#112 in red shoes all the way through the central London

walking is healthy, but doing a walk for charity and good cause is amazing. On 17 June British Red Cross organized a massive 8 miles long Red Shoe walk to raise funds for their operations (yes, with a dress code – red shoes). As i am doing my big challenge – 56km Isle of Wight walk challenge this summer, this was a perfect chance of practicing. Walk started from the Tower of London and finished in the Batter sea park and was passing by all the key central London’s landmarks – London eye, big Ben, Southbank etc. Initially we thought this route will be easy (no hills, not many stairs, no bad roads), but guess what, on this route on Saturday the biggest challenge was – tourists! 🙂

Price: 10GBP donation;

Duration: about 1.5 hours;

Amazingness: how can you not like exercise + sightseeing + friends?

May 17, 2014

 

#66 opening ‘boycott metro’ season

Today, just one week before the official start of the spring, when the weather is already warm enough and evenings are light enough, I opened the ‘boycott metro’ season or in other words – a season of work-to-home walking.

London is big. It is massive. At times people just give up going somewhere just because at the end they may spend more time traveling than doing the actual activity. But, last summer i discovered that my normal door-to-door journey to work, which takes about 40-45 minutes (some walking and tube with one change), equals 70 minutes of walking. Only 70 minutes! Ok, i lose about half an hour, but then i also avoid ‘tin of sardines’ moment on the tube (tin of sardines in summer is not really the most pleasant experience in the world). Soon this became my normal ‘mode of travel’ from work to home and since late autumn, when evenings got too dark and cold for this, i have been waiting for spring to re-start this walking again. Moreover, it made me also realize that in central London actually places are nearer than they seem to be. Metro map gives an impression that one station from the other is miles away, but often it may be just a 5-10 minutes walk.

This ‘boycott metro’ walking is a perfect combination of the need to get from A to B and exercising. My work-to-home 70minutes is not a leisure walk. It’s actually quite a brisk walk: 7.4km in 70 minutes, which is about 6.35km/h (or 3.94 miles/h). And it makes a nice mind-relaxing transition from work to home affairs. So, if you can, try this. If you live really miles away from your work, try to walk half of the journey. It will also help you to see your city through different lens and notice things and places which you did not know existed.

Price: power of will

Amazingness: it gives high ‘feels good’ feeling;

Duration: 70 minutes, but depends on the route.

17 March, 2014

 

#45 goodmorning blue, blue sky!

This morning made my day! Not only was it FRIDAY morning, it was a morning of amazingly blue blue sky! If you live somewhere in Spain, Italy or in some African country where you have 364 out of 365 days sunny and bright, you wont probably understand me. In London blue blue morning sky is unusual, extraordinary, fabulous, gorgeous, and glorious (adjectives mentioned by my colleagues about the start of the day).

Blue blue sky made me not only super excited, positive and enthusiastic about the day. I also ended up changing my regular 10 minutes underground travel to London Bridge station for 35 minutes walk to the station even if i had to carry my yoga training bag. I felt amazing. Morning sun, blue blue sky and happy me! Sometimes you need so little!

Price: 0

Amazingness: the less often you such blue blue sky, the more you appreciate it!

Duration: my regular 40min journey to work was extended by half an hour; it was worth it.

February 21, 2014

 

#11 visiting your favorite place in your city

Ladies and Gentlemen,

welcome to my favorite place in my London city! Welcome to Greenwich village! It took me a while to realize the amazingness of this part of London, but now i know – it is my favorite place to go, when i need to recharge my batteries, clear my mind, have an oxygen therapy and walk up the hill for the 108th time in the Greenwich park to enjoy the view over the city after which i tease my sense of smell (just think about freshly brewed coffee and deliciously smelling cakes) strolling through the Greenwich market.

Find a place in your town/ city where you enjoy to be, which gives you positive emotions and visit it – whenever and as often as you can. It will make you feel good. It’s guaranteed.

Price: 0. I walked there.

Amazingness: great enough. In summer it is awesome!

Duration: 2 hours +

January 11, 2014

 

 

#8 walking around the island

I’m excited. Decision has been made to organize a group of friends to do the Isle of Wight walking challenge this summer walking either 56 or 106km (not yet decided) around the island.

Last year I did the Thames path challenge walking 50km and it was certainly one of the best things i did in 2013. Absolutely amazing experience. Testing your limits and surprising yourself with what you can achieve is extremely inspirational. You just realize that most of your limits are built by mind, doubt and fear, but can be easily overcome with belief in yourself and staying committed to your goals.

Moreover, this will be also a fundraising event as a result of which we would aim at supporting a development project in Africa (the lucky project yet to be announced).

Though the actual walking is in 8 months, this awesome adventurous challenge is starting now with planning, daydreaming, mental and physical preparation. Really exciting! 🙂

Price: registration fee + travel to island and accommodation.

Amazingness: huge

Duration: this i would call as ‘once in a lifetime’ experience. unforgettable.

January 8, 2014