Going down to the wire...

So, today I was expecting to be posting some sort of update about how the packing is coming together, how excited/nervous I am with 3 days to go etc - sadly things aren't exactly going quite to plan.

After last week's really negative post I continued feeling ill so went to the doctors last Thursday. The first doctor I spoke to said that he didn't think I'd be well enough in time for the challenge. The next doctor I saw said that the virus that I have (apparently it's "going round" at the moment) has been wiping people out for 1-2 weeks so it'd be touch and go whether I'd be well enough or not.

Since the weekend I have started to feel a bit better, still feeling exceptionally tired and have a bit of a cold but the hot sweats etc have gone. A couple of days ago I noticed what I assume is a swollen gland come up behind one of my ears, today more have come up and I now have a pretty 'bumpy' neck/chin area... they also feel quite painful (but I have to admit I have been prodding them somewhat) and my voice isn't totally there.

So now really I don't know what's going to happen. I'm going to try to see a doctor tomorrow to see what they say. Pretty sure whatever they decide the problem is they will probably advise me not to go ahead, so then I have to decide whether to take that advice or not. Obviously I know what the sensible option is, but after nearly 10 months of build up, planning and training I'm finding it very hard to contemplate the possibility of it not happening - of course if that happened I would do it in the future, but that would be next Spring at the earliest and see me lose quite a bit of money. What I am banking on right now is waking up in the morning feeling refreshed and well with no weird lumps in my neck....

I guess the only option now is to see a doctor tomorrow, work out what I'm dealing with then make my mind up about what happens next....I'm not the best person when it comes to last minute decisions but I guess I don't have much choice now...

WARNING...this is not a positive post :(

Sorry, really self-indulgent, feeling sorry for myself post coming up, feel free to ignore...

So, with more than 8 month's preparation and planning, plenty of hard work and money spent behind me at the '11 days to go' mark up crops something that could ruin my chances that I simply couldn't plan for, I'm ill...

Started feeling unwell over the weekend, hot and cold sweats, feeling dehydrated, headaches and feeling very tired, I put it down to the weather, however several days later and no improvement. It turns out the symptoms are pretty similar to those that a few people I know experienced last week, put down to a virus that's 'going round'. I managed to sleep for a total of 18 hours on Sunday, around 14 yesterday and I think it'll be about 12 hours today yet still feel so unbelievably wiped out. So I'm sat (well, actually lying down) here feeling sorry for myself and incredibly frustrated that I can't do anything (I have got used to be so active). At the same time I'm also really panicking about being better in time for the challenge, or if I am better how much of my fitness I'm going to have lost by then?? For a 'planning and lists'  person (control freak?) there are a lot of variables which I have no control over right now.

So there you have it, I was expecting to feel stressed at this point but wasn't banking on this, I know I've got to just sit it out but boy is it annoying. Sorry for the negativity, hopefully I'll be back on soon in a much more positive frame of mind but right now I just don't know....

Lists, lists, lists.....

As I'm sure a lot of you know I'm a bit of a fan of lists (and post it notes, and particularly colour coded post it notes with lists on them....) Now with just over two weeks to go until the challenge I decided it's time to get organised and put together a to do/to take list to work out how much preparation I have left to do. In the interests of sharing my Three Peaks experience on here I figure I may as well write the list straight on here:

• Kit - need to pack my back pack, walking poles, walking boots, 3 pairs of walking socks, walking trousers, water proof trousers, technical T-shirt, fleece, walking jacket, lightweight waterproof jacket, gloves, warm weather hat, cold weather hat, sunglasses, head torch, spare batteries and bulb for torch, whistle, sun cream, insect repellent, water pouch, blister plasters, pain killers.
• Paperwork - train tickets to London, Oyster card, sleeper train tickets, Bangor to Manchester train tickets, hotel information, flight tickets, passport, details of all train etc times, contact details for challenge organisers. Need to get some sort of plastic wallet to carry all this in.
• Snacks - jelly babies, sports drinks, cereal bars, crisps/nuts, pitta bread and something to put on it so I have something vaguely resembling a proper meal, fruit juice, chocolate.
• Mobile phone - I bought an external battery so I can recharge phone during the challenge but cannot find it so I either need to track it down or buy another one.
• Camera - need to look into buying an extra battery for this
• Clothes to travel in and clothes to change into - need to keep these light, need something to wear to travel to London in plus nightwear for the sleeper train and the hotel in Manchester. Then clothes for the flight back on the Monday. Bag to put these in, this bag needs to be hand luggage size so I can check in my walking back pack. My walking back pack has lots of straps etc so maybe take tape or something to secure them before check in
• Headphones, phone charger, insulin pens plus spares and spare cartridges, plenty of blood test strips plus blood meter, money, ear plugs
• Going to try to Tweet when I can to keep anyone who is interested updated on my progress, this will last as long as my phone battery does. Have set this up but need to send the details round etc. Need to explore whether I can get that to feed onto my Facebook page and/or this blog automatically, any experts out there...?
• Keep fundraising, try to reach £500 at the least....
• Rest up, carb up and get lots of sleep

Phew, that is a lot, and a lot of things still to sort out - any suggestions of things I might have forgotten etc very welcome......best get on with it I guess!

