to talk with them about healthy living. Their conferences are high pressure affairs, where people cram as much in as they possibly can; I reckon the rest of their work time is similar in terms of hours spent and pressure experienced.

So we were there to encourage them to look at ways of reducing the impact of their work lives on their health. We got them making smoothies and trying healthy snacks. We discussed how food “on the run” doesn’t have to mean fast (unhealthy) food. And by the third day, we were getting loads of engagement from them! Several of the guys wanted to ask our nutritionist about healthy eating plans. Others wanted to get an exercise plan together to help with weight loss and stress management. One guy summed it up at the end: “We know we can’t go back to how it used to be; we’ve got to look after ourselves and keep strong. So, we’re going to have to change our ways.” Well, they’re off to a good start!

I’m off to Addis Ababa Ethiopia in a couple of days with Action Aid to take part in their 10k run with around 50,000 locals. I’m excited and nervous; excited because running out there will be a massive buzz. Nervous because training on the top of the Downs is NOT the same as running in the searing heat at altitude! I always wonder whether I’ve put in enough effort for my challenges, but this time, I really do feel a tad under-prepared! At least I have the comfort of knowing that Jon’s pretty apprehensive as well. After the race I’ll be visiting some Action Aid projects. It’ll be interesting to compare notes with work that I’ve seen out in Rwanda and I’m looking forward to it.

And so to the third of the great cities mentioned in my title! I was in Pompey for my second appearance in a week on A Question of Sport Live. Sue Barker, Phil Tufnell and Matt Dawson plus a couple of other sports people like me get together and do a sort of “uncut” version of the TV show. It’s such a laugh! Earlier in the week I’d been in Hammersmith and I thought “we won’t top this,” but Portsmouth’s Guildhall was packed with QoS punters who totally got in to it. I wish the cameras had been there to capture Tuffers impersonating a dressage horse; I’ll visit a lot more cities before I see anything as hilarious as that…