Fifth and Final Day- Mutianyu Section

The week ended how it had begun with yet another early alarm call, 5.30am! It was a really odd knowing that we had one final day to go and that it would be the toughest both physically and mentally. It was time to don my charity t-shirt and get prepared for the day.
We had breakfast, more of the usual Chinese style Western items, and then had a short bus ride to the Mutianyu section. This section of the Wall is quite touristy so it was quite unlike any of the other days. For a start there were three choices on how to reach the Wall. Cable car, chair lift or old fashioned steps. Not wanting to shirk out of a challenge on the final day I naturally headed for the steps along with the majority of the group and began the long climb up, 468 steps in total just to get to the Wall. This took half an hour alone and my legs were screaming most of the way up even with a few rests.

Once we were at the top we discovered the view was well worth the climb. We were at watchtower 10 and our end point was at watchtower 20 and we had 4 hours to get there and then get ourselves back to the coach so there was not time to lose! It was actually quite a luxury to walk this stretch of the Wall after the stretches we had done over the last few days in that it had a paved path with walls encasing us so there was no chance of falling off for once! It was still along way to trek and when we reached the 19th tower we looked up to where the 20th was at it was at the top of another 400 steps known as the Stairway to Heaven, a 70 degree slope!

After a brief refuel and reapplication of sun cream it was time to tackle the steps. This was probably the toughest climb knowing that the end was in sight and my legs were like lead by the time I reached the top but it was well worth it. The views were simply stunning and the sense of achievement was overwhelming. I took a few moments to myself after the initial celebratory hugs with my fellow trekkers and just looked out over the scenery and let the whole experience sink in. It was hard to believe that I had completed the challenge.

After a few pictures it was time to think about getting back to the coach. There were three options for us. One was to walk back to tower ten and descend the stairs we had climbed up, the second was to get the cable car down from tower thirteen or the third was to get the toboggan down from tower four. I decided to get the toboggan along with a few others so we set off on the final leg of our trek. We were all in really high spirits that we barely noticed the distance we had to travel in order to get down and once we caught sight of the toboggan it looked so much fun that we sped up and got ourselves in the queue. It was such an amazing way to end the trek speeding down half a pipe and it took about two minutes compared to the half hour climb up the stairs!

Fourth Day- Simatai Section

A rather too early alarm call for at 6am for the fourth day of the trek. By this time I was feeling rather tired and a teeny bit drained but after a rejuvenating breakfast including coffee (!) we set off towards Simatai.
Phil had briefed us the night before and claimed this was the most stunning section of the Great Wall that we would see. Unfortunately it was rainy and misty so the views weren't brilliant at first but the cooler conditions were not as punishing as the belting heat so that was a slight comfort. As the sun came up thankfully it broke through enough of the mist to allow us to absorb what would indeed prove to be the most stunning scenery we would see.
Our challenge for the day was to climb up to and down from 12 watchtowers. Both the inclines and declines were extremely challenging as the steps were not as formed as steps can be and the paths were gravelly and crumbling in most parts. I think the toughest sections were the steps that varied incredible in depth, height and width with little warning. Some of them were so high I had to lever myself up with my trusty walking pole, looking back I was lucky I had such long legs :)
This was the day I took the most pictures too as we had several breaks in order for the group to remain largely together. Usually I wouldn't have minded so much but since it was really quite cool after 5 minutes rest we were all really quite cold so resorted to doing start jumps and running on the spot!

After a few hours of stopping and starting the decision was made to cut the challenge short by 3 towers. I was really really disappointed as I believe it would have been entirely possible to complete the challenge and certainly could have been done before the conditions had gotten so bad but with the delays and waits it was necessary to turn back. We were all a bit damp by now and conditions underfoot were certainly a lot slippier so the decision was probably for the best in hindsight. I made the most of the rests on the way down and just took in the scenery knowing that I would most likely never be there again, it was a truly magical day.

Third Day- Gubeikou Gateway

6am start for what would turn out to be my favourite day of the trek. After a relatively normal breakfast of fried egg on toast we got on the coach for a 1.5 hour drive to the village where our day of trekking would begin. The Gubeikou Gateway, a passageway between China and Mongolia, was historically a site of warfare and was heavily guarded so our task for the day was to climb up to 27 watchtowers in varying states of collapse.
As we set off the sun was beating down and I was grateful for the layers of sun cream I had lathered on myself. There was no sign of any shade is sight just countless towers most of which had no roof so there was no escape from the heat for the entire day. This only added to the challenge of negotiating crumbly and extremely narrow paths whilst facing a sheer drop either side at all times, not for the faint hearted :)
It seemed never ending climbing up to the towers and back down to climb up to another one and so on but it was really rewarding as each time they were different and each had a different view. It was odd to think that there had been so many battles fought and attackers fended off where we were walking and at time a little spooky.
As we counted down from 27 we saw what would be our final ascent of the day up to the largest tower that we had seen. It was also one of the most preserved. It was a real struggle to push up to the final tower as we had been going for so long and the heat was so intense but we did it! We were allowed to have a short break to take in the views and some pictures and my eyes wandered along to the next watchtower which was actually guarded. Our guide told us that it was a real live army base and so we were not allowed to go any further. This was probably for the best as we still had to descend from the height we had scaled.

We set off down a path of sorts but really a track worn through the jungle and got scratched even more to add to the ones from the previous day! I managed to keep my footing, just, which was lucky as the slightest slip and it was a few hundred feet of a drop to the bottom. As Phil said it's a long way for an air ambulance to come and a long way to the nearest hospital, comforting! After a couple of hours descent sapping a lot of physical and mental strength we made it to flat ground again and the middle of a corn plantation which was huge! During a water stop I looked up and saw the stretch of Wall we had climbed up and it looked amazing and so so high up.
After a final push we got ourselves back to the haven of the air conditioned coach and after a ten minute drive we arrived at our lodgings for the evening. They were the most basic of the week so far but there was a shower and a bed so that was the main thing. After freshening up we went out to the village shops were we met some Hello People and bought some presents then it was time for dinner and another early night but not before we arranged our post trek travels with Michael, exciting times :)

Second Day of the trek, where was the Wall??

Yet another early start, 6.30 was to become our official wake up time during trek week. Another interesting breakfast too including curly fries and an egg and tomato mix that would end up becoming a permanent fixture every breakfast time! We were literally going to be trekking all day so we made ourselves a packed lunch. Interesting sandwich, ham on sweet yellowy bread but I knew I'd eat anything after a few hours trekking! We set off on our coach to a National Park which was to be the location for the second day of the trek, no Great Wall today :( but we would get to see the Number One Waterfall in Beijing, the Heavenly Gateway and Black Dragon Pool instead. After a few stretches at the side of the road, and lots of funny looks from the drivers on their way past, we set off into the Black Dragon Pools National Park for our 6 hour trek.
At first we were mainly on paths but soon diverted off into overgrown jungle and had to battle our way over boulders, through thorny bushes and over fallen down trees with the aid of a local guide. As it had just been the rainy season everything was really overgrown so at times I was just battering away trees and branches with my walking pole whilst trying to to take anyone's eye out! It was very LOST like making our way through the jungle and was fun at first but as the scratched got deeper, the slopes got muddier and the paths stonier it became more of a battle than a trek! At one point we had to negotiate a muddy slope without the aid of a rope and it was really just a case of scrabbling down penguin-like and grabbing onto loose roots and branches as we went down and just hoping that we would not fall and roll down. There would have been no easy rescue as we were in the middle of a jungle, not exactly close to a helipad! After I got down it was a case of encouraging the others down too, not for the faint hearted and not for the first time I was glad I didn't have vertigo.
As we settled down for lunch it soon became clear our group had gotten smaller. It turned out that 6 of us had gotten lost after being taken the wrong way by one of the guides. It was really bad luck and wouldn't have happened if everything hadn't been so overgrown. We felt a bit deflated as we set off again down in numbers hoping the others were ok and hadn't gone too far the wrong way. After a final descent resulting in numerous stings, scratches and falls we made it to the path that would lead us back to the coach. It was along this way that we saw the Heavenly Gateway, stunning and worth the day's effort to see it. As we headed towards the Black Dragon Pools at the end of our trek for the day my thoughts turned to the others and how they were getting on. Michael informed us that they has gone the wrong way for an hour and would therefore be two hours behind us, such bad luck and unfortunately meant they would not see the pools of the Number One Waterfall in Beijing unlike us. We posed for a few pictures and had an ice lolly then headed back to the bus where we were driven onto our next accommodation.
After a shower and change of clothes we headed out to meet the others off the bus and gave them well deserved hugs, they looked completely drained. We all had dinner together then had a brief for the next day and it was decided that whatever happened we would all stick together, it was to become a theme for the week.

