Today I walked for 6.5 hours. I covered 27km, and climbed the equivalent of 252 flights of stairs. My Fitbit tells me that I took 38,000 steps. It was by far the furthest I have walked and the longest I have walked. What made it so hard?
It was 34 degrees. There was stretches of no shade, just the blazing sun.
The first 20km were breathtakingly beautiful. We were walking along the coast, with little bush trails in certain parts, little stretches through open plains. We saw a few kangaroos (very big! but quite friendly and much more scared of us than we were of them) and an echidna (too cute!). We got lost a couple of times, but only really detoured about 3km so it wasn't too bad.
About 5km from the end, I hit the wall. Literally. There was a hill (we're calling it Heart Attack Hill!) that broke me, physically and mentally. I would say it went for about 300 metres, but it took us nearly an hour to climb. My body shut down. I had been feeling great until this point - I actually surprised myself with how good it was. Don't get me wrong, it was hot, I hurt, I was getting tired. But nothing compared to that hour. My heart was beating so hard, so fast. My breathing was ragged. My legs didn't hurt (much!) but the rest of my body would not let me continue.
The girls in my team were amazing. About halfway up the hill, they noticed I had stopped and asked me if I was okay. I thought I just needed a minute, so I said 'Yep!'. Two minutes later I had stopped again and again I heard the question 'Are you okay?'. I was not okay. It took a lot of courage to say the word 'No', but I knew things would not be good if I was stubborn and didn't listen to my body.
We got to some shade, cracked the icepack, and sat down. Single use icepacks are AMAZING. I got my breathing under control while applying the icepack to my neck, underarms and elbows. I even put it on my head at one point, trying to cool everything down. We got the water sorted, and as I knew that there was no going back (we were in the middle of the bush!), I really took my time making sure I was ready to keep going.
The shady spots were scattered over the next 300 metres, so we aimed for the next one before stopping for a drink and a breather each time. We finally got to the top of the hill, turned the corner, and to my dismay, saw ANOTHER hill. The next 500 metres or so we took very slowly, heading for the shade. I began to feel awful again so we stopped and had some sugar (yay for lollies!) and a bit of a stretch, before heading off again.
The ground started flattening out, the tree cover began increasing, and I had never been more happy to see a bush trail. I ran out of water and was waiting patiently for the last of my ice to melt in my frozen drink bottle. Each time a mouthful melted, I drank it greedily.
We made it. Icy poles all around for the team!! The thing that I am taking away from all of this, is that I have to believe in myself. There will be times when I cannot, and other people's belief in me may get me through, but in the end, 'if it is to be, it is up to me'. I am capable of more than I think. Not impossible, I'm possible.
The only bad part is that this was a TRAINING walk. Training for the 50km in two weeks. We are praying for cooler weather!
Sponsor me here:
http://www.coastrekfundraising.com.au/kellyrebbechi1
All funds raised will go to the Fred Hollows Foundation - to restore sight to the needlessly blind in developing countries. $25 will restore sight for one person, forever!
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