Jan issue Outdoor Fitness

The latest issue of Outdoor Fitness is now available in stores and as digital download.

This issues is all about getting away from it all... from the grind, and that includes the gym, for all you who keep fit indoors. Whatever the weather, there are great fitness and fun activities to have outdoors. Okay, 170 miles through the Grand Canyon and beyond, may not be everyone's cup of tea - but the sense of achievement I'm sure, beats a 20-minute treadmill plod!

We all need challenges and since taking on editing OF, I've become fascinated by the challenges that are out there and that so many ordinary people do. In so doing they become extraordinary. 

In the issue I interview Ian Corless - who's very much everything ultra. He's the man behind the Talk Ultra podcasts and one of the top outdoor sports photographers in the world. We've already had comments about the pictures in this issue in particular - they are truly stunning, from a selection of Ian's in black and white to add to the drama, to shots of Loch Ness and Biathlon in Switzerland to the shots of the Arctic that accompany a feature on survival in this inhospitable region.

In the process of editing I pick-up on what to do if confronted by a polar bear. This runs directly in the face of the tips I was given if confronted by a panther in the Amazonian rainforest! Many years back I was in that region of the world following the Jungle Marathon. Now, if confronted by either of these great creatures I'd better not get my "avoidance of possible death techniques" muddled up or it'll probably be curtains.

Fitness and adventure need not have that high risk though, even a run outdoors in the current freezing weather can give you that feeling of man (or woman) against the elements - and that great feeling of post run glow as you think to yourself "I did it". The sofa then becomes a much better place to relax on.