Since my 49km walk just under two weeks ago, my joints have not really recovered and a short 12km walk early this morning made that only too clear.

I have had grumbling joints on and off for many years, which it seems are likely to be linked with an autoimmune condition with which I was diagnosed 14 years ago and which joints are affected appears to be completely random and unpredictable.  This usually does not matter, as my exercise activities can be worked around any problems I have.  However, that is currently not the case and I can’t pretend that my hips, knees, elbows and wrists are not causing me some concern as our 100km challenge creeps ever nearer.  With five weeks to go, I have put together a new training programme, which relies slightly less on walking and rather more on non-weight bearing activities, in the hope that this will keep up my stamina and strengthen my core without destroying my joints and with it, my hope of completing this challenge.

Two weeks ago, Matt blinded us all with his amazing performance in his very taxing hill marathon and I continue to feel incredibly proud of him.  His success led me to feel a certain amount of pressure around what lay ahead of me.  He had run up hill and down dale, not slowing his pace, for a full 5 hours and 40 minutes and my challenge is, after all, ‘only a walk’.  It wasn’t until yesterday that I realised that I felt a sense of competition to accomplish something as remarkable as Matt had and that brought with it a real sense of panic.  I confess to feeling myself plunging into a degree of depression and anxiety that I would not be able to live up to the high standard set by my awesome husband.

But then I remembered a time, about a month before his marathon, when Matt had injured his knee and had himself, become very down about his chances of achieving his goal.  We all supported him through his doubt and, true to style, he got back out there and trained hard, fully focussed on the reason we took on these ventures. Remembering this brought a valuable and helpful thought my way:

I don’t have to break any records in my challenge.  I simply have to complete it.  Because I am not in competition with Matt or anyone else.  We are a team, competing against a common enemy that is Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

And if all else fails, my heroic Matt will just have to step in and help me…..      🙂

Hello all!

Well, there has been a bit of a lull in training recently and boy, didn’t I feel it on my walk yesterday!  I’ll come back to the walk in a minute, but first I will outline why both Matt and I have covered many fewer miles than intended over the last 6 weeks or so….

My wonderful mum became unwell with breathlessness and went from regularly walking two miles, to being unable to walk across her living room without stopping to catch her breath.  In hospital she was told she had heart failure and a severe narrowing in one of her heart valves.   We were given the devastating news that it was unlikely that surgery would help and that our time together would be limited.  My sister and I are extremely close to my mum and this news hit us both very hard indeed.  Mum remained absolutely stoical and cheerful throughout and was absolutely at peace with her future, whatever that held and she set about her days in the most positive way, with a smile on her face no matter how unwell she felt or looked.

She then had a test that gave us the unexpected news that she was, after all, a candidate for a valve replacement.  We could once again hope for a future with mum.  The procedure she was going to have was one that involved implanting a valve by accessing the heart via the artery in the groin.  We were nervous, but hopeful on the day.  However, when I went to enquire as to how it had gone, we were told mum had lost the ability to speak and had become paralysed down one side of her body as she had had a stroke during the procedure and it had therefore been abandoned.   Once again, mum defied the odds and made a complete recovery with all her symptoms resolving over a period of a few hours.

She was discharged home to wait for a repeat procedure the following week and, apart from a quick ambulance dash in with a suspected lung clot (the tests for which were thankfully negative), she enjoyed a few days at home with us before going back in, as cheerful and stoical as ever, for a successful repeat procedure.  She is still in hospital and on antibiotics for an infection, but is doing well and we are all anticipating that she will make some good strides forward and be home in a matter of days!  A million thanks to the amazing Dr Kovac, Dr Sandilands, Dr Chin and their fantastic teams at Glenfield hospital, with a particularly special mention to Amy on ward 28, who has been there with hugs throughout!

This unexpected adventure has meant that I have spent every day in hospital with mum and Matt has therefore had to take the lion’s share of childcare and home jobs on board.  This, in turn, has meant that both of us have had a significant break in our training schedules.  Matt’s marathon is in two week’s time and he is now back out there with a determined attitude and will be ready, come what may, for Sunday 18^th and his 26.2 miles of running with 5,800 feet of ascent.  We will be rooting for him!!

So, to my walk.  In a nutshell, it was ridiculously summery and the fields were as sunny as the sky, with acres and acres of oil seed rape brightening the landscape.  I managed 35km and, not without sunburn and aching legs, managed to get back, soak in a bath and get to the hospital for a short but lovely visit with mum.

Some photos from my walk yesterday:

All in all, if I look back over the last two months, I cannot believe the rollercoaster we have all been on, and I feel truly blessed that we are now where we are.  The support we have had from all our friends and family has been phenomenal and if anyone can almost literally be carried through a difficult time, we have.  Huge, huge thanks to you all! xx

Over the last few weeks mum has been unwell and in hospital.  She is now home and staying with us for the foreseeable future and we are awaiting further tests to see where to go from here.   This has meant a knock to our spirits as well as our training.

However, we are still getting out there and Matt has been pushing the boundaries ever further with more cross-country running and a 15 mile run this morning, before coming back to cook our mum’s day brunch of smoked salmon and scrambled eggs!  Properly yummy!

Pops was also up last week and we took to the fields and roads for a few kilometres to test the pace together, after which, he thoroughly let his hair down!!

My conclusion from these walks is that we will not be lacking in laughs to encourage us along the way, both in terms of covering the miles and keeping our morale up as mum recuperates.

We are now also throwing ourselves into planning the children’s bike ride and teddy bear’s picnic.  Dates are now up on the relevant pages and tickets are available for the latter.  Keep your eyes open for more details!

Please take a minute to visit our JustGiving page and throwing some pennies into the pot to spur us on even further!