Around about June last year, I embarked on a bit of a fitness journey. I had been told by my doctor to lose a few kilos (who hasn’t) and that if I lost at least 10 per cent of my body weight, it would alleviate/reverse the health issues I had developed (type 2 diabetes and fatty liver).
A couple of days before my 39th birthday, I kicked off with a solid long weekend of walking. I set myself the goal to walk at least three times a week. By the end of June, I was achieving this, and had, in fact, walked every day straight from the 20th June to the 30th June.
I devoted some time to reshuffling my work calendar so that I could finish work earlier a couple of days a week, in order to squeeze in a one-hour walk before it got too dark during the winter months. Big thanks to the GBM technology team, for making this possible!
A great team of friends supported this new adventure. We organized catch-ups that involved walking 6 kilometres to the Noorat Hotel, having Sunday brunch, and then walking 6 kilometres back to Terang (in the rain). What a team! By the end of September, I had exercised (closed my Apple Watch Green Ring) every single day – 102 days in a row! As an added benefit, I had lost 11kgs, and felt more confident about going backpacking in Europe for a then-upcoming one-month long trip!
Around about this time, I threw around the idea of joining the Surf Coast Trek – a 40km fundraising trek on the Surf Coast Walk, to be held on Saturday 28th March 2020.
I was blown away by the ongoing support from my crew. Our team The Tactical Wheeze now have 12 registered participants! Massive thanks to Alison Buccheri, Lisa Bernoth, Mali Glendinning, Craig Cole, Steven Welsh, Sharna Whitehand, Melissa Rees, Clare Dunn, Belinda Bennett, Ulick Napier and Simon Buccheri for supporting this idea, joining the team and being all-round top people.
We have been training both individually and on team treks. Team treks have included:
- Sunday treks to Noorat from Terang, with a stop at the Mount Noorat Hotel for brunch
- An epic 33km walk from Naroghid to Timboon, via the Rail Trail. The ice cream and whisky at the end was an awesome reward
- A 17km walk along the Old Beechy Rail Trail from Barongarook to Gellibrand – ending with a yummy pub lunch at the Gellibrand Hotel
- Walks up Mount Leura
- A 17km walk from Naroghid to Cobden and back to Naroghid on Melbourne Cup Day
- Followed by a long walk (25km) on the beach from Port Fairy to Warrnambool on the Saturday following Melbourne Cup Day
- Mount Noorat Summit and Crater (to and from the pub)
- Narrawong Mount2Mouth Beach Walk (17km)
Wow, when you put it into a list like that, it seems crazy! But it has been fantastic to work together towards this goal.
We now have less than two months until the big event, and in addition to the ongoing training, we need to raise some funds for the Surf Coast Trek beneficiaries – Kids Plus Foundation and Give Where You Live Foundation.
Our team has a combined target of $3000 to raise, and we have currently raised $461.
Your fundraising dollars will be split evenly between charities Kids Plus Foundation and Give Where You Live Foundation.
Kids Plus Foundation is a community organisation that delivers programs for babies, children and young people with neuro-development conditions including cerebral palsy, brain injury and stroke.
Give Where You Live Foundation raises funds and allocates them to the less fortunate in the community within Geelong and district.
If you would like to support our team, please visit https://givewhereyoulive.secure.force.com/Fundraise/surfcoasttrek2020/TheTacticalWheeze
To follow our training treks, follow my Strava profile: https://www.strava.com/athletes/30265198
