Strange things are happening amongst Team Coliseum M&S! Members who, until now, have not wanted too much information about the event, are suddenly hungry - indeed, ravenous - for any titbit of info they can find!
On breaks together at work we talk solely about Trailwalker. In our texts to each other, there is no other topic and we delight in sharing any new piece of "knowledge" gleaned from any source, even if it is about blisters, chafing or other similar unsavoury subjects! (On that note, its been agreed, what is witnessed on the walk, stays on the walk!!! A very sensible ground rule, we think!)
Last minute prep is being stepped up - I personally have never bought so many socks in so short a period of time in my whole life! We've become obsessed with having between us every possible combination of painkillers, energy drinks and snacking items, not to mention the variety of kit we now possess. Scary really thinking back just a short 6 months when the chosen form of weekend attire couldn't have been further from the current waterproof trousers, wicking base layers and 1000 mile socks.
The fundraising target is all but reached, which is fantastic, and we still have a final bag pack scheduled at work next weekend, plus our family & close friends who are now being hounded for their promised donations.
Team walks have stopped now, just down to light individual training. We are all going out for a "team meal" next Sunday night (8th) with our support crew too - team bonding, you know! Very important.
So, Saturday 14th July can't come quick enough now. "A little less conversation, a little more action".
Bring it on!
Saturday, 30 June 2012
Monday, 18 June 2012
The Final Countdown
The final 4 weeks are here. How are we all feeling....well, it depends which team member you ask and on which day. There are varying degrees of anxiousness, varying degrees of nausea and also varying degrees of disbelief that we are actually going to go through with this challenge. It was summed up for me personally when an associate (several years younger than me, please note) proudly told me recently that she was training to take part in an event to walk the Yorkshire 3 Peaks - 26 miles in 12 hours. When I then told her our challenge, she simply said "Are you mad?" And are we? Who knows.
I am convinced we will all get so much more out of taking part in this than just completing the 100km in 30 hrs. As a team, we went into this with dubious fitness levels between us, a half-hearted belief that we could finish and a great desire to raise a few quid for a good cause. Its so much more now.
We've grown together as we've trained together; we've learned more about team work and more about ourselves as individuals. We've proved that you can motivate others to give their hard earned cash to a good cause. We've come to believe in ourselves.
The ultimate achievement will be finishing together and we all sincerely believe we can. As one team member has said...."I will crawl across that finish line if I have to". That's what you call dedication to the cause.
So, in the words of that famous Europe song...."Will things ever be the same again?"
I am convinced we will all get so much more out of taking part in this than just completing the 100km in 30 hrs. As a team, we went into this with dubious fitness levels between us, a half-hearted belief that we could finish and a great desire to raise a few quid for a good cause. Its so much more now.
We've grown together as we've trained together; we've learned more about team work and more about ourselves as individuals. We've proved that you can motivate others to give their hard earned cash to a good cause. We've come to believe in ourselves.
The ultimate achievement will be finishing together and we all sincerely believe we can. As one team member has said...."I will crawl across that finish line if I have to". That's what you call dedication to the cause.
So, in the words of that famous Europe song...."Will things ever be the same again?"
Saturday, 9 June 2012
Mad Dogs and English Women.....
Sunday 27th May 2012....the stage is set for our longest walk to date, 40km (25 miles) along The Wirral Way. This is a linear path stretching from Hooton to West Kirby; very flat and picked on purpose to enable us to walk there and back to get in the mileage.
The day dawned bright and clear, the end of a long week of gorgeous weather and we were up for the challenge, despite the car temperature gauge already reading 20 degrees!
Along for the ride was Keith, my hubby (a member of our support crew) and also our work colleague, Linda, who had joined us recently on the Snailwalker event and seemed keen on another walk with us (mad fool).
So, with 3 pairs of legs on show, rucksacks bulging with copious amounts of liquid refreshment and sunglasses in place, we set off.