A route I will NEVER walk again....!

Today's walk was from Reedham to Brundall, a route in the most part following the line of the river which I have done many times before, and a route that I usually enjoy. Unfortunately due to an incident today I don't think I will ever be able to bring myself to do it again.

I was less than a mile into my walk when I noticed ahead of me a couple looking earnestly at the ground. As I approached them I said I hoped I wasn't about to tread on something, to which the man replied " oh no, it's just a cute little field mouse, aww look, he's hiding...". No, any of you who no me well will appreciate the seriousness of this, but for those of you who are less familiar let me explain, I am absolutely terrified of anything rodent like, not in a Tom and Jerry, standing on a chair with a broom style, in a completely and utterly want to cry kind of way. I'm reluctant to call it a phobia, as that implies that there's something irrational about it, and to me it is a totally rational thing. Suffice to say therefore that the idea of being anywhere near one, let alone actually seeing it (I did) really isn't the best start to a walk I could have. Now, I know what you're thinking, does she not realise that on all these walks she's done she must have been near plenty of these creatures?? Well yes I do know that logically, but so long as I don't actually see them then I can convince myself they're not there - yes, maybe that bit is a little irrational.....

It may not sound like much to most people but I have to say I'm quite proud of myself for continuing the walk after that. Yes, I may have spent the rest of the walk with my head down, scrutinizing the irritatingly long grass that I had to walk through and audibly whimpering every time the wind made the reeds rustle that little bit too much, but the point is I did it.

The rest of the walk was reasonably uneventful. I did find the going tough, feeling the two preceding days' long walks in my legs. I did discover though that I have developed the knack of keeping going, even when every fibre of my body is begging me to stop - I'm thinking this skill is going to be quite important on the day itself!

The end of the walk was broken up nicely by a mini air show I stumbled along - I like to think it was a private show for me but I think it was actually just a private individual having fun with his plane. Equally I like to thing the heart shape he made in the sky was aimed for me, however unlikely that is....

for me?

The walk was rounded off by a lovely roast dinner at my Mum's house so thank you to Mum and Tom for that (I promised them both a mention) a perfect reward for 3 days of training.....

Norfolk Coast Path - Sheringham to Salthouse

Today marks three weeks until the challenge, so is my last week end of really  'going for it' with the training before I start to taper it off. So despite yesterday's long walk I decided to do another one today, and will do the same tomorrow. As it stands I'm feeling ok, hopefully a good sign that my recovery from one walk to the next is good.

Today I took myself up to North Norfolk and followed the Norfolk Coast Path from Sheringham to Salthouse and back again, a total of 10miles. I've done parts of this path before, but never gone as far in this direction so it was a nice novelty. It being a sunny day the path was quite busy, but not so much so that it was a problem.

Leaving Sheringham the path follows the cliff top towards Weybourne, a pretty hilly landscape (again, by Norfolk standards) so a good training ground for me. Once through Weybourne I was surprised to see the cliffs more or less disappear, and the route on to Salthouse continued along gravel banks along the beach. Now, I know a lot of people say that walking on sand is the best walking exercise you can do....these people have clearly never walk along gravel banks. It was hard work, and added about 3 minutes per mile to my walking pace - a good thing training wise I guess but not fun at the time!

boo to gravel banks....

All in all though this was a good walk, and it was nice to go back to exploring somewhere new. The only disappointment was that I finished my walk with a blood sugar level of 2.6 (with no hypo signs) - I'm hoping that this is a consequence of the heat rather than a sign that I still haven't worked out what carbs I need for the exercise. For yesterday's walk I started on 7.4, was 4.6 midway and 6.2 at the end, couldn't ask for better than that so hopefully today was just a blip......

Here comes the sun.....

I think most people would probably agree that the weather this summer hasn't been great. Disappointing though that is it's actually been quite handy for me training-wise. Today however the sun appeared and reminded me how much I don't enjoy it while exercising. I know a lot of people are hoping for a nice late summer but I have to say (sorry!) that I really hope we're heading quickly into Autumn, really don't want a hot day for the challenge itself.

Today I took myself off to Whittlingham Country Park and followed Wherryman's Way as far as Brammerton Common before turning round to head back. A total walk of just under 13 miles with an average walking pace of 17 minute miles which I'm pretty pleased with given the weather. I've done this walk in the past, very pleasant along the river and it was nice to see so many other people out and about enjoying the scenery and weather. The one downside of this walk, as I described when I did it before here ) was that you have to walk past a particularly smelly sewage plant. Unfortunately I have to report that this was as bad as I remembered it, not a pleasant experience.

A mention does have to go out to the man walking his dog in front of my for a portion of the walk back. This man was having a great time throwing sticks for his dog to catch. Unfortunately he decided to throw the stick behind him, without looking round. I'm assuming he also had headphones in as he seemed oblivious to my high pitched yelps every time the stick hurtled its way towards my face. It added an element of jeopardy to the walk I guess.....