First Day on the Great Wall

First of many 6.30 alarm calls and a quick shower before getting ourselves organised for the day. My blisters had really flared up by this point so Philip helped me by bandaging them up so I could force my feet into my boots. I was extremely worried by this time that I was not going to be able to even take part as my feet were already pounding but I knew that it wasn't an option to give up so I thought of all the sponsors and encouragement everyone had given me and it drove me on through the pain.
Our first experience of breakfast was interesting to say the least. Rather than the usual toast, tea and cereal there were egg fried rice, cabbage with red chilli peppers and odd yellow coloured sweet bread (for want of a better word!) However knowing that we were about to embark on a day of trekking I tucked in and ate what I could then it was time to get on the coach and head to Badaling for the first day of trekking. It was already over 30 degrees when we set off around 8am and would steadily climb to a scorching 36 degrees in the shade! Almost unbearable! As we walked past the sign saying Welcome to the Great Wall I looked up and saw that we had a good climb to even get to the Wall, I don't really know what I expected but it wasn't that! At first it was a nice even paved path but after 5 minutes it was on to uneven, gravelly ground and many many steps. The first half hour was almost impossible and I really doubted myself and wondered how on earth I was going to do it but the thought of letting people down spurred me on and got me through the initial struggle. After I got over the initial shock it was time to take in my surroundings and actually think about the fact I was on the Great Wall of China! Truly amazing after a whole year of thinking about it to be actually there. During the next 5-6 hours we had to take regular breaks to make sure we all stuck together and drank enough water but this was a great excuse to take some pictures and take in the awesome surroundings, it was really hard to believe that we were on the Great Wall. My main challenge was that it was so so hot and there were so so many steps. The challenge was to climb up to the watchtowers which loom every few hundred metres in this particular part of the wall and every time we thought we were at the last one another one appeared over the horizon! The plan was to keep going and then descend for lunch so we pushed on and on then it was finally time to start our descent. This was actually tougher in a way than climbing up to the towers themselves. Scrabbling down gravelly paths when you can see a drop for miles down would test anyone's nerve.
My feet were so sore by now and the heat had almost zapped all my energy along with my 4 litre water supply but then we caught sight of our coach at the bottom and got a second wind. I have never been so grateful to climb into an air conditioned coach and flop onto a seat!
After we had all made it onto the bus we headed to Mrs Wong's for lunch in a local village for our second chinese meal of the day. It was actually really lovely and we had all built up a huge appetite after a day's trek. I hadn't managed to eat much either as my chocolate bars had all melted so had just had a banana, a staple of my diet for the week to come! After a lovely lunch and some pictures it was time to get on the coach and head to our accommodation for the evening where we would eat our third chinese meal of the day and be briefed on the following day's activity before flopping into bed at 10pm! Completely exhausted!

Time for the Challenge to Begin

After a lovely long sleep it was time to check out of the hostel and head back to Beijing Airport to meet our fellow trekkers. We managed to negotiate another taxi fare of 100 Yuan to the airport and settled down for the 30 minute ride. As we were going we started to wonder what the rest of the group would be like, if we would get on and whether we would be trailing at the back. This was one of the things making me most nervous to be honest, what if everyone else was much fitter?! As we navigated ourselves to arrivals we spotted a guy wearing a Charity Challenge t-shirt so we went over and introduced ourselves to Michael, he would be one of our amazing guides for the week. After half an hour or so we spotted some of our fellow trekkers coming through as we recognised them from facebook! It was nice to meet them in person and they were all as lovely in real life as they had been electronically. After some introductions we were rounded up by Michael and Philip (who was the challenge leader and had travelled from the UK with the other trekkers) and put onto our coach which would be our taxi to and from the Wall for the week expertly driven by Mr Wong. We set off for Badaling which was to be our starting point for the week and arrived at our first night's accommodation 2 hours later. It was quite basic but I was pleasantly surprised by the standard. We all met up for dinner and had a beer or two to break the ice before we were debriefed about the challenge that lay ahead. Whether it was deliberate or not Philip put the frighteners on us all and warned us it was going to be incredibly tough and we should prepare ourselves for a very challenging first day. We would be trekking for 6 hours starting on a paved path but soon leading onto uneven crumbling wall before descending down a muddy, stony hill to the coach which would then transfer us to the next stage of the challenge. We were warned about the isolated locations we would be trekking in and told there would be stages where even the fittest person would be struggling, eeeek! No more beer for me after that and I then made a conscious decision to avoid alcohol for the week to make sure I was not compromising myself and ensuring that I would be in the best condition possible for the week. I feared I would need to be! After the chat we stayed up for a couple of hours and played some ice breaker games including one where we had to go round the circle and recite everyone's name. By the time we went round the entire 23 they were all pretty much drummed in! I called it a day about 10pm as we had a 6.30 start the next day, it would be a pattern for the next 5 days!

Toot toot toot!

Great news, today I got my new driving licence and it's valid until 2051! This is the first time I have ever been given my licence for a period longer than 3 years as I've been seizure free for over 7 years now. Gone are the days of dredging up dates in my head of last seizure, hospital appointments and names of specialists. Just hope I stay as lucky as I have been and I don't have to do that again in the future.

Beijing Before the Trek

On arrival at The Peking International Youth Hostel we checked in and it was a relief to get our rucksacks off our backs and flop onto a bed. It was around 1pm when we got there and the first thing on my mind was sleep but we decided to get work through the jet lag and try and adjust to China time. After a nice shower we felt a bit more human and decided to explore Beijing. For some odd reason I decided to wear some pretty new pumps for walking around Beijing, a decision I would live to regret! Anyway we headed out to the shops and just took in the surreal surroundings. My first thoughts were that it wasn't anywhere near as polluted as it is portrayed in the media, Beijing is a wonderfully architecturally stunning city and it is simply huge. After a couple of hours we decided to get some lunch/dinner so we wandered into a shopping mall (mostly to get out of the stifling heat and into an air conditioned haven) and stumbled across a friendly looking restaurant names Shanghai. Being novices of eating out in China we didn't realise that A) The portions are huge, B) They bring out food when it's ready not all at the same time and C) Chinese food in the UK is not the same! We each ordered 3 things and my they were big! I also discovered that I am not coordinated enough to handle chopsticks with ease so the next three weeks would be fun!
After some food we had a bit of a second wind so headed back to the hostel for a quick change where I discovered my feet had been shredded to bits by my pumps! Not good considering the challenge that lay ahead. I managed to patch them up and we went out for an evening walk to some local parks. Our hostel was really near the Forbidden City but we knew that after the trek there was a day tour of Beijing including Forbidden City so instead we went to Beihai Park, £1 to get in and stunning lake and a bar where we samples the local beer for the first time It was pretty good and a bargain at two for £2!
After our refreshment we went to Jingshan Park and climbed up a lot of stairs (would prove to bode well for the week) to find a stunning view across the Forbidden City as dusk fell, a truly awesome sight. After a few minutes we realised it was getting dark fairly rapidly so we decided to head back down the steps and home to the hostel. The odd thing was that even in such a huge city where we stuck out of the crowd we didn't ever feel in any danger. I knew then I was going to love China.

