Gillian Beveridge is a prolific MoonWalker – having completed seven of the night-marathons run by #walk1000miles' charity partner Walk the Walk. This is her first year doing for her 1000 miles too – and though it's helping with her motivation to train, it's not without its challenges...
Hello! My name's Gill and I’m 41 and from the Highlands of Scotland. I started Moonwalking for #WalktheWalk five years ago and have now completed seven Moonwalks and a 50km Walk. This year I will complete four Marathons, a half Marathon and 10km again all for #WalktheWalk.
Let's be clear: I’m not an athlete, and I don’t run. I am a traditionally built female who loves a challenge.
I love the events but I struggle with motivation at times and losing friends willing to walk with me isn't helping.
But then one of my WTW buddies joked that we could ‘walk 500 miles then walk 500 more’ – you know cos I’m Scottish. In January I saw posts from my buddies holding a certificate pledging to walk 1000 miles. What fools I thought and ‘well I’ve missed the start date of 01 January’ so I’ll observe from afar' (literally as they all live near London).
I sat down with my calculator and worked out what they were in for. 1000 miles in a year starting on the 1st of January equates to 2.74 miles a day – which sounds really manageable. But then I checked what it would be if I didn't start til, say 1 February and I was astonished by the answer: 3.003 miles – hardly any more and still under an hour. Even if I waited until March the target would still only be 3.27 miles/day!
I looked at the challenge FAQs and saw you can choose to count all the distance you walk during the day or just actual ‘boots on’ walking. Alright I thought, I can do this!
Then week one of my challenge dawned and... it snowed more than we have seen for years.
It's been cold where I live recently – really cold!
But today I bit the bullet and did something that seems crazy for someone who lives in the Highlands. I walked 4.7 miles... on a treadmill! And do you know what? It was alright – especially as not being able to do ‘boots on’ walking was really getting to me.
Only problem? Evidently I wore the wrong type of sock so my maiden walk has given me heel blisters – ouchie!
Next week can only get better right? I’ll keep you posted.
• Want to turbocharge your 1000 miles and have a night to remember forever? Sign up to do a a MoonWalk.
• Doing a MoonWalk and want to make your achievement and fitness gains last all year? Sign up for #walk1000miles
