Day 1 : A relaxing 5km walk

And so the challenge has begun!

As today is Mother's Day, I roped in my first Challenge Buddy - my mum!  A walk might seem like a bit of a cop out for the first day of the challenge - but not when you're trotting behind my mum, who power walks so quickly at times I find myself jogging to keep up!

Today is a day to tell mums how brilliant they are - and today has been no different for Oor Aggie!  There have been times when I have been scared, worried, fed up or (when trying to deal with my old GP) feeling like I was losing my mind!  My mum is always at the end of the phone to reassure me, so starting the challenge with her was perfect!

I'm sure that today was probably one of the easiest days of the next 50 - the walks near my parents house are beautiful and it's always good to spend time with mother dearest!!  As I'm hoping to run 5 days of 7, it'll be a good few days before I'm next walking my 5 km, so I made sure to take some pictures on the way - the next set will probably be blurrier!!

In finishing this post, I've got a very big thank you to say.  I received an email on Friday morning to tell me that I'd received my first donation.  The donator chose to remain anonymous, but, given that the only person I'd showed the blog and donation page to was my boyfriend, I assumed it was him!  However, he assured me it wasn't, and after some head scratching, I realised that the lovely people at Thyroid UK had put a link on their website.  It turns out my first donation has come from a complete stranger, and I couldn't be more grateful - so a very big thank you - it is very, very much appreciated!

The 5x50 Challenge...6 days to go...

What
The 5 x 50 Challenge launched in 2012 as a charity challenge encouraging people to run, walk, jog or cycle 5K (or a 30 minute exercise equivalent) every day for 50 days, with the aim of changing exercise habits for a lifetime.

I'm aiming to run 5K five times a week, with a cycle or walk in between to save the old knees!

I'll be using blipfoto to take a picture each day and, provided that I've managed to link properly, the photos should show up on the right hand side!

When
The challenge starts on Sunday 30 March and ends on Monday 19 May.  Luckily I have a holiday booked for Tuesday 20 May!

Why 
The first (and most important!) reason is to raise money for Thyroid UK.  

When I decided to join the challenge, I wasn't really sure who to fundraise for.  At that stage, the reasons for taking part in the challenge were to raise money for a good charity, to get fit and to lose some weight.   

The main reason that my fitness isn't quite as good as it was, and that I've put on quite a bit of weight, is that I have an over-active thyroid.  (Of course, that's the main reason, but it's not the only one...my love of food probably accounts for part of the problem too!)

In 2009 I discovered a lump in my throat, which the doctors thought might be cancer.  I was really lucky that the lump turned out to be benign, but, because of the position of the lump, I had to have part of my thyroid removed.  

At first, there weren't really any side-effects, however, I gradually realised that things weren't quite as they had been before the operation.  I had a pretty tough time just over a year ago trying to get support from my GP.  To say they were unhelpful is an understatement!  After months of banging my head against a brick wall, a much fought after referral to a specialist and a change of GPs, I am now on medication, which has made the world of difference.

I didn't know about Thyroid UK until recently, but I can see that the work they are doing is amazing, and only wish I'd known about them a few years ago!

So it all seemed to tie in perfectly, my half a thyroid is part of the reason why I'm doing the challenge in the first place - and so to raise funds for Thyroid UK seemed like the perfect choice!

Where
Running the same route for 50 days could be quite boring!  So I'm hoping to find some new running routes around the city, and plan on travelling on some days to make sure that the challenge is as varied as possible!

Who
I'll be doing the challenge mainly on my own, but I'll hopefully rope some friends and family along the way.

I'll also no doubt need them for encouragement and support!