Juneathon Day 1: A Rocky Start

I woke up at about 7.30 and tried to ignore the fact I was having to start Juneathon at some point in the day. Instead of jumping up out of bed and getting dressed and ready I binge watched the programmes I had missed while away on holiday. 

At about midday I dragged myself out of bed, got dressed and ate some lunch. I left the house at 13.30 on a journey to Capstone Farm Country Park. 

Being back in England I had assumed the sunny sky was an illusion and that an outfit of vest and skinny jeans would be perfectly wrong - how wrong I was. Sweaty and out of breath by the time I'd reached the top of the hill, I was immediately regretting the decision to wear jeans. On top of the heat, the jeans were tighter than usual due to the excess holiday weight sitting on top of the already excess weight I had prior to the holiday.

After a pit-stop at the shops for a bottle of water I trudged on. About ten minutes after leaving the house I had the beginnings of a stitch in my stomach which accompanied me the whole way to Capstone and back (I am so unfit). 

The journey took me through an overgrown woodland path, past a farm, across a country road and up a mud path adjacent to farmers fields. I then walked across two big fields and down a small hill and had reached the park. I had a few pit stops on benches along the way and sat at the park for ten minutes before heading back.

The whole journey was spent uncomfortably in sweaty jeans and tripping over roots, rocks and my own feet. 

By the time I'd got home my jeans were basically stuck to me - what a beautiful start.

Here's a little diagram (I don't have a fancy phone with a fancy app) of my journey (baring in mind this is mostly hills!):

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DAY ONE

On Thursday Wales2Medway began.

On July 24th Jess and Charlie headed to Wales with their car team, and the next morning they were delivered to the Welsh side of the Severn Bridge where they began their journey.

The pair both thought that in theory the first day would be the easiest, they were wrong.

Despite the fact the pair had both trained before beginning the long walk, their bodies need time to adjust. They were keen to get on, but their bodies were not. Not only did the amount they were walking hurt their legs and feet, but the heat they had to walk in made the task harder too.

Both Jess and Charlie were wearing hats and sun cream but at the end of the day both were burnt and Charlie went to bed early through feeling unwell.

So it wasn't the best of starts, but it can only get better (we hope).

You learn from your mistakes and this whole journey is a massive learning curve for us all.

Let's add some colour to the day...

It wasn't all doom and gloom. On Day One we met some interesting and lovely characters and saw some peculiar sights:

- Jess and Charlie skipped hand-in-hand across the halfway mark of the Severn Bridge.

- I (Shelby) walked from Wales to England.

- Spoke to friendly Welsh workmen either side of the Severn bridge.

- Jess and Charlie saw Christmas.

- Charlie thought the hallucinations had started early when he told Jess he'd seen a little girl, but the girl in question had dived into a bush, leading Charlie to briefly question what was left of his sanity.

- Jess got stared at by a cow and said to Charlie "That cow wants me".

- Charlie said to a man that they passed "Are we going the right way?" And the man said "Where are you going?"

"Kent."

Man: "Kent? As in Kent Kent?"

- Charlie ate a Manwich.

- Jess and Charlie saw a rabbit that was everywhere for a mile (in pieces).

- They walked the wrong way X3

- Charlie (about Jess) "Pocket-size gangsta".

More to come...

Don't forget you can also follow their progress on Facebook and Twitter.