"And Virginia makes another dream come true..."
That is a line from one of my favourite songs. It's by Christine Kane (who also happens to be an amazing coach and one of my mentors but that's another story!). The song is called Virginia. And it's about a woman who goes out and does what she dreams about doing.
It's buzzing round my mind as I write this because I've made another dream come true.
I heard about the Ridgeway from a friend when I was far from home, in sunny Shropshire. This friend happened to come from near where I had come from (Berkshire) and couldn't believe that I'd never walked on The Ridgeway. A beautiful bit of the world as he described it.
Well since that day I've dreamt of walking The Ridgeway. At the start if this year I wrote a list of 100 things I want to do in 2014, some big, some small. Walking on The Ridgeway was one of those things I dreamt of doing.
Tonight, lying in bed typing this I am exhausted from carrying Zach for most of 14kms. Blistered because my shoes and socks rubbed. Aching pleasantly from walking a good walk. And I am happy. All these feel like honour badges I can wear with pride because I earned them by living my dreams.
No one ever said making my dreams would be easy. Some dreams are easier than others to achieve, that's for sure. No one told me that hurting this much could feel so good either though. I actually hurt more than I did post triathlon - today's dream fulfilling adventure required more time, more strength, more endurance and a bit more rain too!
An adventure indeed.
What an adventure. I am so grateful to Andy and particularly to my Dad for making it happen. I am also grateful to my two beautiful children who didn't complain at all about being dragged along on 14kms of walking adventure through rain and wind and sun.
We all enjoyed a few hours at Nuffield Place, the National Trust house we walked to. We even got free cups of tea because we walked there. Thanks National Trust! And I am so happy to have ticked another adventure off the list.
When the boys are a bit bigger perhaps we'll try walking the whole Ridgeway... Maybe ;)