Take off to China

My first recap of many of my amazing trip to China starts now with how we got there.
It seems like a long time ago now but on Friday 25th June after a year of planning and preparing it was time to go to the airport. David had taken the morning off work so he could drive me there and it was a really odd journey as I was really excited but also a little sad as I wasn't going to see him for over 3 weeks. As I checked for the millionth time I had my passport we arrived at the drop off point and then it was time to say bye. I just about managed to keep it together without totally bursting into tears and waved him off then took a deep breath and went to find Lynsey inside. We were flying with Air France to Beijing via Paris but since we hadn't booked in online we ended up sitting at opposite sides of the plane the whole way which was a bit unfortunate.
We had a 2 hour stopover in Paris which was just enough time for me to practice some French and get myself some Chinese Yuan. After a mix up at the travel agents in Edinburgh I only had 400 Yuan rather than the £400 of Yuan that I had ordered. By the time I picked it up it was too late to organise more so this meant I had around £40 for my travels. Luckily the Bureau de Change at Paris did have Yuan so I managed to get the remaining £350 worth there. Although China is cheap, 400 Yuan would have lasted me for the weekend before the trek never mind the week!
After a coffee it was time to board the plane to Beijing and it all started to get more real. We really were in the minority on the plane and it was even worse that we weren't sitting together. Thankfully Air France have an in-flight on demand system so I was able to watch movies and listen to music to pass the time. I tried to sleep a bit too but that plane was loud it was impossible! After 10 long hours we arrived in Beijing. It felt like the middle of the night but actually it was early afternoon as we waited in the queue for passport control I looked around and tried to take it all in. It felt really odd to be somewhere so different but exciting too. We were both accepted no problem then picked up our bags and set off into the unknown that was Beijing. We had decided to get a taxi into the city for easiness but this turned out be be slightly stressful as we were bombarded with people pushing cards into our hands and grabbing our arms trying to drag us over to their cabs. I had looked up in my guidebook how much a taxi should have been and it was 100 Yuan, some of these conmen were trying to charge 280-400 Yuan so we shook them off and managed to find the official taxi rank. After asking the driver to use the meter and confirming it would be around 100 Yuan we got in the back, relieved that we were on our way to the hostel at last after a mammoth trip.
We had booked a room at the Peking International Youth Hostel and we couldn't wait to get there!

Worst Blogger Ever!

Just realised it is over a month since my last post which was completely rubbish anyway! I have been a terrible blogger but fully intend on blogging and chronicling my travels and experiences in China over the next few weeks. It may be slow but I will get there. August has flashed by in a whirl of weddings, travels and work...September is just around the corner and promises some posts :)

Back and now Blog!

It's almost a week since I got back from China, it's a bit hard to believe! The trek was awesome and I'm very proud to say I completed all 5 days, climbed hundreds of steps and scrambled up and down to many many watchtowers. I can honestly say I will never look at steps the same way again :)
I promise to post all the ups and downs of the trek and our travels but I am still a bit jet lagged and haven't really had a chance to take it all in yet myself!

Leavin on Jet Plane

Cliche but true :) It's 6.12am and I've just had a very early breakfast. We don't set off until midday but I woke up around 5 and gave in an hour later and got up. It's weird being up so early but exciting too. I'm starting to believe we are going now but really I think it will only sink in when we're at the airport. I have mostly packed and my rucksack isn't too heavy for now! Just need to add in final few toiletries and camera etc.
We will arrive tomorrow morning in Beijing around 10.30am or around 3.30am UK time. I need to work out how I'm going to take my tablets to avoid mucking them up, hopefully it won't prove too tricky. We have a 4 hour stopover in Paris but this should pass fairly quickly then an overnight (China time) flight. We'll have to try and sleep as much as possible on this, I suspect after such and early start I won't find that too hard!
After a one night stay at The Peking International Hostel we will head back to the airport to meet up with the rest of the group then the adventures will start!
It all seems a bit more real now, the nerves are kicking in! I don't expect to be able to update my blog in China but rest assured I will update when I'm back and chronicle the journey. So long :)

Take off!

Eeek tomorrow is take off day. It still hasn't really sunk in that I am going to China tomorrow but I'm hoping it will soon.
The last 2 days have been very busy and I can't afford to relax yet. I have managed to buy everything else I need (I think!) now I just need to pack it all in my rucksack and hope it fits :)

Work- done!

Final preparation for the trek can begin in earnest now that I have finished work. I managed to finish a couple of days earlier than planned which will be a huge help. Hopefully I can finally fight off this pesky tonsillitis and get organised. I still have a lot to do but now I've got more time to do it :)

Final weekend before the trek...

went in a flash and I'm just as unprepared. Admittedly a bout of tonsillitis has not helped especially when I was supposed to be spending the majority of the weekend shopping, packing and sorting when I actually just wanted to stay in bed! I did manage to do some things like get my hair cut and do a bit of shopping for holiday clothes so all was not lost.
On Saturday I went down to Haddington to get my hair cut and coloured for going away. It really needed done as it was getting really long and untidy. It will be interesting to see how my hair copes with the humidity in China, I expect it not to. I was going to get my hair dyed darker than usual to attempt to blend in a bit more in China but decided against it and went with red, I'm going to get stared at anyway so why not? I also met up with some of the girls for lunch at the Tyneside afterwards which was lovely. I really started to feel like I was going away for the first time when saying cheerio to them and also after I had popped into another friend's house on the way home and was waved off. David and I went for dinner at night to David Bann's which was really lovely. I was starting to feel a bit woozy by the end of the night but enjoyed our meal, I would recommend it for sure.
I managed to have a bit of a lie in in Sunday but my silly tonsils woke me up before too long so I got up and pottered about a bit and made more lists of things to do and buy. If only the shops had been open I could have bought some of these things but being a Sunday then don't open until 11 :( Since it was Father's Day my sister and I were going down to Spott to visit Dad so we set off around lunchtime via the Fort where I managed to buy some shorts, a skirt and blouse for China from Next. In truth I haven't actually looked at them again and I was feeling pretty dreadful so they may be of no use at all!
Dad and I went for a short walk in the afternoon around Spott which was lovely. It was so warm though we couldn't go very fast. We still covered a few miles and my legs were pretty wobbly by the time I got home, I think I underestimated the tonsil effect on my energy levels! After dinner we set off back to Edinburgh and I had a very early night, must be on top form for the trek!

Charity Challenge Updates

The emails from Charity Challenge just keep coming thick and fast now. One came late last week to inform us that a stretch of the Great Wall we were supposed to be completing is currently closed for a rumoured development of some sort so instead we are completing a different but equally challenging stretch of the wall and the schedule has been altered slightly. We have been assured that the new section we are tackling is just as challenging and just as scenic, this is good to know.
Another came though this week with the details of lodgings we will be staying in whilst completing the trek. At the end of each day we are transported to various lodgings along the way for a well earned rest and hopefully a good nights sleep! It looks like they are pretty basic but clean and comfortable which is the main thing. Our luggage is being transported for us between these lodgings so that all we have to carry whilst trekking is our day sack. This will mostly be holding sun cream, lunch, waterproof coat (just in case!), camera and water and probably a few snacks.
We also got through an email with our joining instructions. Lynsey and I arrive in Beijing a day earlier than our fellow trekkers so we will have to make our way back to Beijing Airport on Saturday 26th to meet up with our challenge leader and fellow trekkers before being transported to out first lodge at the start of the trek. We will leave from here on Sunday 27th and start the trek. We will then trek for 6 days before heading back to Beijing for a Peking Duck banquet and then a two night stay before we set off on our own adventure that has yet to be planned fully!
At the moment we are planning on travelling to Shanghai, Xian to visit the terracotta warriors and then down to the River Li area before making our way to Hong Kong for a couple of days before our flight home on 19th July. Very exciting, only 5 days to go!

Tonsil Trouble

Argh! After a week or two of feeling poorlyish I woke up with a severe sore throat on Wednesday night. I had gone to bed really early as I felt pretty dreadful and woke up at 1am extremely confused and unable to swallow with any ease. Usually this wouldn't bother me too much and I would just put up with it but the thought of being ill in China pushed me to make an appointment with the GP. Amazingly instead of the usual 2 week waiting list I managed to get an appointment this morning and after a 10 second inspection of my throat was told I had mild tonsilitis and immediately given a week long course of Penicillin to take. This will run until the departure date for China by which time I'm hoping they will have gone down and I'll be feeling much better. Talk about bad timing! I have to take 2 tablets four times a day, a total of 2g penicillin/day! Just another few pills to add to my daily quota :)
I picked up the remainder of my prescription for going to China today, this pile in the picture will do me for the 25 days we are away, 125 in total!

