The Morning After the Long March

Well phat fighting fans, I did it. I managed to make my way around the entire 22km course for the seven bridges walk yesterday, and I am feeling it this morning. On Saturday evening we went out to the BBQ and had a great time. It was so good to get out and spend time in a nice social setting and meet some new people. We had a fantastic dinner - souvlaki with salad and spuds which I accompanied with one or two glasses of a fine rose, and a couple more of red, that we had purchased when we went to the Hunter Valley (north of Sydney). It was delicious, and both myself and my partner had such a good time that we probably had a little bit more wine than we intended - I'd say no more than 5 glasses for me, and probably 4 for her. So, not a hard night, but more than we have had for a while. It felt good and I have always thought that wine is better than beer in terms of putting on weight, or rather not putting on weight! By the time we got home it was midnight, and of course day light savings started so it was really 1:00am by the time that we turned in. Not ideal preparation for the huge day to follow!

We had to get up at 6:00 a.m (really 5:00 a.m) so that we would get into the city on time to start at 9:00 on the dot. We woke my partner's cousin up with text messages and she was ready to head into town with us, in spite of having stayed up late the night before also. We made the trip into town all feeling a bit jaded and not really too sure of how well we were going to perform. On arrival at circular quay (where the opera house is) it was apparent that this thing was going to be pretty popular as there were a lot of people checking in to start the walk already there. We got in line and after about 10 minutes we had our 'passports' and set off on the walk.

The first half of the walk had 6 of the 7 bridges in it. Because of where we started, the last bridge that we were going to have to cross was the harbour bridge, right next door to where we started from. This meant that the walking distance between bridges 6 and 7 turned out to be about 12kms - the entire north shore leg of the walk. In any event we started and things went well to begin with. The first bridge came up pretty fast and we were in high spirits. Pretty much after each bridge there was a village where you could get water, food, sunscreen and medical attention if you needed it. It was rpetty well organised and the only delay was getting your passport scanned at each bridge and village as many people had signed up on the day and the barcodes they were given were not working for some reason.

The first 10kms wasn't bad, but started to get hard as we neared the final bridge. My partner started to get dizzy and so we decided that would be a good time to stop for lunch. We ate, and during lunch it became clear that I was really the only one that wanted to struggle on and complete the entire course. We talked about it and they decided that they had done enough and would catch the bus back to town while I struggled on the walk back to town and to cross the bridge.

That was a fairly important choice that I made. The second half of the walk was much tougher than the first. There were a lot more hills to climb, and lot more stairs to go up and a lot less villages and comfort stops. It really started to hurt on that part of the walk and the best part of the walk from that point was that I had my MP3 player and was able to listen to some great music to help me through. Also I had a few text messages from my partner, parents, and mates to help me stick out the rest of the walk. I made it all the way to the end, however it was tough, I was sore, sunburned, and totally disinterested in the views that the walk provided as it was such a struggle to finish! Finishing was my only goal and I had to swallow hard and push on as people tore past me towards the finish line - by the looks of them I would doubt that they had started at circular quay and were probably only doing part of the walk - I couldn't be sure however and it was a bit demoralising at times. I hadn't thought that it would be as hard as it was as it didn't sound that far when I first heard we were doing it. But it was!

The last part of the walk across the harbour bridge was nice. The wind had picked up, and the bridge was shading where I was walking by that time so it was nice and cool and I could see the finishing line off in the distance. I did have a chance to appreciate the view at that stage, but most of the north shore views I missed as I was simply trying to put one foot in front of the other by that stage. When I got to the end of the harbour bridge, I was scanned at the top before you head down the stairs and out. When I got out of the bridge there weren't any signs to indicate where we should go. I asked one of the marshalls who told me "That's it, you're finished, you are free to go!". They also told me what the time was and that my time was a good one - they hadn't seen anyone finishing there that had also started at circular quay so that made me feel a bit better! A bit of an anti climax really, there was no finishing line or any indication that you had completed the course. I walked the extra bit down to circular quay just to make sure that there was no finishing line, and indeed there was not. All there was by that stage was a few tired souls like myself lying on the grass. I knew that if I lay down there was a good chance I wouldn't get up again so I jumped on the train to head home and meet my partner there.

I was glad to get home and I noticed on the way that one of my knees was a bit swollen (not the one that used to give me trouble at the gym) and I was pretty whacked. I made it home, and even managed to run for a connecting train so I knew that no serious damage had been done. I got home and pretty soon it was time for dinner and then bed. I slept like a log! I'm feeling good today, and am under orders from the trainer to take a day off today to recover. No problems there, my legs need the break, although they feel much better than I thought they would today and my knee has improved thanks to the ice I put on it last night. No lasting trouble I reckon. Good stuff, and a great way to round off a very healthy and fun weekend. Looking forward to this week, it should be good.