Firstly, please watch this video from a friend about suicide awareness and mental health.
After doing the two walks down south, Bluff Knoll and Bald Head in 2023, and realising how unfit I was, I started to notice the One Foot Forward advertisements that were popping up on my social media feeds. I occasionally donate money to other people for various charities, and who raise money for mental health, but I had never really considered raising money myself.
I did some research and checked out the One Foot Forward, and Black Dog Institute, to see what they were about. One Foot Forward is aimed to raise money and awareness for mental health during the month of October, for Mental Health month.
https://www.onefootforward.org.au/
I setup my account and considered what activity I was going to do, the distance, and how much I would like to try and raise.
It was pretty quick and simple to setup, and once I had done that I settled on walking. I would do 60km, and try to raise $500.
Prior to this, I had recently bought a new Garmin watch, a Fenix 7 Pro Sapphire Solar. The most expensive watch I had ever bought, and by far the best one I ever owned. The One Foot Forward account lets you link to your Garmin, or Fit Bit, to track your progress.
I wasn’t sure how I would go, so I was very conservative with how many kilometres I was going to walk. I had amazing people who donated, and I raised the $500 within the first week of October.
I used to be really fit, and do lots of walking, running, and cycling, I was now struggling to come to terms with how unfit I had become. Even a simple small walk of a few kilometres was a struggle to get motivated, and painful. For my first walk for the month, I did 6km in 59 minutes.
My second walk was 8km in 1hr, 14minutes. While serving in the navy I used to run 2.4km between 11 and 13 minutes, and when I was younger I used to sprint 100m’s close to 11 seconds. I used to love running, it was my go to for stress relief when I was younger. Now it feels like more of a chore, and hurts, haha.
I did the 60km within two weeks, and had already raised my financial goal. I was quite pleased with myself.
Fast forward to 2024, and soon enough the time had come again. I signed up for One Foot Forward, again, but this time I decided to make my goal 100km, and try to raise $600.
I did a little bit of walking in the couple of weeks leading up to October, but nothing major. When the month kicked off, my first walk was 14.2km in 2hrs 21 minutes. I was determined to just keep walking as long as I could, and push through the soreness I felt creeping through my legs. I knew I would have my off days during the month, where I would feel down and unmotivated, so I wanted to get the k’s in while I had the energy. I kept pushing through, and wanted to walk a lot further but I started to get sore and fatigued, so I then headed for home.
I certainly have my share of days where I struggle to get out of bed and don’t feel like doing anything, but when I feel energetic and motivated I can get a fair bit done.
My second walk was 10.23km, in 2hrs and 21 minutes. I just realised it was the same time as the first one, ha how about that. Anyway, this one was a lot more scenic. I went to Jarrahdale and did the Heritage Railway Trail.
Within the first week of October I had raised my goal of $600. By the second week, I had raised $776, and completed my goal of 100km. Feeling energetic, and wanting to achieve more, I increased my goal to 150km. By the end of the third week, I had walked 178.9km. Can anyone guess what my goal is going to be next year?
I might even change it up, and run.
I want to thank everyone who donated and supported me for One Foot Forward. You are amazing.
Sailing The Unknown 