A sitting down protest

Hazel and Rosie refusing to move

This post was going to be about the amazing sense of well-being that exercise gives you,  I was going to be positively evangelistic about stair climbing (I walked up Jumeirah Beach Residence three times including some double steps i.e. 120 floors), wax lyrical about the high that endorphins deliver and the fact that I feel trimmer and stronger already.  However, I came down with a bump or should I say a virus, last weekend and have crawled around feeling pathetic for a week.  Also my toe still hasn’t healed – I suspect it’s broken – and after surfing medical websites (and discounting the ones that mention gangrene or amputation) I conclude it just needs time and for me to refrain from walking. Hmmm – not likely.  It was with relief, therefore, that I stepped out on my morning walk today with renewed joie de vivre and strode off at a brisk pace.  Unfortunately, the temperatures have crept up.  The dogs were OK when I was doing a good impression of a goods train last week but Hazel, in particular, did not like the sudden return to form.  There was a sitting down protest – repeated quite often during my circuit of Umm Suqeim.

The importance of thorough training for this trek was once again brought home to me by my friend Lee’s account of her trip to Kilimanjaro recently.  Her training schedule made mine look like a pensioner’s outing but the relentlessness of the steep conditions, the living rough, the cold and the altitude really took its toll and the last day sounded like torture.  My challenge won’t be so extreme.  However, it is one thing to do a day’s trek and quite another to repeat it five days in a row.  I’m back on track with renewed vigor and commitment and Arpana from Gulf for Good has just sent a message about another stair climb – yay!

I’m looking forward to our trek briefing this Wednesday given by the challenge leader Brian Wilkie who has been on a “recce” to Lebanon this week.  He has never been allowed to forget an earlier trip where he drove a route the group would cycle and totally underestimated how gruelling it would be on a bike!  He promises he won’t do this to us. Brian is Chairman of the Board of Governors for Gulf for Good and this week their Facebook fan page is 1 year old.  Social media is great for non-profits and charities because it’s free and helps to spread news of the work they do.  G 4 G are trying to reach 1,000 members to celebrate so please join if you are a Facebook user.

Thanks to Margaret and everyone who has been giving gold to me – even the tiniest bit will help.  I hear so much about the plight of the Palestinian people in the Middle East and, whatever your politics, you can’t deny that ordinary people suffer, especially the children.  It’s good to be able to help in some way.

Kit, fitness, funds and hounds

Dog tired

This week has been a lot about boots.  It’s a long, exhausting and tedious saga which would bore the pants off you (especially if your pants are elasticated and beige…more of that anon).  After weeks of trouble (and contributing to global warming in the amount of short car journeys to shopping malls) I’m now the owner of a brand new pair of comfortable, well-designed, walking boots. These replace a pair of uncomfortable boots which had a manufacturing defect.  I won’t name names but the clue is ‘like the rapper’.  This retailer’s systems in Dubai seem specially designed to make life incredibly difficult for the customer.  I’ve done a tour of most of their shops and had conversations of a degree of absurdity that only shoppers in the Middle East can truly appreciate.   The systems aside, the staff at head office and in-store are delightful and I finally walked out this morning with a big smile on my face ready to start breaking them in (the boots not the staff). I’ve been trying to get the rest of my kit list this week while the Dubai Shopping Festival is on and I have now learned all there is to know about breathable hiking clothing.  It comes in many, many shades of one colour – beige.  I now possess trousers that wouldn’t look out of place on a Saga holiday.

The aching caused by doing squats last Friday only abated on Wednesday.  My girls didn’t have a twinge and did not disguise their complete derision.  Marjan who has done three challenges with Gulf for Good gave me some really good advice about preparing for my trip.  My dogs are getting very fit with their two hour walk everyday (the picture is of them in recovery) but I need to do something more serious.  A visit to the gym is the only solution.  I can’t quite believe that I wrote that last sentence.

I’m spurred on by the brilliant encouragement and generosity of my friends, family and sponsors.  And yes, I have sponsors in plural now.

BASF - the world's leading chemical company.

First off the post was BASF UAE.  They take corporate responsibility very seriously and the contribution to these children’s charities is a small but very welcome part of this.  I’m really grateful for their help in fundraising for refugee and orphaned children in Lebanon.  Visit the sponsor page to find out more about them and more about sponsoring this trek.  News about some other great supporters coming soon.

Donations are also trickling in, for instance a friend’s car screeched to a halt when I was on my dog walk this morning and a 200 dirham note was waved out of the window.  With this sort of help and people contributing ‘Gold for Good’ I could actually exceed my target which is fantastic news for the charities.  Please contact me if you can help in any way.  A mention for my husband who has had a daily, blow-by-blow account of my boot saga for the last 3 weeks and finally begged for mercy.  Thanks everyone.