55,757
YES, that is the
total number of steps that I did in a day; which equates to 44.96 km; a
touch over full-marathon.
**let me warn you all upfront, this is will be the longest read of all my blogs - so apologies upfront..**
**let me warn you all upfront, this is will be the longest read of all my blogs - so apologies upfront..**
July 2019, our team (9 members) registered for a 10k step challenge.
The team leader-board, soon made us realise that 10k steps daily will not be enough if we were to be in the game.
Personally getting to 50k steps in a day was always something that I was wanted to achieve obviously for two reason 1) a boost for our team 2) wanted to experience the feeling.
So I picked the last day of the 6 week challenge, Sunday, 11th August 2019.
The team leader-board, soon made us realise that 10k steps daily will not be enough if we were to be in the game.
Personally getting to 50k steps in a day was always something that I was wanted to achieve obviously for two reason 1) a boost for our team 2) wanted to experience the feeling.
So I picked the last day of the 6 week challenge, Sunday, 11th August 2019.
Checked
the weather forecast – 70% chance of 5 to 10ml of rain- Had
to take to risk it. Planning was key to success and I had planned the
smallest of the details.
The
build up - Walking
50k steps was not going to happen without practice.. It wasn’t an impromptu
decision. It
came by thorough preparation and practice;
Over
the 6 week challenge I had tested my limits by doing 41k, 40k, 39k and a lot of
high 30k's steps daily.
The
Plan: - Smash
an early 4 hour walk in the morning to give me 30k steps; another 10 in arvo to
get to 40 and
then build up for the final onslaught to get me to 50k
D-day: Woke
up at 6:30 am, temperate 2°C , freezing cold, with snowstorms in some part of
the region. The
early morning rain had kept the roadbed moderately wet;
7:25
am – dressed up, a
backpack, a comfortable walking shoes, a smart watch, music and ready to roll…
Essential
survival kit, water, some dry fruits, couple of socks and others were nicely
filled in my backpack..
Leg 1 – 7:25 am – 9:10 am (Flora Hill to Lansell Square)
Chilly
winds & a freezing cold temperature gave me a tough start.
20
minutes into the walk I had a wet shoe, a soaking sock and a low morale –
thanks to wetness on the road.
I
could soon feel the discomfort gripping within; esp. when you are out to walk,
have a wet feet and a horrible weather – not the type of start you want.
Couldn’t
stop the negative thoughts flowing in –
Dream
of achieving 50k steps in a day starting vanishing – "Lets cancel this, it is
not going to happen."
And
then a strong, positive thought came across, “It is
easy to stop!!”
and let me tell you this got me thinking, actually ‘yes’, it is easy to stop... this made me more determined than before.
40
mins into the walk –the wet feet in conjunction with the cold weather triggered
a ‘nature’s call’
There
was a conflict of interest between the mind & wet feet – the mind wanted to
continue walking and the feet wanted to stop and address the call.
“Oh
seriously, what a great timing”
All
of a sudden addressing the call was getting on a priority, trees and bushes
were easy targets - I kept on ignoring until I found a public lavatory -
goodness grief – there it is.
After
letting my bowels loose, I continued the march on…
Not
even 6k steps and there was big and dark clouds, strong winds looming over the
50k steps plan..
All
I could do, was keep walking; after walking 8.5kms & 1hr.50 mins I reached
the first stop.
The
moment I got there it started pouring.
I
made myself comfortable with a cup of coffee.
As the first sip of the warm coffee ran down through my gullet, all my tiredness started fading away - It was all worth!
As the first sip of the warm coffee ran down through my gullet, all my tiredness started fading away - It was all worth!
Leg 2: Lansell Square – Coles Bendigo – Flora Hill (via Myers street)
It
continued to rain for next 20 mins…
I
got my first call from wifey; to check in where I was.
I had kept this whole trip a secret with her; I wanted to ‘surprise her’
People
who are close to me know that she doesn’t like surprises; also people close to
me know that I like challenge the odds – but this time maybe it was a wrong challenge 😊
The
call lasted a minute or so, I convinced her I will be home soon by 10:30 am.
No way, I was going to get back at that time.
No way, I was going to get back at that time.
Pressure
was on, I had committed to an unrealistic expectation.
The
sun peeked out from behind the black clouds and I readily jumped on with my
walk…
Had
prepared some short milestones e.g. 1) Reaching Kangaroo Flat – which I did in
time.
