The walk is done, and I’m wrapped that it’s over. I’m also really, really happy with how it went.  Finished the 50k in about 10 hours, with a fantastic calorie burn.

I started at 6am, walking with my dogs who walked the first 12k with me. Then home for a quick brekky and off again. By myself this time.  At the 25k mark, still feeling really great, I stopped for coffee with my regular Saturday riding group. On then until then 35k mark. From then, it started to get a little ugly. As I had expected the hardest thing about the whole walk was my headspace. I was doing the walk alone, so I knew that when I started to get tired, my brain would start telling me that it was ok to stop. And that is exactly what happened.

My feet and body in general were feeling fantastic and I wasn’t at all tired. But my brain was tired of it all, and was doing it’s best to get me to stop. So I decided to walk back home and get the dogs for the last 10k. This turned out to be a great idea, as they sparked my up, as we went off into the bush for the last stint. That 10k was tough but I felt absolutely fantastic when I finished.

All the 4am training sessions walking in the dark, during this dreadful frosty winter that we’ve had paid off. At the end I felt tired and content. Not as exhausted as I expected. The scary thing is I’ve been wondering since, when I’m going to do it again. Next time it will be at the end of summer, so the training can be in the warm weather.

So what made me keep going, when my brain wanted me to give up? It was all the fantastic and amazing support I had from my friends, especially on Facebook and Twitter. I just knew you were all cheering me on, and I couldn’t possible have let you down.

Thank you so much to everyone who was on my side willing me on, and who believed in me, probably more than I believed in myself. You are all fabulous and amazing friends. I am very lucky to have you all in my life.

My two little dogs are heroes in my mind. They are only tiny, but all up they walked 22k with me – the first 12k and the last 10k. A long, long way on their little legs

If anyone out there is thinking of taking on a challenge like this, all I can say is Do It. You never know until you try, and you might just surprise yourself at how great you are.