THE PREPARATION BEGINS

As is our way......we jumped into our preparation at the deep end, going from a 5km morning walk to a 25km hike across Waiheke - the Wharf2Wharf (16.01.10). We caught the ferry from downtown Auckland at 6:45 to Orapiu, and by 8:30am we were off on our way to Matiatia wharf 'a pied'. The first 13km to Palm Beach were reasonably pleasant with the excitement of a beautiful day, some interesting company and great scenery making the up hill and down dale terrain quite bearable. From this point on however certain parts of our anatomy were reminding us of thier existence and demonstrating their dislike of this prolonged exertion. We kept up a steady 6km/hr pace however right to the end, despite the last 5km being the longest that I have ever travelled. From Matiatia wharf we hobbled onto a ferry home 3hrs55mins after leaving Orapiu. By the time we arrived in Downtown Auckland we were both almost seized up in our seats and very aware of the fact that we had some SERIOUS training to do before we would be able to complete 100km!! For the next few days we 'winced' about the house, even something as ordinary as getting on and off a chair became an event of epic proportions.
What we have learnt from this:
1. Preparation is everything!
2. Having a spa helps soothe aching muscles
3. Make sure you take snacks that you can eat while you walk. (We had scroggin, muesli bars, and lots of water which were great energy boosters along the way but we could have done with some more as by the time we got back to Auckland we were ravenous!)
4. We need to put some serious mileage behind us before we will be ready - Oxfam suggests about 75km a week at this stage going up to 100km before the big day - APRIL 10th!!!