Lists and Plans

Only just over a week to go and I still feel so unorganised! Training has gone to pot a bit, I've only been for one swim and a couple of walks this week, as I've been feeling under the weather so I'm just going to concentrate on big walks now pre-trek and maybe a gym visit or two next week to get some stepper work in when I'm better. I hope it clears up before I go whatever it is!
We have been trying to plan what to do post-trek and decided we should try and organise a few more things before we go so we have some plans in place. Lynsey has managed to source a great looking hostel in Hong Kong, which is where we fly home from, so we have decided to book that and enjoy our last couple of days there. I am looking into hostels in Shanghai and Xian now as well as transport options for getting around. The best option seems to be trains for long journeys. There are 4 different classes of seat varying by price quite significantly! The top price is for soft sleeper which is basically a bed in a 4 person cabin, this is quite expensive for China and almost the same as a flight! The next option is hard sleeper which is a bed in 20 person cabin in a three tiered bunk, this is about two thirds the price of soft sleeper. The third option is soft seat which is even cheaper and would only be good for short journeys and the fourth is hard seat which is about half the price of soft seat but is basically a padded three person bench, doesn't sound great! It looks like the best option would be the hard sleeper for overnight trains and most probably the soft seat for shorter journeys of a few hours or less. We are hoping to organise some tickets when we arrive in Beijing next Friday for after the trek as we have an English speaking travel desk at our hostel.
I have managed to actually tick a few things off my list this week though! I have all of my prescriptions and medication needed for the trip, a money belt and also currency on order from the travel agents. I have ordered 350 yuan, which is only about £43, but will actually cover a fair amount in China. Our hostel for instance is only 50 yuan per person, just under £5. I don't want to be carrying around a lot of money anyway and my discreet money belt would not be so well hidden under my clothes if it was bulging with cash :)
My list still has a lot to tick off but I am at least finding some more time in which to do things, result!

The Final Countdown

Wow under 2 weeks now until take off, I truly can't believe it has come round so quickly. It hardly seems any time since we first planned this but it is in fact almost a year ago!
Thankfully after a few days of feeling under the weather I am now back to normal and am looking forward to the next couple of weeks' training and preparing for the adventure. David has drawn up a Charity Challenge Timetable for me which as really helped me focus on what is important and when I can fit it in!
Today I was meeting Lynsey for a training walk so I put on some of my new kit and set off. It didn't take long for the rain to come on but at least I know my boots, trousers and jacket are waterproof! I had my new craghoppers trousers on, it was a bit too cold to zip them off to the knee today though. We hopped on a bus up towards Blackford Hill which involved getting a bus to my usual stop for work, it was weird walking past it up to the Royal Observatory which I hadn't been to before. I've actually worked just down the road from it for six years so it seems a bit silly now.
We managed to orientate ourselves pretty well and certainly had a good workout. The views from the top of the hill were stunning and it was worth the trek for sure. We decided to avoid going down a somewhat dodgy looking staircase down the side of the hill, it had no rail for starters, and headed off in search of another way down which we found and ended up at the Hermitage Centre near the Braids. Neither of us knew it was there! After a quick look round we headed down the road to Morningside and went for a coffee in the Yellow Cafe to chat about China and recover!

Final Round, over and out!

Yesterday I had my last vaccine before I head off to China. It was the final shot of three of Hep B and it felt pretty good to have them over and done with, for about 30 minutes!
After the excitement of the quiz and a bit of a late night I had to get myself to the surgery for an 8.30 appt with the nurse. It's only a 20 minute walk so I strolled up there. The actual shot was ok, just a bit of a burning sensation in my arm and as I received my vaccine booklet I was feeling ok so I walked the rest of the way to work. On the way I flicked through my vaccine booklet and found it to be very interesting, with useful hints and tips, pictures and most importantly a record of the vaccines I have received and a timeline of these.
By the time I got upstairs to my office I was feeling decidedly dodgy and after a few looks of concern from my colleagues and a few quickly typed emails I decided enough was enough and I had to come home. Typical that the last jag I got hit me the hardest! I seem to have had a fairly bad reaction to it which surprised me a bit as the previous two doses hadn't made me feel too bad. I made it home anyway, flopped into bed and after a few hours sleep felt slightly better but now had a throbbing arm to contend with! Not a great day...hope for better tomorrow :)
On a lighter note that's all my vaccines done with. If I can face it I can get boosters for Hep A and B in one year and potentially have life long protection which is probably worth it to be honest. Might be a good idea to book a day off next time though :)

Quiz Night II

Last night we hosted our second quiz evening and it was a cracking success. As we had managed to compile an impressive array of donations to our raffle prize fund we also hosted a raffle which everyone kindly bought tickets too as well as paying to take part in the quiz so we managed to raise £202 in total, fantastic!
Our evening started at 5pm when I met Lynsey at The Outhouse to set up the room. We accumulated our raffle prizes and displayed them on a table in the corner. I have to say they looked extremely impressive. All in all we had tickets for the Rocky Horror Show at the Playhouse, a pair of tickets for the Lyceum, a pair of tickets for Edinburgh Rugby match, a pair of tickets for Hibs match, two spa passes for the Scotsman Hotel, gift vouchers for Pizza Express, Debenhams, Asda, a bottle of Bolanger champagne, Chambord liquer and Hotel Chocolat chocolates. Amazingly they were all kindly donated to us which was even better. I'll try and upload a picture. We decided to ask for £2 per ticket or £5 for 5 in the hope that most people would buy 5 and it seemed to work :) I think because we had such amazing prizes and there was a reasonably high chance of winning everyone dug deep and we sold £102 of raffle tickets.
In the end 20 people came along to take part so we had 5 teams to make it more interesting! We were sort of strict on numbers per team as we had 6 bottles of wine kindly donated by Lynsey's parents as first prize for the quiz so it worked out quite well as most teams were of 4 or 5 so everyone would win one. David had kindly written all of the questions and was quizmaster once again and he did a brilliant job. The questions were just about the right level, everyone got some but not every one right in each round so it was a close competition. Lynsey and I took part just for fun more to pass the time as there were 5 rounds plus a picture round during which we went round the room to sell raffle tickets. Everyone dug deep and purchased tickets which was great. As the quiz drew to a close and the winners were announced we thanked everyone for coming and drew the raffle. Lots of cheers and some very happy winners including Stephen, a Hearts fan who won the Hibs tickets!! They will be put to use though by his Hibs supporting nephews!
Everyone who could stay moved downstairs so Lynsey and I tidied up and counted the money and came to a staggering total of £202 which has pushed our fundraising through the £1000 barrier, yay! Everyone was so generous, we feel extremely grateful.
It was a great night and a great way to finish off our fundraising before embarking on the trek. Not long now...

Under 3 weeks

It's now less than 3 weeks until we board the plane to Beijing, it hardly seems real. I've not had the busiest week of training, other than walking to/from work but I guess it's better than nothing. In an attempt to make myself feel less guilty about this I went to the shops today to continue buying my supplies for the trek. I have most of my clothes now, just need to get more socks and a few more t-shirts so I thought I should me a start on the suggested kit list. After a 15 minute visit to Boots I came out £40 lighter and laden with rehydration sachets, water purification tablets, blister plasters, insect repellent and a padlock amongst regular everyday items like toothpaste. Not my regular shopping list by any means! I'm hoping that by taking as many precautions as possible, with the purification tablets for example, I won't get sick during the trip. I've never had to worry about contaminated water before so I'll need to be super careful especially with my medications. I can't afford to get sick and then worry about retaking them or not as I'm sure I'll have plenty of other things to think about that are much more fun.
There are still several items that I need to buy but I feel like I've made a good start. I just need to keep plugging away at my list now to avoid any last minute rushing around!
Tomorrow we are hosting our last fundraising event before the trek, hope it's a success!

