The challenge

From enjoying the odd hilly dog walk somehow I’ve got myself signed up for an 100 km walk. How?! The company I work for (First Choice Conference & Events) takes part in a charity challenge every year, it’s good for team morale, fitness and all whilst doing our bit for charity which is really nice. The majority of the challenges tend to be running based, something I don’t do. I have zero interest in running, never have and I doubt I ever will and I would struggle to get excited about or motivated for a run. I have so far managed to dodge most of the running challenges (I’ve always had a really good reason mind!) but I did complete the zombie challenge a few year ago – basically me dragging myself around a 5 km course mostly screaming and focussing on not peeing myself whilst zombies chased us. The other team challenge I’ve taken part in is the Everest challenge; colleagues and I climbed to the height of Everest as a team on the Malvern hills. This meant going up and down the same path repeatedly until we reached the equivalent height. It was pretty tough and mentally challenging; as climbing the same bit of path roughly 12 times was gruelling but I discovered that in such circumstances I was able to conjure ‘grit’ from somewhere and just ‘get it done!’

Next year (2019) I knew it would be my turn to once again take part and so I got searching for an event. I searched for walking challenge and ping – I found the Ultramarathon Cotswold Way Challenge. 100 km from Bath to Cheltenham across the hills without stopping. Non stop people. No sleep. Just one foot in front of another for 100 km. Now THAT’S a challenge!

Now of course there were other options; walking a shorter distance for a start, but we’re fundraising for charity and I figured it would be easier to raise serious money doing a crazy distance. So many people run a marathon so walking that distance just didn’t seem enough of a challenge (never mind that I personally have never even attempted a half marathon or done even more than a few hours walking. Minor detail…) There was also the option of camping in between but doing around 50 km, attempting to sleep in a tent and then do it all again the following day did not seem appealing. I am imagining there is a whole world of pain awaiting us after 50 km of walking and to stop and have our bodies seize up only to have to get it moving again seems a horrible idea. Best just to walk through the pain and sleep deprivation I thought! So the whole 100 km straight through is what we’ve opted for; I’m excited and motivated for the challenge if not a little terrified (I did not sleep well the night after officially signing up!).

Over the past few months I have increased my walking and averaging around 30 miles a week with the exception of Christmas week and the weeks either side – I was ill the week leading up to Christmas so barely did anything and next week I still have the children off school and may not get in my normal mileage. However I am using this time to get my head in the zone and plan my training. So far I’ve set up my fundraising page and have raised a good amount, and begun this blog. Next is to write out a training plan which will include gym sessions and detailed walks (where I’m going and when and how far). I don’t want to have to think and plan my walks every week so thought it best to get it all down on paper so that I can just get on with training. Most of my weekends will be taken up with me walking so I need to plan around the girls activities and plan walks where my family can either join me for a bit or meet me at the end for lunch etc. I’ll probably put a shout out every week in case anyone fancies meeting me for a cuppa along the way or to join me walking for a bit; I would like this to turn into a social opportunity too as well as perhaps inspiring some more future walkers! So, I had better stop procrastinating and get on with this plan, I’ll post again once I have something to update you with. Thanks for reading 🙂