I would walk 500....

Sunday 26th June 2016

"To walk three miles, or four miles, or five miles, or whatever it is, above her ankles in dirt, and alone, quite alone! what could she mean by it? It seems to me to show an abominable sort of conceited independence, a most country-town indifference to decorum." - Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice 

On the 1st January 2016 I set myself a challenge to walk and/or run 500km over the 366 days of the year.  I did some statistics, it worked out to be 1.37km a day, which is actually nothing.  However I did stipulate that these had to be walks where I phsyically went for a walk or run, not just where I went to the shop, or walked round the building at work.  And when you factored out commuting, work, cadets, trips up north etc, the time to get it done seemed less than the 366.

 

On Friday 24th June at 19.00 I completed my 500km challenge.  190 days early.

 

Have you ever done something that in the beginning you never actually thought you could do?  Something that when you started seemed maybe not impossible, but a bit of a reach for you personally?  The definition of a challenge is something that needs great mental and or physical effort in order to be done successfully and therefore test a persons ability.  When I set my 12 Challenges for 2016, I deliberately chose things that would take effort, because I knew I needed something to focus my emotionally shattered energy into.

The first walk I went on was in the snow, with my ex.  It was miserable.  He complained almost the entire way, it wasn't about him supporting me in what I wanted to do, it was never about me, he made me feel like I was punishing him because he didn't enjoy walking.  He has complained since that I am unfair to him, that he had his reasons, that the army ruined his enjoyment of it etc.  He just simply didn't understand, and it's ok that he didn't, it's ok that the walk showed us both we wanted different things.  It's not ok what he did next... but moving on.  Looking back, I guess what I saw on that walk, "a world covered in a fresh start" was more spot on than I ever knew at the time.

Over the 176 days that it took me to complete the 500km, whilst I have been joined by different people, I have done a massive chunk of it alone.  I have grown used to striding out in my own head space, mulling things over, considering my future, and on certain walks just marvelling at the beauty of where my feet have taken me.  Maybe walking alone as a woman is not always sensible and does show a concieted independence as my dear Jane Austen once wrote, and I aren't sure I've ever shown too much decorum, (hot tub tiara boob grabbing photo will eveidence that!) though I'd like to remind everyone, I've watched Miss Congeniality, I know how to S.I.N.G!  Actually thinking on, I have never felt lonely out on a walk, I feel more connected if anything.

So the last walk in stark contrast to the first was a bright beautiful sunny day, a few intermittent rain showers, a bramble that slashed my arm and a corn field that felt never ending, were in no way going to stop the grin on my face as the "Map My Walk" lady counted us down every 0.5km.  I had enough to catch Ross up on with my recent adventures, and we talked incessantly pretty much the whole way.

As we approached the last few hundred metres of the 5.9km that I needed to complete, Ross pulled out a champagne surprise and party poppers.  Tears pricked my eyes, but not tears like the first walk.  These were tears of joy, of actual happiness, of achievement... I felt on top of the world.  I am so grateful to have an amazing friend who gets it, and just gets me.  Who knew I needed someone with me on that last walk, who knew how much it meant to me to complete the challenge, who laughed at every air punch I made at every 0.5km, and who has always supported me in exactly the way I have needed.

I have to sincerely and from the bottom of my heart thank Ross, Lyndsey, Stacey, Michelle, Danielle, Amy, Becky, Nicola, Paula, Mike, Joel and the Mumma for accompanying me on parts of my 500km journey!  Every metre you have stepped forwards with me, has taken me further away from the way the 500km started, and I don't know that I have the words to truly thank you for that, in a way that helps you understand what it really means to me.

Every flower blooms at a different pace, so now even with my other challenges to complete, I feel this one is special, I feel like it's the one that has shown me more of the world than I could have imagined, so now it's a race to 1000km, and maybe even beyond, anyone who fancies stomping out with me sometime, just let me know.  

I encourage anyone who's thinking about taking up walking, or challenging themself in anyway to just get out, the streets are your playground, and some of the places you can only reach on foot will take your breath away.  I say do it, because  #thisgirlcan #thisgirlwill and #thisgirldid.