| China
Diary 8: 02/10/03 |
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So why has the unfit, mother-of-two (yes there is a comma) signed
up to a challenging trek for the Meningitis Research Foundation
along the Great Wall of China? |
My
bags are packed, I’ve written the address labels – and
(touch wood) it looks like the long-awaited trip to China is upon
me.
When
I set out to keep a web diary of the run-up to my charity trek,
I expected it to contain details of my growing fitness and prowess
in the gym.
Instead
looking back over the past nine months, it’s been a catalogue
of coughs, a list of illnesses and a hypochondriac’s haven.
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Thursday 2 October: Overview |
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Cigarettes:
None but still giving the impression of 40 a day with continued
husky voice
Alcohol: Moderate intake - One
Girls' Night Out and a few beers in front of the TV
Calorie intake: Moderate - but
have packed a load of glucose tablets to make sure I don't
miss out on the Great Wall.
Weight: I've put on four pounds
but that is all muscle OBVIOUSLY
Exercise: Six mile walk and plenty
of ironing
Stress level: Now the time is
approaching I've lost my fear of flying, put aside my worries
about getting ill in China and now am looking forward to the
challenge.
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The
last proper training was a six miler around the picturesque Whitwell
in Herts (I have to say that as my boss lives there) with Kim and
Angie. Surprisingly we managed not to get lost nor encounter wild
farm animals (apart from a bull – yes very much a bull - but
he was too busy making friends with his ladies). No blisters and
no stiff legs.
Final
week training has also included looking fear in the face and coping
with it – at the St Albans Beer Festival. A novice to these
sort of events, I was amazed by the number of black T-shirts and
beards swarming around the Alban Arena of the cult that is festival
goers.
Feeling
like a complete outsider – nay even an alien who had landed
from outer space, I tried to sip my half pint of cask vomit-smelling
ale and blend into the background, using the tassels off my coat
as a pseudo-beard. I was quite scared that the mob would turn angry
if they found out I was really a lager and black drinker who had
sneaked in – so we left early for the comfort of the fish and
chip shop.
I’ve
stashed a whole carrier bag of food away in the bottom of my rucksack
for "Justin Case". I am also taking a large amount of
additional wet wipes, extra T-shirts and precautionary medicine
for Mr J Case, so I hope he appreciates it.
My
son Matthew has been very insistent that I carry my mobile at all
times, as with the logic of a seven-year-old: "Then you can
phone us if you’re going to die." Nice.
My
children have written me a lovely "Good luck in Chiner"
card and my Mum has given me a Guardian Angel brooch to take with
me.
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You can sponsor me:
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- Online
at www.justgiving
.com/china All donations on here from UK tax payers
will be increased by about a third, courtesy of the tax
payer. So if you give £20, my charity will get £25.54!
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Otherwise,
if you would like to sponsor me in the traditional way,
please send cheques payable to Kathryn Hearn, to
myself at BBC Beds, Herts and Bucks, 1 Hastings Street,
Luton LU1 5XL. Please include your full name and address.
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I will
be sending a daily
text from the wall, trying my hardest to keep it short and
in typical text lingo IYKWIMAITYD (If you know what I mean and I
think you do) of JM2p every day. I could use IHTFP but that is open
to some ambiguity – one translation is I have truly found paradise
…
Each
morning at 5.40am I hope to hook up with Martyn Coote on the Early
Riser programme on Three Counties Radio with accounts of
my progress along the Great Wall.
My
final instructions from the trip organisers' Charity
Challenge reads: "May I take this opportunity to remind
you that this is a challenge and that you may experience
extreme conditions, unpredictable weather and last-minute changes
to the itinerary, so please bear this is mind and be prepared for
"anything"."
As
I wrote this - the phone rang and it was Charity Challenge informing
me that all my planned itinerary had been scrapped due to "Government
restrictions" - we will be doing more or less the same thing
but in a different order. So I am stepping off into the unknown!
SARs
halted my trip in May and ill-health has dogged my past few months
but now I am really excited as I embark on a trip of a lifetime
to raise money for charity and see the only manmade object visible
from space.
Find
out more here about how much I've raised so far.
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