Walking with a headache

Doesn't sound like a very victorious heading, but believe me, I am glad the 20 km walk is over!

I was pretty excited to be truthful, about starting the walk.  I was really looking forward to doing the first 10kms on my own, at my own speed, listening to my IPOD, and enjoying the walk for what it was - raising money for the work of school chaplains. 

I dressed in what I thought would be my comfiest pants (and they were) and was relieved that the official Ks for Kids tee felt nice to wear.  I had packed an alternative outfit in the car to change into if need be at the 2nd 10 kms.  There is nothing worse or more distracting then having painful chafing occuring anywhere .......

I love my new Nike pack that I wore very comfortably and was just the right size for what I wanted to carry:

A special pocket for my Iphone so I could follow my progress on Pedometer Pro and listen to my tunes.  And then a slim pocket behind that to fit a couple of tissues, bandaids, lip balm & panadol. 

Started the day with a quick juice:

Pomegranate, Apple & Banana - nice start to the day!

I had a quick sip of water at the checkpoint before setting off on the first 10 kms at 9am.  The first stretch was actually up and over Nth Burleigh Hill so it was a good gee up to get moving.  I set a great pace and kept up with a young teen who was determined to stay in front of me, so we set a great challenge for each other, the whole way.  I then caught up with another 2 girls from an earlier group and so up Burleigh headland and through the National Park, it was the 4 of us.  We kept to a track as much as possible, and avoided hitting the beach until after Tallebudgera (such amazing scenery too).  This was when I finally succumbed to hitting a few panadol as my head had been wildly throbbing.  Thank goodness for beach bubblers, as even though there were a few officials along the route, handing out lollies - there was no water stops.  I was very aware of not guzzling water as from gym training I knew that was the quickest way to make me feel nauseous. 

The beach slowed us down and so by now there were a few more people round.  We tried to detour from the beach as soon as possible and then it got a little confusing as there were not enough markers to show us where to go.  But i made it to the next checkpoint in 1 hour 15mins - quickest 10 kms I'd done so far.

Toilet stop before a quick drink, a piece of orange and collecting the rest of the crew for the next 10 kms:



Ocean, Amber, Annabel, Eden, me & Anna

And then the fun began.  I was a drill seargeant at the start as I knew I had to get them moving from the beginning so that there was opportunity to slow down a little later and still get in sometime before the sun set.  We left at 10:30.  The first blister complaint came at around 10:40.  Sigh.

By 11 we'd hit the beach and there was nothing but beach till we reached the end at Coolangatta.  Thankfully my headache had subsided, and it was low tide so the sand was pretty hard.

By 11:15 I caved and let all the kids take their shoes off, they were way more used to walking in bare feet so this to them, was like freedom.  It certainly upped their energy levels, although we then had to carry those shoes and were definitely lagging somewhere in the middle of the group now.

On the home stretch we thankfully caught up with some guys from our church, so this pepped the kids up a bit, and gave me some scintillating adult conversation for a bit.  Awesome!

We all had to take our shoes off to cross a gushing water run-off river cut through the beach, but by then I think we were all a little relieved to have our shoes off and get some saltwater therapy.  And then it was up the stairs (ooooo very wobbly legs) to the boardwalk & into Queen Elizabeth Park.  YAY!

I just collapsed onto the grass as I was feeling pretty hot, tired and dehydrated by then.  I'd had to give my hat to one of the other girls and I could not see water being handed out anywhere so Luke had to get my water from the car while the kids feasted on sno cones and free snags on bread. 

At one stage I do remember turning to Luke and saying:  "remind me to never do this again"  but now, in hindsight, I reckone I could do it all over again next year!!

Oh yeh, and my girls & I raised just under $1500!