I've just taken a look at my walking tally for 2020 so far (I'm keeping track of my km in excel and then occasionally check how many miles that works out at) and would you believe that despite a strict lockdown where I didn't go out walking even once, I've almost reached my "1,000 miles in 2020 target"! Yay me! In truth, I know it's not that much of an achievement because I should be capable of so much more, but I decided to keep logging anyway and I reckon I will get there in a couple of weeks! You can "self-certify" on the website, after which they will send you a medal and a certificate and you know what, I think I'm going to do it! I think I'll put that certificate on my bedroom wall next to my 25 yards breaststroke certificate, just above the cycling proficiency I got at school when I was seven! Or maybe not, I'll have to give some thought to the aesthetics of it first I guess. While I'm disappointed they weren't all "boots on" miles (i.e. deliberate mileage), seeing my mileage increase has indeed pushed me to walk when I wouldn't otherwise have done so. Not that I ought to be bragging about that though because today was beautiful and I should have been out there walking but chose to work in my garden and get my Hallowe'en decorations up instead! Hopefully next year will be 1,000 boots on miles (yeah, I'm going to sign up again). Some people have been just amazing actually and are really logging wonderful achievements, but the only rule is that there are no rules. If you want to aim for 500 miles, or 500 km or even just 100 it's up to you, but I have to say what a lovely FB group it has proved to be. I see some of them are signing up for 2,021 miles in 2021 but until I get my bionic legs charged up I think I'll give that a miss for now!
 |
| Taken from the home page of the "Walk 1,000 Miles" website |
 |
| Stephen Fry: "Walk1000miles is an idea without flaw ..., and you might find it brings 1,000 other benefits too!" |
The French finally got the website up and running on Monday for we Brits to request our residency permits and I have to say after many jarred nerves things seem to be working out ok for most of us. There are still a few people in very particular circumstances who don't seem to be able to find answers to their status questions, but on the whole the French site has been very informative, the British Embassy in Paris have done sterling work, and within 10 minutes I'd got my request sent off and received back my confirmation ID that shows I have done the necessary. I actually only provided them with three pieces of paper so I'm expecting the dossier will be forwarded to Annecy who will then want to see proof of income and proof of medical insurance, but all in all it really has worked well. André is in a different position to Jordan and I in that he only moved back into France in July (the 20+ years he lived in France previously don't count), but once I'd provided him with a copy of my passport (as the justification for why he came here as a minor), he sent off his request tonight and within 15 minutes had also gotten his ID number/confirmation. Dixit André: "if all admin in France is like this it's gonna be great"! I told him that was a big item to tick off his "to do" list and that he could now begin to think about looking for a place of his own to buy. He's pretty stoked about it and is going to take a few days off at the beginning of November to get caught up with the rest of his admin. I told him I was looking forward to going apartment hunting (and then furniture shopping) with him and spending his money - and it's true, I am. Oh, he'll have to make do with a lot of second-hand stuff to begin with but I know that at the large charity shop up the road from here, while there's a lot of tat, you can also find some great buys too!
Finally I actually saw in the British news this week an item about a yodelling competition in the Swiss canton of Schwyz which has been blamed for a huge spike in covid cases in the canton. While there haven't been any deaths (thankfully), I have to admit the visual of a yodelling competition being a superspreader event is quite mind-boggling isn't it. I'm sure there's a joke in there somewhere, but I bet you never thought you'd hear the words "yodelling competition" and "superspreader event" in the same sentence did you?
 |
| Yodelling competition in Schwyz! |
Congratulations on your walking achievement! I am so out of shape and fat, I must fix this. The last two weeks of going to the beach and swimming like crazy did me tons of good. I will walk on my treadmill at least 5 days out of 7 every week. Thanks for inspiring me.
ReplyDeleteOh don't count me as an inspiration - I'm still fat and out of shape too - but I'm also stubborn, so go for it. Feel free to sign up to the "Walk1000Miles" website if you would like to also. It's mainly Brits but there are a few people who live elsewhere. And you can obviously sign up any time and for any distance. Who knows, it might really inspire you! Good luck!
DeleteGood for you. I will check out the challenge.....
ReplyDeleteHave a look. It's quite an inspiring site!
DeleteCongrats on the 1000!!! I've actually fallen a bit back on my 2500 mile challenge, but that's okay, most of those miles I accumulated on my Covid Break.
ReplyDeleteHow far have you got towards your 2,500 miles so far? Time for a sprint? Actually for someone like me 1,000 miles in a year should be ridiculously easy, all the more so since I'm retired, but I think it's more of a mental challenge just to get rid of the "oh sod it mentality" sometimes isn't it! Good luck on getting the rest completed!
DeleteGreat goal and great success on both walking and getting though all the hoops.I must be diligent in more exercise.
ReplyDeleteIf they sold motivation in a jar we'd be well set wouldn't we - or, in my case, if all I had to do was buy the book!
DeleteI’ve just had to email the local county council and received a response by return. Amazing service was my immediate thought until I read it: We acknowledge receipt of your email and aim to respond within 20 days.
ReplyDeleteHa ha, we all know those emails don't we. I'm pretty sure that's what we're getting with the French authorities but it does generate an ID number and confirms that we have done the necessary to request residency - in case we're ever stopped (not that I expect we will be, to be honest)!
DeleteI suppose I do between 3-6 miles a day with Bertie so I must walk 1000 miles quite easily. It is a good form of exercise but unless I have an audio book to listen too I get very bored. Thank goodness for the council library getting digital!
ReplyDeleteI would imagine you easily do 1,000 miles - that's the advantage of a dog isn't it! I seem to be ok just wandering along with my own thoughts for some reason. Maybe I should try an audio book since I'm such a big reader anyway. Would you believe I've never tried one (time for me to move into the 21st century maybe)?
Delete