Profile

I'm a teacher from the North West of England, UK. This blog was set up to keep a record of my progress on a walking challenge I'm completing for charity in 2010. I do not intend to use my real name on this blog, and personal information will be kept to a minimum. Please respect my privacy and safety.

In November 2009, I had this crazy idea that I would attempt, while juggling a full-time job, part-time study and trying to have a life, to walk a thousand miles in a year. I only took up walking to any serious degree in July 2009, and achieving the thousand miles according to the rules I've set will mean walking almost twice as much as I was doing as of November 2009. It then seemed like a good idea (at the time) to try to raise some money for a couple of different charities along the way. For safety reasons the longer walks I do will mostly be with organized groups, but my participation in these walks is limited because I'm dependent on public transport and the generosity of others to get to the start points, which are invariably car parks in the middle of nowhere.

Along the way I'll be helped by family, friends, various walking groups and organizations and an orange pedometer called Millicent. Comments of support, advice and encouragement are very welcome. Comments about how your retired gran walks more than that in six months will probably get an expression of admiration for your very active gran, but are kind of missing the point about the constraints under which I hope to achieve this.

This blog will be full of aching muscles, mud, blisters, snow, getting lost, ice, chilblains, rain, frustration with public transport, sunburnt noses, a lack of accessible toilet facilities, more rain and occasional cuts and bruises. There will also be beautiful scenery and wildlife, fresh air, fascinating history, healthy exercise, peace and quiet and hopefully a sense of achievement by the end of 2010.

Information about how to sponsor me is linked from the post at the top of the main blog, or you can click on the image above. Comments or questions, for those without Dreamwidth accounts, can be submitted using Open ID if you use a blog or service that supports this. You can reach me by email at evilgiraffe1000 at yahoo dot co dot uk.

Evil Giraffe