Zero to 40kms (and a bit)

"A comfort zone is a beautiful place , but nothing ever grows there"

I’ve set myself a goal to be able to do a marathon distance by the end of 2021. (actually i want to do 44Kms)
Right now (End of Nov 2020) I can do a good impression of not dying at around the 500m mark. Improvement from a week or so ago I could get to 250m.
So I would love your support and encouragement as I do this. Why am I doing this ? I am doing this to raise funds and awareness for mental health and suicide prevention. I have struggled with keeping my mental health healthy for most my adult life. Sometimes its been so severe I couldn’t see a light. Looking after myself – self care – is key to me staying well and over the years I’ve adopted and integrated different self care and coping strategies. Sometimes what works one time doesn’t work the next.

A recent decline in my mental health had me joining an outdoor fitness group . I was really surprised at me doing that but I found that it really helped and I find myself 5 months later still doing it. It was not and is still sometimes not an easy thing for me to do but I go and I feel good after every session. Part of this recent decline saw an increase in panic attacks. Daily. At one point I had one in one of the classes. Past me would never have gone back but I did. I worked around it for a while and learnt ways to manage that. The exercising though, It helped In all aspects , the physical , mental\mind and soul. During all of this time I remembered how I used to love running. For me it’s a non thinking exercise. And along the way the overthinking that so often overtakes me seems to slow down and stop. Life gets a little lighter every time I do it. So this fitness thing. It became a key.

So that’s why I’m going to challenge myself physically , its not going to be easy but where’s the fun in easy. Keeping myself moving , healthy and happy. Mental Health affects everyone. To what degree that’s individual. For those who suffer declining and damaged mental health the darkness and chaos that it can bring can be debilitating. You never really know what goes on in anothers head. Most of us would have either been affected personally in some ways. Be that yourself or in someone close to you , family , friends, workmates , acquaintances etc.

Along the way I want to raise funds for Lifeline. Lifeline is an amazing service that has at times saved me. In a lot of ways. They have been there when I’ve needed to reach out. Never once failed me. I am passionate about the work that they do and will be a forever supporter of this lifeline. This is just but one way I support Lifeline and I hope that some money can get raised by doing this. It costs $4000 to train every telephone crisis support worker. Calls to Lifeline have increased this year , firstly with the devastating bushfires and then with Covid. It’s a cause that I truly hope people can get behind.

I have some amazing peoples, friends, including my amazing daughter of who is my Why for pretty much everything. These peoples are going to support me along the way so that I can stay on track. Literally in some ways (I sometimes get distracted and get a bit lost and I do mean literally) , and so for a bonus challenge ( putting more “fun” into it ) i want to make sure I stay moving so 131114 – the phone number for Lifeline – that’s the amount of steps every week I want to do. That’s 18,730ish a day. And its 6.8millionish steps in a year. So these amazing peoples are going to walk with me. Sometimes in person , sometimes apart but we’ll contribute the steps to make sure we walk that many. Each of them have their own story and reasons for supporting me and this challenge.

I would love your support while i do this, for Lifeline and for myself , to keep me moving on track .

Thank you
Meg