Adventures in Spott

Yesterday I went down to Mum and Dad's in Spott for my first proper walk in my boots (better late than never) outdoors. As I set off from Edinburgh it absolutely poured down and got progressively worse the further I drove! It wasn't looking good for a walk but after lunch and grand prix watching it cleared up and stopped raining so Dad and I headed off. Since Dad grew up in Spott he knows his way around so had suggested a 1.5 hour walk involving many many hills for good practice! It's impossible to have a flat walk around Spott anyway as it's surrounded by hills so we set off up one of the steepest called Stervation and by the time I got to the top my legs were soooo heavy! It was worth it though as the view was stunning, right over the Firth of Forth. We carried on round a big loop mostly along rough paths until we hit another hill up to the Brunt (an estate near Spott and part of the larger Spott Home Farm Estate) This one was much tougher as we had to negotiate a cattle grid halfway up, not easy when it's all wet! Anyway it led to another stunning view over East Lothian so we stopped for a breather while Dad pointed out all the some of the other estates and farms nearby and places he played when he was younger. It turned out to be quite flat after that and we headed towards home. We went though a gate into a field that was suspiciously splattered with cow pats and a few minutes later came across a group of young cows next to the cattle grid we had to cross to get out of the field. Dad suggested climbing through the fence to the wood to pass them but for some reason we didn't do that and just walked towards them, needless to say Dad went first! It was going fine until some of the cows got spooked and jumped over the fence into a small pen of trees and ran off. Luckily only 4 or 5 went over it and we managed to pass the others and get over the cattle grid but it was just a bit scary for my liking! My cousin Gary works on the farm so we popped into his house to let his wife know what had happened, we have since found out that all the cows are fine, completely unharmed and back in the field where they are supposed to be. Big relief!
After that excitement we headed along the bottom of the Doon Hill towards home and arrived there just in time for dinner expertly timed by Mum.
Happily my boots seem to be feet friendly and I don't have any blisters and they have held up brilliantly despite the mud and rain so it was a very successful training session. I should really make it a weekly thing until the trek I think. My legs aren't too sore today so I'm going for a swim tonight with my big sister at Dalry. It's a lovely sunny day so may even walk there, I won't have to worry about encountering any cows along the way that's for sure :)

Tweets

I have just created a twitter feed for The Trek Files for those of you who have Twitter. It goes without saying it will take me a while to get in up and running properly :) See link below!

http://twitter.com/thetrekfiles

4 weeks today!

I will be on the plane to Beijing in 4 weeks time (subject to ash cloud) Hopefully I can find enough time to fit everything in. Yesterday I managed to buy some walking socks in preparation for a hilly walk this weekend around Spott to wear with my boots. It will be their first outing on grass and mud rather than pavements so I hope they survive but they weren't exactly cheap so they should. I also managed to get some long sleeved clima-cool tops from Mountain Warehouse and 20% off, bargain! I actually stumbled over the shop accidentally, I'm glad I did. Usually it's the sort of shop I would completely bypass on my way to Dotty P!
I also met up with Lynsey for a catch up and plan for our charity quiz we are hosting on the 6th June. We are quite organised which is good, now just need David to finish off the questions :) We have also managed to source so raffle prizes so hopefully we will raise a few pounds. Everyone has been so generous so far which is wonderful, we have been so lucky and our charities are extremely grateful. Thanks everyone :)

Updates and equipment

Now I really know it's getting closer to the trek as the emails from Charity Challenge are coming thick and fast. As Lynsey and I are organising our own flights and arrive the day before everyone else we have been given instructions on how to meet up with the rest of the group. These instructions basically are look for the guy holding the Charity Challenge board up in arrivals at Beijing Airport and walk over to him! We arrive there on Friday 25th and the others arrive on the 26th. We arrive at 10pm local time and have organised a night in The Peking International Hostel. This has a travel desk where we are hoping we can make some arrangements for our adventures after the trek. We hopefully won't be too jet lagged when we arrive so we can spend the following day perhaps seeing a bit of the city before heading back to the airport to meet up with the others. Exciting!
In a previous post I was waffling about some craghoppers trousers that I had ordered from Amazon. It turned out Home Delivery Network aren't so bad after all as David picked them up for me today. I'm really happy with them and they are exactly what I need.
One pair are navy and zip off into knee length shorts and the other are dark grey and zip off into 3/4 length trousers, very versatile! They are so light too so will be great in the hot weather and pack up nice and small in my rucksack. Now I just need walking socks and some light tops and then I'm set for the trek.
I'm also in the middle of planning my 4 week training schedule as odd as it sounds my next 4 weeks are revolving round trek training so I need to set some sessions in stone and work other things around them. It's the only way I can get myself in the best shape possible for the challenge ahead!

The best laid plans...

can go up in smoke in minutes! I have discovered I can plan all I like but I have to learn to deal with things not working out as I'd hoped. I'm the sort of person that likes to plan and if these plans don't materialise then I get miffed and stressed. I need to get over this asap as it's not really doing me any good!
Unfortunately this means that my new routine has kind of gone to pot and I get up at 7 instead. I do still walk to work most days and home from work (when it's not raining) so at least I am building up the miles and breaking in my boots but the plans to go back to classes and the gym are not happening! It's now less than 5 weeks until the trek so I have to get my skates on and get some training in! I did manage a swim on Monday after work as my big sis picked me up from work and we went to Dalry Pool. It was absolutely freezing after baking in the heat all day, I still shiver thinking about it!

My new routine

Has stuck until the end of the week- hurrah! Even though I used to do it all the time I have found 6.30 starts extremely hard this week but I'm hoping that the worst is over and it will soon become second nature. It has allowed me to walk to work every day this week which was my main goal and means I have racked up 15 miles of walking this week, woop woop! It has been cracking weather this week which has definitely encouraged me to get out of bed but has also meant that I will definitely have to buy some cooler clothes.
Speaking of cooler clothes I have ordered some clothes for China over the internet. A friend recommended a brand called Craghoppers which have Nosquito (anti mosquito) technology, are quick drying, have 100% UV protection and are even convertible so I don't have to pack shorts. After an evening of searching I managed to source some on Amazon for half the price they are in the shops which is good as two pairs still cost me £67, really 2 for 1 though. Unfortunately they are in a depot miles away as for some reason Amazon now use Home Delivery Network who are notoriously troublesome. Anyway I am hoping to pick them up soon and try them on and see if they are as great as I think they will be. I have ordered one grey pair which are 3/4 length when zipped off and one pewter pair which are knee length when zipped off. I guess they aren't mosquito proof anymore if they can fly up my leg. I'm not entirely sure how Nosquito works but basically it should fend off any pesky mosquitoes and hopefully help me avoid bites! We are not visiting any malarial areas so there is no need for me to take anti-malarials as these can really mess with my epilepsy medication. There are newer ones on the market that don't but these are really expensive (3x cost of regular ones) and haven't been as thoroughly researched so I'm not sure how confident I would be in taking them. Happily I don't have to worry about taking more pills I can just arm myself with DEET, hope it doesn't pong too much :)
It's under 5 weeks until we get on the plane now and I can start to get super excited as Lynsey's visa came though yesterday! Yippee! We were getting a bit worried about it but in the end it came back within a week of applying. Now we can relax and get planning our trip post-trek. I have been listening to my Easy Learning Mandarin CDs on my walks to work and I think things are starting to go in. I have now learned some handy phrases and discovered that there aren't Mandarin words for Yes or No which seems odd but really you just have to ask questions in a different way. One of the handiest phrases I have learned is Speak/Not Speak English? This is answered I speak/not speak English rather than Yes or No. I guess I can always nod or shake my head as an alternative!
More updates to follow soon, I am definitely going to put more effort in in the coming weeks!

These boots were made for walking

A few weeks on from buying my boots for the trek I have finally introduced them to the outside world! After a lovely anniversary weekend I decided it was really time to step up the training for the trek so I made a plan which I need to stick to this time.
It has started fairly well in that I got up at 6.30 as I had aimed to do so that was the first hurdle cleared. It's actually not that hard to get up that early and if it means that I definitely have time to walk to work then it's worth it so the aim is to do this every working day until the trek. Now that the 10k is out of the way and my blisters have finally gone I decided that I really needed to break my boots in so I pulled them on for their first venture outdoors and I walked to work. They felt so weird! I'm not used to wearing boots or anything round my ankles so I did feel a bit trapped at first rather than supported but I gradually got used to them. Unfortunately this is has been one of the hottest days of the year so by the time I got to work I was super hot and my feet were roasting so I quickly changed into my trusty trainers for the day before pulling on my boots again for the walk home.
Happily 4.5 miles in my boots still look in perfect condition and my feet are also holding up :)

Edging closer to the adventure

It's now 6 weeks tomorrow until I'll be on the plan to Beijing, ash permitting! Training is once again in full swing after recovering from the 10k and now I can't afford for it to stop as the challenge gets ever closer.
Last Sunday Lynsey and I met for a run along the Water of Leith which was excellent. We met at Roseburn and decided to head along the path towards Balerno. After a couple of miles we emerged somewhere, neither of us were entirely sure where, and headed towards where we thought was the city centre. It turned out we were in Slateford and really only a couple of miles from Haymarket. We took a walk along the road to catch our breath and cool down and after admiring the blossomed trees emerged at Roseburn again. After all that work we headed along to Beanscene for a well deserved coffee and chat. It's coming round so fast!
Another week at work has almost gone and is finally calming down a bit allowing me to have enough energy to put in some training thankfully. My new tactic of not taking money to work so I have to walk home has been fairly successful and I have managed to get several miles under my belt. I now just need to get my walking boots on and break them in now that my feet have recovered from the trauma of the 10k!
I've also started listening to my Easy Learning Mandarin again after a break from it and some of it seems to be going in now. I think I may have overdone it to start with, tried to learn too much and actually ended up learning nothing so now I am being a bit more sensible and only listening to a few units then recapping!
Today I got my second dose of Hep B and now just have one more to go. I don't really feel that bad just a bit of a sore arm again but it's only my left arm anyway which I don't use much anyway. Final dose in two weeks time then after 9 rounds I'm done!
It's our anniversary this weekend so training might take a bit of a hit but I am hoping to get at least one run in to keep up my resolution!

