London to Brighton Trek

Sometimes in life, you fail. When I began the London to Brighton trek on the 21st (feels like forever ago now) I knew I was physically prepared but I came to learn that day that I wasn't entirely mentally prepared. I don't think the thought properly sank in that I was attempting to walk 100km!

So young...so naive

With weather that brought joy to the country that day, filled me and my fellow trekkers with dread. It's pretty damn hot for 8am isn't it? And where are all the clouds? Never have I seen a sky so blue! Thoughts filled my head of my friends tanning themselves in a park somewhere while I was facing dehydration, heat stroke and blisters. It's all for a good cause though so off we trotted.

10 miles in I got my first blister. I walked on. 20 miles in I visited the first aid tent. I was surrounded my people having their entire foot bandaged up. I got a sheep plaster. I walked on.

At checkpoint 4 around 9pm, 47km in, my feet were covered in blisters. I visited the first aid tent again, this time to join the bandage crew and got both my feet almost covered in gauze. I hobbled on in a fair bit of pain. At this stage I was determined to get to the end, no matter how long it took. Topher led the way into the dark forest and we hobbled on with our head torches. This is when things changed. The terrain got rocky and the woods started to slope up. I had completely forgotten about my fear of the dark as I couldn't feel anything else but the rocks agitating my blistered feet. That was bloody painful. I slowed down. We reached the half way point and still carried on. I was close to tears but didn't cry - I wouldn't let myself. That last kilometere to checkpoint 5, felt like it went on forever.

I really didn't want to quit but I knew that I had to. Topher told me it was ok and that he wouldn't go on without me. We reached checkpoint 5, just under 54km at about 11/12pm (I'm quite hazy on the exact timing). We had walked aprox 33miles in 15 hours. I visited the first aid tent a final time and got the remainder of my feet bandaged up.

We were then driven to checkpoint 6 along with some other people who had to drop out and got some hot food in our bellies. Checkpoint 6 was 12km further and it was like a war zone. We got out of the van and there was a girl being loaded onto a crash trolley as she was in shock and later another girl collapsed at the table next to us when we were eating. Topher overheard one of the first aid crew saying that they wished that some people hadn't pushed themselves so hard. They turned their minor injuries into worse ones. That made me feel relieved that I had dropped out before I had done any further damage to myself. I have a huge respect for those people (both a mix of fitter and less fit than myself) who carried on after that point.

After the food, we were taken to Brighton and found to our horror that the finish line was at the top of a massive hill. Even bigger respect to those who finished now. I think that would have killed me! We were led into the race track building where there we're blow up mattresses and food waiting for us. I just stuck with the mattress - I wasn't hungry at all at that point.

Part of me felt like a failure to have only gotten half way - that I'd let my sponsors down. But it turns out that only half of the 900 people who began the challenge finished it. The other half dropped out like I did, all along the route, before and after me. Besides, it's the big picture you've got to look at. Topher and I have raised money for a charity that we both care a lot about and we walked further than we've ever walked before by just over 10 miles so it was quite an achievement. This time last year, we killed ourselves walking 8 miles when we were heavier so I'm really proud of the two of us.

Besides, there's always next year!

#BEDM DAY 12: Walk to work

Currently I don't walk to work. I could, but I don't. I just prefer that extra sleep time which is incredibly lazy of me. Not that it matters much anyway, as this time next week I will be full on commuting to work. Yes that's right, I'm moving out of swinging London for a life less crowded and southern and more chilled and midlands-y after just under a year of living here. Surprising, but I've got a long list of reasons why, which should probably be left for another post.

This is not my commute to work :( It's near my grandma's house in Sheffield. 

Back to the walking, for my new commute I'll be walking on both ends of my journey with a train and tube plonked in between and I have to say I'm looking forward to it. The bf and I have been walking so much more recently - mainly for our London to Brighton Trek (please sponsor us! ) next month. I enjoy it so much more so then running. It gives you a chance to stop and smell the roses. 

This post was actually going to contain my photos I took yesterday on the bf and I's walk through Hampstead Heath for our training but in my eagerness to leave work I left my phone at my desk. What a doofus. Those will have to be saved for another post I guess. It was our first time in Hampstead Heath and I can't recommend it enough. We only did around 10 miles (2 laps of the place - and yes 10 miles is a lot but we're training for 60!) but this was mainly to introduce us to hill walking. And we definitely need to do some more of that! 
It's such a beautiful place and you almost completely forget that you're in a city, well until you hear sirens when you're near the edge! 

I'm looking forward to my part walk to work and finding more nice places to go for walks in and around my new city of Peterborough. Anyone know any?

Do you walk to work?

And I would walk 500 miles....

Or maybe just 60. 

I've always wanted to do some kind of a walking challenge for charity but I've never thought I was fit enough. Having lost over a stone and a half so far with slimming world, I feel like that's changing. Check out how I looked in September 2013 compared with a couple of weeks ago:

In June last year at around our heaviest, the bf and I walked from our house in Chorlton into Manchester city centre (plus round the shops a bit) and back again. I think we even stopped for lunch so we had a good long rest half way through. Overall we walked about 8 miles. I honestly wanted to die (not literally, more like a drama queen kind of way). My legs hurt so much after that and the next day I stayed on the sofa as my whole body was sore. 

Fast forward 7 months (4 months after joining Slimming World) to last weekend. While flicking through their latest magazine I came across a double page spread for the British Heart Foundation and the events they were doing this year. Most of them were marathons and running/cycling events which are not my cup of tea. I despise long distance running and always have, even when I was fit. 

But there was one event that caught my eye. The London to Brighton trek. This would require walking 100km which is a massive challenge, but how amazing would it be to accomplish it? 

I decided there and then; I'm doing it. I'm not the same lazy girl who can't be bothered to walk to the corner shop (for more chocolate). I feel so much better already for losing some weight and I really want to test how much I can do. Plus, I'm dragging the bf along for the ride. He's also more of a walker than a runner and was definitely up for it. So challenge accepted. It's not until the end of June so we've got plenty of time to train. 

The real test began on Sunday. Can we actually do this. We decided on a leisurely 8.5 mile stroll into central London from our flat in Wembley. I have to admit that it was ridiculously easy - what a difference losing weight makes! This same distance last June just about killed me. So I was overjoyed that we made it to Oxford Street in pretty good time. We only stopped because it was raining so I want to walk further this weekend. Btw cheers to the posh woman and her son on Oxford Street who sneered and called us scruffy. I do apologise, I usually wear my high heels and a shovel full of makeup when I walk long distances. Do forgive me! I was wearing a tracksuit, trainers, a woolly hat and gloves - I know, what a fashonista! Ha ha. 

As well as that walk at the weekend, I walked to and from work yesterday which is 2 miles away and what I used to call "just out of walking distance". I will definitely be doing that a couple of times a week (weather permitting!). I know 8.5 miles is nothing in comparison to 60 miles but it's definitely a start isn't it? I can't wait for this weekend to see how much further we can go. 

Have you ever done a challenge like this for charity? Any tips to share?