From East to West

The motivation

I started walking for exercise in April 2017 mainly because I wanted to lose weight.

And while it did help with my weight loss and to improve my overall physical fitness, the greatest benefit to me has been the impact on my mental well being.

It sounds weird. I don't know if walking has this effect on everyone. But when I walk, I feel at peace. I forget all my problems and challenges and I enter a zen space.

I've had people tell me they've passed me walking and called out to me and I completely ignore them. It's not that. It's like I'm not fully aware of the world when I'm walking. Like I literally lose myself in the moment. Walking is my drug. And Lord knows, after the past couple weeks, I needed to get high.

I made a decision to enter my first half marathon at the end of this year and work my way up to a full marathon maybe in 2019. I can barely run, I'll get there someday, but I can walk for hours if you let me.

So I decided to put my body to the test and try to walk from Arima to Port of Spain. I mean, if Wendell Eversley can do it every year, I can do it at least once!

Now I've walked some long distances before. I've walked from Maracas beach to Las Cuevas Village and back - a distance of 20 km.

I've walked the entire Tucker Valley Road, out and in, and up to the Chaguaramas Radio Tower and back down again - almost 17 km.

I've walked from Arima to La Joya for the Eastern Credit Union (Granny Luces) 15k race. (I came dead last clocking in at over 5 hours).

Last week I walked up and down Chancellor Hill twice, around the Queen's Park Savannah and around the interior of the Botanical Gardens. This has been my longest distance to date, 21 km.

What I attempted today was a full 5k more than that. 26 kilometres/16miles via the Eastern Main Road.

Sounds like a little to an experienced person, but this is a big deal to me. I knew I had to do it because how can I expect to do a full marathon if I can't even conquer a measly 26 km? A marathon is 42km!

Anyway, this morning I began my journey at 7:30 am from the Arima Velodrome and set my target to reach Port of Spain by 12:30 pm.

In my head I planned it out.

By 8:30, I should reach Arouca.

By 9:30, Macoya.

By 10:30, La Joya.

By 11:30, Barataria.

And by 12:30, I should have arrived in Port of Spain.

I eventually made it to Port of Spain at 12:50 but I'm not gonna count the 15-20 minutes I stopped to shelter the rain in St Augustine.

I completed the journey in exactly 4:56:29. Which is amazing. It took me less time to walk the entire thing, than it took me to walk the Granny Luces 15k two years ago! If that isn't progress, I don't know what is.

Did it!

I'm sure I didn't break any national records. But I broke a personal record though. And how many people can say they walked the entire length of the Eastern Main Road?

Now, quite a few people tried to talk me out of this. Telling me it's dangerous, it's too much, I'm crazy etc.

I admit, I am a little crazy. And stubborn. When people tell me I can't do something, I do it out of spite.

The preparation

Never having done this kind of distance before, I didn't really think of preparation. I usually get up, pull on some tights, lace up my cheap Payless sneakers and hit the road. I like to have my hands free in case I need to smack someone, so I don't walk with water.

All I carry is my phone to track my distance, and my earphones to pretend I'm listening to music so nobody will try to talk to me. 

But this time, thanks to the advice of a fitness sister (shout out Fonda Samuel), I prepared a little better and packed some nuts, raisins, bottled water and salt prunes. Boy was I happy I did that when the hunger and thirst started kicking in about halfway. I ate a granola bar before I left home. 

The breakfast of champions! 

Other than that I didn't do anything special. I worked out like normal the night before and went to bed  after 12. 

The journey

You know, it really wasn't all that bad. I had intended to start at 5:30 am but I woke up late and ended up reaching Arima at 7:30.

So I expected the sun to be out in full force. It wasn't. The place was cool and overcast and rain fell a bit so I didn't have to deal with the blazing heat I had expected until coming down to the end.

The walk was pretty uneventful. Apart from almost getting run over by a speeding car in Cleaver Woods ( the only part of the walk where there was no pavement) and getting splashed by an inconsiderate driver in San Juan, nothing interesting happened.

The toughest part was in the beginning, leaving Arima, where there was a steepish hill to walk up. Other than that, the walk was flat.

I stopped only once, not because I was tired, but to shelter the rain.

A co-worker (shout out Leah Sorias) jumped out her maxi in Laventille and accompanied me to the end. I was in pain by that point but the company and chat distracted me from the pain in my knee just enough to reach the end.

And shout out to everybody from Trini Moms Health & Fitness group for checking in on me throughout the entire journey and sending me words of encouragement. Y'all are awesome!


Some highlights:

The journey now start. (leaving Arima)

Entering Tunapuna

Got to La Joya in 2 hrs/43 minutes. Took me over 5 hours to get here the last time I tried.

Passing San Juan

City Gate at last!

The aftermath

I ain't even gonna lie, everything hurts. My feet are slightly swollen. My knees are achy. My shoulders are stiff.

But I feel GLORIOUS! I crossed one thing off my bucket list and I'm ready for the next challenge.

Maybe I'll walk to San Fernando next...

Now excuse me while I go sleep for the remainder of the month.

                         
Length: 26 km total (16.2 miles) from Arima Velodrome to City Gate. 
Terrain: Undulating pavements along the Easter Main Road.
Time: 4 hours 56 minutes walking at a moderate pace.