Where to begin?

Today’s date is the 22^nd of November 2012.  The event, Trailtrekker, is on the 1^st and 2^nd of June 2013.  Six months and nine days away.  Today seems as good a time as any to start training and preparing, time to set my eyes on the goal and keep them there.  I’ve decided to blog because, well, that’s what you do isn’t it these days?  Type about it.  Also I have found blogging about things in the past very motivating (people are watching, behave yourself!) and I want to raise awareness about the event, us and the cause.  This is the beginning, the seed, from here it grows...

I’m going to blog every day.  No really.  Even if it’s just one line.  Self-discipline is not a strength of mine but a line of text and a picture every day isn’t too much to ask.  She says.

So what is it, this Trailtrekker thing? 100km on your feet is what it is.  A team event; going 100km on your feet with 3 other people aided and abetted by a support crew meeting you at checkpoints around the route.  A walk or a run-walk through the Yorkshire Dales.  A grand day (and night and a bit of day) out, 30 hours to complete.  In a way I can’t comprehend it.  100km is 2 and a half marathons.  62 miles.  And the Yorkshire Dales aren’t flat are they?

Quite a challenge.

And where am I now?  Well nearly 3 weeks ago I ran-walked a 9 mile trail race on the lower slopes of Helvellyn.  And I’ve been running a bit since May (I started again after an approx 2 year layoff due to life and stuff getting in the way) and was running 5 miles easily and up to 8 miles on the road reasonably comfortably.   I haven’t done anything since that 9 miles though and am a bit concerned that I’ve set myself back a lot.  I find running tough because I’m comparatively slow and far too competitive for my speed and get very frustrated at times, especially as I’m trying to get back lost fitness.  My teammates, and I will talk more about them in future blogs, are all quicker than me – either just naturally or because they have been running longer and training with more commitment.  I’m trying not to let this worry me as this event isn’t really about speed...

But essentially from now to then I have a long way to go in all senses of the phrase!

The rest of the team... My other half, Stu, and our friends Dave and Alix.  We’re all fairly ordinary (not right in the head, but ordinary) and have normal jobs, well they do.  Stu is an accountant, Dave is a policeman, Alix is a primary school teacher and I’m Batman.  Seriously, I am.  Kind of.  So none of us are elite full time athletes although I have a bit more time on my hands than the others (fortunate given how much catching up I have to do fitness wise).  There’s a support crew too, Dave’s sister Beverly and brother-in-law Brian – Alix has been super-organised and roped people in already... I think there might be two more....  More about us all in future blogs of course, I’m trying to keep it a bit snappy to start with, if I’m going to be writing every day I need to save some stuff for later!

The Monochrome Chaos Collective?  What on earth is that all about?  Well, you see, it’s the dogs.  Mine and Stu’s dogs, Oscar and Hugo.  They are black and white, there’s more than one of them and well, chaos.  One and a half spaniels and half a collie – it wasn’t going to be calm was it?  The dogs had the nickname before we adopted as a team name.  We’re hoping that the dogs will be part of the whole experience; they certainly will be in training.  You’re allowed to take dogs with you on the challenge and although I don’t think taking either one of them round the whole thing will be do-able they’ll probably be able to do a couple of sections each.

And why?  Aside from just being drawn to the challenge for its own sake the event is organised to raise money for Oxfam – a worthy cause.  We’ve committed to a team fundraising target of £1,400 and raising that is as much a part of the challenge as the actual event itself.

There is a good deal to think about and thusly waffle on about in future blogs... my training, the other’s training, the fundraising, the teambuilding, goal setting, strategies and contingency plans, nutrition, kit, the dog’s training (fitness and behavioural !!) more about the work Oxfam do...

Phew.  Daunted? Yes.  Excited? Yes. Confident? No!

Bring it on.