21 kms. What an achievement.!

Posted on March 22, 2010 at 09:45 AM

I walked 21kms on Sunday with one of the Wonderwalkers I met online
.
I am sure it felt odd for both of us meeting for the first time a few minutes before the start time.

I would never be any good at online dating although if you don't like what you see, I suppose you could make a run for it.

Starfire a regular contributor and I walked the half at Sarah Ulmer's Sub series at Cambridge on Sunday.
It was a glorious day and a glorious course with some quite challenging off road sections which threw in a few steps and some steep inclines.

This event includes walkers,runners and cyclists and I was delighted to see so many women of different ages,sizes and abilities all just having a go.

It was obvious that each and everyone had their own reason for taking part..the competitive mixed with those jusy happy to take part and finish and certainly an all women environment (without wanting to discredit the male species) appears to be somewhat more relaxed. But the guys did a great job supporting their wives, partners etc.

You meet some really great people,everyone with a different story and I admire them all for taking up the challenge. Sure we all walk or do whatever but an event often pushes us beyond our limits and hopefully most of the time gives us a renewed confidence.

Quite often an event can be the catalyst to galvanise us into action. Certainly " Starfire" has the bit between her teeth and has completed a number of half marathons this summer. The key now is to keep the motivation up over the winter when the elements discourage us from getting out there and of course not many events in the middle of winter to keep us motivated.

So "Starfire" you were probably relieved to get to the end and not have to listen to my ravings and rantings. The blisters will heal and the stiffness will disappear and you can celebrate the achievement of completing another half in a pretty impressive time. We would have broken 3 hours easily if they hadn't added those nasty steps and inclines in the middle.

Look forward to the next one..think I may have found the perfect job as a pace walker.!