7 weeks to go

Quick post today to say it's only 7 weeks until we jet off to China, I can't believe how quickly it is coming round.
Now the 10k is done I can start fully concentrating on preparing myself for the trek starting with breaking in my boots and getting back into walking into work. This time last year I told myself I would keep up my running after the 10k and it didn't happen so this year I am determined to keep up at least one run a week. I'm making a good start as I'm meeting Lynsey tomorrow morning for a run along the Water of Leith. My blisters have finally cleared up so no more excuses to wriggle out of training!

Rounds Three and One

The build up to China carries on with my latest round of immunisations. My plan to leave early for the surgery and take a slow wander up the hill didn't materialise and I ended up running the last few hundred metres in order to get there for 8.30, phew hot work in jeans and a jumper with my rucksack on! Even at 8.30 the Nurse was running late so I had a chance to cool down before exposing myself to a Rabies shot for the third and final time along with my first dose of Hep B. This may seem rather over cautious but better safe than sorry given that 10% of the Chinese population carry Hep B. Thankfully I was able to get both shots in one arm so the now familiar burning sensation was contained in my mostly redundant left arm. As time ticked on I jumped on the bus to work, had a fairly busy day and went shopping after work. Happily my arm isn't too sore just a bit bruised and swollen. Only 2 more doses of Hep B to go then I am done :)

Back to the training

Wow I felt sore on Monday! My feet were agony from the race and covered in blisters, my legs were aching and my intercostals were screaming, not good! I spoke to Dad and he was absolutely fine, he's 59 and thirty years older than me! I treated myself to the bus and the lift at work, I think I deserved it!
Yesterday I felt a bit better and still got the bus but did tackle the stairs so I had done something! I picked up the Evening News to discover that I had finished 6562nd in 1.18.10 not too bad I suppose. Dad had the same time but was placed behind me, I feel bad as he deserved to be ahead for sure!
Today I thought 3 days on I had better do something but I slept a bit too late so I had to get the bus to work, must start walking again tomorrow though. I did go for a swim after work though so I have restarted my training :)
Tomorrow I am going for my final Rabies shot and fist Hep B shot of three, better walk there in case I feel rotten afterwards!

Did I really do the 10k?

I have finally recovered enough from the excitement and pain of doing the 10k enough to post an update. I thought of doing a half hearted one but then decided that's not really for me, it's all or nothing!
I spent most of Saturday carb loading in preparation for the 10k and fully intended on going to bed early, inevitably this did not happen! I ended up going to Haddington and catching up with the girls for the 1st and did not go to bed until 11- oh dear. I knew that Mum and Dad would be arriving super early on Sunday so I tried to doze off rapidly but ended up just keeping myself awake by worrying about my lack of training. I think I must have dozed off around 1 and then woke up about 7, not the best preparation just to add to my anxiousness. I managed to force some breakfast down and get myself ready before Mum and Dad arrived at 8.30. Dad was hyper and it was infectious so I thankfully finally got excited about the race just in time! We got ready and put our numbers on and got some pictures taken (will post when I work out how to do this!) then headed down to the start line in Holyrood park. I started to get nervy again as we strolled down the Royal Mile and I saw some rather more professional looking runners but once we were there and we knew where to stand and did a bit of warming up I got excited again. Our start time was 10.47 so as this closed in we said cheerio to everyone and headed towards the start then we were off! The first km was up Queens Drive, a very long uphill stretch of the park. This is definitely the toughest part of the course so I guess it was good to get it over but a bit of a hellish start at the same time! It soon became clear that Dad had prepared a lot better for the race than me but since we had decided to go round together he kindly slowed up so we could do that. After the hilly start it was downhill to the Cowgate which was a good chance to recover. We saw some familiar faces at the bottom of the Pleasance and their cheers spurred us on along Cowgate, through the Grassmarket and to the Meadows. By this time I was feeling pretty tired and really thirsty so it was with relief that I grabbed a bottle of water at the 5k mark. Dad was doing brilliantly and way better than me and hardly seemed to be puffed out at all! One more hill up to Potterrow then along George IV Bridge, down the Mound and through Princes Street Gardens where we caught up with Spiderman and Wonder Woman which was a bit of light relief as by this time I was really tired and could feel the dreaded blisters- ouch! As we turned onto the Royal Mile from Jeffrey Street I looked up at the flat and saw David leaning out of the window cheering us on and taking pictures and we knew it was almost over! One last km down the hill towards Holyrood Palace which the Queen and the finish line. The Queen had given special permission for the finish line to be constructed in the palace and we were extremely glad to see it! More friendly faces on the sidelines and a few unexpected extras caused Dad to take a diversion for a high five then we burst over the line and all I felt was pure relief and pride. As we picked up our finishers packs I fished out my medal and put it round my neck, all that pain was worth it after all! We met up with everyone, posed for a few after race pictures, and then headed to the flat where we chewed over the race as well as our power bars and got ready to devour some well earned lunch :) The five of us headed up to Whiski just up the Royal Mile and I tucked into Macaroni Cheese and Chips with no guilt whatsoever along with a celebratory pint, wonderful! Dad and I were hyper! After a couple of relaxing hours we headed back to the flat where I promptly fell asleep for 2 hours, must have needed it!

Back on Track

I am very happy to say I am feeling much better today after lots of sleep and general relaxation- phew just wanted to get that out of the way!
Yesterday I went to pick up my Chinese visa from the Consulate. I aimed to get there shortly after 9am but didn't bank on the 31 taking sooooo long! I could have walked if I had been feeling up to it and incorporated it into my training but instead I spent 40 minutes staring out of the window! Happily I remembered (just) to get off at the right bus stop and wandered round to the office. It was quite busy but the staff are so efficient that I didn't have to wait long. A couple of questions and then bravo I got my passport back complete with Chinese visa stuck inside. It even has a lovely picture of the Great Wall on it, very apt. I would link to a picture of it but I'm not sure about displaying my name, passport number, date of birth etc to the world! I also need to learn how to do that anyway, this is still all a bit new to me. I handed over my £30 then headed to work for a while.
I am reaping the benefits of working overtime as I have had most of yesterday and today off work without taking annual leave. It has been great and allowed me to rest up and feel better. After a brief visit today to the lab I ran home, my first run since Saturday. It's only around 2.2 miles according to mapmyrun but it's a start and it's been great to get some miles under my belt after such an off week. A few days ago I couldn't imagine doing the 10k on Sunday but I definitely feel ready for it now, just need to avoid any silly injuries. I'm getting quite excited about it now!
I think it is only 8 weeks today until we fly out, it's getting so close. I'm looking forward to starting training properly for the trek after the 10k and wearing in my boots. I am also very much looking forward to going back to Bodyattack, combat and trying out Zumba, I miss my classes. Is that a bit wrong?

