#okr: 21km to say thanks...and a whole lot more

“If you can't fly, then run,

if you can't run, then walk,

if you can't walk, then crawl,

if you can't crawl, then limp in a moon boot,

if you can't limp in a moon boot, then cycle,

but whatever you do

you have to keep moving forward."

Ok so I may have changed that quote around a little.  I first heard it on The Biggest Loser - I thought Alex's sister made it up.  Turns out it was actually from the mouth of Martin Luther King - close! :)

So today I did a thing called #okr.  It was something I have had planned for a few weeks.  #okr stands for "Operation Katie's Response".  In a nutshell, it was me wanting to say thank you to some very special people and not being really sure how to do that.  A group of friends did something amazing for me, so I decided to do a "Relay of Thanks" and run/walk/run/walk for 1km for each person.

My location scouting sux ;)

Of course though, Unplanned Operation Bushwalking Accident got in the way big time, and I have been waiting fairly impatiently to do it.  Yesterday I was really really frustrated and very very down and I didn't know what to do.  So I decided to do #okr this morning.  Exercise = endorphins = feeling better = not doing other things that wouldn't have made me feel better.  I spent a couple of hours planning it last night.  I didn't really tell people in advance that I was doing it because to be honest I didn't know if I would make it because my foot is still not healed.  I planned a total of 21km: 17km for 17 #fairygodsisters and a few extra km's for some other amazing people.  I may or may not have worked it out to add up to 21 to represent the half marathon I'm planning for next year ;)

When I first came up with the idea, I imagined a 21km run/walk, on a wide open dusty gravel paddock, a few hours drive west of Brisbane, in the country, just me, the sun, and my iPod.  It looked very romanticised in my head.

Well, in reality things change and things don't always go as planned...something I have learnt so well this year ;)  So instead I chose a cycling track that was in Brisbane so I wasn't too far away from home if I couldn't complete it, it was bitumen so that the ground was flat, instead of running/walking it, I now had a big fat moon boot to contend with, and although I assumed I'd have it to myself, it wasn't exactly the dusty country paddock in the middle of nowhere that I had imagined.

I don't know why I assumed I'd have it to myself.  I had actually checked the booking schedule online and no major events had it booked, but I hadn't thought about the dozens of pro-cyclists who would be at it at 5:30am, carving up the track.  I got there and thought they probably wouldn't like some chick in a moon boot hobbling around their track, so I had to change locations.  Turns out walking is not allowed on the track anyway.  It's ok - there's a bike/walking path right alongside.  So this was my new #okr track :)  Not measured, not isolated, but it would do.

My special shirt.  I did...just not running.

My promise to myself was that if my foot started hurting, I would stop.  Medically I was 'allowed' to do this - the ED doctor I saw had said I was allowed to exercise, and I was only supposed to wear the boot for 1-2 weeks.  It's coming up to 3 weeks.  I'm still mostly wearing it - I know my body and I know I'm not better yet.  I didn't want to do things too quickly and make the recovery time even longer, so I had to be sensible.  Not my favourite word.

So that was my plan.  To walk (well, limp) the 21km, no matter how slowly I needed to go.  And stop, if it started to hurt.  I only walked in a 3km radius of my car, just in case, and I took it really slowly.  I'm talking not even 4km/h.  Extremely frustrating and disapppointing, but I was doing it.  And as much as this whole venture was for my friends, it turned into being just as much for me.  I needed to do this for myself today.  Push past my limits, do something healthy, and keep moving forward.

I only made it 6km.  My foot started to hurt.  I had an 'angel/devil' on the shoulders moment but ultimately made a decision to stop walking and to see if I could finish the 21km by using my bike!  It was amazing.  I obviously took the boot off to ride, and it didn't hurt my foot :)  I cycled 15km - that's my longest ride since 'that ride' 3 years ago.  I actually enjoyed it.  The limits I pushed just to get onto my bike were enough.  Then I was rewarded with realising that it's a lot easier to ride as your fitness increases :)  I was still really slow, but the km's flew past a lot quicker than walking in the boot, as did my heart rate! 

My idea for this 'Relay of Thanks' aka #okr was to, as I said, run/walk 1km for each person.  For a bit of fun and also because I didn't want to embarrass/hurt anyone, I decided to make code names for each person :)  I then took a photo of myself at the start of each 1km mark, holding a sign saying that code word :)  I've told the people their code words now, so they can see 'their km'. :)  What code words did I use?  Did you really have to ask?  I kept with my theme....princesses ;)  Each km/person has been given a princess's name - photo evidence is below.

My view from laying on the grass at the end of the 21km

21km, 6km of walking and 15km of cycling, 4 hours, 2000 calories, 364 selfies (!) to get the best shots for #okr.  This all represented me saying thank you to some of the gorgeous people I know - who have given me some amazing support in the last few weeks, who gave me a weekend to smile, and just a group of people who light up my life constantly.  #okr was to say thank you - and I have, in, I admit, a very strange way.  Those I told what I was doing a few weeks ago said I didn't have to.  I know that.  But I wanted to. :)  But the coolest thing is, it ended up being just as much for me.  I wanted to do this for my friends, but I had to do this today, for myself.  And yes, I did the last lap for myself.  And no need to ask what my princess name was. :)

Thank you everyone.

There's always a way forward.

All my love xo

Tinker Bell: 1km

Pocahontas: 2km 

 

Princess Eilonwy: 3km

 

Mulan: 4km

 Princess Ann: 5km

Princess Ann from "Roman Holiday"

Snow White: 6km

 Ariel: 7km

 Princess Aurora: 8km

Belle: 9km

 

Princess Mia: 10km

Princess Mia from "The Princess Diaries"

 

 

Princess Anneliese: 11km

Sara Crewe: 12km

Sara Crewe from "A Little Princess"

Tiana: 13km

Princess Jasmine: 14km 

I started to think there were getting to be too many front on selfies, so I tried to be a bit more creative from this point:

Thumbelina: 15km

Xena: Warrior Princess: 16km

Princess Buttercup: 17km

 

Giselle: 18km

Rapunzel: 19km

Fairy Godmother: 20km

Cinderella: 21km

21km: done :)