first of the long hikes

yesterday we headed (me, brad, rod, harrison, alan and his beagle bella) to mudgereeba to do a 18km hike, its from the second check point to the fifth, including 2 mountains. the weather was perfect with sunny skies but a cool breeze. was amazing that bella scampered the whole way but fell asleep in the car on the way home, tired but very happy!! this has been our longest walk to date, my feet for the first time coped better, pain scale of only 5-7, i get my new orthotics on tuesday (went and saw a ballerina specialist). i know i'm hiking not dancing the 96km but if you have ever seen a professional ballerinas feet you would understand (Yuch!!) we met a team from 2009 and they told some terrible stories about their injuries (broken foot, blisters underneath toes) so it made our experience sound like a walk in the park. goes to show, adequate training and preparation are the key, so we are not stupid to start training this early. we finished the 18km by 12.30pm and then had lunch at polly's kitchen, all went well and it was a good first training test. next week is the dreaded cowpad from the environmental centre to syd duncan (highest point) its the section you do during the night and its is 8km going steadily up, so we will do a round trip and try and conquer this beast!!