Nae bad for an auld yin

ALL THE THREES

I'd have been annoyed with myself  if it had taken over four hours.  That was my published target for this year's slightly shortened Kiltwalk 'Big Stroll'.  In my head I knew I wanted to break three hours and forty five minutes.  I imagined myself doing a 3:42.  That would be win for me.

Cue reality.  Two practice walks ago, when I last tried a similar distance, it ended discouragingly badly.  Partly redeemed by a more successful shorter walk last week.  But the memory of that failed longer effort stayed in the back of my mind.  So it was a relief/miracle/pleasure/palliative/comfort/bloody big surprise to find myself still making good time after the uphill section with only three miles to go.  And a bit of a shock to find myself crossing the finish line three hours and thirty three minutes after leaving the start in Musselburgh.  (Which is probably why I feel totally knackered now, as I write this seven hours later.)

It helped that the weather was a bit cooler than it's been this past week, and the wind a lot less obstructive.  That I was able to find my own pace soon after the start and stuck with it.  That I didn't stop walking the whole time except to get safely across the few roads placed in our path (aided by a fellow walker who held my backpack for a minute so I could take my sweater off without breaking stride, helpful friendly people these Kiltwalkers).  Nor did I stop to take photos, so all I've got here is a shot of the crowd ahead of me at the start line.

I think I need my bed...

Meanwhile, if you are still considering donating for my efforts... here's a link to my Kiltwalk donations page.

Walking, advocacy and kilts 13 (with added cat)

THESE BOOTS (AND KILT) ARE MADE FOR WALKING

As I type this there's little more than forty hours to go until I set off from Musselburgh, aiming to be in Murrayfield in under four hours and, the most important part of the proceedings, raise  money for Advocard.  If you'd like to donate please click on this link - it all goes to help providing a very valuable service to people who deserve to have their voices heard.  While nowadays there's much greater awareness of the impact mental ill health has on people's lives, and wider recognition that it can happen to anyone, many still struggle to cope with the world of bureaucracy they have to negotiate.  Dealing with the shambles that is the DWP is bad enough if you're healthy!

In the last couple of weeks  I've had a mixed bag of Advocard appointments.  A couple where the service user failed to show up (something I know to accept as part of the deal, no matter how frustrating it can be at times.); a home visit to a lovely couple, the woman having serious physical health issues as well as depression, who seemed please with the signposting we were able to provide for them; and a guy who I'll accompany to his PIP assessment next week.  Home visits are not something we do often, requiring more time and manpower than an office based appointment, so we always want to be sure that the person really would struggle to get to the office.  There was no doubt that this one was fully justified.

I've also been on a 2 day course to learn some suicide intervention skills.  Over the years I've had several people opening up to me about having suicidal thoughts, so it's good to have some additional knowledge to help me deal with those situations.  PIP assessors frequently ask if claimants have had suicidal thoughts, or made an attempt on their own life, and it's part of my role to prepare them for that line of questioning - never a pleasant bit of the job.

But back to my Kiltwalk preparations.  Since my last post I've had two final training walks.  The first of those, last week, was, I admit, discouraging.  I walked along seafront from Musselburgh to Cramond, then inland to Craigleith.  Fourteen miles, so a bit less than I'll be faced with on Sunday.  And the worst struggle I think I've had since I began!  I kept going for three and three quarter hours, but by the last 2 or 3 miles that's all it was - keeping going.  My legs felt like they didn't want to be there, I almost gave up a couple of times (those buses looked so tempting...), and I got slower and slower.  About the only encouragement was the fact I did keep going and resisted the temptation of several inviting looking benches.  In my defence I was walking into a strong headwind for much of the way (the kilt is not the most aerodynamic of garments), and hadn't slept well.  I need my excuses!

The final walk, two days ago, was shorter, about eight and half miles, and left me feeling a lot more positive again.  A route I've done before, managed to knock off five minutes from my previous best despite kilt-unfriendly breezes, and feeling more than strong enough to carry on at the end.  More the sort of encouragement I was looking for...  Like Nancy Sinatra almost sang, these boots and kilt and made for walking.

There are four of us strolling out for Advocard on Sunday, in a team called The Devil's Advocates (sorry, best we could come up with).  The others are doing the five mile walk from Gypsy Brae, so I'm hoping they will be forming a reception committee when I cross the line.  If you happen to see any of the Kiltwalkers on Sunday look out for tee shirts with these logos front and back, do give them (us) a shout of encouragement.

The heading photo above was shot as a daft way to set up to my pathetic Nancy joke.  It took a few goes to get it right.  Someone else thought they should be in shot....

Zoe will not be taking part in Kiltwalk.  She can't find a kilt to fit.

Oh, and here's that donations link again. Zoe wants you to give Advocard your money.