Our pace was steady and we were soon making good progress towards our
designated lunch stop at Thurstaston. The temperature was obviously
rising and we were glad of some welcome shade along the way as we passed
through this small wooded ravine. As official photographer, I rarely get onto these pictures, so just to prove I was there, here is a pic of hubby & I.
As the clock ticked towards midday, the going got tougher, especially as one particular section of this pathway just seemed never ending. Linda had left us by now, deciding that she had set our pace and now we needed to carry on by ourselves. Thanks Linda for keeping us company for the first 4-5 miles.
Jane decided that the motivation we needed to carry on was to tell us that the cafe at Thurstaston was "just a bit further on".....great, we thought, nearly time for a short rest. We should have known better than to listen to her....it was about another hour before we reached this point. Lesson One - don't believe her during Trailwalker when she says we are nearly there.
Lunch, toilet stop and feet airing complete, we set off again for the final push to West Kirby....only about another 3 miles.....before we would have to turn round and head all the way back! There were lots of people around at Thurstaston and we had just put this down to it being a particularly lovely day, however, we were soon to learn that we were heading straight into hundreds of other walkers taking part in a 16 mile charity walk in aid of a local hospital and we were most definitely swimming against the tide! It felt like a walking slalom and we were very glad to reach the outskirts of West Kirby and glorious views over the Dee Estuary....
At this point we rashly decided to push on into the town in search of an ice cream....this idea was soon binned when we realised we were just adding miles to what would be an extremely long day, so we did an about turn and started the long trudge back. At least this time we were with the flow of charity walkers still heading for the finish....and we were able to take advantage of a drinks stop set up for them along the path! I'm sure we were all individually noting the weariness amongst them after their 16 mile trek and wondering how on earth we will look to everyone after 62 miles....eeek!
The journey back to the cars seemed long. The temperature was now in the high 20's and feet were suffering.....
Finally, we made it back to our start point, 7 and half hours, 40 km, 25 miles, several blisters, 2 outbreaks of heat rash, 1 split heel and more than a few swear words later.
Plenty of lessons learnt from this training walk and one team prayer for the actual event in July..... rain showers and sunny spells please. Mad Dogs and English women do not cope well in the midday sun.
Thanks for reading.
The day dawned bright and clear, the end of a long week of gorgeous weather and we were up for the challenge, despite the car temperature gauge already reading 20 degrees!
 | |||
| Hayley, Donna & Jane in the background - ready to go! |
Along for the ride was Keith, my hubby (a member of our support crew) and also our work colleague, Linda, who had joined us recently on the Snailwalker event and seemed keen on another walk with us (mad fool).
So, with 3 pairs of legs on show, rucksacks bulging with copious amounts of liquid refreshment and sunglasses in place, we set off.
As the clock ticked towards midday, the going got tougher, especially as one particular section of this pathway just seemed never ending. Linda had left us by now, deciding that she had set our pace and now we needed to carry on by ourselves. Thanks Linda for keeping us company for the first 4-5 miles.
Jane decided that the motivation we needed to carry on was to tell us that the cafe at Thurstaston was "just a bit further on".....great, we thought, nearly time for a short rest. We should have known better than to listen to her....it was about another hour before we reached this point. Lesson One - don't believe her during Trailwalker when she says we are nearly there.
 |
| A welcome bit of shade eating lunch |
 |
| Ouch, Donna's poor feet! |
The journey back to the cars seemed long. The temperature was now in the high 20's and feet were suffering.....
These two (unlucky) walkers subsequently both lost little toe nails!!
Finally, we made it back to our start point, 7 and half hours, 40 km, 25 miles, several blisters, 2 outbreaks of heat rash, 1 split heel and more than a few swear words later.
Plenty of lessons learnt from this training walk and one team prayer for the actual event in July..... rain showers and sunny spells please. Mad Dogs and English women do not cope well in the midday sun.
Thanks for reading.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)