85 year old wife and mother Mickey Pearmain's incredible zest for life has been given a boost, thanks to the Indoor Rower. In the last few years Mickey has had both knee and hip replacement operations and was left with limited mobility. After six months of physiotherapy her doctor told her that she couldn't receive any more treatment. Not wanting to resign herself to her wheelchair she joined her local gym and decided to start her own rehabilitation. Mickey joined Wye Valley Sports and under the supervision of personal trainer Wendy Chaplin began a fitness programme designed to get her back to her active life. As part of her training programme she was introduced to indoor rowing using the Concept 2 Indoor Rower - something she was very keen to have a go at. I love exercising on the Concept 2, explained Mickey. It's a great machine and I've loved attempting the different distance records. I decided to do an indoor rowing challenge for Sport Relief and my trainer Wendy suggested I rowed for one mile. I didn't think that was a challenge enough in itself so I decided to attempt the distance in less than 10 minutes. I did it and ended up raising nearly £100. Since her first effort, Mickey has attempted a number of distance challenges and now rows for a mile each day on the Indoor Rower. She's also checked out the Concept 2 website and found that there is plenty of scope for tackling distance records in her age group. These are my next challenges, she added confidently. Her personal trainer, Wendy is pleased with the progress of her new charge, adding: Mickey's doing really well with her exercise programme, especially on the Indoor Rower. The gym is thinking of organising a Concept 2 team event and Mickey was the first person to put her name down. She's an inspiration to all the gym members - both young and old. She constantly rises to any challenge and her health has improved beyond recognition. She continues to inspire younger members and it just goes to prove that you can take up exercise at any point in your life. Mickey only set foot in a gym last year following her operations and now she can't get enough. She even bought herself her first ever pair of trainers last month! I feel better now than I did five years ago! she said. I'm at the gym four days a week and I feel so much better for it. I've even sold my wheelchair and I'm down to using one walking stick. I can't wait to get down there again tomorrow.