Walk 30km in one day - sure why not?
This month I walked from Mudjimba to Noosa as part of a team in Brisbane Coastrek 2022 raising money for Beyond Blue and raising awareness for Young Onset Parkinson's Disease.
Testing mental and physical stamina
It was a beautiful day for quiet stroll along the beach - a 30 km stroll - with about 2500 other people.
Mostly along the beach but some off beach detours to navigate the rocky heads and outcrops. A stream to cross along the way. A gentle breeze coming up from the south. Lots of interesting chatter among the group.
The idea of the walk came from Sandra G - a fellow person living with Parkinson's Disease and member of the Young Onset Parkinson's Disease group. She is based on the Sunshine Coast. Two teams of 4 all donned purple Parkinson's branded caps and custom printed purple t-shirts, along with too-too and some unicorn headwear just for good measure. There was a mass start and we actually passed the start line at 9:50am. The field spread out from that point along the beach and the conversations started to flow. It was wonderful to talk to each of the team along the way. Eventually I picked up the pace and met up at the lunch stop half way with three very lovely ladies from team 2 - Jane, Helen and Katrinka. After quickly eating my lunch sandwich we were off for the second leg, at a steady pace. Some more beach and off beach sections, eventually hitting the streets from Sunshine Beach and getting to the final destination in daylight at about 6 hours 38 mins from the start line. Not bad a bad effort. Actual time walking excluding the lunch and pitstops was 5 hours 53 mins averaging approx 5km per hour for the distance covered so am happy enough about that. We also raised close to $3500 for Beyond Blue which was awesome and spoke to a few folk about Young Onset Parkinson's Disease so that made it all worthwhile.
Next day I was feeling ok so went on an afternoon walk so that I didnt ruin my ongoing streak so that made me even happier.
Thanks to Jane, Helen, Katrinka, Catherine, Shane, Melissa and especially Sandra for kicking this off in the beginning and doing such a great job wrangling everyone involved.
Also thanks to Glenda and Jaddyn for logistics support and all the many folk who sponsored the team on the walk directly or bought a ticket in the raffle.
Sunsets
Sometimes a situation makes you reflect on things in your life.
This week I had a think about how sometimes life has sunsets. Sometimes a sunset is so beautiful, long and lingering, stunning to see and enjoy until the last glimmer of light is gone and the darkness takes over. These I enjoy very much. I equate these to being with friends and relatives for many years of catchups and in the end proper goodbyes.
And then there are other sunsets, so beautiful and with much promise, but suddenly they are over in a heartbeat leaving you feel disappointed and wondering what could have been. These are like not being able to say a proper goodbye to someone who has touched your life. You are left feeling flat and wishing that you had just one more opportunity. Life sometimes deals us sunsets like this and we need to pick ourselves up and remember how beautiful the beginning of the sunset actually was. And remember to say those things that you want to say while you have a chance as you never know how the sunset will end.
What Research am I doing?
This month was the end of the photoreceptor directed light therapy study participation. Sleep studies, sleep diary and light monitoring watch all done and dusted. Will be interesting to see if there was anything new that comes from the research over all, and also I am to get the findings of my last sleep recording with the bomber wiring outfit on.
I have been participating in a working group on the design of an app relating to Parkinson's/ Dementia and anxiety. This has been very interesting to understand the process of such research and the steps along the collaborative journey.
As a follow on I have been approached to participate in a grant application for another Parkinson's / Dementia related study.
Becoming an Aussie.
Yes.. A little more progress. Forms to fill and lodge. Yawn. It's a drawn out process.
More help with Parkinson's awareness and advocacy.
YOPD catch up this month was a presentation on diet influences in relation to Parkinson's. It was very interesting and there was a lot of great information on the effects of diet on general health and the effect on uptake of medication especially dopamine. More reading to be done for sure. #thisisparkinsons
Walking.
On going through rain, and shine. Still haven't missed a day . New target 1000. #committed
Medication.
No Change to the schedule or positive impact.
Pilates.
Pilates is back on Wednesday evenings, more challenges being set for me. It has been smaller numbers with just the two of us this last week. It was good to chat to Sakura the physio who manages the class about various things to do with the exercises and surprisingly I do work up a sweat by the time its all over.
PFU Boxing and more.
Each week there is something new for the warmup. Good to see some of the old regulars reappearing too.
Social Outings.
Lots on the calendar, regular "Thirstday" drinks with the lads are always good. You can find us at Ballistic on Montague Road from about 4:30 each week.
Work.
Head down and focus on delivery with more work coming on stream from sometimes unexpected places. Still trying to catch up and complete some existing projects. Many new projects in the pipeline and continuing to clean up existing projects. Work in Toowoomba ongoing and I have had a steady stream of prospects so looking solid for the next few months.
Land Sailing.
Waiting for each Sunday to see what's happening at the track.... and have had a few other events happening. Weather conditions mean no sailing. bah.
Membership has taken a bit of a dip and we are still trying to establish the status of the Hamilton track. I hope to get some beach runs in if there is a chance.
Otherwise for me its still so far so good.
Same Same.
And that is all for just now - keep a lookout for the next post and thanks for tagging along!