Bad Timing

After such a successful Monday it was a bit unfortunate that I've spent the rest of the week feeling unwell. I'm not sure what it is exactly just feeling drained and a bit off. This has completely scuppered my training plans and I can only hope I feel much better in the next few days or I may have to think about pulling out of the 10k which would be terrible :( Luckily I have racked up overtime at work so I am taking off most of the rest of the week to rest up and get better. Here's hoping, I would be gutted to miss it especially since Dad is doing the race too and he's worked so hard.
On a cheerier note I have now paid for my China trip and the countdown is truly on now. It's a relief to get it paid up and now I can start researching places to visit and stay without having the invoice to think about. I just hope Lynsey can get her visa now! I am going to pick up my visa tomorrow morning from the Consulate, I must remember to get the 31 from the other side of the road so I don't end up at work instead! I keep thinking I need my passport to pick it up but it's already there hopefully with a visa stuck inside. I hope I don't have to see that dreadful photo again.
Once the 10k is over I can get back to walking and training for the trek properly. Now I have the boots I need to actually wear them in and get used to them. My plan is to walk to and from work as much as possible and since Arthur's Seat is in my back garden I should attempt that too. I've never actually been up it, just round the road mostly in the car but I did run round it once during the Race for Life last year.
Hope I'm back with a more upbeat update soon :)

My Day Off

A day off work was just what I needed. I actually got up at my normal time but it's much easier when you're not going to work to get out of bed. Lynsey and I had planned to go to the Chinese Consulate to get our visas for China so armed with my passport and new horrendous passport pictures I hopped on the bus out to Corstorphine Road. It's actually right at the back of Murrayfield and much closer than I thought to town, handy for future reference. The visa application office is only open between 9am and midday so was actually fairly busy. We got the suitable forms and filled them out with little hassle and waited in the queue. Unfortunately you have to specify on the form what your occupation is and whilst lab technician was fine working for the media turned out to be a bit of a problem for Lynsey. Hopefully a letter from her boss stating that she is not a reporter will do the trick, fingers crossed anyway. My form was taken along with my passport and I was told to come back on Thursday morning, I hope this is to pick up my visa! We formed a worst case scenario plan B over coffee but hopefully it won't come to that.
After a coffee and chat we strolled into town and I went to Boots to pick up some sun cream for the trip. I went for factor 30 and it was buy on get one free so I picked up a bit of a bargain. I actually got a bit sunburnt yesterday at the football, it wasn't even that sunny but it only take a few rays for me to get a pink tinge! At least i have some colour in my cheeks for once :)
This afternoon I finally got round to calling my contact Helen at Epilepsy Scotland for a chat. It's been months since we first emailed each other and it's taken me that long to find the time to call. It was great to finally put a voice to the emails and hopefully I'll manage to pop through at some point to actually meet the team. They do such a great job and it would be great to put a name to the voice and emails.
No training today, need a day off after my run yesterday. Back to work tomorrow then hopefully run home, less than a week until the 10k now- eeek!

Tickety boo

I'm glad to say my to do list has shrunk significantly since I composed it on Friday. David and I went shopping yesterday and I got my passport photos taken in the booth at Cameron Toll for my visa application. I had 4 chances to pick the best picture used up three and promptly had to accept the final one, probably the worst of the lot! I look incredibly serious and seem to have black eyes and a white smudge on my ear, nice! Oh well it's just for my visa app and only a few people will see it. On a plus point these booths have clearly moved on recently as it spat out my pictures within 30 seconds rather than the 5 minutes it used to take so I could soon catch up with David in the supermarket, not that he had got very far ;) Another thing ticked off my list, success!
We didn't quite make it back in time for Doctor Who so we taped it and I sourced the visa application form as David cooked enchiladas. It looks fairly straight forward so hopefully things will go smoothly tomorrow morning at the Consulate. Must look out my passport and remember my pictures. One thing is you have to state the province/state/country you were born in. I was born in Leith according to my passport, very thorough. I think I'll fill out the more obvious sections like name etc and leave the more complicated ones until tomorrow so I fill it in right. Another thing ticked off my list, getting through it nicely by now.
This morning I got up around 9 and had some breakfast before heading out for a run. I decided to take the same route that I had done last weekend though Lochend, Restalrig and the park knowing it was around 4 miles. This was going fairly well until I hit Smokey Brae and started to feel a bit light headed and nauseous. After a short stroll and some deep breaths I started jogging lightly through the park back to the flat and made it up the stairs. I feel much better now after lots of water and a bagel with poached eggs. Lesson learned, eat and drink more before morning runs and if possible go running in the evenings after a day of food! On a lighter note another thing ticked off the list.
Off to the football this afternoon, reckon I can treat myself to the bus?!

My to do list

In an effort to clear my head before a good snooze last night I made a list of things to do this weekend. The first one has been accomplished in that I had a very long lie in this morning :) I woke up fairly early, took my meds and decided to have another snooze. I didn't set my alarm and woke up at midday, longest lie in for weeks. Usually I would feel really guilty about this and think I'd wasted the morning but I must have needed it badly so I don't.
As I had my breakfast I started on my to do list. First thing was travel insurance, I decided this was a priority given the ash cloud situation. As I have discussed in a previous post there are only a few companies that cover people with pre-existing medical conditions so after a shop around of these select few I plumped for Travelbility. I have used them before and discovered this to my cost slightly as I tried to guess my password and failed miserably to log in! After a few curses I reset it and quoted away. I had discovered with my research that an annual policy is not much more that single trip so have gone for that so I am covered for our trip to Sicily for Fran and Sandro's wedding as well as China. I was very pleased that my policy cost £72 for the year. This might sound a lot to some people but I once paid almost £100 for a single trip to Australia so I am quite pleased with it- TICK!
The next thing was to create a facebook event for our quiz that we are hosting in June to raise some more funds for our charities. We decided to hold it in The Outhouse again as last time it went pretty well and it is free to hire. David will once again be doing the questions and we hope that it will be as successful as the last one- TICK!
The third thing was to update my blog-TICK!
Now I just have to do passport photos, shopping, visa form, run and build some furniture. Good luck me!

What a week

My lack of posts this week(and training unfortunately) is linked to an alarmingly busy and hectic week at work. My co-worker on SOLiD (quite complex to explain but basically a machine that churns out sequencing data) is currently off work on maternity leave so things are pretty hectic. Luckily I am still really enjoying the actual job and work so I don't mind too much.
After a 9 hour day of madness on Thursday I went to see Alphabeat at The Picture House in Edinburgh which was fabulous. I really loved them and there feel good sound left me with a huge grin on my face. They finished off with Fascination which got everyone jigging around, including a sober me! The band are actually a bit crazy especially the male vocal lead who kept dancing crazily, banging on his bongos and climbed up on top of the speakers at the side of the stage and dive bombed off knocking over his bongoes and mic stand and just managing to avoid the drums! Crazy but highly entertaining! After Katie kindly gave me a lift home I was in bed by 11pm.
I now have a long weekend to look forward to :) must get the training back on track though, only managed a few walks this week and one run :(

And the week goes on

Monday at work went by in a flash and as usual when 5pm came I just wanted to go home, not running! As a compromise I got the bus out to Ikea and went there with David to buy a few things for the flat that we've been meaning to get for a while so all was not lost and Tuesday I was in Haddington for tea with my folks, auntie and cousins so tonight I had to go out no matter what!
After a successful day at work I pulled on my running gear and tried to sneak out unnoticed, this did not work. After some embarrassment in front of my work chums I pulled on my cap and sunnies (aka my disguise) and headed off for home via Blackford for a change of scene. There is quite a good reason for me not to usually walk this way never mind run it, it's all uphill. I managed to run up most of the hill but simply had to give in and walk then last 10 metres, a bit pathetic but necessary to get my breath back and get rid of my stitch, oh dear. Luckily the rest of the route through the Grange and Marchmont (the houses here are amazing and unbelievably large) is fairly flat so I recovered a bit before last hilly stretch through the Grassmarket and home. According to mapmyrun a 3.2 mile run under my belt, woop woop! My face was bright red, my legs were wibbly and I waas knackered but I felt great. Now I really need to keep it up, that's the next challenge.

Successful Sunday

I must say I am enjoying the hangover free weekends in the build up to the race. Instead of a sluggish Sunday lie in until whenever and a day of fuzziness I was up at 8am happily watching the Chinese GP with David. Admittedly I did miss the start though as 7am was just a stretch too far for Sunday.
After watching the British boys dominate I got myself ready and investigated footwear for the trek. I had alarmed the assistants in Tiso too much last Saturday when I stressed that I would like shoes that looked good for the trek rather than practical ones so this week I headed to Millets where I had a clean slate. I saw a couple of potentials and as I hummed and hawed over them eventually I tried on a pair of green boots which I thought looked like someone had vomited on them in truth! As I walked about and over the fake rocky hill they have in the shop I confessed my uncertainty to the assistant telling him I wasn't used to wearing shoes like this, I don't think there was a need to point this out in hindsight! As he asked me what type of shoes I normally wore he caught sight of my Whimsical Miaows and immediately knew I was a complete novice and probably had never set foot in said shop before! So I decided to bite the bullet and purchase these They are actually fine and growing on me now and I'm glad I have my boots and rucksack now just need to sort out what to put in it :)
Almost forgot David and I had a yummy lunch at Cafe Rouge on Sunday, amazing tart tatin mmmmm!

