1000 Steps & I felt Normal

A new friend of mine and former 12WBT member, Hayley, invited me along to walk the 1000 Steps in Ferntree Gully with her and some of her training friends.  I had only known this person through the 12WBT program for a short period of time and met her about 9 days ago.  She was lovely and I was honoured to be invited so I happily accepted the invite.  I was excited to do something new.

I had never walked the 1000 steps before so the day before I was actually a little worried.  There is no way I would chicken out and not attend as i really appreciated the invite.  But what if I am not fit enough to make it to the top?  What if they are all so much fitter than me? What if I overheat? What if I slip over? What if my legs hurt too much from doing Step and Pump classes yesterday? What if what if what if??  I decided to take a chill pill, turn up and just go with the flow.

I arrived and found Hayley and her friends. Everyone was lovely and the air was fresh... ummm VERY FRESH!  I definitely could have done with an extra jacket in the beginning.  We set off at our own pace and it was a great chance to get to know people and have a chat.  I wasn't the only one doing the walk for the first time so that made me feel better too.

Walking walking walking and still no sign of any actaully "steps".  I began to think there aren't any real steps, it's just a long curvy path up a mountain.  Then boom I saw steps... after walking 800m to get to them!  Oh boy, this was not going to be easy.

The ground was a bit wet but it wasn't raining.  The huge green trees all around me made me feel tiny, the sound of water running was so nice and soothing.  I absolutely loved it!  It's something my Mum would love so i will definitely take her during the summer months when there is no chance of slipping.

We walked up, felt like we had achieved something then walked down.. Some people did the walk more than once but once was enough for me today.  we were greeted at the bottom by a delicious BBQ breakfast that Hayley & Adam hosted for us.  We socialised and i got to know Hayley's friends a bit better.

This morning I felt really normal.  Usually I either train solo or with the SplashFits.  When I train with the SpalshFits we all talk about the 12WBT program and we support eachother and share experiences.  When I train solo, the people in the gym that are strangers to me have seen that I have lost lots of weight.  

But this morning I met a new bunch of people.  And even though we exercised together, the morning didn't revolve around 12WBT and our transformations.  I was just a normal person training with other normal people, talking about work and study and having breakfast.  I felt really normal.  All I want is to feel normal and this morning was probably my first real experience of that.  We touched on the 12WBT program but the conversation did not revolve around me.  That was really really nice... and I felt normal :)

Here's a short video and a couple of pics.

40 second Video of Mary coming down the 1000 Steps

I will definitely organise a 1000 Steps event for the SpalshFits as it feels REALLY good once you make it to the top!