2) Reaching
Golden Square and………….
I
never reached there on time.
I
was so engrossed in my walk that I didn’t realize that the sun had disappeared
and big black clouds were spitting down..
The
drops started getting bigger; which called for me to take shelter.
Patiently
waited under a bus stop for 40 odd minutes,
I
looked at my watch and thought 10:30 at home, forget it.
Soon
my phone started ringing (telepathy is a thing I suppose..)
She
was just “checking up on” “how am I travelling”
I
could sense a hint of warning out there – "hey babes, it is close to 10:30 where are you?"
While
speaking I saw a slight sun ray, still a bit drizzly, maybe heavier than a
drizzle, I thought this is enough for me hang up.
“Alright Hun, gotta go, see you soon”
I
would have barely reached another 400m and it blasted again..
This
time had to run back and take the shelter again.
Maybe
that sun ray was out there just to help me get over the call 😃
You
might be wondering this guy is talking about doing 50k steps and planning
meticulously but why didn’t he use his umbrella or a poncho……
Well,
I didn’t carry one – Define ‘meticulous’ for me please ;)
The
rain got bigger so the wait time – almost 50 mins now…
Checked
the steps status on my watch and it was only 15k steps - what a disappointing
start.
A
dodgy weather and the lost time was enough for me to call it in.
Took
a deep breath and promised myself if in next 5 minutes the weather doesn’t
clear; I am going to call the cab.
As
they say, "Patience is key to everything."
Seems
like my patience was being tested here - the sky cleared; literally gone in 5
mins;
All
the black clouds disappeared and the sun was out – as if stating – "Go on Son, Go for it."
Felling
excited and positive once again… I marched on.
I
managed to reach City Center by 11:27 am.
Got my third phone call..
"Hey Hun, how's it going, you see it is Sunday - supposed to be a family day"
“how far are you”
I
tried to tick the positives:
"Yep on my way, hey look I have got all the things that you requested for from the super-market; do you need anything else - and I will be there soon.”
Everything
was going fine until I asked “how is the
weather out there; it was raining and wet out here”
Like
they say “think before you speak”
I
knew straight away wrong question……………Whoops.
Response
was very typical “I don’t know about the outside
weather, but Hun, I can assure you the inside home temperate is too hot”
I
almost choked under my breath – Dammmm
“Alright, look I am getting there soon – see you”
I
decided to take the longest route to home; give some time to let the
conservation settle in..
I
was as it is going to suffer the cause, why not get some extra steps in; after
all it was a ‘steps day’.
A
dramatic leg 2 finally came to end reached my home with 26k steps in my bucket.
I
was a touch disappointed but happy to see the mood of the house was all good.
I
couldn’t have expected anything more – A truly supporting role from my partner.
A
warm tea with a tiny snack did it all.
Leg 3: Flora Hill to One Tree Hill Spring Gully + walk to City Centre.
Given
the weather was clear, I thought it is worth keeping the march on and work
towards another 14k.
Walk
to OTH and back gave me another 6k and I was on 32k now – a bit of mental
peace.
After
having lunch, grabbing the next 8k was up.
I
pushed my little champ in a pram and walked towards the city and back.
Finally
at 4pm I managed to get to my 40k steps.
A
huge achievement, plan was back on track.
On
our way back, wifey said you should surely be around 40k mark; you should at
least get to 60k from here on – no pressures darling.
Wait,
What 60k? you kidding, I would be happy and blessed to get to 50k.
The final thrust
At
40k I decided to rest it up and prepare for the final thrust.
During
the break, I did some light walking and accumulated thousand or two there.
At
9 pm I got on to my treadmill* and gave it a go..
From 9:30 pm to 10:50 pm kept on walking and managed to get the 50k steps..
It
was a great personal achievement in itself. I was happy…
Icing on cake
Since
I had another hour or so, I thought of pushing myself to the limit and walked
for another hour and managed to end it up at 55,757.
It
would have been easy to stop at 50k, but I wanted to do something extra for my
team and the last 5k I thought was an icing on a cake.
Might
not mean a lot to others but this is one of the day, that I can/will remember
for the rest of my life.
If you ask me – are you up for another 50k ,then I might probably say -No*
Glad it is all done!
P.S. in the 6 week challenge I managed to step 1.1mil steps.. out team ended second on the ladder.
