Wow where does time go and now as i sit at my keyboard I am surrounded by worrying times, the Year is 2010 and much is wrong in the world at the moment.
Here in the UK we seem to be heading towards a repeat of the 80's and working and being middle aged suddenly increase the burden one feels on an insecure future.
Yet through all that The Route is still in my head, it had never really disappeared, I am not in the habit of failing, I don't mean that in a big headed way, i am just one of those people that won't stay down, a fighter at heart.
I love life and breathing air is the single most thing I never take for granted, you might only get one shot at it so make the most of it I say.
There was a time I thought I would never be fit again, never run or cycle and that The Route was long buried and out of reach. I hated what I had turned my body into.
In ten years I had gained 8 stone and by the time I was in my mid 30's I felt old and finished. I was approaching 21 stone and unhappy but also unable to see a way back.
My youth had cycled away from me and left me as a symbol of the lifestyle so many of us now fall into. If you are fat and unhappy then believe me I can understand you feeling finished or even doubting that you start to put it right.
There is no magic answer, small steps are the beginning of a long journey, but no matter how small the steps are,just follow the path and you will reach your destination.
My return journey for obesity started on a Mountain called Buachaille Etive Mòr
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buachaille_Etive_M%C3%B2r
A mountain climbing a mountain, I was with my brother and good few mates all ex army.
They all had bets I would never get there, its a hard climb but I did make it to the top. It was a struggle and my weight made it a real slog,
Danny, my brother's best mate, showed me a huge rock he had carried up the mountain, it had the name of their best friend Jock who they had lost to cancer.
It was no mean feat to carry that rock up there, but he had been prepared to do it to say goodbye to his friend in his own way, a journey where he must have lived through the memories of someone he loved dearly and the weight was not in the rock he carried, but in the loss he felt in his heart.
As exhausted as I was, that was a very touching moment and reflecting on my own physical state the moment of change occurred.
It took another 10 years of hard work and small steps and for 4 years now I have kept my weight to below 14 stone, I run 3 times a week, anywere from 3 to 13 miles, I still walk and lately cycling has been appearing more in my weekly regime.
The reason I have confessed my state is because I went through a period where I never thought I could not even think about The Route, let alone do it. The impossible has been washed away and now I stand on the brink of being me again, the twinkle is back in my eye and the will is deep in my heart.
The breeze that blows against me is stronger now, age has its own burdens and time brings its own set of new challenges and so I see this as a real challenge for me, it's my challenge and a fitting way to end the journey that began almost 28 years ago.
A chapter in my life I am hopefully destined to close, The Route!!!
