Hey! What a month that was! I had an amazing time but gosh am I glad that it is over. I never really worked out what walking ten kilometres a day would mean. To be honest, I didn't even work out what ten kilometres was! I just doubled last years kilometre target, and starting telling people/making it happen. That is my attitude to a lot of things in life, jump head first into things without truly thinking through what it means.
This past month was a whirlwind and I am so happy that I completed all 300 kilometres that I set out to do. Not only did I have a blast, got fitter, and learnt a lot of things, we managed to raise $280 for
HUHA. I have to admit, my goal of $2,500 was obviously a large stretch, and I only managed to fundraise just over 10% of that goal. BUT I believe every cent counts, and I am so thankful to all the wonderful people that donated to this cause. I think in the scheme of things $280 is the minimum we have raised over this month as people will see the lengths I have gone to this month to raise awareness for HUHA and will think more about how they can volunteer. Also, it means I have something to beat next year when we go bigger and better.
I did film me drawing the winners for the giveaways but my internet really has taken a disliking to me recently and will not upload it. In the sake of a quick turn around I announced the winners on our
Facebook Page but if you missed that.
I want to thank everyone for supporting us during the past month. It meant a lot to me that so many of you were willing to comment on our posts with offers of support and companionship. I honestly don't think I would have completed the full 300 kilometres without all your backing. I did notice the ones that were always there, and from the bottom of my heart want to thank you for that.
Our first walk after June reminded me of why I like walking without counting my kilometres and why I believe we shouldn't aim for a certain distance each day. In June, I found myself forcing a walk that neither Diego nor I really needed or wanted, and it wasn't the fun activity that walking should be. I found that I was doing walks that allowed for more kilometres on my Fitbit, but didn't necessarily mean more walking or as enjoyable for Diego (Not off-leash/road walking). I also was walking fast to make sure I got as many kilometres under my belt before it got dark and therefore cold, which gave Diego less chance to check out the smells and enjoy himself. I am not saying that any of these things are completely horrible, as we both did enjoy ourselves, but the first walk of July was a nice, slow amble where we played fetch in the park and Diego got enough time to check out and smell everything the park had to offer.
I am generally a gym junkie and have gotten used to the dull aching of sore muscles after a hard workout, so I didn't find the walking to be too tiresome. I did have aching legs for the whole month though. The big thing that made this challenge hard was time. Each walk took at least two hours, usually more and that was on top of an already busy schedule of work, social life, house life, keeping up with DaisyPets and trying to find some down time. I am constantly asked by my older sister why I would chose June as my month to complete this as Winter is starting to kick up a notch during this month. My answer? To make it more interesting. Anyone can walk 300 kilometres when it is wonderfully sunny, warm weather. It's much harder to walk when its freezing outside and gets dark at 4pm.
I am super thankful that this June has been one of the driest and non-windiest (mind blank on what the word for that would be hehe) June's in many years. I could count on one hand how many walks I had to do in the rain, and even then, the rain wasn't the worst it could have been. Also, no wind!!! Which for Wellington is a blessing. I had planned to walk in the rain a lot more, so I was so happy that I didn't have to deal with that as much as I thought.
Fitbit did send me a watch to track my steps/kilometres for the month, and that was what I got my screen-grabs off to provide proof of our walking. I am amazed at how well this watch worked (apart from a few little hiccups) and super pleased that I got to trial it out. I will make a full post on the Fitbit as I do think it is an awesome asset to have as a dog owner.
We also go sent a
WonderWoof for Diego to wear and track his activity. Unfortunately, during June their app went down for maintenance and didn't come back up any time during our walks. This meant I not only couldn't track what Diego was doing, I didn't get to fully trial this product. This was part of a giveaway so I hope that the app is back up and running by the time the winner tries to use it, and can report good feedback to us!
I also want to thank
Wolves of Wellington for donating a bandana to the lead-up giveaway,
Bark Bag for donating a Bark Bag to one of the giveaway winners,
Cotton Tails Store for throwing some extra goodies into our package (including a bandana which will be in a later giveaway) and
Pet Life NZ for putting our activities into their Winter Issue. It means a lot to have the support of such amazing New Zealand companies and I look forward to working with them again in the future.
Last thanks to my amazing mother, Petra who listened to me whine for many hours, but was always there supporting Diego and I; Jenn, my best friend for supporting and sharing my stuff even while completing gruelling training camp; and my other best friend Demi for supporting me but also going on some crazy walks with me and not complaining once.
After all is said and done, I am so proud of what I have achieved and had the best time challenging Diego and I. I hope to make it a bigger event next year, with other people joining in and making their own totals. I hope you can join us for that <3