Woop woop

What a week, so glad it's the weekend. True to form I did not run home after work as planned last night I went to the pub instead! It could have been worse as I stuck to Diet Coke and walked there and then home so all was not lost. It only made me more determined to go out this morning and happily I did! I think sheer terror of failing finally gave me the kick I needed.
A sensible early night led to early rise this morning. I even caught the end of the Chinese GP qualifying whilst I ate my breakfast and prepared for my run. I planned to tie my run in with purchasing next year's season tickets for Easter Road, I must be mad give our recent form but it would be boring if we won all the time I suppose. So I packed the suitable forms in my pocket and set off disguised as much as possible in case I saw anyone I knew on my way. After a mile or so I arrived at the Ticket Office and signed up myself and Dad up for next season, this was a nice 10 minute rest in truth of not an expensive one. With my pockets a little lighter I set off through Lochend and Restalrig, via a shop for an isotonic boost, and back through the park to the flat.
My legs were beginning to burn as I climbed the stairs but I fell onto the sofa with a huge grin on my face very satisfied with my morning's work. According to mapmyrun I had just run for 3.9 miles, the longest I have run since I did my last 10k in September 2009 in Glasgow. Now I can relax a bit and if I can keep going like this the 10k is no longer the impossibility I thought it was this time last week. Yippee!
After a very successful morning this afternoon has been less productive which I feel a bit guilty about so thought I'd update here and make up for my laziness a bit! I hope that my legs aren't too sore tomorrow as I need to go into town and do some shopping. I'm hoping to have a look for more China gear tomorrow, mainly shoes, lets hope this volcanic ash cloud is away by June. Must get my travel insurance sorted asap! This is proving to be slightly complicated due to my "pre-existing medical condition" It's odd that in a time where everyone is desperate to be politically correct and avoid discrimination that there is a severe lack of companies who cover people with medical conditions. The search goes on but in the meantime I'm just going to enjoy the rest of my weekend!

Round Two

Ah it was too good to be true, the last two days my legs have been agony. A combination of running and suddenly walking 5 miles a day finally caught up with me. After a long long day at work yesterday where nothing seemed to go right the last thing I felt like after 9 hours of stress was a run home so instead I got a lift home from David who was passing in the car! I reassured myself that I would go out this morning instead for a run and so settled in for the evening catching up on the few TV shows that we watch on the sofa, fabulous!
My second round of immunisations was scheduled for this morning so my plan was to squeeze in a run beforehand to make up for last night. Needless to say when my alarm went off at 7am I didn't immediately jump out of bed and pull my trainers on! Instead I woke up, realised my legs were still sore and decided to snooze for a further 30 minutes. As I kicked myself for missing out on a run I have finally decided that runs first thing in the morning will never happen so I'm no longer going to even try and plan them or rely on them I should say. I actually still feel guilty for not going, 12 hours and counting later!
Anyway I did talk a walk up to the surgery for my appointment and got my second Rabies shot along with my Tetanus/Diphtheria/Polio booster. The last time I got this was in 1995 when I was 14. Unfortunately there was no sugar cube this time just a triple vaccine! I remember at school a lot of people saying they felt rubbish after, that their arm hurt and they needed to go home but I thought this was just to skip school and wasn't actually true until today! The actual jags were fine, not very painful just a burning sensation but as I paid for the experience and walked to the bus stop I started to feel decidedly nauseous.
Luckily a very busy day at work led to it being home time before I knew it, phew! The good news is I have 3 weeks until I do it again :)

Picking up from where I left off

I finally got a run in yesterday woop woop. It wasn't before work as planned rather optimistically by me, a mix of staying up to watch Phil win the Masters and the fact it was Monday morning led to me packing my bag with my gear rather than putting it on at 6.30am. With the sun shining I strolled into work, 2.17 miles according to mapmyrun, in a record 35 minutes. It dawned on me that if I walk to and from work on a daily basis I will clock up over 20 miles a week, this has taken me 6 years of working at KB to work this out! I'm glad I have as it is certainly good training for the trek and free! My plan of learning Mandarin easily hasn't quite gone to plan mostly because the buses down out the delicate pronunciation which I will need to perfect as much as possible to avoid potentially offending the locals. Worryingly there are several phrases which have varying meanings governed by the tone of your voice whilst saying them. Hmmm must find a quieter route to avoid tinnitus.
Back to the point of my post.. after a days work I waited until most people had left then hurried to the ladies and changed into my running tights and top. Armed with my new gadget for holding TuPod and disguised with sunglasses and a cap I set off down the hill from work and soon got into a stride. That was until I got a stitch and had to walk for a minute until it has subsided. Unfortunately given that I work at the University rather a lot of people from work walk the same route and I saw two people from my lab on my way. Luckily I was able to divert briefly from my intended route and put in a sudden burst of speed to get away from they asap! Nothing like vanity to suddenly make you work a bit harder. 25 minutes later I dragged myself up the stairs and flopped onto the sofa. I felt great! I fully intended on noting this last night on said blog but we ended up having a power cut for 3 hours so that was that, luckily I had just had a shower and dried my hair- phew!
My legs were absolutely fine today so walked into work once again to keep them loose then walked home clocking up another 4.5 miles. Excellent stuff, now I can tuck into a Blue Riband without the guilt :)
Off to pack my bag for another run tomorrow after work, lets hope it materialises!

Ooops

No run under my belt today. I did get my gear on including new ipod holder then got convinced by David to go on a tour of Edinburgh instead. He is taking part in a challenge himself although one of a very different nature! His task for the year is to visit every McDonalds branch in Scotland. There are 90 or so in total so we have ticked off three in Edinburgh today. Have to say I'm not sure how many I will chum him to but if I can swizzle a weekend away out of some of them then I'm game! You can read about the McChallenge here (once I get the link)
Now I am settling down to watch the final round of the Masters, go Lee!!
New plan is to go for a run before work tomorrow...we'll see!

11 weeks today

I will be in a bus heading towards the start of the trek and our adventures in China will be underway. Lynsey and I are arriving a day earlier than everybody else as we arranged our own flight to Beijing to enable us to fly back from Hong Kong to Edinburgh. We are flying with Air France and land early on Friday evening leaving us around 24 hours to explore Beijing before heading back to the airport to meet our fellow trekkers. The wonder of modern technology that is facebook has allowed us to interact with some of our fellow trekkers already so at least the ice will be partly broken. I hope my status updates haven't alarmed them too much!
Now that I am in training mode for the 10k my drinking days are over till early May. The advantages of this have surprised me, so much so that I was up at 8am this morning (unheard of for a regular Saturday) and had two really productive hours before meeting Lynsey for a coffee. We had our usual gossip and catch up then chewed over some ideas for China and decided what needed to be done when. The jist is we need to book accommodation for our first night in Beijing then we can sort out our visas then decide when and where we are going to go after the trek ends. We do have a vague plan and definitely want to go to Shanghai, Xian and River Li area before making our way to Hong Kong for our flight home.
Hopefully the visas won't be too tricky as we can visit the Chinese Consulate in Edinburgh. As aliens to China we need to get a tourist visa which we can apply for after the 19th April (three months before we are due to fly home) I need to get some passport pictures done and also fill out the potentially tricky form before we can do this. I will actually look quite different in these photos compared to my passport photo (naturally I detest this picture, I have browny long hair) but hopefully I will pass for the same person!
After coffee we walked along to Tiso armed with my Christmas vouchers and money from my folks to check out some gear for the trip. After some research in the flat I decided upon a particular rucksack and happily found one that fitted my requirements perfectly on the Tiso website and even better when I found it in the shop it had £20 off! One purchase down quite a few to go including suitable footwear, a rather important purchase! After trying on a couple of trainer type shoes I think I know what I want but since my vouchers had been gobbled up I decided I could buy some elsewhere for cheaper. As I said to the assistant I can't imagine myself becoming a hiking fanatic so I'd rather have something lightweight and preferably nice to look at!
Tomorrow I am determined to go out for a run so will have a very early night tonight. Odd behaviour for a Saturday but necessary. I bought a new armband holder for my ipod today so at least I have a new accessory to try out, a good incentive for the morning! 3 weeks until the 10k and I can't even run 3ks...hope it's not too little too late!