20 MILES DOWN

I completed the last big walk- the 20 miler- on this sunny Saturday morning. It was the perfect time for me to get out and clear my head as things have been a bit chaotic for the Bashford family as of late with a mix of sickness and the usual dramas of a family of 5. Anyhow, the sun was warm and the breeze was light as I set off on the longest distance remaining before the big night.

The first mile or two clicked on without much interest as it was the same standard route- tho it did make me wonder how I will handle doing a walk that was on a completely different terrain than the one that has become so familiar to me. If I end up getting a place for the London Marathon I will definitely have to mix up my training sessions to keep from getting so set in my ways.

Around mile mark 5 I started to realise just how far twenty miles is and did have a small crisis of confidence about my being able to finish in a reasonable time. Luckily, I started spotting MoonWalkers training around every bend. There have been a lot of times when I felt like the only person in South East Kent that was training for this event but today it seemed that every other woman on the sea wall was wearing a pink hat or a shirt with a bra decal on it. It was really a positive atmosphere. I got to the half-way point just inside of the Dungeness National Nature Reserve and turned for home. I still can't believe I walked to Dungeness. . . that is freaking far for my little feet to travel. I suppose the full marathon would be the same distance as me walking from home to the French coastline- but still, its far!

I saw my last group of MoonWalkers stretching out (I assume they just finished) in front of the Tesco in Dymchurch with me having 4 miles to go. I was JEALOUS and grumpy that I still had near on an hour til I was to reach home. Another mile down and I got a phone call. . . that I actually tried to talk through. I must've sounded like a pervert huffing and puffing down the line to someone that could barely hear me but I didn't want to be rude (still managed to maintain 4.3 mph during the call tho, not that I was clocking it at all). I did finish, and with only one bathroom break and two stops to fiddle with my shoe laces. No blisters, no rubbing feet, in fact the only mark I have from the day is a strong strong farmers tan.

It feels a nice accomplishment, now its time for bra decorating and the big show.

20.25 miles - 37,922 steps - 4:38:10