Time to reflect
This is the first day I’ve really thought about the end of our/my journey. In fact I’ve been in quite a reflective mood. The trip was always going to be a challenge as I’d never walked more that 10 miles before Clive suggested doing the Coast to Coast. Our training and preparation did take me beyond what we needed to do in distance, but no amount of training will help with understanding the terrain or conditions in bad weather. For those contemplating the walk you should take the time to plan your preparation. Being a fair bit larger in girth than the average walker, I also realised my fitness would be an issue. Tipping the scales at a mere 111kg (that’s 17 1/2 stone in old money) at the start of the walk, some of the terrain has taken me to places both physically and mentally I’ve not been before be they the precarious footings of swirral edge or the stiles of Swaldale, the boggy ground of Watendlath fell or the swollen gills we had to jump & wade through on our way to Tan Hill. What my weight is at the end I have no idea, but I do know I’m fitter in both mind and body. I’m looking forward to tommorow and seeing my family who are coming to cheer us to the end. And then the journey will be over, or at least this one, as in life we make many journeys, we never seem to reach a destination, for there will always be new journeys for us to make. What I do hope is I can learn from my experiences while on the walk because after tommorow I’ll have a new journey to make.
