It was a dark, cold December evening and the nine of us were walking down a London street after the Art Refuge UK Christmas dinner.
"Let's do a joint fundraising event", said someone up front." Good idea", commented several voices from behind. "How about the 3 Peaks challenge?' said Sarah K (or was it Emily?), ' I've always wanted to do that". " Ooo, that sounds good" replied one person," I'm up for that". " Me too", I replied, and after various other murmurings along similar lines, Sarah K. and Emily said they'd look into it and let us know. We all then parted and headed home to concentrate on Christmas and holidays, not giving the suggestion a second thought...apart from Sarah & Emily.
And that's how, folks, a few months later I find myself having committed to walking three of the highest peaks of the Yorkshire Dales: 23 miles within 12 hours. Not an easy feat, I hasten to add–me being somewhat of a slug when it comes to exercise. I think part of me jumped at the word ' challenge', continuing the theme started last year when I jumped out of a plane to help save the charity (joined by Emily, bless her!). That one, at least, didn't require training, just a solid conviction that things were going to be okay and I wouldn't (probably) die doing it.
This time I'm part of the 14 strong team–seven of the Art Refuge UK team (trustees and coordinators) plus assorted family, friends and supporters. I'm looking on it as a team-building adventure, with lots of fun and laughter to keep us going. We're doing it to raise lots of money for the charity- and I'm assuming that you already know about it as you have probably come here via either our website or our Facebook page, or even possibly our Virgin Money-Giving page. But just in case you have found your way here without any of that, check us out: www.artrefugeuk.org.
You can also donate to the cause here: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=arukyorkshire3peaks&isTeam=true
My good friend Marion agreed to do the practice walks with me (she's walked from the west to east coasts of the UK before) and had thought of joining us for the 3 Peaks but decided the practice walks would suit her better. We put our heads together and set up a training schedule based on a programme she found in a hiking magazine and working around our working commitments. At the moment it consists of three walks a week, two short and one long, plus assorted exercises to strengthen the legs.
My biggest challenge is going to be finding hills to practice on. Suffolk, where I live, is as flat as a pancake–nothing even remotely resembling a mountain for miles. There are some steps leading down to the town centre but I think I'd get bored pretty quickly running up and down them several times in a row, plus I'd look rather silly.
Anyhow, I thought I'd start a blog, partly to keep a record of how I do, but also to help motivate others. I will add photos as I go, and play around with format, etc but as it's late and I wanted to get this posted asap (procrastination is my middle name), I'm stopping here for the night. Will update you on how Week 1 went tomorrow. In the meantime, if you feel like it, have a look at previous blogs posted here over the years- it will shed some light on some of the activities of our wonderful charity and some of the people involved.
Night all!
"Let's do a joint fundraising event", said someone up front." Good idea", commented several voices from behind. "How about the 3 Peaks challenge?' said Sarah K (or was it Emily?), ' I've always wanted to do that". " Ooo, that sounds good" replied one person," I'm up for that". " Me too", I replied, and after various other murmurings along similar lines, Sarah K. and Emily said they'd look into it and let us know. We all then parted and headed home to concentrate on Christmas and holidays, not giving the suggestion a second thought...apart from Sarah & Emily.
And that's how, folks, a few months later I find myself having committed to walking three of the highest peaks of the Yorkshire Dales: 23 miles within 12 hours. Not an easy feat, I hasten to add–me being somewhat of a slug when it comes to exercise. I think part of me jumped at the word ' challenge', continuing the theme started last year when I jumped out of a plane to help save the charity (joined by Emily, bless her!). That one, at least, didn't require training, just a solid conviction that things were going to be okay and I wouldn't (probably) die doing it.
This time I'm part of the 14 strong team–seven of the Art Refuge UK team (trustees and coordinators) plus assorted family, friends and supporters. I'm looking on it as a team-building adventure, with lots of fun and laughter to keep us going. We're doing it to raise lots of money for the charity- and I'm assuming that you already know about it as you have probably come here via either our website or our Facebook page, or even possibly our Virgin Money-Giving page. But just in case you have found your way here without any of that, check us out: www.artrefugeuk.org.
You can also donate to the cause here: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=arukyorkshire3peaks&isTeam=true
My good friend Marion agreed to do the practice walks with me (she's walked from the west to east coasts of the UK before) and had thought of joining us for the 3 Peaks but decided the practice walks would suit her better. We put our heads together and set up a training schedule based on a programme she found in a hiking magazine and working around our working commitments. At the moment it consists of three walks a week, two short and one long, plus assorted exercises to strengthen the legs.
My biggest challenge is going to be finding hills to practice on. Suffolk, where I live, is as flat as a pancake–nothing even remotely resembling a mountain for miles. There are some steps leading down to the town centre but I think I'd get bored pretty quickly running up and down them several times in a row, plus I'd look rather silly.
Anyhow, I thought I'd start a blog, partly to keep a record of how I do, but also to help motivate others. I will add photos as I go, and play around with format, etc but as it's late and I wanted to get this posted asap (procrastination is my middle name), I'm stopping here for the night. Will update you on how Week 1 went tomorrow. In the meantime, if you feel like it, have a look at previous blogs posted here over the years- it will shed some light on some of the activities of our wonderful charity and some of the people involved.
Night all!
2 comments:
Great to be walking with you! Marion x
Maybe a book in the offering when 3 peaks done and dusted!
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