Day 47 completed.. Currently in Berceto.

I’ve had a very mixed week.

I was super motivated earlier in the week and felt like nothing could hold me back. I’ve had this feeling before and know that a few challenges will be thrown in along the way.

While riding this wave, I walked my first marathon length day (42.55km) and tackled some tough terrain. I made an effort to go do some touristy things and caught the train to the Cinque Terre after walking one of these days. The beautiful scenery (and some Aperol Spritz) made me almost forget the challenging days ahead. I even had a lovely Australian women donate me some €€ after approaching me wondering why I was travelling alone.

Day 46 was a real tough one. Physically and emotionally. I was struggling. There were tears and frustration. Massive hill climbs and long busy highways. I was also on a tight schedule to get to my accomodation before 5.30pm which was not looking likely at many points throughout the day. I arrived on time after pushing myself as hard as I possibly could! Unfortunately I was aware the next day was a whole lot more physically demanding and longer. Sleeping in a cold empty hostel bunk bed also didn’t seem like the best place for a great sleep.

So then came Day 47... I knew I would have to try to keep myself positive as physically it was going to be demanding and quite long.

It all started when I woke up and found my pump had ripped out of my body in my sleep. This is the machine I have attached to me 24:7 to keep me alive.. so obviously, I wasn’t feeling very well due to this and had blood sugars that did not even register on my glucometer.. I loaded up with insulin and hoped for the best as I knew I had to push on as much as I could. I ensured I had much more regular breaks to test my blood sugars and ensured I had plenty of water. It took a while, but they finally came down (before then going low of course). Diabetes is certainly no direct science. 🤷🏼‍♀️

With one issue fixed, so I decided to continue on tackling some horrific hill climbs. The pathways were also incredibly challenging. Not only was I needing to walk up the steep incline, but they were rocky, muddy or covered in branches. I had to concentrate every step I took to avoid rolling an ankle.

I did my best, however throughout the day I did have two pretty big falls. One while walking downhill and I slipped on a wet rock and slid down the muddy/rocky hill and the other time I again slipped on a wet rock, unfortunately this time was while crossing a little river and I fell straight into the flow of the river. I then remained wet for the rest of the day, although it did then decide to have a heavy down pour of rain so the rest of me was then wet anyway.

I was excited to reach the very top of the main mountain to see an amazing view after putting in some serious hard yards to get there. Just before I got there, a massive layer of fog/clouds decided to come on in and give me zero visibility except a metre ahead of me. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Another challenge was no food stops or even anywhere for a coffee. Lunch was a bit of fruit and some muesli bars and I saved some little bread packets from breakfast a couple of days earlier which was going to be dinner. Unfortunately there are not always towns or restaurants around to buy food or eat. It’s not all pasta and wine every night.

I arrived at my b&b extremely wet, tired, bruised, hungry, sore and happy. I was so proud that I had pushed through the challenge and made it..

New day of walking now and I can’t wait to see what it throws me! 🤗🚶🏼‍♀️