James Richards

I’ll take the long way home …

At the risk of starting off with a cliche, this has been one heck of a journey - I have encountered many experiences during the month and wanted to capture some of my key reflections…

100 miles in a month is not as easy as it sounds

When I signed up for this event, I naively thought that it would be straightforward to achieve - I did the maths and reckoned circa 3.5 miles per day was eminently doable…

However, what I had failed to appreciate was that this was relentless, day-in, day-out, walking for a purpose. Furthermore, I didn’t really think about how my symptoms would cope - I’ve walked lots in any given day before and never really had a problem. 

What I hadn’t considered was how this activity impacted my medication regime and on/off periods. I soon realised that this wasn’t going to be so easy and that I had to overlay my medication timings and how my body was feeling for every single walk.

Be clear on WHY you are doing this

In my time in commerce, I was always a huge believer in the power of “why?” - fundamentally believing that if I couldn’t describe why I was doing something then maybe I should reconsider my actions going forwards.

I soon realised that on this challenge, I needed to clearly understand my “why?” as I would need this to help motivate me when things got tough.

My “why?” was simple - I still remember vividly the day I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and the heart-breaking conversations I had with my loved ones, telling them that I had a chronic condition for which there currently is no cure and that there is no certainty on how it will affect me over time. 

With somebody in the UK being diagnosed with Parkinson’s every 20 minutes, that’s around 28,000 people each year who must have that same conversation - a number that I’d love to reduce. This was my “why?”…

The benefits aren’t just physical

On starting this challenge, I was fairly confident that I would notice some physical benefits - I thought that I would lose some weight and improve my overall fitness. 

Turns out that I was partially right… I did notice an upturn in my general fitness - I could walk for longer at a faster pace and not be breathing so heavily at the end of it. I also lost 1kg in weight, which is negligible really - probably explained by all of the fresh air giving me an increased appetite :) !!

However, the big benefit for me was the mental health impact, something that I’d failed to appreciate at the start…

I had to call on my “Why?” a couple of times when the going got tough - but the key thing I experienced was the feel-good factor from achieving my walk each day. This was enhanced further by some of the great chats I had with friends who so kindly gave up their time to join me on some of my walks - having an hour or more to literally talk about anything we wanted was truly liberating and I hope they too felt buoyed from this experience.

Proud to wear the “uniform “

For me personally, there was something genuinely uplifting by putting on my “uniform” (Walk T-Shirt) each day…

It helped change my mindset at the start of every walk and got me into the “why?” to drive my motivation.

Furthermore, it drew out conversations with people I met whilst out on my walk - what was the event, why was I doing it, etc..

Fundamentally, I felt proud - something which I have struggled with at times with this condition - especially when I have been laughed at in the street, been called a drunk or have people whisper behind their hands when I shuffle past them… 

It’s been an enlightening journey
 

When I first set out on this challenge at the beginning of May, I had no idea of what the journey was going to be like in reality…

Yes, there have been some challenging days, but they blend into insignificance to the many, many positives I will be taking away.

Fundamentally, I’ve realised that taking time out to walk is good for everyone - it’s not about the distance, it’s about the time you get - time to reflect, time to explore, time to think positively.

For me, I’ve typically spent my life thinking about how I can do things quicker and what I can do to save time - going forwards, I will proactively look to prioritise having this time, sharing it with others where possible. Indeed, no shortcuts on this - I’ll take the long way home thanks…