I competed in my second 24 Hours From Home Challenge. The challenge is to use your feet to move away from hour home as far as possible in a 24 hour window during the race. Its measured as the crow files, so its best to pick the most efficient route possible. The last time I participated, I surprised myself walking 31 miles. This year, I selected a different route and made it my goal to walk 32 miles so I knew that I was just a little bit better than last time. There is a Facebook Group for this challenge. As people compete, they often post updates as they travel. This is entertaining and distracting as you continue your journey. I didn’t do too much of that last time and thought I would do more this year. Being in what I thought was better shape than last time, my goal was to walk to the Katy Trail in Chesterfield, then walk out on the Katy to at least Washington, MO. That would net me closer to 45 miles that I thought was reasonable.
Along the way, I decided to take a selfie and update a post with a comment at every mile. Here I am getting started in the neighborhood.
I won’t bore you with mile by mile selfies as I went along. The walking went well. I started about 3pm and met Danelle around 11pm in Chesterfield Valley. There, she got me more water, some food and raised my spirits with the break and chatting with her. It was a few hours later at mile 24 that I finally stepped foot on the Katy Trail. I didn’t realize it was that far from my house. This was a bit frustrating as I thought it was closer to 20 miles. My first mile on the Katy, I encountered a skunk and had to wait for it to cross as I didn’t want to disturb it!
Unfortunately, I didn’t meet my goal. As I sauntered down the Katy, my body started giving out. I ended with bad cramps in Defiance, MO on a bench. There, I wanted half sleeping, half shivering for 2 hours until I figured Danelle was awake. When she called me for good morning, I told her and she came to pick my sorry self up.
I think I learned much from this. First, I need to take more breaks during my walk. I covered nearly the same distance as last time in several less hours, but I paid the price. There is something to be said for having fun and resting. I already have next year’s event marked off in my calendar to try again for that elusive 32 mile mark 🙂
Hogan Haake