It’s Friday morning and my “Adventure Geek Day”.  I love these days as I have my new office and I can look out of the window and chat to the robin who sits on the wooden gazeebo keeping me company.  These times are special as I feel a sense of peace.  Just me, my computer and the thoughts that are racing through my head.

Since Christmas, I have been planning my next hike, The Cotswold Way, which is the 102 mile stretch from Chipping Camden to Bath, UK.  As I type, it is only 6 weeks until I take my first steps on this trail.  With exception of a few Nordic Walking ventures on a Tuesday evening, parkrun on a Saturday and the odd geocaching trail at the weekend I really do need to find my mojo and get some training under my belt.

Lost my motivation for early morning walks

As some of you may know, my beloved cocker spaniel, Poppy, dislikes the rain and the cold weather (see video below).  I have to coach her to go for a walk in the mornings and she has been even worse since she developed an infection in her anal glands (it smells disgusting!).  So, I find myself getting up at 5.30am instead of 5am, completing my journal, making coffee, learning Spanish, writing my morning pages and then rather than going for a walk I have slipped back into the routine of “work”.  Emails are cleared, health checks were written, blogs typed up, all before 7am.  That’s not good!

Bad weather is a poor excuse

Since I have decided to slow down in my main role as Owner of a Digital Marketing Company (Green Umbrella), the volume of work seems to have doubled!  We have taken on two new staff and this week we are moving into bigger offices as we simply can not fit everyone into our current space.  How on earth can this happen when the main source of sales (aka me) is trying to take it easy?  But working this hard takes its toll and I can already see the signs.  My eyes are constantly sore, I am waking up later and going to bed later. I keep forgetting things that people have told me and I can see the frustration on their faces as they roll their eyes to say “I’ve already told you that Julia”.

I know it’s important for me to find quiet time.  I need those early morning walks to recharge my batteries.  That time in nature, away from Facebook and emails is the answer to feeling this way, so why am I not making myself do it?  Using the dog or the bad weather is a poor excuse.

Decision time

One of my business colleagues has just received a new Apple Watch.  He teased me in the week to say “I thought you were active Julia until we connected on our Apple Watches”.   This has certainly motivated me.  I have told him that I will be starting my training for the Cotswold Way next week.  I am naturally quite competitive, so having an accountability partner works wonders for me.  I have purchased a wall planner and I am already planning some longer training hikes.  If you are local (Northants, Bucks, Warks in the UK) and would like to join me on any of these day hikes then you can find the details in the private Facebook group here.

I also find that if I commit publically to challenges then I tend to stick with it, hence this blog.  Here is my commitment:-

• Each morning I will go for a morning walk and add this to my public “story” on Facebook. (even if it’s in the dark).
• I will complete parkrun every Saturday with exception of 3rd March (I am in San Diageo).
• I will achieve a minimum of 8k steps a day during the week.  This can be difficult when you are in a car for 6 hours.
• I will put a training plan together for weekend hikes, building up to a 20-mile hike before I take my first steps on the trail.

Do you ever lose your mojo?

I absolutely love the outdoors and hiking is my favourite pass time, so why am I struggling to get motivated to do something that I love?  Am I on my own, or are there other people out there who also struggle at times and fall into a rut?  So this blog is a public kick up the rear end.  Watch this space and I will let you know how I get on.