April 22nd 2021
Reflections on 90 days of travelling around Iceland
On Easter Saturday, I finally finished a 1333km Virtual Trek around Iceland which equated to nearly 15km of running or walking every day for 90 days consecutively. When one finishes something like this there is usually a time for reflection with regards to what you have gained from it and I am no different!
(1) Exercise really is good for the mind....I didn't run or walk listening to anything as I enjoyed the opportunity to get away from technology and think about nothing more than putting one foot in front of the other. It helped me clear my mind and let thoughts move on which improved my mental health during Lockdown 3.
(2) If I can do it anyone can...I am not the most -self-confident when it comes to fitness as I compare myself to others who go much faster and are generally younger or more streamlined!. However, on the last two days of the challenge, I ran a PB for both 5K and 10k and realised that it didn't matter how fast others were going!
(3) Don't waste time or make excuses...during both Virtual School and the return to school I was always making use of a spare 20/30 mins to walk round the field at school or round the village where I live. As a result, I felt more fulfilled as an individual.
(4) Short term goals help to make a bigger target more achievable….all through the challenge, I set myself small targets in order to break down the ultimate target which was to finish it in under 100 days. Without this, I would certainly not have done as much walking or running. This was directly helped by Strava as it became clear to me that the short term goals offered by their app ultimately led to me feeling more motivated to achieve more.
(5) Keep it balanced- After completing the challenge, I was pleased and delighted but did realise it had taken over my life to the extent that I had not devoted enough time to keeping my life balanced. I certainly didn’t read enough during the first three months of the year. Thankfully, Lockdown meant I didn’t miss out on too much else.
These are just a few thoughts on what I learnt from 90 consecutive days of pushing myself. It was hard but definitely worth it.
I set up a JustGiving Page for The Lewis Moody Foundation and the Brain Tumour Charity and the total currently stands at over £4,000. The support so far from the Moulsford community has been amazing, but don’t just take my word for it, here is a little thank you from Lewis Moody https://youtu.be/APcDAwHz4R8
